Is that a Hasselblad?

[k_jupiter]

One week ago in Ely Nevada a guy stops in a truck, watching me set up a 14 x 17, and asks the ITAH question....I told him no, I just can t afford one.

Now THAT'S a great answer. When you shoot a format where a single sheet of film is more than a used A12 back....


tim in san jose

 

[John Kasaian]

I reply :"No, it's a Henway" hoping they'll ask
"Whats a Henway?" Then I get to tell 'em:
"About five pounds!"

 

[jovo]

I reply :"No, it's a Henway" hoping they'll ask
"Whats a Henway?" Then I get to tell 'em:
"About five pounds!"

Or: "It's a dickfor." You know the rest

 

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. John, ever been asked "Is that a Guarneri del Gesu?"

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Today at a Thanksgiving gathering I brought my Canon New F-1, FD 50/1.2L, loaded with Ektachrome 320T, and another photographer shooting a Nikon D40 asked me, "Is that full frame?" I think this question is the new "ITAH?"

(To be fair, he was otherwise fairly knowledgeable and was doing some good flash work, knew to gel the flash to tungsten to combine with ambient light, and was getting some good photos.)

 

[vanspaendonck]

My last ITAH was three weeks ago at the Roman Baths in Trier, Germany.
I was shooting with a Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic with a 90 mm Schneider Angulon.
(The shots I made on 35 mm with the Konica Hexar AF on Portra 400NC turned out sharper than the 4x5s. Dim light, which with a max app. of f/6,8 resulted in shutter speeds which were a bit too slow to shoot hand held).

 

[Maris]

Finally, on November 17, half way up Mt. Stilwell in the Australian Alps I too was blessed with a genuine exact ITAH from a rucksacked bushwalker. He seemed genuinely disappointed to learn it was only a Tachihara 810 HD.

 

[Antje]

I shot a few beech trees with my Blad during a hike (yes, I hike with all my gear, and yes, it hurts), and a guy about my age came up, saying how cool it was to see a Hasselblad in action. He asked what lenses I had and which film I used. Nice.

On the other hand: I went to a reputable photo store with huge second hand department and asked about used large format gear. The wizened sales man pointed me to the corner where everything was and waited - a Rolleicord, a Hasselblad 501, a Mamiya, a Bronica... Not *exactly* what I was looking for. *sigh*

Antje

 

[Byron Worthen]

I have added a Hasselblad 501CM kit to my arsenal of large format and 35mm. I cannot wait for someone to ask me if the camera is a Hasselblad. Now, should I be a smart ass and say "No, it's a Mamiya" or should I proudly say a hearty "Why yes, it is! How did you know?"

 

[IloveTLRs]

I guess Japanese are more tuned to different types of cameras.

Without going into too much detail, the Japanese are very brand-savvy: Rollex, Vuitton, Leica, Mont Blanc, etc, etc. I was surprised that the average person on the street here knows at least the name Leica/Rollei and how expensive they are.

I appreciated her shooting with a small P&S "film" camera.

When I go on vacation I can tell who the Japanese are because they still use disposables. Old habits die hard ...

Once I was shooting in Helsinki city center with the camera on tripod, chimney, cable release and hand meter.
An old man passed by and said, " ahhhh, the good old times"!
I was pleased with that.

I would have shook his hand

I once had a woman ask me if my Sinar was a rocket launcher.

THAT'S when you reply "No, I'm just happy to see you"

People don't usually approach me, but when they do I almost always get "Is that digital?" After I say "No, I shoot film" I usually answer questions for about 5 minutes. I never get "You should shoot digital"; I'd be pissed if I did (though I know fully how to answer back.) The most looks I've gotten is when I'm with my M3 or a TLR. The latter seems to jog many a senior citizen's memory

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

Out shooting with the 4x5" Tech V today on the eastern coast of O'ahu and had a couple of inquiries. I had a long conversation with one couple and let them look at the groundglass, showed them some albumen prints I keep in my case, and since one of them seemed very much interested in traditional photography, I gave her an APUG flyer.

Later a couple of teenage boys were walking through my shot and asked if they were in the way (actually they improved the shot), and one asked "is that large format?" Hey, good guess! He said he had a digital camera, but his mom gave him her old 35mm, and he was really into it.

 

[Thomas Bertilsson]

Well, I think my story is a little different. I was approached by a person while in Denmark in 2004 and I was forced to lie about it actually being a Hasselblad. He was very forward, looking at the camera I was carrying, and finally said: "Wow, that's a Hasselblad, isn't it? Those are like $5,000 or something, aren't they?"
His interest in the valuable camera, (costing far less than that in the used market, but still a chunk of change), was unsettling, so I looked him in the eye and said that it was a fake Russian copy I got for $200 on an online auction. He looked long and hard at it and decided to move on to the next victim. I was thankful he left, as the camera wasn't mine, it was borrowed from my father.

Now that I have been gifted with a Hasselblad camera for myself, I never get asked... LOL

However, when I was using my Crown Graphic (I miss that camera) I was approached all the time from all kinds of (friendly) people wanting to take a look through the ground glass and talk about press cameras. Now that was fun!

Great stories, everybody.

- Thomas

 

[okto]

I've been asked if my Polaroid Auto 360 was a Nikon, and whether it was digital.

 

[Stephen Frizza]

I have my blad in my lab sometimes and theres never a day with it sitting in the lab that clients don't go OOO!!! is that a blad?
I once had a man come up to me in the street i cant remember if it was with my Blad or my Linhof but he came up and said to me why are you using that old junk! my camera produces a far better result and you can see what you have shot immediately for which he proceeded to show me his 3.1 megapixel point and shoot. I was deeply horrofied.

~Steve
The Lighthouse Lab

 

[Andy K]

I have my blad in my lab sometimes and theres never a day with it sitting in the lab that clients don't go OOO!!! is that a blad?
I once had a man come up to me in the street i cant remember if it was with my Blad or my Linhof but he came up and said to me why are you using that old junk! my camera produces a far better result and you can see what you have shot immediately for which he proceeded to show me his 3.1 megapixel point and shoot. I was deeply horrofied.

~Steve
The Lighthouse Lab

I would have asked him the same question and showed him my camera phone that also plays music and has GPS.

 

[Paul Goutiere]

I had my 501CM with a PM90 finder on a tripod in front of a very nice stump I'd found. A young fellow walked up to me sporting a
small video camera and asked "That isn't a video camera is it?"

He had a point, the darn thing looks a bit like a video camera.

 

[bdial]

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[k_jupiter]

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Is that a Hasselblad?

tim in san jose

 

[sly]

So I was trying to compose an image with the 4x5, when I was approached by some very stylish dude -"Cool old camera! Is that a hass...". "It's a Crown Graphic" I interupted pointing to the front of the camera - which he could see perfectly well from where he was blocking my shot. "Wow! Great! I'll give you my email address - you can send me the picture." (!!!)

 

[Tony Estcourt]

I get asked if its digital a lot.....

I would love to own a Kershaw King Penguin, surely the most stupid name for any camera (apologies to any "King Penguin" owners). But if you owned one it would be great for these sort of circumstances.

 

[Sjixxxy]

I just want to say I'm proud of my thread which has now remained active for over three years. It is probably the greatest thread I've ever started anywhere.

And to add to it, new ITAH story!

I have one coworker now that I'll occasionally talk photo stuff with, any time I try to describe my equipment larger then a 35mm, I get the response "Oh, A Hasselblad!" So now my Yashicmat 124G has been ITAH'ed, and my Speed Graphic has received another notch on its belt. Both without the guy even seeing them.

 

[luke_h]

Saturday a girl I was taking photos of asked to hold my Hasselblad and said, "Is this a really nice Holga?"

So sort of a reverse eh?

 

[argus]

Time to revive this thread. I only had my first ITAH encounter 2 days ago, while on a 3 day photography trip with a Speed Graphic. A Dutch guy with some friends didn't ask me the infamous question but just stated to his friends that my Speed would be a Hasselblad.
I corrected him and gave all of them a look at the groundglass

G

 

[zenrhino]

Luke_h, I had something similar happen this weekend: I was shooting portraits of my nephew and his prom date with my new (to me) 500 c/m. Her dad looks at the camera and asked, "Is that a Leica?"

 

[Antje]

Today, I had the experience of my lifetime. I'm 1.80m tall, and I've always been strong, fit, and broad-shouldered (having played handball most of my life). So, I was out shooting with my 4x5, the Shen Hao on a tripod, my head underneath a dark cloth, and two joggers came by, ladies in their Fifties. When they were, like, 100 m away, one exclaimed: "Oh, look! A roe!" ("Oh, schau mal, ein Reh" for native German speakers). I've been called many things, but that was a first.

It felt great.

Antje (to stay on topic: I also had a Blad with me and shot with it later, but no-one but the midgets took any notice)