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

BrianL

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Feb 17, 2010
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Toronto ON C
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Smallest camera I was using when asked was my Minox LX. Admittedly it was mounted on my Majestic tripod at the time. I simply answered no and turned my back and got down to business but the gent would not take the hint and continued to talk. I finally pulled out my Polaroid 180 and told him it was a Hassey without opening it, put it back in the back before he could read the name and he seemed satisfied. He then told his wife he knew I was a professional and I turned and simply said, no I'm just rich and my other camera, a Leica I left in the Rolls at home.

As for medium format, I'm a bit more forgiving with the Bronica, especially when using the waist level finder as their general shape is similar.

I tend to get a bit more annoyed with guys and gals asking if the camera is a Leica, especially when using the Bronica or Rolleiflex. When using the CL, I sometimes answer that it really is an Olympus 1/2 frame that I painted and put the Leica name on. I love it when the response is something like, "I thought so".
 

TimFox

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Jul 21, 2009
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Chicago
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Large Format
Couple of weeks ago, I was shooting outdoors (downtown Chicago) with an 8x10 inch Cambo Legend monorail view camera on a huge tripod. Got the ITAH question.
A few years ago, shooting with a 4x5 inch Cambo monorail, an older Chicago cop asked me if that were a Deardorff (although he mispronounced it). Seems they were taught how to use them when he was at the police academy long ago.
In general, I am very patient with politely-asked questions, in order to teach people that cameras are not black boxes built by elves in foreign countries and that film can still be purchased retail by those who are not satisfied with cell-phone photos. When looking at my ground glass, almost everyone is surprised that the image is inverted, and I tell them that is true in their digital camera or 35mm, as well, but that Walgreens turns the print around for the customer.
 

Black Dog

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We can do it fellow APUGGers!
 

R Paul

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wonderful ne
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Well it isn't a ITAH story,but it's strange

I was shooting with a M645 down in Canal Street,taking pictures down one street and going over to the next block when a large beefy fellow comes running up to me and says "Hey you're not a cop are you? I say "no I'm not." He gets closer and asks again if I'm a cop. I tell him that I'm just a tourist. Then he says "That's ok then",and walked away.
I don't know what was going on-but I didn't see anything in the slides when I ran them off.
Maybe that's a good thing

r paul
 

Mitya138

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Jan 19, 2011
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Tokyo, Japan
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No longer an ITAH virgin!

I whip out my Rolleicord.

"Sore wa Hasseruburado desu ka?", I'm asked in Japanese.

"Iie. Roraikodo desu yo." (And this guy is a professional photographer, of all things.)

There's nothing quite like the first time.

Anyone else out there been asked in something other than their native tongue?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

benjiboy

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I was asked by Dutch woman once when I was shooting in the flower market in Amsterdam with a Mamiya TLR, "is that a Hasselblad, the Dutch lady who was with me told me what she said and translated for me, I replied "no, it's a Mamiya a poor man's Hasselblad"
 

pgomena

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Joined
Jun 25, 2003
Messages
1,391
Location
Portland, Or
I got the ITAH while running a photo booth at a local art fair last weekend. It was a 4x5 Crown Graphic with a Polaroid back . . .

Peter Gomena
 

amsp

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Jan 13, 2012
Messages
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Medium Format
Once I was out shooting with my Hasselblad and a curious bystander asked what camera I was using, when I told him it was a Hasselblad he just stared at me with a blank expression, total anticlimax
 

Vaughn

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Humboldt Co.
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Mitya138 said:
I whip out my Rolleicord...
Anyone else out there been asked in something other than their native tongue?
Click to expand...

No, but once I was assembling my Klepper (17' foldable kayak) at a lake, and a bus-load of Japanese tourists happened by (this was in Spokane during the Worlds Fair -- 1974, I believe), and I was asked, "May I have picture for memory, please?"

I thought it was a nice way to ask.

Vaughn
 

benjiboy

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benjiboy

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I don't own a Hasselblad, but can imagine a scenario when a policeman asks you "what kind of camera is that ?" and you reply" Hasselblad", and you get arrested for being drunk and disorderly. I do however own a couple of Mamiyas and they wouldn't be much better .
 

Steve Smith

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benjiboy said:
but can imagine a scenario when a policeman asks you "what kind of camera is that ?" and you reply" Hasselblad", and you get arrested for being drunk and disorderly
Click to expand...

A few years ago I was driving a truck through London following a friend in a car. A policeman stopped us and asked us where we were going. My friend replied "Battersby's" instead of Battersea. The policeman eventually let us continue when he realised my friend wasn't drunk. Battersby's is a bicycle shop local to us.


Steve.
 

pbromaghin

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WOW!

After years of watching this thread, it finally happened! It was in a cooking store at a mall in Skokie IL. I was carrying my Mamiya C33 tlr on a hippie strap and one of the sales ladies asked me "Is that a Hasselblad?" She took photography at a public high school in Louisiana and they learned on Hasselblads - the personal property of the teacher. She would love to get back into it, but doesn't have space for a darkroom and the cost of sending out for processing is just too much for her. I told her how cheap equipment is now and encouraged her to do a bathroom setup. Then she tried to sell me a $3000 espresso maker.
 

TheFlyingCamera

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In the last two weeks I've had three different people either ask me if my Rolleiflex was a Hasselblad or outright claim it was a Hasselblad (wherupon I politely corrected them). I'm starting to think that the vast majority think there are three brands of camera in the world: Nikon, Canon and Hasselblad. And anything not immediately identifiable as (and larger than) a 35mm SLR is by default a Hasselblad.
 

okto

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Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
207
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35mm
It's interesting the difference in public awareness of the two (top-tier? illustrious? "best"?) camera systems (Hassy and Leica).
You get "Is that a Hasselblad?" with any camera that is either big or has chrome on it, but it seems like you only get "Is that a Leica?" when it actually is.
 

Sirius Glass

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Jan 18, 2007
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Even $3,000 espresso makers take lousy photographs.
 
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