I want A Hasselblad. Talk Me Out Of It!

Kodachromeguy said:

The truly rational person (what, we photographers???) might pare it down to two types in each size:

1. 4×5" monorail and folding field.
2. Med format SLR and rangefinder.
3. 35mm SLR and rangefinder.

But who is rational or has purged GAS permanently? Regardless, one day our offspring/surviving spouse might need to clear away our possessions. Make it easy for them.

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I scrapped 2 "parts" colorheads yesterday. Of course I removed parts that I'll never use. Darkroom stuff takes up space but how am I supposed to get by without my 6 enlargers? Let's be reasonable!

Kodachromeguy said:

The truly rational person (what, we photographers???) might pare it down to two types in each size:

1. 4×5" monorail and folding field.
2. Med format SLR and rangefinder.
3. 35mm SLR and rangefinder.

But who is rational or has purged GAS permanently? Regardless, one day our offspring/surviving spouse might need to clear away our possessions. Make it easy for them.

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Yeah, but how about all the lenses for those 6 cameras?

mshchem said:

If I could only have one camera it would be the GW690III HANDS DOWN

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I confess that I lust for this camera as well. I've hesitated because I'm afraid it would be too "problematic." But I could not imagine that I would use it in the field in the same way I use my Hasselblad, or anywhere near as often.

Arthurwg said:

I confess that I lust for this camera as well. I've hesitated because I'm afraid it would be too "problematic.".

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Mine has been 100% reliable and a lot of film has gone through it.

Team Fuji Rangefinder here. A decade ago it was my choice and took 8 years to get anything to compliment it. Contains the rest of formats and is travel friendly.
My unit is rather fine. At a photo walk it got compliments for being well kept. I scheduled a CLA that I have had to postpone, basically to get the RF checked out.

mshchem said:

If I could only have one camera it would be the GW690III HANDS DOWN

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Andrew O'Neill said:

The Texas Leica!

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MattKing said:

The GW680 is what attracts my longing .

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Price wise it's generally a few notches below Hassies, mamiya RFs and such. Most good cameras were way cheap prepandemic!
Mamiya 6 or 7 or the Bessa III/GF670 would be my ideal cameras but for that price one can buy a heap of film and travel.
The 6x9s were very well priced before, I chose one because "no replacement for displacement" but for some situations 6x9 is excessive! 220 would be wonderful to have, for example, travel.
A 6x8 would be great for an extra frame. If I ever need another unit I'll hunt one.

Yup. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing a Hasselblad when they were going for cheap. But back then, I was on GAS meds. Now that I'm retired, they are no longer covered

Seriously?????

Andrew O'Neill said:

Yup. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing a Hasselblad when they were going for cheap. But back then, I was on GAS meds. Now that I'm retired, they are no longer covered

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My doctor told me this condition comes and goes periodically. It's known medically as "Passing GAS"...

Andrew O'Neill said:

Yup. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing a Hasselblad when they were going for cheap. But back then, I was on GAS meds. Now that I'm retired, they are no longer covered

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These meds have serious side effects, that's why there's no coverage. As a loyal countryman you need to support local people with shared liberal democratic ideals and swear off any purchases from aggressor states.

Best to purchase a tangible asset like a Hasselblad, and some good British made roll film!

Lots of Kentmere 200, get a comfortable shoulder bag

Let's Roll!

One negative: I have it on good authority that you will never see 1/500 sec. from a Hasselblad lens. Average will be 1/350, which might require a critical exposure adjustment.

Arthurwg said:

One negative: I have it on good authority that you will never see 1/500 sec. from a Hasselblad lens. Average will be 1/350, which might require a critical exposure adjustment.

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Interesting...On the other hand, I don't think I've ever used top speed on any of my cameras... I've always wondered why my RB lenses top off at 1/400th...

Arthurwg said:

One negative: I have it on good authority that you will never see 1/500 sec. from a Hasselblad lens. Average will be 1/350, which might require a critical exposure adjustment.

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When I had a Hasselblad, I never wanted to use 1/500th second...

chuckroast said:

My doctor told me this condition comes and goes periodically. It's known medically as "Passing GAS"...

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I have fought GAS for years, but it never passes.

djdister said:

When I had a Hasselblad, I never wanted to use 1/500th second...

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Aerial photography has entered the chat...

A bit but not quite off topic, I sent a 501CM to Jim at Barn Owl last week to the last address I used for him in mid 2024 which was on Northfield Road. It got there on Friday and I sent him an email the day I shipped it, have not heard a peep since which was not my experience in the previous three service sessions I have done with him. I left a message on his VM but I also dug up a reddit thread started 5 days ago in which a person sent him a camera back in October and has not heard anything at all.

I know our beloved techs get swamped at times, but radio silence on the receipt of expensive gear makes me pretty nervous. Anyone ship to him in the past few months and was it the Northfield Road address in MA?

Ai Print said:

View attachment 415089
Aerial photography has entered the chat...

A bit but not quite off topic, I sent a 501CM to Jim at Barn Owl last week to the last address I used for him in mid 2024 which was on Northfield Road. It got there on Friday and I sent him an email the day I shipped it, have not heard a peep since which was not my experience in the previous three service sessions I have done with him. I left a message on his VM but I also dug up a reddit thread started 5 days ago in which a person sent him a camera back in October and has not heard anything at all.

I know our beloved techs get swamped at times, but radio silence on the receipt of expensive gear makes me pretty nervous. Anyone ship to him in the past few months and was it the Northfield Road address in MA?

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It is for this reason I never ship anything unless I have affirmative confirmation from the recipient they are ready for it.

I have emailed Jim twice in the past month or so to get an idea of cost and timelines for a repair and it's been radio silence. I wrote this off to the bustle of the holidaze. We'll see.

Andrew O'Neill said:

Interesting...On the other hand, I don't think I've ever used top speed on any of my cameras... I've always wondered why my RB lenses top off at 1/400th...

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Help wedding photographers balancing fill flash with outdoors and still have some flexibility with f stops.

Good thing I'll not be photographing any weddings any time soon...

Andrew O'Neill said:

Interesting...On the other hand, I don't think I've ever used top speed on any of my cameras... I've always wondered why my RB lenses top off at 1/400th...

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I have tested dozens of leaf and focal plane shutters of all kinds from brand new Hasselblads to old Copals, just CLAed Compurs, Nikon SLRs, TLRs, etc. using a timing test. No large shutter - even new - will ever hit nominal speed with a simple shutter speed timing test.

There are several reasons for this. The time open in the center is longer than the time at the edges. Unless you have a timer that takes this edge-vs.-center timing into account, measuring just center open time naively will give you an apparently slow shutter.

The other reason is just physics. It's easy to tune a small curtain on a Nikon or Leica to be pretty close to nominal. But when you're slamming around the big shutter blades on a Copal #3 shutter, it's hard to move that much mass with any real timing precision.

For this reason, if a simple timing measurement show the higher speeds up to even 1 full stop slow, I don't worry about it. It's inevitably a measurement artifact (that's "artefact" for our Brit cousins - unless you have a fancy lab speed tester. More than that, and the shutter needs servicing in my experience.

The good news is that the shutter center speeds are slower at these higher nominal speeds which means more exposure. For monochrome film, it's just a non issue. These films have more than enough latitude to handle it. For color some testing may be in order to see how the shutter is actually impacting film exposure.

I would point out that our predecessors managed to work with far lower precision tools than we have today, but had such mastery of their craft that they learned to work with the equipment they had. All they needed was for the error - whatever it is - to be consistent. And that's the one thing that will send a shutter out for CLA - if it cannot consistently deliver the same measured speed, even with a simple timer.

Some slight variability is expected, especially with older leaf shutters because the springs get stretched each time you cock the shutters. For this reason, when I test, I always measure the error across 5 firings, expressing the result as error in f/stops and I keep track of the standard deviation across the measurements. A high SD means a grumpy shutter. In the field, I always prefire older shutters before actually exposing the film, to get the springs going a bit.

chuckroast said:

It is for this reason I never ship anything unless I have affirmative confirmation from the recipient they are ready for it.

I have emailed Jim twice in the past month or so to get an idea of cost and timelines for a repair and it's been radio silence. I wrote this off to the bustle of the holidaze. We'll see.

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That is the way I usually work too, but took a chance this time. I'm hopefully worrying for nothing, he has been a godsend.

Back to the original topic. The Dow Jones index reached a new record. I suggest you buy your new Hasselblad kit tomorrow. For now, there is an immense amount of money sloshing around the main industrial nations. (GAS alert. I think I hear a Leica IIIG calling.... .)

Markets​

U.S. markets closed.

• DJIA48,977.18+594.79(+1.23%)
  
  
  
• NASDAQ23,395.82+160.19(+0.69%)
  
  
  
• S&P 5006,902.05+43.58(+0.64%)

Kodachromeguy said:

Back to the original topic. The Dow Jones index reached a new record. I suggest you buy your new Hasselblad kit tomorrow. For now, there is an immense amount of money sloshing around the main industrial nations. (GAS alert. I think I hear a Leica IIIG calling.... .)

Markets​

U.S. markets closed.

• DJIA48,977.18+594.79(+1.23%)
  
  
  
• NASDAQ23,395.82+160.19(+0.69%)
  
  
  
• S&P 5006,902.05+43.58(+0.64%)

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Good suggestion!

djdister said:

When I had a Hasselblad, I never wanted to use 1/500th second...

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One of the reasons I chose a Pentax 67 was because it had a 1/1000 top shutter speed. Essential when photographing moving trains.

Ai Print said:

Hasselblad Flexbody with a chimney finder on it, a fantastic tool for serious landscape work.

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Can the same be said for a Rolleiflex with a chimney finder?

Melvin J Bramley said:

Can the same be said for a Rolleiflex with a chimney finder?

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If it tilts, rises and falls?

The Hasselblad Flex Body is also on my list...so I can still feel like a large format photographer when I leave it at home
...Or I'll just save that money for ULF film for my 14x17 O'Clunker...