What was the initial retail cost of Hasselblad 501CM

[ted_smith]

Out of interest, and just as a general idea if it is not known as fact, how much did a Hasselblad 501CM kit (back and 80mm lens) cost brand new before digital got in on the scene. Say around the year 2000?

I have Googled it but surprisingly couldn't find a reference to the original retail price. I ask merely out of curiosity.

 

[Peter Schrager]

I can't answer but thank God for digital as I now have a lovely 501 with 3 backs..!! You can be sure it was top dollar...probably in the 2-3k range. ..

 

[dorigatti]

date: 29 May 2010, Kameraxpress, Amsterdam, NL

Hasselblad 501 CM Standard kit + CFE 80mm Black

Euro 2152,00

 

[ted_smith]

Sorry guys...to be clear, I own a 501CM and am not interested in buying or selling. I bought it for £2K about 4 years ago. I know what their current prices are second hand. I want to know what their RRP was when new if bought from a shop, back in the "film days" before digital resulted in all the top end film cameras becoming much less. Were they about £10K or more, or less? For example, my Nikon F5 I bought for £250 about 5 years ago, but I think it was about £4K in the late 1990s (was released in 95 I think?).

 

[Theo Sulphate]

In 1994 I bought the 501C kit (body, WLF, 80C lens, A12 back) for about US$2200, new.

The 501C/M came out later and might've been a bit more.

 

[BrianShaw]

I have a vague recollection of about 3K USD for 501CM.

 

[RobC]

they could be bought for £1000 in UK from some shops offering entry level hasselblad kit. Elsewhere quite a bit more. Just depended on if you found somewhere doing a special offer.

 

[Barry S]

I keep around a December 2000 Shutterbug magazine, just for the prices. B&H sold the 501CM + 80CB + A12 for $2895.

 

[Maris]

My Calumet 1998 catalogue lists a Hasselblad 501CM kit at US$2695.00.

 

[RobC]

there was a time when exchange rate was $2 to £1.

 

[BrianShaw]

I remember that, in the 1990s if memory still serves.

 

[Dan Fromm]

there was a time when exchange rate was $2 to £1.

Hmm. And there was a time when ~ $1.10 bought £1. Long before the 501CM, however.

Not opinion. See https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSUK.txt for early 1985.

 

[RobC]

op is from UK so dollar values mean nothing if you don't know what exchange rate was at the time. Unless he's buying one from the US.

Hasselblad dealers in UK and maybe rest of Europe would do special deals to get people into their "system" back then. Don't know how it worked in the US.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I can't answer but thank God for digital as I now have a lovely 501 with 3 backs..!! You can be sure it was top dollar...probably in the 2-3k range. ..

If it was not for the digital revolution, I would not own Hasselblads and I would not be a Hasselblad fan boy. And definitely not know as Sirius Glass.

 

[tony lockerbie]

I was recently offered $150.00 AUD for a 500ELM body, no lens but with an A12 back. Seems that no one wants the ELM's, even though mine was converted to AA batteries...go figure!

 

[Alan Gales]

If it was not for the digital revolution, I would not own Hasselblads and I would not be a Hasselblad fan boy. And definitely not know as Sirius Glass.

Well, you could have done what I did in the 80's and bought a 35mm Contax with Zeiss glass and just dreamed of Hasselblad. Boy, was medium format expensive back then!

 

[wiltw]

My Calumet 1998 catalogue lists a Hasselblad 501CM kit at US$2695.00.

My 2003 Calument catalog lists:

• Hasselblad 501CM body only at $1807,
• 501CM in kit with 80mm and A12 back at $3270

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Trivial question: In Britain, do computer keyboards and typewriters have a dollar sign or a pound sign above the number 3 (for shifting)? In the US, it's a dollar sign.

Capitalist!

We have done away with such symbols of the Bourgeoisie!

I bought this new in downtown L.A. when I was a teenager in high school. I used this typewriter a lot!

 

[Bill Burk]

I found a 500CM Complete ad from the store I used to frequent, Olympic Camera in LA... in Popular Photography January 1981

$1,519

Would have exchanged to £632 at the time (2.4029), and adjust for inflation to now http://inflation.stephenmorley.org/ ... the equivalent of £2,452 today

They don't say but I would guess the "complete" would be these parts.
Body only $699
80mm Planar 2.8 $699
A12 magazine $315

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Out of interest, and just as a general idea if it is not known as fact, how much did a Hasselblad 501CM kit (back and 80mm lens) cost brand new before digital got in on the scene. Say around the year 2000?

I have Googled it but surprisingly couldn't find a reference to the original retail price. I ask merely out of curiosity.

$1,999

 

[Ian Grant]

Robeert White was selling the 501CM for £829 plus VAT in April 2001. Most were bought by Professional photographers who would be VAT registered so would claim the tax back.https://web.archive.org/web/20010222184746/http://www.robertwhite.co.uk/hasselblad.htm

It's difficult comparing British or European prices with those in the US as they aren't linked purely by the exchange rate, often cameras and other photographic could be half the price in the US compared to here. I remember when the exchange rate was close to £1 to $2 buying a new Pentax Spotmatic F for £110 they were $110 in US magazines.

Ian

 

[bigsur]

I have an invoice for a Hasselblad 501cm kit dated 5/10/2000 for £2095.

 

[ted_smith]

Well that surprises the begeezers out of me.

I assumed that the original V-system line would have originally cost the same as modern H system Blads. i.e. £15K or so. I assumed that the reason V-systems cost between £1-2K now (2016) was merely because the demand for film Blads dropped so much once the H system digitals arrived and became mainstream (in terms of medium format). But by the looks of it, the Blad I own today and bought 4 years ago for £2K would have cost me that new 16 years ago! I assumed it would have cost me about £10K 16 years ago.

 

[Jager]

Top tier analog gear used to be very expensive and hard to reach for most amateurs. But nothing like the breathtaking price gap that exists today. Used to be that a dedicated non-professional could stretch to get that Leica or Rollie or Hasselblad. Not so much anymore, when one casts a glance at the high-end Hassy or Phase One systems.

 

[DWThomas]

Heh -- got an email from B&H yesterday -- they are taking pre-orders on the Hassy H6D 100 Mpixel for a mere $32,995 -- still not targeted at the amateur market.