You guys pushed me to do it!

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2007

I don't know if it was G. A. S., ITAH, I never really liked it, or I just wanted something more like my Nikon SLR ...

I am getting rid of my Mamiyaflex C330, Cds Porroflex, 65mm, 80mm, 250mm lenses, WL viewer, magnifying tower, Paraminder, two handles, focusing screens, ...

and buying a Hasselblad 503CX, WL viewer, PME, A12 back and f/5.6 250mm lens. Other lenses are sure to follow.

Past experience with 35mm taught me that compared to a 50mm normal lens the 35mm lens was not wide enough. I am much happier with 28mm and 20mm wide angle lenses for 35mm format. *** Question: Will I be happy with a f/4 50mm lens for $650 or should I hold out for a f/4 40mm lens? As your opinions are respected and valuable to me => Please Advise. ***

Thats my story and I am sticking to it!

Steve

Ian Grant · Apr 30, 2007

You've answered your own question, but buy both the 40mm is so much wider.

Ian

Nick Zentena · Apr 30, 2007

Stever said:
I am getting rid of my Mamiyaflex C330, Cds Porroflex, 65mm, 80mm, 250mm lenses, WL viewer, magnifying tower, Paraminder, two handles, focusing screens, ...

and buying a Hasselblad 503CX, WL viewer, PME, A12 back and f/5.6 250mm lens. Other lenses are sure to follow.

What did you like with the C330? It's a lot closer to the Hasselblad then 35mm.

Curt · Apr 30, 2007

Should have kept the 330 and got a view camera, larger the better!

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2007

Nick Zentena said:
What did you like with the C330? It's a lot closer to the Hasselblad then 35mm.

I like the 120 format for all the usual reasons. I never liked the left-right reversal and many years ago was convinced that the Porroflex was a necessity. I was never a fan of the C330 because of the inconvience factors:

Did I cock the lens if I was not using the 80mm?

Did I lock the lens lock so that I did not shoot a blank roll of film?

I found the fiddle factor of setting up due to the lack of a good man-machine interface taking up too much of my attention to composing the photograph. Yes, 35mm photography is usually faster than MF or LF, but the Hassy is easier to use than the Mamiyaflex.

I had sold cameras at Baker's Photo in Washington DC when I was going to college. I orginially wanted a Bronica S but could not afford it. Therefore I brought Minolta SR-7, SRT-101, SRT-102, X-700, ... I just never really liked the Mamiyaflex. Add to that the fact that Canon, Nikon and Hasselblad are the major players of the few left standing in the film world got me to thinking that I would rather have a system I am happy with and that is still supported that something I inherited and was never crazy about.

Steve

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2007

Curt said:
Should have kept the 330 and got a view camera, larger the better!

I like working with view cameras, but it would take too long and the enviroment is much too dusty to use when I am off-roading.

Besides my girl friend is very patient when I am photographing, but probably not that patient. I would rather not trade her in at this time.

Steve

Nick Zentena · Apr 30, 2007

Stever said:
I like the 120 format for all the usual reasons.

No I meant what focal lengths did you like? The shape of the formats are so different I'd lean on your expierence with the 330 over your likes with 35mm.

Antje · Apr 30, 2007

Congratulations! I love my Hasselblad to pieces.

Antje

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2007

Nick Zentena said:
No I meant what focal lengths did you like? The shape of the formats are so different I'd lean on your expierence with the 330 over your likes with 35mm.

With the Mamiyaflex I had the 65mm, 80mm, and the 250mm. Before I made this decision I was looking to by the 55mm which is the widest available for the Mamiyaflex.

I have a 20-35mm zoom and a 28-300mm zoom for the Nikon.

Steve

copake_ham · Apr 30, 2007

What's weird to me is that I have the Hassey 503Cxi and was thinking about getting the Mamiya 330!

Of course I wouldn't do a trade-off but I do appreciate your info about the M-330. Might require too many "adjustments" for me!

You will enjoy the Hassey - just remember that no accessory of any kind comes cheap! It's like owning a Volvo with a BMW engine.

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2007

I have not yet located the filter that improves the composition.

Any suggestions?

Steve

MattKing · Apr 30, 2007

Steve:

Which Mamiya TLR do you have?

Usually the Mamiyaflex reference is to the older models, not the 330 series.

The shutters on all of my lenses (55mm, 65mm, 80mm and 135mm) are automatically cocked when I wind the film. IIRC, only the older chrome lenses, and the 250mm lenses don't offer that functionality.

I've found the C330 to be very easy to operate, even in the hectic environment of wedding photography. The prism finder (not the porroflex) does definitely help though.

I've never owned a Hassy. My MF SLRs are a Mamiya M645 Super/Pro tandem, which certainly certainly offer some ease of use advantages, but there are some downsides as well.

I like having both.

Matt

Sirius Glass · Apr 30, 2007

C330

Steve

gr82bart · May 1, 2007

I love my Hassey. I've used the 40, 50 and 60 mm lenses and much prefer the 40mm. That wide angle is amazing.

It's interesting you're starting with a 250mm lens, can you explain why? Just curious.

Regards, Art.

Sirius Glass · May 1, 2007

gr82bart said:
I love my Hassey. I've used the 40, 50 and 60 mm lenses and much prefer the 40mm. That wide angle is amazing.

It's interesting you're starting with a 250mm lens, can you explain why? Just curious.

Regards, Art.

The used best lenses that they had were the 50mm and the 250mm. I was inclined to wait for a 40mm and I saw that front ring was scuffed, the focusing ring on the 50mm slightly slipped and the focusing was unreasonable stiff. Even thought they would fix the stiffness and the focusing ring problem, I thought that $650 was a little too high.

The 250mm was exceptionally clean and while it would have normally been the last lens I brought, I thought $800 for the lens was a good price.

Total for the CX [1990], PME, WL hood, A12 back, and 250mm lens for $1500 was a pretty good price.

Steve

Soeren · May 1, 2007

ITAH???
It puzles me that you chose Hasselblad as being more like your Nikon.
I have a Pentax 6X7 and I find it to be to close to my Nikons in handling thus thinking about a Hassy, Bronica (again) or another 6X6 with a WLF that is completely different from my 35mm gear. To me the difference that matters between 35mm and MF is not just the format, be it square or 6X7, It is also the handling using a WLF and a handheld meter etc.
Kind regards
Søren

Sirius Glass · May 1, 2007

Soeren said:
ITAH???
It puzles me that you chose Hasselblad as being more like your Nikon.
I have a Pentax 6X7 and I find it to be to close to my Nikons in handling thus thinking about a Hassy, Bronica ...

Starting with 6x6, I wanted a reflex and not a WLF. Both the Hasselblad and the Mamiya had that with the PME/Porroflex finders. I wanted something less cumbersome and without the parallax problems [even though I have a Paraminder]of a TLR.

While I was not particularly crazy about 6x7, the used Pentax's in the Los Angeles area were beat to death. Therefore I believe that when someone buys a Pentax 6x7 they will not give it up. Given that people in this area will buy an SUV as a fashion statement* and then dump a perfectly good vehicle for another fad-of-the-year-vehicle, this makes Los Angeles a good place to troll for Hasselblads.

Steve

*Why do people in Los Angeles drive SUVs?

To drive over the homeless people at the end of their driveway.

Dan Fromm · May 1, 2007

Stever said:
*** Question: Will I be happy with a f/4 50mm lens for $650 or should I hold out for a f/4 40mm lens? As your opinions are respected and valuable to me => Please Advise. ***

Steve

Don't be a piker. Go whole hog. Get an SWC.

Sirius Glass · May 1, 2007

Dan Fromm said:
Don't be a piker. Go whole hog. Get an SWC.

Hmmm ... that would not be Kosher.

The SWC will have to wait for now.

Steve

You guys pushed me to do it!

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