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

Bosaiya

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Got asked again yesterday.

I was waiting for a bus (which I haven't taken in ages) with my C330. The one guy standing there commented that you don't see many people shooting film these days. We chatted for a moment before my bus came.

Sat down and another guy sat close by, looked over at my TLR next to me and asked the inevitable "Is that a Hasselblad?"

I told him it wasn't, explained what it was, then asked him why he thought it might have been a Hasselblad. I'm always curious. He thought for a while and couldn't really tell me why he thought that, then he said maybe it was the two lenses and the boxy shape that looked like a real high-end camera. So I took the time to talk to him about the differences between SLRs and TLRs, etc.

I asked if maybe he had seen some Hasselblad marketing campaign, perhaps on TV or something (I don't watch so I don't know). He thought for a moment, shook his head no, then quipped "Well they went to the moon! That was an out-of-this world marketing campaign!"

Which makes it the second Hasselblad-Moon reference in as many days for me.
 
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Bosaiya

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Two-fer, just got another on a tongue-in-cheek photo I posted on another site.

My response was that it's just so damn sexy it's hard to tell. Oh, and the red camera, too.

 

Mike Té

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Is that a Bronica?

About a year and a half ago, I saw this guy with a very recent all-black Hasselblad (with 90-degree prism and plenty of other bells and whistles) taking pics at some rapids in the La Cloche mountains north-west of here. Not knowing any better, I asked, "Is that a Bronica?". I swear the guy turned pale and did a dry heave.
 

eddym

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Hee hee.... you should have asked him if it was a Holga!
 

benjiboy

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Lucky

Youre lucky, they ask me when I use my C330 with the prism finder and the 250mm lens pair, if I'm from the local TV station !
 

kavandje

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Usually I get the ITAH question when I'm out and about with one or more Rolleiflexes.

It's broadly equivalent, I suppose, to being asked whether one's Mercedes is a BMW. Or, since we're talking Swedes here, Volvo.

;-)

Before anyone flames me: I have a Volvo and I like it. If someone wants to give me a Hassy I'd probably like it too.
 

MenacingTourist

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It finally happened1

I was beginning to think there was something wrong with me but I got the question last Sunday. I was shooting just south of the brooklyn bridge on the promanade with an 8x10 Wisner and a guy and his wife came up and asked if that was a Hassleblad.
It was awesome.
 

kavandje

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Update: someone gave (well, sold) me a Hasselblad. I am now eagerly anticipating being asked if it's a Hasselblad.

 

pauliej

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When they ask ITAH, when it is so OBVIOUS that it's not, be sure to introduce yourself as Weegee! If you're wearing a t-shirt with his image with the Speed Graphic and the cigar, all the funnier. Just a thought...

paulie
 

Vincent Brady

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It seems to me from reading this tread that an air of smugness surrounds the people who post here. I wonder if the self same people would reconnaise the difference between a Stratocaster, Telecaster, Les Paul or an SG guitar if the saw one being played?

TEX
 

StevenJohn

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Actually, yes...and I don't even play the guitar. The difference between a stratocaster and a telecaster is more akin to the difference between a 500c/m and a 2000FC though.
 

Q.G.

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StevenJohn said:
Actually, yes...and I don't even play the guitar. The difference between a stratocaster and a telecaster is more akin to the difference between a 500c/m and a 2000FC though.
Click to expand...
It's much more obvious. Their body (and head) contours aren't even similar, while a 500 C/M and 2000 FC differ only very slightly in appearance..

 

John W

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I'll be using a Hassy this weekend as part of a rental-tour of various MF cameras to see what I like. I wonder if someone will ask ITAH. On a related note, I did get "Is that a Leica?" from a young clerk once while out and about with a Bessa T w/ a chrome 35mm VF mounted on top. ;-)
 

kavandje

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I think more than anything else, the mis-placed "ITAH" questions (and for 'H' you can substitute 'L' and 'R' more often than not) raise an interesting point, in my opinion.

These brands -- Hasselblad, Leica, Rolleiflex, Nikon, and to a lesser extent the great press cameras -- documented the latter half of the 20th century. These cameras have become icons in themselves. Leicas and Nikons photographed the Vietnam war and made it possible for people to see what was going on there. Rolleiflexes have taken some of the most seminal portraits of the 20th century. Leicas secretly mounted on a Lockheed Electra enabled the Americans to compile bombing maps for WW2. Hasselblads photographed the moon. The Crown Graphics et. al. played a crucial role in the establishment of the craft of photojournalism, but it's really the latter half of the 20th century which resonates with people due in part to television, I think, which is why you'll hardly ever be out shooting with a Rolleiflex and be asked if it's a Crown Graphic. But I might be wrong.

It doesn't seem to matter than modern cameras -- the Canon EOS 5DmkIIs, the Nikon D700s -- are (arguably) just as capable, and have documented some of the most crucial images of the beginning of the 21st century. They're not icons. Whether they will ever be remains to be seen.

And people know theit icons, even if they don't "know" them. And when people see a camera they don't recognise (or *do* recognise, to their credit), then it's perhaps understandable that they're -- for lack of a better word -- a little 'star-struck'. They'll go home and tell their spouse, "I saw a man/woman taking pictures with a Hasselblad/Leica/Rolleiflex/Nikon today," in the expectation that this will resonate. Whether or not it does is a function of how their day was, I suppose.

I'd rather be asked "is that a Hasselblad," than, "You aren't still using film, are you?"
 

pauliej

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If the space program had been 30 years earlier, would the astronauts have used Speed Graphics (like Weegee)? Just wondering...

Hay Tex, is that Stratocaster a Fender???? You sure it's not a Broadcaster? Please double check for sure

paulie
 

Steve Smith

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TEX said:
I wonder if the self same people would reconnaise the difference between a Stratocaster, Telecaster, Les Paul or an SG guitar if the saw one being played?
Click to expand...

No. They're all the same. Just planks of wood.

Real guitars have lots of air between the front and the back and cute little 'f' shaped holes at the sides!!!

EDIT: Before anyone changes this into a ITAG thread (Is That A Gibson).... No. It's a Gretsch.


Steve.
 

Vincent Brady

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mjs

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Weird, I hadn't thought of this in years. When I was young(er) my first acoustic six-string was an Alvarez... this would have been about 1973 or so. On the label inside it said "Alvarez by Gretsch". I've never found any references to indicate that Gretsch ever built guitars for Alvarez, and all of the Alvarez folks I've talked to poo-poo the whole idea. Makes me wonder whether I was dreaming my way though my early teen-aged years...

Mike
 

Phillip P. Dimor

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Reminds me of a story I recall, regarding the musician/composer/producer Brian Eno. He was looking for a bass guitar, possibly a fretless one (I can't recall).. He went to a boot sale, found one that was basically a cheap plywood bass guitar where someone had pulled the frets out of the neck.
I forget how much he paid for it but it became one of his most favorite instruments that was used on several albums. I wish I could find the link, it was a good read.

At any rate, sometimes the most pleasing results come from the most unexpected sources.

PS- I'm not a guitarist by any means but I would kill for a Gretsch or Rickenbacher, beautiful things.
 

Bertil

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Recently at the Natural History Museum (London) I had to open up my bag containing my Hasselblad 500C, the guy asked "Is it a Minolta?" !
//Bertil
 

Andrey

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Jan 14, 2008
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I've had a really beat up dSLR before I dumped digital. Canon lines with metal showing on the sides, it was about 2 years old at the time but pretty close to "top of the line" as far as DSLRs go.

I'd get: "wow, that's an old camera. Is that from the 80s?"
"I didn't know anybody shot film anymore"

I just humor them.
 

EASmithV

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blaze-on said:
I ran in to a local woman pro several years ago when I was putting out my "pro" shingle. She said (quite smugly), "Oh, if you don't have a Hasselblad, no one will take you seriously".

I seriously wanted to punch her.
Click to expand...

I can't stand 6x6cm... Square is such an annoying aspect ratio...
 

EASmithV

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