Hasselblad 500 C/M

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mr.spaceman

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Hi, I can buy a hasselblad 500 C/M with 80 mm lens and 1 casette for 500 euro. Is that a nice price? Has anyone any experience with the camera?

Please tell it to me!
 
It's a great camera, I have one sitting on my shelf. The 'standard' 80mm Planar lens is one of the sharpest ever made. The price sounds OK as long as its in good condition the 500c/m had a long production run the later cameras had a brighter focus screen.
With an A12 back (which is what I presume you mean by 'cassette") that can be swapped mid roll so you can take colour and B&W to the shoot made these cameras the SLR of choice for Pros.
NASA took Hasellblads to the moon so obviously they were trusted for Spacemen so why not Mr Spaceman? :).

You can tell the age with the VHPICTURES codes on the body.
http://photonotes.org/cgi-bin/photo-entry.pl?id=VHPictures

Mark
I prefer my Rolleiflex as I'm a one lens guy, but if I was shooting studio portraits again a 'blad with 150mm lens is wonderful.
 
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Rolleikin said:
It's a great camera, I have one sitting on my shelf. The 'standard' 80mm Planar lens is one of the sharpest ever made. The price sounds OK as long as its in good condition the 500c/m had a long production run the later cameras had a brighter focus screen.
With an A12 back (which is what I presume you mean by 'cassette") that can be swapped mid roll so you can take colour and B&W to the shoot made these cameras the SLR of choice for Pros.
NASA took Hasellblads to the moon so obviously they were trusted for Spacemen so why not Mr Spaceman? :).

You can tell the age with the VHPICTURES codes on the body.
http://photonotes.org/cgi-bin/photo-entry.pl?id=VHPictures

Mark
I prefer my Rolleiflex as I'm a one lens guy, but if I was shooting studio portraits again a 'blad with 150mm lens is wonderful.
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Thanks for all the advice. I just found a Bronica SQ-AI 6x6 camera+105mm lens+ 2x cassetes+polaroidcassette for 300,-

Now i'm in doubt. :)

Going to think about it. It's going to be one of these cameras.
 
Go for the Hassy over the Bronnie if you can get away with it...
 
Rolleikin said:
NASA took Hasellblads to the moon so obviously they were trusted for Spacemen so why not Mr Spaceman? :).
Click to expand...

And those cameras are actually still on the moon, when they went to return to the orbiter, every time the cameras were left behind to save weight and only the 70mm film packs were taken back. I wonder if any of those cameras would still work after 40 years on the moon...
 
I have owned a 500c/m and now use a Bronica SQ. I sold the Blad because while the initial purchase cost is OK, if you want anything other than the standard lens you are looking at around £1000 as opposed to £150 for the Bronica version. I know the Bronica lenses are not quite as sharp as the Blad lenses, but if I want sharp I will shoot digital.

Also the Blad needed a service when I brought it, because its a clockwork device it needs maintenance and adjustment to keep working accurately. The Bronica has an electronic shutter and works reliably with a lot less TLC and I haven't had to service it yet.

Don't get me wrong the 500c/m is a great bit of kit and I wish I could afford to own and run a full outfit but the low initial purchase price is only half the story.
 
mr.spaceman said:
Hi, I can buy a hasselblad 500 C/M with 80 mm lens and 1 casette for 500 euro. Is that a nice price? Has anyone any experience with the camera?

Please tell it to me!
Click to expand...

erm well my advice would be:- to just have a think to whether you might prefer 6X4.5 or 6X7 format...e.g. you can get a complete Bronica ETRSI outfit for under £500.
 
What exactly do you want it for? Portraits, landscapes? all round photo?
The 'blad is a wonderful machine solid and very reliable, I have only two lenses a 50mm Distagon and the 80mm
Like another poster stated the lenses are more expensive than their Japanese competitors but have just about the smoothest look sharpest image I've seen.
Here is a good review:
http://www.olegnovikov.com/technical/cfe80/cfe80.shtml
If I had the money and only wanted one lens then the 'blad will be great, if you want to build a system then the Bronica will serve you well.

Choices ;)
Regards
Mark
 
Well, as usual I gotta go with the Bronny, Blads are way overpriced, pretty poor value for money imo because its really all about Zeiss.
I can live without Zeiss, have a much heavier wallet and hardly know the difference...:)
 
Another vote for a Bronica from here.

I looked at a Hasselblad when I wanted another 6x6 system but wanted an electronic machine which put the Hasseys way over budget.

Having compaired some slides from the Bronica + 80mm lens and a Hasselblad ELX + 80mm lens I found very little difference in the performance between the two. Can't comment on other lens in the range.
 
Go for the Blad Spaceman, if you can afford it.
I've got a 501cm and it's built like a tank. You will notice the difference in lens performance but I suppose only if you try both - depends on how much weight you put on this difference. (Only my opinion of course).
Also, there's a reason why pro's use Hassy's........




.
 
I bought the Blad simply because it is utterly gorgeous. :)

Had it serviced and if I never take another image on it again in my lifetime I still would not consider it a waste due to it's utter georgousness. :)
 
- a tragedy maybe, but not a waste :eek:
 
If you can live with the 6x6 format, then the 'Blad is so much better than anything else it's untrue...

Build-quality is unsurpassed - it'll last a thousand years...even on the moon...
 
s162216 said:
And those cameras are actually still on the moon, when they went to return to the orbiter, every time the cameras were left behind to save weight and only the 70mm film packs were taken back. I wonder if any of those cameras would still work after 40 years on the moon...
Click to expand...

Doubtful. Vacuum cementing will have put paid to most of the moving parts by now.
 
I'd vote for the 'blad too - they're just engineering perfection You need to be a bit careful buying one though and look for signs of really heavy use.There's only one light seal in 'a blad and it just protects the dark slide slot from light when the slide is removed. This seal is easily user replaceably thankfully. Where the film back mates with the camera though is where to look for signs of heavy use on those mating surfaces which rely on a precision fit for light trapping. Grab the camera firmly and twist the mag to see if there's any sign of play. With heavy pro use they can become in need of adjustment, but it's a pro job to sort it out.

They're so well built though, that there's little likely to be wrong that can't be sorted out
 
Allright, I bought a new camera.

A Bronica ETRS

I'm very happy with the first shots I took! Soon I will upload some pics somewhere in the show us yer filmshots topic..

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I had the Mamiya 645 1000s and loved it. One thing will cause problems and that is an upright 'portrait' orientation.
I soon got tired of the contortionist act of upright shots and purchased a prism-something to look into.
 
Here they are

It was the end of the day so some of them are a little too dark. Need to check the light with a very old meter.

But i'm sooo happy with the great quality. Now i've got some b/w in it.

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s162216 said:
And those cameras are actually still on the moon, when they went to return to the orbiter, every time the cameras were left behind to save weight and only the 70mm film packs were taken back. I wonder if any of those cameras would still work after 40 years on the moon...
Click to expand...

Shouldn't think corrosion would be an issue, dust maybe?
 
No winds on the moon to disturb the dust, gigantic dust clouds were expected for when the lander landed an disturbed the surface of the moon but there were actually surprisingly little. I'm not sure if they would work or not, something to find out if we ever go back and land on the moon again!
 
I bought a 500 c/m after handling a h4d and a "moon camera" at a hasselblad studio day. I am amazed by it, it's sheer mechanicalism just makes me smile every time I use it which is a lot!!!
 
mr.spaceman said:
Well that's what I did. I'm a proud owner of a Hasselblad 500CM

First result:
Click to expand...

Congrats. I found the stock focus screen not very good on my 500C/M. I put in an Acute-matte D with grid and split screen and things are much improved. With the stock screen, there was no micro prism or anything and the focus just didn't seem to pop in and out compared to my other MF camera. The darn Acute-matte D is expensive but after the purchase shock, I'm glad to have it. Something to consider if you find getting good focus slow on that camera.
 
AlanSmithee said:
Congrats. I found the stock focus screen not very good on my 500C/M. I put in an Acute-matte D with grid and split screen and things are much improved. With the stock screen, there was no micro prism or anything and the focus just didn't seem to pop in and out compared to my other MF camera. The darn Acute-matte D is expensive but after the purchase shock, I'm glad to have it. Something to consider if you find getting good focus slow on that camera.
Click to expand...
I agree with every word of that - if blads have a fault it's that they're a pig to focus which is why so many users opt for the split image screen. The screen on my RB67 snaps in and out of focus very positively compared to the blad.

I don't have a split screen in the blad, but I do have the acute matte screen Alan refers to which is a big help. I also use a prism which gives about a 2.5X magnification of the screen which helps a lot in focusing too.

Congrates on the 500 CM btw -there's really nothing quite like them!(y)(y)
 
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