I confess, I sold my Hasselblad today...

DWThomas · Feb 8, 2015

"The only thing constant in life is change"
-attribution unknown (maybe it was me ... )

Hasselblad is certainly a living legend and a fine beauty to look at, maybe even to shoot with, but I've never had the honor. Back circa 2005 when I thought perhaps the d!git@lly encouraged decline in film camera values might allow me to buy one on the used market, I wound up with a Bronica SQ-A based on an admittedly subjective cost/benefit analysis. Do I believe they are absolutely equivalent -- no, not really -- but I am doing well enough with it to satisfy me. Actually, I amuse my aging retired self by occasionally entering a print or three in art or photo shows in my area. While I have had Bronica shots accepted and even receive awards, my last award winner was taken with my Yashica Mat 124g and I've had shots taken with my Perkeo II land awards. In fact the winner previous to the last was taken on 8x10 x-ray film with a home-built pinhole camera! I like to think it's about what we do with the tools more than what the tools are.

Thus endeth Dave's pontification of the day ... :munch:

Frankly Unsharp · Feb 8, 2015

momus said:
I don't think so. To paraphrase a politician, one whose name I can't remember right now....I've known bad people. You're not a bad person.

On the other hand, I guess it depends on what you did w/ the money that you got for it. If you bought a DSLR, then yes, you are a very, very bad person :}

Most of the money is still burning in my pocket, but my plan is to buy more film, slide mounts (24x36, 60x60 and 45x60, whatever my supplier can find on the market) and chemicals for B/W processing (my father left behind a complete set of MF darkroom equipment, it would be a shame not to use it. Tack, pappa!).
But no more money for the digital world. I don't like pushing buttons that I hardly can see with my eyes or feel with my fingertips.

MattKing · Feb 8, 2015

If the sale left you without a medium format SLR, or a square format camera, you might have occasion to miss it from time to time.

ic-racer · Feb 8, 2015

A few months ago I sold my early 1980s Rolleiflex SLX which looks like about the same vintage as your Hasselblad. However, I sold mine to upgrade to the newer Rolleiflex 6008i.

BrianShaw · Feb 8, 2015

Roger Cole said:
No; nor it is not meet you should. For, though I speak it to you, I think the Hasselblad is but a camera, as my Mamyiya is: the violet appears to its film as it doth to mine: the lens shows the image to it as it doth to mine; all its films have but photochemical conditions: its lenses and backs laid by, in its nakedness it appears but a camera; and though its marketing be higher aimed than others, yet, when it photographs, it photographs with the like ways. Therefore when it sees the image, as our cameras see ours, the photographs be of the same nature as ours are: yet, in reason, no camera should possess a man with any appearance of obsession, lest he, by showing it, should credit or blame film box and not the photographer.

Amen.

removedacct1 · Feb 8, 2015

DWThomas said:
I like to think it's about what we do with the tools more than what the tools are.

Surely you are preaching to the proverbial choir here?! *wink*

Dan Quan · Feb 8, 2015

DWThomas said:
"The only thing constant in life is change"
-attribution unknown (maybe it was me ... )

Heraclitus, I think...

Change is the only constant in life.

edit: nah, I just googled it

heespharm · Feb 8, 2015

My 500cm is the prize of my collection... Even more than my 4 lens Leica kit and my mamiya 6

BenJT · Feb 8, 2015

Trask said:
You sold a Hasselblad, not the Hasselblad -- there are more where that one came from, if you ever decide to pick one up again.

This is a great way to look at it. I've sold cameras before because I needed the money, it sucks, but as long as I had the idea in my head that there would always be another one out there, it was easier to cope with (sounding like an addict).

Alan Gales · Feb 8, 2015

A Hasselblad is just a tool like any other camera (and yes I have owned one).

Your photography is what's important.

Sirius Glass · Feb 9, 2015

RalphLambrecht said:
Thomas, there is no 'just' or 'only' about it.I's a lifestyle and the ultimate of mechanical and optical engineering;indeed, it takes all equipment excuses away;if one can't make a decent photograph woth a Hasselblad, they should give up photography and try carpet weaving.

+1

film_man · Feb 9, 2015

Frankly Unsharp said:
It's very well built, but still I find it somehow boring. Cameras like Kowa/Six, Kowa Super 66, Mamiya TLRs, Ikoflex + a number of 6X7 beauties; they all feel so much more interesting to handle.
I've sold off a few odd machines, hoping that the total number would stay under 50. All film cameras, of course, the digital ones are easily counted: 1 (one)

I sold mine a couple of months ago. For me a Hasselblad is such a magnificent camera to look at and some of the best photos I have made were with one but in the end I too find it somehow boring and impractical as a handheld camera. Do not fear though, there are so many more other cameras to buy and sell that we're good for life

Frankly Unsharp · Feb 9, 2015

film_man said:
I sold mine a couple of months ago. For me a Hasselblad is such a magnificent camera to look at and some of the best photos I have made were with one but in the end I too find it somehow boring and impractical as a handheld camera. Do not fear though, there are so many more other cameras to buy and sell that we're good for life

You can also look at it this way; by selling a Hasselblad to somebody who's never owned one You will spread the joy! Keeping a camera , maybe for decades, without selling it, might thus be seen as an act of selfishness...

rowghani · Feb 9, 2015

heespharm said:
My 500cm is the prize of my collection... Even more than my 4 lens Leica kit and my mamiya 6

Id trade my blad for a 6 in a heart beat. Quieter, easier to use and just as good if not better optically.

heespharm · Feb 9, 2015

rowghani said:
Id trade my blad for a 6 in a heart beat. Quieter, easier to use and just as good if not better optically.

Yeah the only knock against the mamiya is parallax .. Not good especially in macro photography ... Oh and limited lens choices... But both are my favorite systems and I love shooting 6x6

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Thomas Bertilsson · Feb 9, 2015

rowghani said:
Id trade my blad for a 6 in a heart beat. Quieter, easier to use and just as good if not better optically.

How easy is it to get a Mamiya 6 repaired these days?

heespharm · Feb 9, 2015

Thomas Bertilsson said:
How easy is it to get a Mamiya 6 repaired these days?

A couple places do it... Apparently there's a guy at precision camera who's the mamiya guru

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rowghani · Feb 9, 2015

heespharm said:
Yeah the only knock against the mamiya is parallax .. Not good especially in macro photography ... Oh and limited lens choices... But both are my favorite systems and I love shooting 6x6

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

no for sure, and I do mostly street stuff so that's why rangefinders are the way to go for me. I must admit the Blad feels really nice shooting even though it takes quite a lot of skill to use properly, but again for my type of photography its not instant enough.

Thomas Bertilsson · Feb 9, 2015

heespharm said:
A couple places do it... Apparently there's a guy at precision camera who's the mamiya guru

Good to know. I thought they had a severe shortage of parts, particularly regarding the film winding mechanism.

A friend of mine used to have one, and he absolutely loved it. After viewing many of his prints I had to concur that the Mamiya was probably a little bit sharper than the Hasselblad optics. But not really enough to matter. The Hasselblad lenses drew a prettier picture wide open, so six of one and half dozen of the other.

I love rangefinders, and the Mamiya 6 is a heck of a camera. The 7 is amazing too, of course, and there are some very impressive Fuji RFs out there too. And Bronica should not be underestimated either.

frank · Feb 9, 2015

Had a Mamiya 6 and loved it, but had to sell. It's been replaced with a Plaubel Makina 67w that I love even more.

Sirius Glass · Feb 9, 2015

I had a Mamiya 330 will all the lenses and every accessory known to man or woman and I sold it to buy my Hasselblads. I never looked back. Me thinks you went in the wrong direction. Instant karma is going to get you!

Thomas Bertilsson · Feb 9, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
I had a Mamiya 330 will all the lenses and every accessory known to man or woman and I sold it to buy my Hasselblads. I never looked back. Me thinks you went in the wrong direction. Instant karma is going to get you!

You, sir, are a bad influence!

Sirius Glass · Feb 9, 2015

Thomas Bertilsson said:
You, sir, are a bad influence!

Not so. If a photograph does not work, the problem is me. This simplifies locating the root cause. Much more efficient.

Richard Man · Feb 9, 2015

I *might* get a small windfall, after years of "suffering." I am debating whether to get an 8x10 or a 501CM. Already shooting mostly with my 4x5, XPan II, and Leica M9.

Black Dog · Feb 9, 2015

Frankly Unsharp said:
...and I have no regrets, although I did it for money. Does this make me a bad person?

Not at all if you feel it's the right thing to do. I did the same thing when I decided to concentrate on LF. Now I think I might want a Superwide!

I confess, I sold my Hasselblad today...

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