Before I finally bought the Hasselblad I had shot 35mm slrs for four decades and many years of shooting 6x6 with various tlrs. Once I put the metering prism on the Hasselblad, for me it was like handling a larger 35mm slr but with a much larger and better viewfinder and of course better optics. I have never looked back.
I know what you mean but I have always wanted a Hasselblad and love the look and feel of it.You sort of answered your own question in the original post - "I really like the [Mamiya 7] and don't need both..."
Go with your instincts.
I know what you mean but I have always wanted a Hasselblad and love the look and feel of it.
You want it. If you had it, you would use it and enjoy it. You have spend your adult life earning money to buy others things that the needed and wanted. Now is you time to get some enjoyment out of life, so go buy it.
Keep the Hasselblad. Sell the Mamiya and buy a cheap 6x6 enlarger. If you aren't going to print, sell it all and buy a nice Nikon D3 and a 135mm Nikkor DC f2 lens. Bokeh!I know what you mean but I have always wanted a Hasselblad and love the look and feel of it.
If only a 80mm lens and one back is needed, a Rolleiflex is a very nice contender!There's nothing that looks and feels like a basic Hasselblad w/ waist level finder, 80mm and an A12 back. Design perfection, IMHO.
Does the image reverse on a waist level Hasselblad?
What about the eye level?
Bronica SQ-AI and RZ67 II to name a couple more. Still the Hasselblad in it's simplest form lays in your left hand so nicely. CM allows the fitting of an Acute-Matte screen.If only a 80mm lens and one back is needed, a Rolleiflex is a very nice contender!
Where the Hassy shines compared to Mamiya 7 and Rolleiflex is for close-up / macro photography. (This is generally true of SLR vs rangefinder or TLR, not specific to the above-mentioned brands)
When I got my Mamiya RB67, it came with the waist level finder. The reverse image drove me crazy. I just couldn't get use to it. So I got the eye level viewfinder and found it no different to use than the 35mm SLR's I've used before. I also bought the magnifier that slips onto the eye finder for critical focusing. I still keep the fold-up waist level finder in my bag. I use it when I'm shooting low. It's easier to see through than trying to lay down and look through an eyelevel finder. Fortunately, the RB67 does not allow the shutter to release if the dark slide is not pulled. Good thing too else I would have half my negatives unexposed.Images on a view or press camera ground glass are both inverted and reversed, just as they are on the film. Images in the waist level finder are reversed left to right on all such finders. The prism finders provide an erect and properly left-right oriented image and are generally quite bright.
I've found that many photographers who just can't get used to the waist level view change their minds when they first use a pentaprism. I use both, and a chimney finder on the waist level as well (which makes it easier to fine focus in bright light). Coming from mostly a TLR medium format background, I adjusted to the Hasselblad much faster than I expected. The only things that took some getting used to were the slow process of using the depth of field preview (it's hard to go back to full aperture once you've stopped down) and occasionally forgetting to pull the dark slide! I know you're not supposed to have "favorite" children, but it's pretty much become my favorite all around performer.
Andy
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