I want A Hasselblad. Talk Me Out Of It!

[John Wiegerink]

I have a Vb, actually...and a non Vb. They are both top shelf cameras for sure!

I'm planning to go out later this afternoon, with the 8x10, as there is something that I've been wanting to photograph for weeks, but the weather has been the pits. Hopefully, today will be like yesterday. Gorgeous sunlight!
A Hassie outing will happen soon...

We have a sunshine problem here in Michigan in the winter months. It can go weeks on end with no sunshine in Jan and Feb.. It makes one feel very depressed. Enjoy your sunshine while you have it.

 

[chuckroast]

I have a Vb, actually...and a non Vb. They are both top shelf cameras for sure!

I'm planning to go out later this afternoon, with the 8x10, as there is something that I've been wanting to photograph for weeks, but the weather has been the pits. Hopefully, today will be like yesterday. Gorgeous sunlight!
A Hassie outing will happen soon...

That sound you hear is the new 'Blad whining to go out.

(It's a balmy 11F today, or as I see it, short sleeve weather The temptation to go shoot is great, but familial obligations may intervene.)

 

[chuckroast]

I'm going to upgrade from the 3rd edition when I get a chance. The 3rd edition was my bedside reader for many years and is extremely informative for the Hasselblad user.

You may find the 4th edition to be all the "upgrade" you need at a lower price.

The 5th edition appears to cover things like the 205TCC but it only adds about 30 pages overall as I understand it.

I've not seen the 5th personally, but I have never had a question that either the 4th or the internet couldn't answer.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

@chuckroast that's about -11C thanks to Google. We switched over to metric when I was 13 and stopped bothering to convert in my head.
I'm looking forward to getting out with the 8x10, since it will be the first time in 2026 to do so. Mr. Blad is next! Can't wait!

 

[chuckroast]

We have a sunshine problem here in Michigan in the winter months. It can go weeks on end with no sunshine in Jan and Feb.. It makes one feel very depressed. Enjoy your sunshine while you have it.

Yes, but the light there can still be great without it. Taken Christmas Day 2025 near Bellaire, MI on a completely flat gray day:

(Leica M4, 21mm f/4 LTM Color-Skopar w/adapter, FP4+, semistand in Pyrocat-HDC, scans of silver prints)

 

[Pieter12]

Andrew, your Mamiya RB67 camera is already a better, more versatile, and more productive camera than any Hasselblad.
Look at some RB67 features:

Bellows focussing means every lens does close-ups. The wonderful Hasselblad 150mm portrait lens doesn't focus close enough without an extension tube.
Leaf shutters for flash synch.
Best mirror damping system ever, no mirror slap, no camera shake.
Lenses from fish-eye to telephoto at moderate cost.
Rotating back means never having to turn the camera on its side.
67 format negatives naturally fit standard rectangular paper sizes. Square shooters 6x6 have to crop and waste film area to do the same. The 'blad becomes a big, heavy, expensive 645 camera for rectangular formats.
Weight doesn't matter 'cos it's on a tripod.
Purely mechanical system, no electrics, no electronics to fail. No tricky matching of components to avoid a jam. The RB67 should be repairable into the indefinite future.

And it's not a veblen brand that asks stratospheric prices for mundane accessories.

And if you really really want to shoot square you can do it with the RB67. Just get a P Adapter plus a M Adapter and a Roll Film Holder from the Mamiya Press system.

And a heavy behemoth compared to the Hasselblad.

 

[chuckroast]

@chuckroast that's about -11C thanks to Google. We switched over to metric when I was 13 and stopped bothering to convert in my head.
I'm looking forward to getting out with the 8x10, since it will be the first time in 2026 to do so. Mr. Blad is next! Can't wait!

Well, as someone equally comfortable in English, MKS, and CGS measurement systems, I would be remiss in not pointing out that you didn't completely shift to metric: You're still shooting "8x10" and "14x17" ... mwuahahahaha

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Well, as someone equally comfortable in English, MKS, and CGS measurement systems, I would be remiss in pointing out that you didn't completely shift to metric: You're still shooting "8x10" and "14x17" ... mwuahahahaha

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

We have a sunshine problem here in Michigan in the winter months. It can go weeks on end with no sunshine in Jan and Feb.. It makes one feel very depressed. Enjoy your sunshine while you have it.

No Sun coupled with weeks of rain here can really drag one down... thankfully, I have the darkroom and my UV exposure box to keep me healthy LOL!

 

[Pieter12]

By the way, even though you don't like the 6x6 format

I love the square format, often cropping others square. I once wrote an essay about the square for a book project. I'm pretty sure I have posted this before.

 

[John Wiegerink]

No Sun coupled with weeks of rain here can really drag one down... thankfully, I have the darkroom and my UV exposure box to keep me healthy LOL!

Yup, dull days are for darkroom work or camera repair/restoration. When my father retired head I put up two 100' long "gutter-connect" green houses and another 100' "stand-alone" greenhouse/cold frame. We raised bedding plants for retail and wholesale. We also raised stock for my father's truck farm. You would not believe the change in one's attitude when you go from a dull, dreary, cold day and walk into the greenhouse full of hanging baskets, flowering petunias, marigolds, and geraniums. I sure miss that, but life goes on. Two cameras to repair and fine tune tomorrow. Might make it out to test them Tuesday. We just got about 5-6 inches of fresh fluffy white stuff for good winter scenes.

 

[mshchem]

Yup, dull days are for darkroom work or camera repair/restoration. When my father retired head I put up two 100' long "gutter-connect" green houses and another 100' "stand-alone" greenhouse/cold frame. We raised bedding plants for retail and wholesale. We also raised stock for my father's truck farm. You would not believe the change in one's attitude when you go from a dull, dreary, cold day and walk into the greenhouse full of hanging baskets, flowering petunias, marigolds, and geraniums. I sure miss that, but life goes on. Two cameras to repair and fine tune tomorrow. Might make it out to test them Tuesday. We just got about 5-6 inches of fresh fluffy white stuff for good winter scenes.

My Dad had a little greenhouse, he made use of every square inch. He had a dwarf kumquat bush. Every winter it was loaded with fruit, delicious.

 

[John Wiegerink]

My Dad had a little greenhouse, he made use of every square inch. He had a dwarf kumquat bush. Every winter it was loaded with fruit, delicious.

I bet he enjoyed every minute he spent in it too. For me, growing up in farm country, planting, watching things grow and harvesting didn't mean a lot when I was a kid, but I sure enjoy it now.

 

[mshchem]

I bet he enjoyed every minute he spent in it too. For me, growing up in farm country, planting, watching things grow and harvesting didn't mean a lot when I was a kid, but I sure enjoy it now.

My Dad was born on the family farm in 1916, grew up walking behind a horse, found the most amazing native artifacts. Different world. He always had gardens, fruit trees, house plants. I have his mother's Christmas cactus, in the form of a offspring from a broken branch. The original plant was split and has spawned dozens of large beautiful plants. Mine has been blooming like crazy for the last couple months.

 

[Arthurwg]

I love the square format, often cropping others square. I once wrote an essay about the square for a book project. I'm pretty sure I have posted this before.

I love the square format as well, and often crop rectangles into squares. Thanks for posting your thoughts. One criticism is that the square is "static," but I find this can be avoided by having some lines exit the frame on a diagonal. My favorite collection of squares is Friedlander's "Western Landscapes" as well as his other work.

 

[chuckroast]

I love the square format as well, and often crop rectangles into squares. Thanks for posting your thoughts. One criticism is that the square is "static," but I find this can be avoided by having some lines exit the frame on a diagonal. My favorite collection of squares is Friedlander's "Western Landscapes" as well as his other work.

I've always found the rectangular vs. square debate kind of silly. Human eyes see in neither aspect ratio. We see in a circle. The scene should dictate the presentation format.

I crop promiscuously to improve an image, irrespective of the original film geometry.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Yes. I am the proud owner of a 500cm, three lenses, three holders, prism finder, waste level finder, and various accessories, all wrapped up in an aluminum case. There is also a Polaroid holder, with unknown pack film in it Thank you to everyone who helped me give this a good hard think...I know you tried real hard to talk me out of it!

Well done. Now to add more lens and a SWC.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Well done. Now to add more lens and a SWC.

Don't want the SWC, but I do want a flex body...eventually...and maybe one more lens.

 

[chuckroast]

Yes. I am the proud owner of a 500cm, three lenses, three holders, prism finder, waste level finder, and various accessories, all wrapped up in an aluminum case. There is also a Polaroid holder, with unknown pack film in it Thank you to everyone who helped me give this a good hard think...I know you tried real hard to talk me out of it!

Which lenses did you end up with, if I may ask?

 

[chuckroast]

Don't want the SWC, but I do want a flex body...eventually...and maybe one more lens.

The SWC was good for particular applications, and as much as I like the idea, I cannot imagine anything is would do better than my 40mm f/4 CF FLE Distagon. If someone knows, do share what magic that 38mm Biogon has that the 40mm does not...

I wanted a Flexbody as well, but put it on the "found cheap at a flea market" purchase list.
If I'm going to go through the grind of fiddling with camera movements, I'm going to either use a Crown Graphic (works for most things), a 4x5 Wisner Technical, or, if weight is an issue, a "Baby" 2x3 Speed Graphic.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Which lenses did you end up with, if I may ask?

50, 80, 150.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Don't want the SWC, but I do want a flex body...eventually...and maybe one more lens.

Since you have vast experience with view camera, you sweet spot may be a FlexBody or ArcBody. I think the ArcBody would be a better fit for you.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Since you have vast experience with view camera, you sweet spot may be a FlexBody or ArcBody. I think the ArcBody would be a better fit for you.

The ArcBody appears to be way more expensive than the FlexBody, no? The latter also being very plentiful on the 2nd hand market...

 

[chuckroast]

Since you have vast experience with view camera, you sweet spot may be a FlexBody or ArcBody. I think the ArcBody would be a better fit for you.

I believe the ArcBody needs special lenses to fully exploit its movements whereas the FlexBody mounts standard CF lenses with some limitations in movement. At least, that's how I heared it.

 

[Sirius Glass]

The ArcBody appears to be way more expensive than the FlexBody, no? The latter also being very plentiful on the 2nd hand market...

I like the ArcBody because I would use it for architectural photographs and well as landscapes but it needs Rodenstock lenses, between the two I would be happier with a FlexBody and use my already purchased Hasselblad lenses.