Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/02/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Simon Greenwood wrote: > ><Snip> > > You have convinced me that I do not need to get another medium format camera > though naturally enough I will probably buy one, possibly by the end of the > month, use it solidly for a week, then put it away and get it out periodicly > to clean and admire. > > ;.) The Hasselblad is a much maligned cute elegant simple little Swedish box camera which fits right in your left hand and balances against your chest for unobtrusive pictures. And one can pre pop the mirror. I love it's EV system. I have a meter advance knob i got at a swap meet for 40 bucks which gives me an ev number only. I take a reading with it once in a while. Not so great indoors just like the Gossen Pilot which it probably is. In most cases you meter with your own meter, on you own time. But the cameras with the meters in them have gone down drastically in price. The 200 system. In many cases you use a tripod, but this camera is quite hand holdable as well. Many never take their Hasselblad off the tripod. It's a versatile camera. A cube with stuff that fits on all sides of it. I find tripod use to be a freeing experience. I have to work too hard with hand held photography. The major issue with any camera system is not the camera. Who cares about the camera?! It's the glass. This year I got for my Hasselblad system the legendary 100 f3.5 CFi Planar T*. IN Leica terms it's the Leica 60MM F/2.8 MACRO-ELMARIT-R or the 60 Elmar for the Viso. It's considered to be not a telephoto lens, but a long normal. I'd hate to have to compare them directly as they go into different formats. Working with the 100 f3.5 CFi Planar T* has gotten me wanting to get into the Leica R system so I can shoot with a Leica 60MM F/2.8 MACRO-ELMARIT-R. Both have Horizontal angle of views of 31 degrees. A normal lens has 40. The 75 on the Leica by the way has 27. So this is truly a cropped, corrected and flattened NORMAL lens. There is a tendency for people to overcomplicate their approach to the Hasselblad. A meter not in the camera is a freeing expiries for many people. Not the pain in the ass it may seem. The square format can fit the bill for many shots. And working waist level is a big plus for me although i do have the heavy and expensive prisms which I'm glad I have every three years when i have to jack the camera high on the tripod. Take off the lens, the prism, the spirit level, the side winder, and what do you have? A little cube! An elegant innovation like this was bound to make the explosive impression on the photographic word as the Leica did three decades before (give or take) ... But you could just get a twin lens Rolleiflex. That may fit your medium format needs. Mark Rabiner Portland, Oregon USA Photography Website: http://www.rabinergroup.com Email: mark@rabinergroup.com Mark Rabiner Portland, Oregon USA Photography Website: http://www.rabinergroup.com Email: mark@rabinergroup.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html