Hasselblad prices have really gone up

NB23 · Dec 13, 2020

I have an issue when it comes to the original BP Leicavits. Repainting those is so easy.

I know that the leicavits with 2-line engraving were black, and the 3-line engraving were silver. I’m not sure there were 3-line engraving Black Leicavits back then... therefore, if I was a collector, I’d strictly stick with the 2-line engravings Black Leicavits.

Also, I’m quite amazed at the high prices that those Leicavit command. Nearly 20K. Original BP M2 and M3, I can agree with the crazy prices, but Leicavit?

removedacct2 · Dec 15, 2020

BMbikerider said:
It is not only Hasselblads. The price of most used film equipment has gone up, some more than others. .../...
I don't think it is peoples greed so much as the lack of supply.

well Hasselblad 500 are really expensive, I mean even the bodies alone, which is silly since the body is very simplistic, the complexity is in the Compur shutter of the Zeiss lens.
Just for curiosity I was considering to buy one for a while, and the only way to get some at a reasonable price is once in a while on the swedish auction site Tradera, I live one hour drive from Sweden, 3 hrs to Göteborg, 5 hrs to Stockholm, so I can easily pick locally without customs and fees. Yet there's the price for extra backs and lenses.
Otherwise anywhere else it's overpriced, pure speculation, the proof is in the prices of the 500 ELM often 3x cheaper!, yet it's the same dumb body, just with an added motor. At which point some will explain that it's bigger instead of the small form factor of the non-motorized body and doesn't look so pretty. Ok, but then it's not about the intrinsic merits of the gear itself. Reminds me of the insane price difference between Leica II and Zorki-1.

Recently i am much into the old Bronica S/S2, it's a way more complex piece of mechanical engineering than these silly 500 bodies, yes these old Bronica do sell cheap, specially the ones from Japan.

NB23 · Dec 15, 2020

Dude, when you’ll sell the silly expensive and simplistic Blad for more than what you will have paid, you will understand that it was Paying you, all along. Not the opposite.

Let that sink in.

antonio_b said:
well Hasselblad 500 are really expensive, I mean even the bodies alone, which is silly since the body is very simplistic, the complexity is in the Compur shutter of the Zeiss lens.
Just for curiosity I was considering to buy one for a while, and the only way to get some at a reasonable price is once in a while on the swedish auction site Tradera, I live one hour drive from Sweden, 3 hrs to Göteborg, 5 hrs to Stockholm, so I can easily pick locally without customs and fees. Yet there's the price for extra backs and lenses.
Otherwise anywhere else it's overpriced, pure speculation, the proof is in the prices of the 500 ELM often 3x cheaper!, yet it's the same dumb body, just with an added motor. At which point some will explain that it's bigger instead of the small form factor of the non-motorized body and doesn't look so pretty. Ok, but then it's not about the intrinsic merits of the gear itself. Reminds me of the insane price difference between Leica II and Zorki-1.

Recently i am much into the old Bronica S/S2, it's a way more complex piece of mechanical engineering than these silly 500 bodies, yes these old Bronica do sell cheap, specially the ones from Japan.

Arthurwg · Dec 15, 2020

But you've got to remember one thing: Those Hasselblads are worth every cent.

Sirius Glass · Dec 15, 2020

Arthurwg said:
But you've got to remember one thing: Those Hasselblads are worth every cent.

Actually much more.

Spot V · May 18, 2021

Old Gregg said:
I pay little attention to prices, as I already have all Hasselblad gear I need. My biggest worry is availability of parts that wear out. Even little things like viewfinder diopters. What if my vision gets worse and I won't be able to find a -2 or -3 one? When my backs die, will I be able to find a replacement? I have developed a new kind of GAS: "more-of-the-same-thing GAS".

Same here; only with the old Bronicas. But I decided that I have enough of them by now.
...unless there's one at a ridiculously low price, of course ;-)

Kodachromeguy · May 18, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Surprisingly, Hasselblads represent good value right now.

Prices for everything else have been raising much faster than on Hasselblads. Leicas almost doubled in a year, judging by the sold actions on eBay. Mamiya RB/RZ gear also accelerated much faster. Premium P&S compacts are 2x from a year ago. But you can still get a nice V-series kit with a 80mm lens for under $3K! Maybe only 20% more than a year ago.

One big exception: the Hasselblad backs have gone way up in price, especially the type 3 or type 4 A12 backs.

Premium point and shoots: poor choice on which to spend your money because of the failure rate of these 20 or 30 year old electronic devices.

NB23 · May 18, 2021

Meh. Rolleiflex is the law.

Max Freedman · May 19, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Heh... this lovely thread popped up on top of the unread list again. Therefore let me share an observation.

Surprisingly, Hasselblads represent good value right now.

Prices for everything else have been raising much faster than on Hasselblads. Leicas almost doubled in a year, judging by the sold actions on eBay. Mamiya RB/RZ gear also accelerated much faster. Premium P&S compacts are 2x from a year ago. But you can still get a nice V-series kit with a 80mm lens for under $3K! Maybe only 20% more than a year ago.

The film camera market has fallen trap to the same thing most hobbies have: youtube hype. Gone, for the most part, is reading a magazine and seeing a review for a new camera, or lusting after medium format cameras in the advertisements. The new generation of film shooters (aged 16-30) never experienced this concept. That age range is the generation of film shooters who got into film by choice, not because it's the only way to take good quality photographs. One of the big new things with this crop of people is the usage of youtube and instagram to make content and share photos. These youtube "film gurus" will do things like buy an rz67, make some videos with it, and then just like that their fanbase all goes out and buys one. Thats exactly what happened to the mamiya cameras, the leicas, and the point and shoots. Hell, theres a youtuber that charges over $100 for a video "class" about shooting with his leica m6. Why hasn't the hasselblad fallen to this trap? No youtuber hype. Generally, the reputation of the V series as the best 120 camera has been a thing since the 1960s. That school of thought, unlike what happened to the mamiyas or the leicas, or the point and shoots, never really changed. When people were selling their leicas to buy a nikon d1x, or their rz67s for a mamiya zd, companies like hasselblad and kodak were making digital backs for the v series, making the pricing stay fairly similar. Additionally, hasselblad made an iteration of the v series up until the mid 2010s, meaning you could still buy new lenses, new bodies, new backs, so the pricing never really fell as much as other 120 cameras. The price increase we see now is just a return the pricing of the 90s.

Also, for metrics sake, I bought a hasselblad 500c kit with the 80, 150, 2 backs, and a couple other accessories for $2000 locally from the original owner.

GLS · May 19, 2021

Max Freedman said:
Hell, theres a youtuber that charges over $100 for a video "class" about shooting with his leica m6

Are his initials EK by any chance? That guy is insufferable.

Mainecoonmaniac · May 19, 2021

Max Freedman said:
The film camera market has fallen trap to the same thing most hobbies have: youtube hype. Gone, for the most part, is reading a magazine and seeing a review for a new camera, or lusting after medium format cameras in the advertisements. The new generation of film shooters (aged 16-30) never experienced this concept. That age range is the generation of film shooters who got into film by choice, not because it's the only way to take good quality photographs. One of the big new things with this crop of people is the usage of youtube and instagram to make content and share photos. These youtube "film gurus" will do things like buy an rz67, make some videos with it, and then just like that their fanbase all goes out and buys one. Thats exactly what happened to the mamiya cameras, the leicas, and the point and shoots. Hell, theres a youtuber that charges over $100 for a video "class" about shooting with his leica m6. Why hasn't the hasselblad fallen to this trap? No youtuber hype. Generally, the reputation of the V series as the best 120 camera has been a thing since the 1960s. That school of thought, unlike what happened to the mamiyas or the leicas, or the point and shoots, never really changed. When people were selling their leicas to buy a nikon d1x, or their rz67s for a mamiya zd, companies like hasselblad and kodak were making digital backs for the v series, making the pricing stay fairly similar. Additionally, hasselblad made an iteration of the v series up until the mid 2010s, meaning you could still buy new lenses, new bodies, new backs, so the pricing never really fell as much as other 120 cameras. The price increase we see now is just a return the pricing of the 90s.

Also, for metrics sake, I bought a hasselblad 500c kit with the 80, 150, 2 backs, and a couple other accessories for $2000 locally from the original owner.

Here's my 2¢ worth. 10 years ago, photographers have already have gotten their first digital cameras. The novelty of shooting their first digital camera wore off and hedonic adaptation set in. Gear heads started chasing more megapixels and some had a lot of film gear and started selling their high end film gear to fund their pursuit. A few found out that more megapixels isn't necessarily better started to buy film gear again. Those aged 16-30 rarely shot film and it's something new and entered the film gear market. Being an old fart and starting photography back in to late 70's, I only could dream of having a Hasselblad. The only time I was able to touch one when I was an photographer's assistant loading A-12 film backs. Time was right for me 10 years ago because I had lusted after one for decades and they were affordable at a time when some owners of Hasselblad didn't value them anymore. I never sold any of my film gear that I had since the 80's because I used them professionally and had an attachment to them. My last purchase of a digital camera was a 5 year old Fuji XT-1 that I got on ebay for less than half of the original price. I could live with 16MP.
For the past decade, I went to thrift stores and bought film gear because it was cheap. I recently sold a Yashica T2 on ebay for $150 that I bought for $1.50. Friends have also given me film gear because it's been sitting in the closet for decades. All of them use their phones as their primary camera. I'm just a hobbyist now and I'm not going to break the bank for new gear. I have a lot of film gear that I don't use and I'll sell them to buy new photo toys and supplies.

Jeremy Mudd · May 19, 2021

Old Gregg said:
I can tell you do not like Youtube. If you did, you would have known that Thomas Heaton, who's one of the top (definitely in top 5) YouTube photographers, shoots Hasselblad and loves it. He's also an amazing landscape photographer. No need to over-generalize and look down on YouTube as a platform. We do not have a single landscape photographer the caliber of Heaton or Ben Horne here on Photrio, or maybe they're hiding their amazing work.

Have been watching Heaton since he started on YT, really enjoy his work.

Last year I got some likes on my instagram account from him and they were on my GX617 shots - then a month or two later he made a video showing his new-to-him GX617. Nice to see him shooting film on both the Hasselblad and GX617. The GX617 is already crazy in regards to prices now so I doubt he would influence that market too much.

Jeremy

warden · May 19, 2021

Old Gregg said:
......If you did, you would have known that Thomas Heaton, who's one of the top (definitely in top 5) YouTube photographers, shoots Hasselblad and loves it. He's also an amazing landscape photographer. ......

Thanks for the heads up about Thomas Heaton, who I hadn't heard of. Just watched one of his videos about using his Hasselblad and it was quite enjoyable.

warden · May 19, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Just last Sunday some Karen screeched at me: "stay away from my children!". Bitch, your children are being filmed by at least 3 surveillance video cameras right now and I'm actually waiting for their fat asses to get out of my frame!

lol!

Tom Kershaw · May 20, 2021

Jeremy Mudd said:
Last year I got some likes on my instagram account from him and they were on my GX617 shots - then a month or two later he made a video showing his new-to-him GX617.

I still haven't really got the hang of social media, prefer this forum for the searchability and community. Perhaps I should work out how to use Instagram...

warden · May 20, 2021

Tom Kershaw said:
I still haven't really got the hang of social media, prefer this forum for the searchability and community. Perhaps I should work out how to use Instagram...

There are good uses for each really. Definitely check out your favorite photographers, galleries, etc on Instagram and Youtube. Plenty to see and learn there.

logan2z · May 20, 2021

warden said:
There are good uses for each really. Definitely check out your favorite photographers, galleries, etc on Instagram and Youtube. Plenty to see and learn there.

Unfortunately none of my favorite photographers are on Instagram or YouTube. They're either too old to bother or dead.

Jeremy Mudd · May 20, 2021

Tom Kershaw said:
I still haven't really got the hang of social media, prefer this forum for the searchability and community. Perhaps I should work out how to use Instagram...

I think instagram is worthwhile to have as a photographer. It's a good source of inspiration and despite what another poster said here, there are lots of talented photographers on there and I've found a few new favorites from it, to add to my favorite dead photographers.

I don't work mine very hard and only have about 1000 followers, but I've picked up some paid commission work and event work from it, and also sold a few prints as a direct result of folks seeing something they like on there. It also pushes people to my website since I have that address listed on my profile.

Jeremy

warden · May 20, 2021

logan2z said:
Unfortunately none of my favorite photographers are on Instagram or YouTube. They're either too old to bother or dead.

The old and the dead are pretty much my go-tos as well. ;-)

film_man · May 25, 2021

As much as I hate the way instagram operates (and the app is abysmal apart from the looking at content bit) it is a very good resource. You don't need to only look at the old and dead. They were young once. And there plenty of younger (or at least not retired nor dead) people on instagram that create really good work. Maybe not with film but that doesn't make it any less valid when looking for inspiration, worthwhile photojournalism, etc. Plenty of film only accounts too if that's what you're after.

haruharu · May 29, 2021

AnselMortensen said:
I had a hard time finding a decent, reasonably-priced 80mm CF lens about 6 months ago. All overpriced, IMHO, and many had haze. Got one from Japan, but paid more than I wanted to, after seeing low prices previously. I found a Makro-Planar for the same price locally a month later....<shrug>

How do you like the 120mm? Which situation do you reach for it? Was thinking of picking one up

AnselMortensen · May 30, 2021

I like the Makro-Planar, and use it mostly for flowers, close-up abstracts, tabletop, etc.
It is significantly longer than my 80 CF, so a little more unwieldy hand-held. I might recommend it it as an all-around lens, if someone could only have one lens...I don't shoot a lot of distant landscapes... mid-distances and closer are where most of my subjects are. I'm looking forward to trying the MP for portraiture in the near future.

haruharu · May 30, 2021

AnselMortensen said:
I like the Makro-Planar, and use it mostly for flowers, close-up abstracts, tabletop, etc.
It is significantly longer than my 80 CF, so a little more unwieldy hand-held. I might recommend it it as an all-around lens, if someone could only have one lens...I don't shoot a lot of distant landscapes... mid-distances and closer are where most of my subjects are. I'm looking forward to trying the MP for portraiture in the near future.

Thank you. At the moment i am interested in portraiture and cityscapes. Wondering if i am better served with purchasing 50mm, 120mm or 150mm. (Have 80)

warden · May 31, 2021

haruharu said:
Thank you. At the moment i am interested in portraiture and cityscapes. Wondering if i am better served with purchasing 50mm, 120mm or 150mm. (Have 80)

An 80 with a 150 is a nice pairing imho.

Sirius Glass · May 31, 2021

warden said:
An 80 with a 150 is a nice pairing imho.

80mm and 250mm is better since it is a 3:1 image change rather than a 2:1 image change. I do not do portraits generally, the 150mm lens is my least used lens.

Hasselblad prices have really gone up

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