Is this becoming a Hasselblad forum?

[xya]

I'm an artist photographer using mainly medium format all of the ~50 years of my professional life. I never owned a Hasselblad, I relied on Mamiyas mainly, but I have nearly tried them all. Yes, most of my collegues had a Hasselblad once they could afford it, and yes I have tried Hasselblads thanks to them. They are not my cup of tea and they claim quite a budget.

There was quite some Kiev 88 bashing these days. I own several Kievs, they were reliable to me. But as i'm fond of old medium cameras as well, that might be a difference.

Several times these weeks the forum was nearly all about Hasselblads. Just look at the entrance page today

7 of the 9 first threads are about Hasselblads. For me, it sucks a bit...

 

[ags2mikon]

Would you like to talk about Mamiya? I own quit a few and like them. If you want to start a thread about Mamiya I will jump right in. I promise I won't mention Hasselblad.

 

[BrianShaw]

Would you like to talk about Mamiya? I own quit a few and like them. If you want to start a thread about Mamiya I will jump right in. I promise I won't mention Hasselblad.

Ditto… start threads about what you want to discuss … and I’m a Hasselblad user who won’t crap all over your Mamiya threads.

 

[brbo]

Maybe there is nothing wrong with Mamiyas so there is nothing to discuss?

Btw, does this thread qualify as yet another Hasselblad thread?

 

[Hassasin]

With Hasselblad there are tons of myths that at times bring in (valid) comments deemed offensive to Hass aficionados. With it and price come expectations, some warranted, some maybe not. But it's almost never the case with all other brands.

I like what Hasselblad does, but am not in love with it by any measure. It is to me a fine system, just like any other from all well established MF brands, but others have done a lot better in some specific areas of design and manufacture.

You can bet though, if you start a non-Hasselblad thread, you will get advised to get one anyways. Hardly same is being said in opposite direction, and certainly not in a similar tone. In other words, there is a difference between Hasselblad threads and all others related to MF gear.

Yet, no, this forum covers it all, if you wish.

 

[AnselMortensen]

It's always Marcia, Marcia, Marcia..

 

[koraks]

7 of the 9 first threads are about Hasselblads. For me, it sucks a bit...

If it really bothers you, I guess there are a few things you could do:

• Systematically click each thread about Hasselblad and click the 'ignore thread' at the top. This way, you only get to see it once and then it'll be gone (for you) forever.
• Post threads about other brands/topics so Hasselblad becomes less prevalent relatively speaking.
• Only visit the Medium Format subforum when you're in a good mood and feeling resilient enough for content you don't like.
• Develop a preference for Hasselblad cameras and join in.
• Somehow acquire the art of not giving a f....(I didn't say that.)

Personally, I don't feel like this forum is dominated by Hasselblad. It never struck me that way and I see lots of talk and love for other brands. It's similar to Leica's position in the 35mm forum. It's a popular brand, so it's prominently featured among the user base. What gives?

 

[Cholentpot]

Two most active threads in the past year was half-frame and 16mm/110.

 

[ags2mikon]

One of the things I like about medium format is the wide variety of types of cameras that were made. Take for example a Bronica SQ I would consider it to be very mainstream, a modular body with w/l finders and interchangeable film magazines. The Mamiya RB/RZ is similar in concept as is the other one made in Sweden, can't remember the name. Then there are the TLR's from Mamiya, very unique. Then we have the fixed lens TLR's. How about press cameras? Graflex XL, Mamiya Press and Koni Omegas. Then we have Horseman and Linhof and finally Pentax 6x7 a 35mm camera style beast.

 

[jeffreyg]

To me the best camera is the one you have with you. I am a user not a collector. I predominately use a Hasselblad but also a 4x5 field camera, 4x5 pinhole, point and shoot digital and digital slr To me each has its pluses and minuses. The most successful images I’ve had were made with extremes a 4x5 still life and a “landscape “ made with a Minolta SRT101 with a $40 Panagor 200mm through a thick glass wall of a hotel room a number of floors above. The Minolta replaced a Voigtlander Bessamatic and was replaced by Nikons and the Hasselblad replaced a Bronica S2A which had very sharp lenses
To me it’s the effectiveness of the image that counts not the camera/lens

 

[Cholentpot]

To me the best camera is the one you have with you. I am a user not a collector. I predominately use a Hasselblad but also a 4x5 field camera, 4x5 pinhole, point and shoot digital and digital slr To me each has its pluses and minuses. The most successful images I’ve had were made with extremes a 4x5 still life and a “landscape “ made with a Minolta SRT101 with a $40 Panagor 200mm through a thick glass wall of a hotel room a number of floors above. The Minolta replaced a Voigtlander Bessamatic and was replaced by Nikons and the Hasselblad replaced a Bronica S2A which had very sharp lenses
To me it’s the effectiveness of the image that counts not the camera/lens

Can we see the photo from the 101?

 

[BrianShaw]

It's always Marcia, Marcia, Marcia..

And sometimes it’s Lucy, Lucy, Lucy…

 

[Steven Lee]

As a Hasselblad fanboi I welcome yet another Hasselblad thread on my front page. I have other cameras too, but as a topic of a conversation the Hasselblad platform is just more interesting than most. The ecosystem is huge. The history is long. What's not to like?!

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'm viewing all this on a computer screen which is still rectangular, so apparently not complicit with Hasselblad.

 

[BrianShaw]

I'm viewing all this on a computer screen which is still rectangular, so apparently not complicit with Hasselblad.

You can always crop your monitor appropriately!

 

[Paul Howell]

There are many different models of Hassy, lots of different issues that do come up, and then there are fans. I have used the classic Hasselblads, rented at needed, one of the Newspapers I freelanced for in the 70s used a Hasselblad for fashion spreads. So, although not a user with no plans to buy a Hasselblad anytime in the near or far future, I still enjoy at least scanning the threads to see what has come up. I use Kowa 66 and Mamiya Press, not nearly as many sold over time as Hassy, not much to talk about.

 

[Dan Daniel]

And let's remember a key fact- most people with cameras like Rolleiflexes, Mamiyas, etc., are actually out taking photos, not being armchair BladiStans.

OK, I'll see myself out of this thread now....

(Along with all the lenses, bodies, accessories, face it, for a camera forum there are a lot of good natured people here with tons of knowledge of Hasselblad and willingness to help.)

 

[jeffreyg]

Cholentpot: Here is the SRT101photograph you requested to see. Taken around 50 years ago at that time it was called Dominion Square. I took it hand held while waiting for my wife to finish her makeup. It was an early Spring day at around lunch time as you ca see by the shadows. The hotel had curved glass walls but I don't remember the name or what floor we were on. Someone may be able to fill it in.

ABOUT | JEFFREY GLASSER

HOME | SCULPTURE and PHOTOGRAPHY

 

[DREW WILEY]

When it comes to snootiness, Rollei 6X6 enthusiasts might well turn their noses up on even Hassies. My own brother had a couple of SL66 kits. Apparently thieves are snooty too, and eventually stole both of those kits. I inherited all of his old 6X6 negatives, but have printed none so far. Have looked at some on a lightbox. I did print some of his 4x5 Technika chromes. Predictably, he drove a Porsche too. Not a good choice when seen placing fancy Halliburton cases in the trunk. I preferred to drive to shoots more resembling Jed Clampett.

 

[itsdoable]

I'm an artist photographer using mainly medium format all of the ~50 years of my professional life. I never owned a Hasselblad, I relied on Mamiyas mainly, but I have nearly tried them all. Yes, most of my collegues had a Hasselblad once they could afford it, and yes I have tried Hasselblads thanks to them. They are not my cup of tea and they claim quite a budget.

There was quite some Kiev 88 bashing these days. I own several Kievs, they were reliable to me. But as i'm fond of old medium cameras as well, that might be a difference.

Several times these weeks the forum was nearly all about Hasselblads. Just look at the entrance page today

View attachment 350458

7 of the 9 first threads are about Hasselblads. For me, it sucks a bit...

Well... because the other MF cameras don't have these problems...

 

[Cholentpot]

Cholentpot: Here is the SRT101photograph you requested to see. Taken around 50 years ago at that time it was called Dominion Square. I took it hand held while waiting for my wife to finish her makeup. It was an early Spring day at around lunch time as you ca see by the shadows. The hotel had curved glass walls but I don't remember the name or what floor we were on. Someone may be able to fill it in.

View attachment 350474

ABOUT | JEFFREY GLASSER

HOME | SCULPTURE and PHOTOGRAPHY

Very cool, nice framing.

 

[rulnacco]

I'm an artist photographer using mainly medium format all of the ~50 years of my professional life. I never owned a Hasselblad, I relied on Mamiyas mainly, but I have nearly tried them all. Yes, most of my collegues had a Hasselblad once they could afford it, and yes I have tried Hasselblads thanks to them. They are not my cup of tea and they claim quite a budget.

Well, Hasselblad was one of the most popular, one of the longest manufactured, and arguably among the very best medium format systems ever produced. With an outsized reputation. (Wrangling your way onto Moon missions and into films like Blow Up kinda helped, back in the day.) So it's only natural that they'd get discussed a lot here, probably all out of proportion to their place in the medium format ecosystem. And this, properly, is the forum where those discussions belong.

But I'm with you, it's great to hear about other systems as well. I personally used to use a Mamiya TLR system and loved it well enough, although I did trade it in for part exchange on a Hasselblad system. (Please don't hit me!) I still use an RZ67, and occasionally a Mamiya Universal. And when my funds are built back up, I'd love to have a Mamiya 645 of some kind. Plus, I do have an elderly and battered--but very nicely working--Rolleiflex. And I even have an ancient Balda 6x6 folder I occasionally break out for fun. But of all those systems, I do tend to use the Hasselblad far more, and so I naturally talk about it more myself.

But as others suggested, dive right in and post a Mamiya--or Pentax 6x7, or Fuji Rangefinder, or whatever--thread. I'm sure you'll find plenty of people willing to answer questions/chat about them! I certainly would love to see them.

(Somewhat related aside: back in the early 00's, I briefly worked for a firm shooting weddings, until I discovered that was *not* my personal cup of tea. I bought the book everyone recommended at the time, and one piece of advice offered in the section on gear was that if you were shooting medium format, get a Hasselblad. If I recall properly, there were a few practical reasons for that. But the chief and overriding one was that while people in general had basically no knowledge or understanding at all about cameras, *everyone* knew that Hasselblad was a "great camera," and so you would be *perceived* as being highly skilled and professional since you were using the "very best" gear available. It was part of building your brand.

 

[mshchem]

I all medium format cameras

 

[Sirius Glass]

I'm viewing all this on a computer screen which is still rectangular, so apparently not complicit with Hasselblad.

And that is to be expected from a step above. Just as it would be from any self respecting 8"x10" or 16"x20" film camera.

 

[neilt3]

Not another Hasselblad thread !?


@ OP , start some non-Hasselblad threads , Mamiya for example, and the percentage of Hasselblad threads will reduce .

FYI , my medium format gear is Bronica ETRSi, ETRS , SQ , SQ-A , SQ-Ai .
Several Mamiya TLRs, a C3 , C33 and C330 .
Kiev 88, Kiev 60 ( yes , I do like these too ) . Assorted TLRs, Minolta , Yashica , LOMO , and other random marque's.
Bellows 120 , Moscow 5 , Kodak , fixed types , Ensign Ful-Vue and others.
So plenty of other gear to talk about .

I've never owned a Hasselblad, or used one . I wouldn't turn one down if someone wanted to give me one ( PM me if you want to give your gear to me for free ) , but I doubt I'd buy one .
I'm not convinced they can do anything better than what I already own .
I think any improvements to my output to be made are on me , not my gear !