Is that a Hasselblad?

Ever been asked "Is that a Hasselbad?"

  • No.

    Votes: 294 37.0%

  • Yes, while shooting 35mm or smaller.

    Votes: 25 3.1%

  • Yes, while shooting Medium Format

    Votes: 219 27.6%

  • Yes, while shooting Large Format

    Votes: 97 12.2%

  • Yes, and it was a Hasselblad!

    Votes: 227 28.6%
  • Total voters
    794

bdial

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I guess is was the day for it. I got the question yesterday, I was sitting in a bagel shop loading a roll of film in my Hasselblad.
 

Phillip P. Dimor

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I've gotten the 'Is that a movie camera?' one with a tlr and my speed graphic.
Also 'Is that a 35mm?' with my Pentax 645. At least that guy was pretty close. Better than 'Is that an old digital camera?' !
 

Moopheus

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Phillip P. Dimor said:
I've gotten the 'Is that a movie camera?' one with a tlr and my speed graphic.
Click to expand...

Someone also asked me if my Speed Graphic was a movie camera, and when I opened it up, they said, "Is that a Hasselblad?" A kid on the street asked, "Is that a camera?"

People notice my old Nikons, too, but they genreally recognize them as Nikons.
 

David A. Goldfarb

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We're spending a few days on the island of Moloka'i, Hawai'i, and I've got my 2x3" Technika. Dollar Rent-a-car gave us an all wheel drive vehicle, so we took a dirt road out to Hale O Lono harbor, which is in a remote part of the island, and I was shooting some land/seascapes and there was a snorkler in the shallows, and as we were getting ready to leave, he came up with a 40-60 lb 'ulua and then came over to the car and asked if I would take a picture, so I said "sure," and he asked "Is that a Leica?"

The guy happened to be the captain of a local fishing charter boat, spearfishing on his day off.
 

Anscojohn

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About 2 years ago in Bryce Canyon, I had just taken a picture with my Pentacon 6TL with my 30mm Arsat, when a young woman walked up to me and said "what a nice Pentacon! is that the 30mm Ukrainian lens?" Turns out she was from the Czech Republic.
*****
I think I would have proposed marriage on the spot!!
 

Chazzy

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Why don't I get to meet women like that?
 

Mike Crawford

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In Gothenburg last year I asked this bloke in the picture if that was a Hasselblad? He didn't say anything!
Mike
PS. Apologies to Victor!
 

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mabman

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Well, I actually had it happen to me last weekend - I was taking some informal shots at an event with a Mamiya C330 (which clearly says "Mamiya C330" on the front), and my cousin asked me if it was a Hasselblad.

Ah, well, at least he recognized a waist-level finder
 

Eric Mac

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Can I see?

I was at a family function over the weekend and shot a picture of someones 3 or 4 year old with my Hexar p&s.

"Can I see?" the little guy asked.

I was puzzled at first, but then realized he wanted to look at the digital screen.

I showed him that there wasn't screen, but he didn't seem very impressed.

Eric
 

Q.G.

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I was at the small local lab the other day, picking up some films i shot, and the (new) guy behind the counter started telling me that the films i shot were taken with a Hasselblad, telling me how i could see that they were.


An annoying ITAH-moment i had when (while i was trying to take some pictures of a building, with the camera on tripod) a guy came up to me, told me that he knew that was a Hasselblad (so not really a ITAH-moment) on the 'pod, and started boring me about the characteristic Hasselblad sound. As if i don't know, right?

Lots of nodding and 'yes, yes'-ing on my part, but he remained where he was, waiting for me to push the button, so he could go "See?!"

I wasn't ready to do so, but wanted him away, and out of the way. So eventually i took the back off, and pushed the release.
He then gave me a very foul look, because the focal plane shutter in that particular Hasselblad sounded nothing like what he so extensively told me it would sound.


But i guess both occassions belong in another category: not ITAH, but AYN ("are you nuts?")
 
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6x6nFla

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Haven't had the ITAH moment yet, but with my ETRS at a local event I was asked if it was a "Leica". I replied well you got the "a" right, it's a Bronica. Later a woman was very concerned I was taking a "professional" picture of her dog and told me "you need to move along". Such fun. haha.
 

Thanasis

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This is kind of related...

Yesterday, a waitress noticed my 501CM sitting on the table and she asked if it was a Lomo camera? I said, "no, it is a Hasselblad". She stared at me blankly for a second and then said she'd never heard of it. Then she told me that she has a friend that has a Lomo camera and it takes "terrific pics".
 

crispinuk

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I recently had a "I haven't seen a baby Linhof in a while" moment, which is forgiveable as my Horseman 980 the gentleman was referring to has an uncanny resemblence to one.
 

Kino

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Willie Jan said:
I always get the question thrown "how many megapixels is that camera" when I stand in the nature with my 4x5 shen hao.

I tell them 1 Gigabyte at least
Click to expand...

Tell 'em its 14 billion jigawatts and the case is 10 million ohms; that should back them off quick...
 

Thanasis

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While setting up my Hassy 501CM, I received another "Is That A Hasselblad?" from a german tourist when i was recently up in Kakadu National Park.
 

2F/2F

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I have been asked that, but most of the time I am asked if I am making a movie. I have been asked this with pretty much any camera that I put up on a tripod, including my Speed Graphic, and even with 35mm cameras. The other day, it was with my Mamiya M645. For some reason a big tripod screams "filmmaker" to many people. Weird.

My favorite response when people start a conversation about equipment is to feign ignorance and say, "I don't really like to talk about equipment." That shuts them up without having to be officially rude. I used this yesterday, in fact, when one guy walked up to me when I was setting up for a music show and started talking to me about my bass amp without introducing himself or even asking what kid of music we played. For the most part, people are very shallow, vapid, and materialistic, and you just have to give them a dose of reality to shut them up. I am here to play music, not to show off my equipment, in other words. You just have to show them that you aren't a member of the leisure class.

Another weird one that I get quite often is: Is that a digital camera? Get it with my Speed Graphic even!

Never underestimate the sheer stupidity and materialism of the average American. Everybody wants to be a consumer expert, and everybody wants to be a judge and jury based on what you have bought in your life. The average person has bought the notion that if it isn't digital it's extremely outdated and not any good hook, line, and sinker.
 
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wclavey

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I got the "is that a movie camera?" for the first time the other day using the Shen Hao 4x5 to photograph some of the local effects of Hurricane Ike. It is the first time I had gotten that one! On the same day, I got the "is that a Hasselblad?" twice, which also surprised me. I have gottenthat question a lot while using the Bronica S2A, which is not surprising, but never with the 4x5 before. And I thought the "movie camera" question was a by-product of using the TLRs on a tripod.
 

arigram

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So, I lower my pants and the girl goes "Oh, my, its so big! Is that a Hasselblad?".
Of course she was looking at the camera next to me.
 

Jarvman

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I got it for the first time at Schoenfeld airport coming back from Berlin. The guy was really cheerful and smiley which isn't what you usually expect from airport staff dealing with scanning luggage. I explained it was a Fuji panoramic and showed him some of the slides I'd taken and had processed in Berlin which he eenjoyed and showed to the woman sitting at the monitor. I wonder how many leathal weapons slid on through while they gawped at them haha. Was a nice experience
 

arigram

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No wonder then photographers are often regarded as security threats. You terrorist.
 

Bosaiya

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Just got the "Is that a Hasselblad" for the first time with my Mamiya C330 on a train the other day. I wouldn't even mention it except that I have had so many people who not only know exactly what it was but have owned them and knew the accessories and features. I never get those remarks with other cameras.

I get the movie camera one a lot with my GX680, but it's hard to blame anyone for that. Someone thought the C330 was a movie camera, which made me smile, but clarified they thought so because of the crank, which kind of makes sense.
 

John Jarosz

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So today I'm out shooting with the 8x20. Little old lady comes by walking her dog. She says: "That's a big camera. Is that a Hasselblad?"

Yikes.

John
 
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