What was the initial retail cost of Hasselblad 501CM

[MarkF48]

A while back I had copied a Hasselblad ad from a 1977 photography magazine I had saved. Some prices back then for new aren't far off from used prices now

 

[mike c]

1977 was a good year for buying a Hasselblad, bought mine in 1978 for $1100, lens, body. back in L.A.

 

[Sirius Glass]

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

Welcome to APUG

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.

The prices for Hasselblads had always been high, however when the digital backs were introduced the prices became astronomical.

 

[Sirius Glass]

A while back I had copied a Hasselblad ad from a 1977 photography magazine I had saved. Some prices back then for new aren't far off from used prices now View attachment 154193

But in 1977 the dollar was worth more and the salaries were much lower than today.

 

[Alan Gales]

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.

I remember back in the 80's when a Hasselblad 500/cm with waist level finder, film back and 80mm lens cost $2,000. You could have bought a half way decent cheap used car for that. For $32,998 you can buy a nice new car!

 

[Neil Poulsen]

Old joke . . .

In determining price, Hasselblad conducted a market study to determine the most that anyone would want to pay for a camera. Then, they doubled it.

 

[RobC]

I remember back in the 80's when a Hasselblad 500/cm with waist level finder, film back and 80mm lens cost $2,000. You could have bought a half way decent cheap used car for that. For $32,998 you can buy a nice new car!

And it probably wouldn't have jammed with regular monotony either.

 

[Sirius Glass]

And it probably wouldn't have jammed with regular monotony either.

Only in the hands of awkward aofs. Jes' sayin'

 

[RobC]

No, a new hasselbald is like campagnolo compared to shimano. The campagnolo wears in from new whereas the shimano wears out from new.
If you've never owned a brand new hasselblad you wouldn't know about that. I've owned three new ones and all three have had jamming problems when new until they loosened up a little.

 

[MattKing]

It makes sense that the digital back Hasselblads cost as much as they do.

Think how much the film Hasselblads would have cost you if you had to buy at the same time all the film you were going to put through them during their life!

 

[RobC]

the only good bit about a hasselblad is the lens which isn't made by hassleblad.

 

[Sirius Glass]

It makes sense that the digital back Hasselblads cost as much as they do.

Think how much the film Hasselblads would have cost you if you had to buy at the same time all the film you were going to put through them during their life!

Film cost is not a major concern of mine.

 

[ted_smith]

bought mine in 1978 for $1100, lens, body. back in L.A.

That kind of puts things into perspective. In 1978, $1100 dollars is about $4K by todays money (http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=1100&year=1978). And the exchnage rate then was
$1.9 to £1 (https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/data/EXUSUK.txt). So, in 1978, is it fair to say that a new V-system Blad was about £2K?

Now by todays standards that doesn't seem amazingly high when Nikon D5's cost about £4K, as did the D4 before it, and as did the D3 before that. But when you consider the average annual wage in 1978 was $10K per annum in the USA and £6K in the UK.

When you look at it that way, if £6K per year was the average (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...incomes-have-risen-and-fallen-since-1948.html) and Blads cost £2K, that's 1/3 of annual income. Today, the national average in the UK is £26,500 per year. V-System blads still cost about £2K (generally less) yet H system Blads cost £30K!! More than an average annual income.

None of this is relevant, but interesting I think.

 

[MattKing]

Film cost is not a major concern of mine.

It would be if you were only given one chance to buy it, for use during the camera's full life, and that was at the time you bought the camera.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

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.

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

UK prices have always been a rip off.UK consumers are too polite and too civilized for a violent revolt.Unfortunately.

 

[paul ron]

the only way to get a hassy to stop jamming is to throw it away!

hahahaha

everyone has their favorites. lets just shoot alot of film so they keep making it for us!

we're all passengers on the titanic... doesnt matter where you're sitting.


.

 

[paul ron]

A while back I had copied a Hasselblad ad from a 1977 photography magazine I had saved. Some prices back then for new aren't far off from used prices now View attachment 154193

wow. amazing how cheap we can get all this today... thank you digital!

 

[megzdad81]

I don't know what they cost then, but I just got a NIB haze filter from KEH that was marked $249! Everything is relative ...

 

[MattKing]

100 Mpixels - not quite enough for a 24" x 30" print at 400 dpi.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Maybe I'm just extraordinarily lucky. I've been using Hasselblads for over 20 years, I have four of them plus numerous lenses, and I've never had a single jam or malfunction of any kind.

 

[Christiaan Phleger]

As I heard from a Good Old Days Surf Photographer (I think Jeff Divine)
"we used to make thousands using lenses that cost us hundreds; now we make hundreds using lenses that cost thousands".

 

[wiltw]

UK prices have always been a rip off.UK consumers are too polite and too civilized for a violent revolt.Unfortunately.

The issue is, in part, the addition of VAT in European countries. In 1981 I travelled to Britain for the first time, and my Olympus OM-1MD jammed! I inquired to locals about where to purchase a replacement camera, and I was referred to a Comet store. There I purchased a brand new OM-1n body, and after the VAT was refunded to me, the OM-1n body cost me US$110 net, a small fraction of the price back at home in the U.S. (in the years before NYC mail order prices set the standard for low prices)

 

[GarageBoy]

The 205TCC/FCC used to clock in around $5000-6000