Thoughts on Hassel SWC.

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Rolleiflex Wide?

When hanging from a neck strap a Rolleiflex Wide, along with a Rolleiflex, and a Rolleiflex Tele worn at the same time provides a magnificent display of camera bling!

Ha! When I went on a road trip with my son and my father from San Francisco to Mt Rushmore and back a couple years ago those are the three cameras I brought! Did not hang all three around my neck at the same time though....! All three fit perfectly side by side in my trusty Lowepro Orion bag.
 

Sirius Glass

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It just AIN'T the same Alan. The Hasselblad SWC is rectilinearly correct and that is something that cannot be found in a 75mm or 90mm wide angle lenses. In the words of a 1960's rock song "fakin' it ain't makin' it".

One of the few times that I will post one of my photographs on the internet.
 

JW PHOTO

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One of the few times that I will post one of my photographs on the internet.
View attachment 87883

One of the main reasons I bought mine. I had a 50mm Distagon for some wide shots when I shot weddings and had a heck of a time with distortion on some shots. The SWC was a dream compared to the 50mm, but like the 50mm, it was only used for certain settings. Another trick for shooting candid, street type shots is to take the finder off, stick it in your pocket an use it like a TLR. Hold it at chest or waist level, point at or near your subject matter, center the bubble and then trip the shutter. No noise and you're not looking at your subject so they don't have a clue. Of course you'll have to use a film like HP5+/THY2 so you have enough shutter speed and aperture to play the DOF game. If you can shoot at around f11 and have a speed of 1/60th or higher you'll be king of the sidewalk. Just watch your red DOF guide bars and you're all set. A very simple, but very capable camera. JW
 

TheToadMen

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I'm gonna try that. Thanks for the tip.
 

JW PHOTO

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I'm gonna try that. Thanks for the tip.

Yes, the SWC is like taking a shotgun hunting instead of a rifle. Your aim can be just a little off with the shotgun and you'll still hit what you shot at. The same goes for the SWC! Also, with the lens and film flatness of the SWC's quality you can do some serious cropping to bring your subject in a little closer, 'cause they will tend to look a little on the small side if they're any distance away. Just a real fun, go everywhere camera and mine is sitting right next to me this very moment. JW
 

Sirius Glass

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The problem with shooting that way is that you get photographs of the top of your shoes in the bottom on the photograph!
 

JW PHOTO

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The problem with shooting that way is that you get photographs of the top of your shoes in the bottom on the photograph!

Just make sure you wear your good shoes and they're shined. Just kidding! I don't hold mine tight to my chest or belly. I usually lock my elbows to my side, slightly in front of my ribcage, with my arms straight out at belly level. You can shoot this way and turn the camera 90 degrees and pick off people without them suspecting a thing since you're not aiming directly at them. Will you get some screwed up shots? Yup, but you'll also get some pretty good ones also. JW
 
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Maris

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The problem with shooting that way is that you get photographs of the top of your shoes in the bottom on the photograph!

I've used a SWC upside down for landscape work. Ordinarily the lens barrel blocks the bottom of the viewfinder so the critical foreground (maybe with tips of shoes) can't be composed confidently. Upside down the viewfinder uncertainty is transferred to sky or cloud where there is more room for error.
 

Sirius Glass

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If you hang upside down by your legs from a tree branch, then you do not have to invert the camera.
 
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If you hang upside down by your legs from a tree branch, then you do not have to invert the camera.

Hang by one leg. Use the other to swing around as a kind of gyroscope to keep yourself steady.
 

Maris

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Enough is enough! The ape-hanger method does not work with a Hasselblad SWC. If I'm upside down in a tree and monkeying around with a camera I'd need one where I can chimp the screen on the back.
 

JW PHOTO

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Enough is enough! The ape-hanger method does not work with a Hasselblad SWC. If I'm upside down in a tree and monkeying around with a camera I'd need one where I can chimp the screen on the back.

That's hard to do with a camera in one hand and a banana in the other! JW
 

Black Dog

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Time to work on those multi-wotsiting skills!
 

JOR

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The Hasselblad SWC's Biogon is one of the finest Architectural lenses ever - sharp to the corners, even and rectilinear. The gripes listed above re composing and focusing are valid. My 50mm Distagons, both early (silver) and late (black) with 'floating element' are poor, with resolution eclipsed by inexpensive consumer lenses for 35mm or full-frame digital.
 

JW PHOTO

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Yes, the SWC's biogon is a special lens and can even be used to copy flat work on a copy stand with no distortion. I remember the first time I used the 50mm Distagon (early chrome) to shoot a wedding group shot in a tight corner of a small church. The two girls on the outer edge of the frame had big, funny looking Popeye arms when I got the proofs back. I just didn't notice it in the viewfinder, but the 50mm's distortion killed that shot. I still like my 50mm and it is pretty darn sharp, but you don't want to do close-ups of pretty girls with it. I like using my SWC with the ground glass adapter back and chimney finder. It's almost like a mini-view camera with no movements. I could sell all my other Hasselblad stuff, but I'd still keep the SWC and three or four backs.