Analog Review: Hasselblad 500 Series

In this video I shoot a roll of Kodak Gold through a hasselblad 503cx down in Porthilly Cove. It’s such a fun camera to shoot and I hope it helps people who are thinking of buying into the system.
Here’s a link to my long hasselblad vid alluded to in the intro: • The Hasselblad 500 Ser...
It’s very in depth but if you use the chapter markers there’s a lot of information on the V-mount cameras that might be of use.
I didn’t mention the motor-drive cameras in this video because in my opinion you want to get one of the non-motor drive bodies for this kind of walkabout use. If you’re limited to the studio and want to save some cash then maybe try out a motor body, but I’d definitely look at the others first! Sorry to EL/ELM owners!
/ j_notley

[@jcollins1305]

Im a rolleiflex shooter, but I still have not given up on a hassy if I can find one in good condition for a good price. I hear repairs are inevitable and expensive, but who knows. Both of my rolleis have been dead reliable and offer superb results.

[@StillWinding]

I'm waiting for my 500cm to be delivered in the next few days. Very informative and pleasant video even if you don't love the system enough to keep it.

[@lugentaubner6853]

This video reminded me of what I love so much about this camera! (Sold mine to fund a P67+105.)

[@Havsorm]

Brilliant video mate, very helpful insigts! Might I ask how you scan your negatives, they come out so sharp? Let the lab do it or you have a scanner yourself?

[@JordanCS13]

I’d love a Hasselblad, but it’s a little out of my price range for my film kit, which is a secondary kit for me, with 35mm digital being my main. I shoot with a Mamiya C330f, which gives me the square format, which I like, but also with the option of interchangeable lenses, at a much lower cost of entry. I was able to get my C330f, 80/2.8 and 55/4.5 for less than the cost of a Hasselblad 500 body alone. Love the video, and I really like the style of your videos…relaxed but informative. Keep up the great work!

[@jacovanlith5082]

Never sell a Mamiya TLR. Go for a tele !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Adam-pm1cy]

Great - keep'em coming!

[@flowermaze___]

When you say square feels dated, what do you mean? That seems to be a huge part of the charm for the square bodies!

[@NordicLab]

Glad you are back, good review, also like this camera, but lens hood overrated :D

[@IainHC1]

Ollie with WALL-E :-D Crackin photo :-)

[@adamvoith4420]

Check out the mamiya super 23 or mamiya universal if you want a fully mechanical interchangeable and modular 6x7 / 6x9 / 4.5x6 camera

[@fotowissen]

A wonderful video and explanation. Also I very much like your photos and your way to compose. Hope you did not sell the camera, cause you can fill it with live.

[@GeoffT650]

Nice to see your videos again. I did the same thing, about a year ago. Sold the hassy, went large format, missed the spontaneity, so thought I’d try a mamiya rb. The mamiya lasted a month! To make a short story long I now own a 503cx! The mamiya was just to heavy.

[@jacovanlith5082]

Large format .....................? How many lenses dud you bought for your LF?

[@GeoffT650]

@@jacovanlith5082 I have 3, I use a 150mm 90mm and a 250mm. If your starting out I’d get something around the 150mm. The 90 is handy, and gets used a little. The 250 I rarely use.

[@EanEan-zu3vx]

there is a back that can convert the hassleblad to a 645 camera. The a16 back

[@stanvandersluis8486]

7:35, and I recommend rollei sl66 over Hasselblad, a lot more features on it. Portrait monster.

[@jklphoto]

Shame you couldn't get on with the 500 Series. Rather than composing tightly with the square format, you have to be open to cropping in post. I shot weddings for 20 years with them. Proofs were 5x5 and final prints 10x10 (inches). The problem was when Gran insisted on ordering a 5x7...

[@fotowissen]

True but: If you see the photo in a different ratio through the viewfinder, you will compose it differently. So Jonathan has his point in changing the camera, if you do not like the aspect ratio. I thought immediately that Jonathan should love the 6x7 (which is in fact a 5x4 when you measure it). Best, Peter

[@integra407]

Can anyone with a 500 series help me a bit more with the part Jonathan talks about holding down the shutter for longer exposures? I understand the concept, I just want to know how long do I press and hold for longer exposures and is there an indication of when to stop holding, or is it more like a mental counting type of thing. I mostly shoot digital and not really sure on this part. When do i hold until?

[@JonathanNotley]

So there’s a leaf shutter in the lens and a ‘barn doors’ shutter at the back of the body. The timing mechanism exclusively applies to the leaf shutter and the barn doors remain open as long as the shutter is held down. Since it’s possible to really quickly release your finger from the button and end your exposure with the barn doors it’s recommended to hold it down for a beat after your exposure to make sure this isn’t happening.

[@integra407]

@@JonathanNotley thanks for the fast reply. I went to your longer video and had a better idea of what and why. Thanks! Fantastic video as always.

[@simonarmstrong3125]

If you love the Hassy but don't like 6x6, why not swap A12 back for A16 (6x4.5) and add a screen mask?

[@simonarmstrong3125]

Ah, watched until the end. Ignore me. LOL

[@JonathanNotley]

Because they shoot horizontally and require a prism for vertical shots handheld

[@zguy95135]

I had a gorgeous black 501C with the 80mm. Its a wonderful camera system but its sooooooo slowwwww, focusing takes ages and the vf blackout is irritating. My Mamiya 6 is a much better fit for me. I had a Mamiya 7 for a while but 6x7 feels so similar to square (to me) that I ended up selling it.

[@dmystify1381]

Jonathan..slightly confused as to why you dont like centering your subject...am i missing something.Great vlog,Thanks.

[@JonathanNotley]

Ha. Bit of a joke and a bit of trying not to copy everyone else. People habitually place the subject’s face over the split prism and it gets a ‘bare minimum’ vibe when you see it repeatedly. With the dog image I think if I’d panned left a touch, but the dog in the lower right foreground and had more context on the left the picture would have worked better. With the binocular shot I think the centre worked best.

[@dmystify1381]

@@JonathanNotley Ahhh ok....i see what you mean...i use the cfv50c digital back..so i have that luxury to recompose.Thanks for your answer....i was thinkn have i missed something...LoL.

[@Raevenswood]

I like that people don't like the square format. It's likely the reason why you can get a Blad with a kit of killer T* coated Zeiss lenses all for the price of a single Mamiya 7 body and one lens. I'd rather have the Zeiss glass any day but I do think the Mamiya 6 is interesting, partly because its price hasn't gone to insane levels like the Mamiya 7. Mamiya has very sharp lenses for the rangefinders but the Zeiss lenses for the 500 series just render color in a special way.

[@jacovanlith5082]

Buii shit

[@psp10004]

Itching to swap my rz for a hassy and this def isn’t helping

[@JonathanNotley]

Watch my previous video! I’m swapping the other way

[@JonathanNotley]

Hasselblad 500 series Vs Mamiya RZ67: A medium format head-to-head kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGeYqYGGjtp0mq8

[@dmystify1381]

do it..you will Love it.!

[@Raevenswood]

do it! Square is awesome. Maybe it's instagram that ruined square for some people but I've been shooting it for a long time and I've always loved it the most. I also have never had an instagram account so maybe I'm immune to hatred for the square : )

[@andyvan5692]

such a pity you have 'fallen out of love' with it, as they are great cameras, for a couple of reasons, one, they have Carl Zeiss glass, and these are a cheaper way of owning it!; second, the lenses are convertable (macro, and close focus distance) by teleconvertor and Extension tube, ANY lens, not restricted to specific macro or tele lens choice, a quick add of these accessories changes perspective, for a short compact package, compared to a large tele or macro lens; third, you have a great number of shots per roll (12), not as much as 6x4.5 (15 shots), but more than any larger rectangular format (eg: 6x7=10 shots, 6x9=8 shots, 6x12/6x17{panoramic formats}= 4 shots per roll); fourth, LENS & Accessory lineup, stacks of choice, as each 500 & 200/2000 series had it's own set or 'vintage' of lenses, not just the choice of focal length (30/40/50/60/80/100/110/150/180/250/500) {NB: 38 is NOT in the aforementioned list, as it is encorporated into the SWC camera body}, so every genre and photographer has a lens for the style desired, price point, bokeh/character of rendering, etc. let alone the ext. tubes, bellows, Teleconvertors, or the PC-mutar (vertical shift+teleconvertor),film backs and viewfinders (inc. prisms, metered and not). Five and finally, Size and Weight, the volume of this body series is quite small for all the feature set (as aluded to in 1-4 above), especially when compared to a Mamiya RB\RZ or Pentax 67 system, and the weight is lower too, so easier to hike with, or take out on a trip and the less weighty the tripod has to be to hold it , also when carying a system, body, film, lenses, the less mass, the more gear you can have, and lower cost (at the airport, train station) to take the gear with you.

[@tor2919]

Nothing comes close to the 500CM Hasselblad. Shot mine since 2006.

[@nathantw]

If you're going to do an analog review, shouldn't you be showing us how you developed the film and printed it on your color enlarger? Of course, if you just scanned the negatives or slides, then you might as well have used a digital camera. The only real advantage of film medium format was that it required less magnification over 35mm film when printing on an enlarger. There was a true advantage that could be seen. Of course, today people shoot a roll of film, have it developed and scanned and say "hey look at this analog process." Sorry it sounds like I'm ripping on you.

[@JonathanNotley]

Short answer: No.