Why is Hasselblad so expensive!?

colrehogan · Mar 29, 2006

David J said:
Well, I agree the camera is great and fun to use, but the prices are beyond reason. I'm worried this system is no longer seriously used and these stupidly high prices are pushing people away from the 500 series cameras. $60 for a metal ring to attach a shade to a lens is too much. And I haven't even griped yet about the weight. I feel like a LF guy when I'm lugging all my Hassy equipment around. Although when its time to shoot the family "studio style", I really love it!

What metal ring to attach a shade to the lens are you looking for? Perhaps it can be found on ebay or the classified section here (I think you need to be a subscriber to see the classifieds though).

Derek Lofgreen · Mar 29, 2006

Perhaps the reason the Hasselblad has held it's value is the availability of digital backs. I know we are all about film but the value of film cameras have fallen through the floor (I'm lov'n that) but the Hassy has been able to hold value if you have the $$$$$ to buy the new digital back. Just a thought.

D.

David J · Mar 29, 2006

The series 60 mounting ring. It can be found used as most Hasselblad gear can, but it would be nice to be able to purchase some stuff, especially small stuff, new. I tried bidding on E-Bay and discovered the real bidding doesn't start until one minute before the auction ends. I bid on a 903 camera and lost. I think I also bid on a 40mm lens and lost. Oh well, that's how it goes. I haven't tried E-Bay since. For me, I like to see a price up front. I'm not much of an auction person.

David A. Goldfarb · Mar 29, 2006

Derek Lofgreen said:
Perhaps the reason the Hasselblad has held it's value is the availability of digital backs. I know we are all about film but the value of film cameras have fallen through the floor (I'm lov'n that) but the Hassy has been able to hold value if you have the $$$$$ to buy the new digital back. Just a thought.

D.

Of course, a $150 Crown Graphic can also take a $$$$$ digital back, and if you want, you can put a $3500 lens on it.

David A. Goldfarb · Mar 29, 2006

David J said:
For me, I like to see a price up front. I'm not much of an auction person.

Try keh.com. They're very reliable and usually have a good selection of Hassy gear. Their grading system is very conservative.

gr82bart · Mar 29, 2006

David J said:
How do they justify these prices? The technology is over forty years old.

A Ferrari 350 is about 10x the cost of the average car, a Louis Vuitton bag is more expensive than your average bag, the cost of a stay at the exclusive Hyatt Bali is more than at the other local resorts, a penthouse condo in Miami's ocean front is significantly more than a regular condo, etc....

Heck, I can buy a Nikon D200 cutting edge digital camera for the price of two Hasselblad film backs.

If you're equating the quality of a Nikon D200 to that of a Hasselblad 503CW, than you're just trolling IMNSHO.

Regards, Art.

gr82bart · Mar 29, 2006

David J said:
Sorry, I'm new to APUG and have never been in a chatroom before.

To correct a minor point, this is a online community forum, not a chatroom. But's that's me just being picky.

My thread was really not a serious issue, I just wanted to air a frustration among people who would understand me. I sometimes feel like the only medium format shooter in my area; no one to talk to.

I'm in the same boat. Everyone I know shoots a digital whatchamacallit and I am literally, the only one that shoots film - then medium format on top of that and with a YELLOW Hasselblad to make things more unique. Why be like everyone else, when can truly be unique?

Regards, Art.

David Brown · Mar 29, 2006

David A. Goldfarb said:
Try keh.com. They're very reliable and usually have a good selection of Hassy gear. Their grading system is very conservative.

Ditto, what Mr. Goldfarb said.

Welcome David! Not only are there a lot of Hasselblad users on APUG (but not me ), there are a lot of Davids! (OK, that would be me! )

David

colrehogan · Mar 29, 2006

David J said:
The series 60 mounting ring. It can be found used as most Hasselblad gear can, but it would be nice to be able to purchase some stuff, especially small stuff, new. I tried bidding on E-Bay and discovered the real bidding doesn't start until one minute before the auction ends. I bid on a 903 camera and lost. I think I also bid on a 40mm lens and lost. Oh well, that's how it goes. I haven't tried E-Bay since. For me, I like to see a price up front. I'm not much of an auction person.

I think I have a bay 60 to Lee adapter ring, but what you are looking for sounds different.

Philippe-Georges · Mar 29, 2006

It is not a mather of bieng unique or of supreme quality, but I would like to see that D200 after 25 years of intenseve pro use...
Mine (1980 500M/C) is still in verry good shape, reliable and compatible with the verry last accesoires Hasselblad is marketing (even digital).
After all, 25 years of hard labour for that price ( and prize?), what brand will do better whitout serious breaking down problems?
The kit I use was worth new about 24 000 EURO, that's just under 1 000 EURO per year and servicing eatch 5 years for about 1 250 EURO, this comes to the actual total of 1 250 EURO per year. Compared to a med-class car, not bad...

Cheers

www.photoeil.be

P.S. sorry for the pigeon English

kjsphoto · Mar 29, 2006

Heck, I can buy a Nikon D200 cutting edge digital camera for the price of two Hasselblad film backs.

BUt remember you will have to upgrade in a year of two. With film you dont, buy once and shoot it forever. So in reality you cant buy a D200 for the same price as it will outdate.

Derek Lofgreen · Mar 29, 2006

leicam5 said:
Mine (1980 500M/C) is still in verry good shape, reliable and compatible with the verry last accesoires Hasselblad is marketing (even digital).

I guess that was what I was trying to say. Hasselblad systems are so versatile that they aren't being thrown away for the next new thing.

D.

Gibran · Mar 29, 2006

I remember reading a Hasselblad Ad in the late 70's, early 80's which attempted to explain that, a Hasselblad is built almost entirely by hand and that it takes the greater part of 1 year to build a Hasselblad! It went on to stress that 25% of the workforce at Hasselblad sole job was quality control. At that time, a 2000FC or FC/M with lens and back cost about $4000 or so, as much as a compact car in the late 70's! The same camera in mint condition can be had for about $600 today on eBay, quite a bargain I would say. Camera equipment in general is really really cheap when one considers how much you will probably spend in consumables such as Film and also how long it lasts. I just spent about $500 to stock up on Velvia, Tri-X and Fuji Acros for the year. I spent twice that much on a Fuji GSW 690 111 and almost half as much on a mint Hasselblad 2000FC body. The cameras are cheap from that perspective. X dollars over a lifetime is pennies a day.

Drew B. · Mar 29, 2006

I think hassleblad equipment isn't worth the prices...but thats just me... Take the Volvo automobile for instance, the reason it has such a great road record...is because it is never on the road (a quote from a certified volvo mechanic) Now lets be serious, people control the economy and prices. Everyone stop buying their products for 6 months or so and prices will come down quick.

gr82bart · Mar 29, 2006

leicam5 said:
It is not a mather of bieng unique or of supreme quality, but I would like to see that D200 after 25 years of intenseve pro use...

This is what I mean about quality. I know my Hassey will be dug by some future archeologist and it'll still work, assuming 120 film will last 'till then.

Regards, Art.

gr82bart · Mar 29, 2006

Drew B. said:
Now lets be serious, people control the economy and prices. Everyone stop buying their products for 6 months or so and prices will come down quick.

Ah, sorry Drew, but people are like sheep and cows. Marketers control what they buy.

Hassey isn't doing well, not because their prices are high, but they haven't changed their marketing plans to market their product the way a Ferrari or a Harley or a Louis Vuitton bag is marketed.

Art.

André E.C. · Mar 29, 2006

Drew B. said:
Take the Volvo automobile for instance, the reason it has such a great road record...is because it is never on the road (a quote from a certified volvo mechanic)

Drew,

I don`t know how the thing goes in the US, but in Europe and mainly in Scandinavia, Volvos and Saabs are everywhere on the road.
The great record is due to great quality!

Cheers

André

Dave Parker · Mar 29, 2006

I remember an old saying, everything is to high priced if you can't afford it, Both Hassy and Volvo, have a long standing rep as being very durable...

Dave

Gibran · Mar 29, 2006

My 1992 Brick, thats a Volvo 240, and my 1972 Hasselblad 500C/M are both trouble free and running great. The Brick has 260,000 miles on it and is so easy to work on, I do most of the work myself on the rare occasions its needed.

Dave Wooten · Mar 29, 2006

I dont have a hassy but I do have a beloved Saab 95 V4, over 30 years old...goes in for reconditioning this year....it is the same age as my 35 mm Pentax

gnashings · Mar 30, 2006

You know... aside from the obvious "trolling-ish" implications of such a question, there is something in it to be pondered. I just don't think that the "for no good reason" conclusion is the right one, as most of the people who have used Hassys have already made plenty obvious. The obvious answer is, as has been already mentioned, that the prices are dictated by what people are willing to pay, and the people paying have their easons for doing so. But is it that simple? Probably not. The fact is, the very question of "40 year old technology" vs "state of the art digital" is a mute point. The 40 year old technology in a Hasselblad is capable of reliably producing images of unsurpassed quality - forty years ago as well as today, hence the question of its age is irrelevant. The only relevant point in that comparison is that, much like the technology, many of these cameras are actually 40 years old and - guess what! - they still work as well as the day they were made. Perhaps therein lies the only relevance of the age issue: its still THAT good now - and that is something worth paying for in my opinion! And it really needs to be added that the absolute cream of the crop of any industry has many common traits: for the most part, its superiority over other things is a small increment only useful to the most discerning users, and price does not co-relate to ability in a linear fashion. The average $15000 econo box car will hit 100 km/h in under 10 seconds - cars costing ten times as much barely do it twice as fast. Furthermore, the average driver is just as likely to exploit the full potential of a thoroughbred sports car as I am those of a top-flight camera. That is not to say, to those who can, the price is not worth the results.
And just like for every Walter Rohrl out there, there is a thousand average joes driving a Porsche with no other qualifications than being able to foot the bill, same can be said for cameras. But, that just goes to show, that mystique is one of the hardest things to price out - actually, I would venture to say, its impossible.
I suppose to a hack like me, the bottom line is this: I buy what does the things I need done, and any surplus is spent on vanity. And that vanity is largely composed of knowing that I am handling a piece of equipment that is several times better than I could hope to be, just like the people I admire who actually are that good.

Does that make any sense?

Peter.

gr82bart · Mar 30, 2006

Peter,

This is why you are not a marketer. You're too intelligent and thoughtful of your purchases. Most people aren't. Hassey needs to market their cameras in a way that makes a ho-hum accountant buy a $30k Harley and thinks he's a biker.

Regards, Art.

Monophoto · Mar 30, 2006

High quality = high cost
High cost = high price
High price = low volume (ie, niche market)
Low volume = higher price

But as long as the niche market exists, everything works.

gnashings · Mar 30, 2006

gr82bart said:
Peter,

This is why you are not a marketer. You're too intelligent and thoughtful of your purchases. Most people aren't. Hassey needs to market their cameras in a way that makes a ho-hum accountant buy a $30k Harley and thinks he's a biker.

Regards, Art.

Art,

Thank you for the kind words, but I think I am not fully deserving of them - there is something intangible about the great marques, and I am a mere mortal, given to all the follies that go along with it... But I do try to be reasonable, I suppose the definition of reasonable changes with disposible income size
I suppose you can't really begrudge Hassy for what they do - one can only do that from a certain established postion that doesn't come over night. They put in the sweat to get there, and I guess they are within their rights to exploit it. Just not out of my wallet, hehehehee

Peter

avandesande · Mar 30, 2006

I think that the law of diminishing returns is at work here. Squeezing that last 5% of 'trickness' or quality out of anything (car,watch, camera, wine) costs a disproportionate amount of money. Some people are willing to pay extra for that little bit of betterness.
The rest of us don't care or can't even tell the difference.

Why is Hasselblad so expensive!?

colrehogan

Derek Lofgreen

David J

David A. Goldfarb

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David A. Goldfarb

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gr82bart

gr82bart

David Brown

colrehogan

Philippe-Georges

kjsphoto

Derek Lofgreen

Gibran

Drew B.

gr82bart

gr82bart

André E.C.

Dave Parker

Gibran

Dave Wooten

gnashings

gr82bart

Monophoto

gnashings

avandesande

Why is Hasselblad so expensive!?

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