What's new
Medium Format Forum

Register a free account now!

If you are registered, you get access to the members only section, can participate in the buy & sell second hand forum and last but not least you can reserve your preferred username before someone else takes it.

If it could only be ONE

Ah yes, Wilko, but that is without taking consideration the red rock landscapes of central Australia (Uluru etc) or the Bungle Bungles. You might need a thematic world tour.

You might include Red Rock, a sleepy coastal town about 250 km south of here, but somehow it might not have the grandeur you are after. After all they do produce a bumper sticker there as below...

Nick

26403.jpg
 
Dear Marc
You are right that this is a medium format site but i can not help but wonder what people are thinking about the M8. There is a lot of flack on the net about banding problems and infra red distorting blacks to magenta. My personnal choice for an only one camera if it were medium format would have to be a rolleiflex tlr. Only one lens but what a lens. No mirror problems and pretty light to boot.Attached is a pic taken with a 1960 Rolleiflex T. Hand held 1/30s.
26407.jpg
 
The M8 has teething problems Richard ... well see how it shakes out.

I have one sitting right next to me on my desk that I've been shooting with for a week now.
I was the one that blew the whistle on the IR black issue over at the Leica Users Forum.

My intention was to never substitute the film Ms with a digital M, but instead the relieve my shoulder of that brick of a Canon DSLR I have to carry for 8 long hours at weddings.

The plan was B&W film with the MP3/M7, casual candids in color with the M8. My film Ms would probably puke out the film canister if I inserted a roll of color film in them : -)

Remains to be seen if the M8 will be corrected to my satisfaction. I'm hopeful ... but not foolishly so ( I haven't paid for the camera yet ; -)

Now back to our regularly scheduled praise of the camera system that keeps on truckin'
 
Who can resist collecting Ziess Lenses for Hasselblad? I believe most Hasselblad users have tried, or would like to try the entire line of lenses. There are only a few who can afford all of them. Yet, as users migrate from film to digital, Ziess lenses show up at a 30-40 or even 50% discount, which can make them bargains for both active professional and plain old photographer.

I have spent years learning and reading about Hasselblad cameras, seeing photos, and watching others use the system. I began using Hasselblad in 1998. My system is rather modest compared to a professional studio, yet each time I press the shutter it is thrill for me.

I have always wanted to try a 40 mm lens, but having a 905 SWC Biogon f/4.5 38 mm doesn’t make that practical. I also envy the FE 300mm Sa, but price does make an impression. Hasselblad 503CW with Zeiss Distagon 3,5/30 and Ixpress V96C, is also impressive.

Having lived Hasselblad's history beginning with advertisements in camera magazines from 1960 on, envying a 500C, which gave way to the 500C/M, the 501C, and finally the 501C/M as the basic manual.

Then SWC, which was replaced by the SWC/M, the 903 SWC, and finally by the 905 SWC.

Then the 500EL's, whose replacements included the 500EL/M, 500ELX, 553ELX, and the 555ELD.

There were cameras that included TTL/OTF (through the lens/off the film) flash metering the 503CX, which was replaced by the 503CXi and the 503CW.

2000/200 series of focal plane shutter cameras starting with 2000FC, 2000FCM, 2000FCW, 2003FCW and then followed by the 201F, 202FA, 203FE, and 205FCC, which added a level of automation to the V series.

Finally there are V series FlexBody and the ArcBody, and the Special use NASA system cameras.

NOW that is a history to be proud of. Camera is one thing, then there are all those Ziess lenses - WOW now that is a system of Lens and Camera.

My use of Hasselblad began on a shoe string budget, then multiplied rapidly as my use of Hasselblad was integrated into business and industrial use for clients.

How can one not be fascinated with Hasselblad cameras and Ziess lenses as a photographic system? Precision built for perfect photos. It is the Photographer who is not perfect, as we all seek perfection on a constant learning curve.

Richard
 
Richard,
I do share your passion for Hasselblad cameras and the lenses. I watched the moon landings as a very young boy... But please, the company that makes these lenses is "Zeiss", not "Ziess". I also have to confess that I own most of the Hasselblad focal-length range. Except for some very expensive SA and Apo-glass, 30 mm Fisheye,.. (but i cheated a little and had strange Japanese, East German und Ukrainian glass converted to Hasselblad ;-).

Ulrik
 
The old city in Lahore, Pakistan. It's like a medieval city, with all the old crafts being carried out in small open workshops along the narrow streets. And these are real, not our revivals - making anything from animal glue to drums, Near the goldsmiths' quarter I once saw five men panning the sewer at the side of a street for gold! A 40mm would be useful.
 
Terrific posts everyone
happy.gif


Marc, I'm with you all the way - my M7 is a permanent fixture along with the various Leica optics that never fair to deliver joy. But, no matter how my heart flutters when I take that kit for a "run"; Hasselblad's 6x6 will always be my first choice.

Leica is the Hasselblad of 35mm, while Hasselblad is the Leica of MF.

Nick - from a fellow Aussie, great post!

The first places that came to my mind were Paris, Utah and Alaska. But for its mix of devastatingly dramatic photography opportunities, Alaska wins by a micron...... I think..... Paris only has one problem - you never want to leave!

Marc, in some respects Leica's release of the M8 with any significant imaging quirk is really unforgivable. Is this IR problem easily corrected with an IR filter? Is it only evident in certain light and black dominated subjects? I was told that this attribute is like that which was common a few years ago in the Canon 1D and Nikon D100. Or, could it just be a trade-off issue one must accept (unless an IR filter is fitted) for the other beneficial attributes? I suppose a full announcement from Leica may eliminate the mystery.

I wrote nearly 2 years ago that Leica was taking a risk with the digi-M nomenclature and should take great care as that often hidden risk can come back and bite very hard. Another great German company suffered that - Porsche, by the way it named models like the 928, 924 etc creating a market perception barrier from day one. You will notice that today only the 911 has such nomenclature.

Leica's model lable of M8 risks adverself affecting its film M cameras through perceptions like: "the M8 is better than the M7; the M7 is now redundant.... the list goes on". M7D would have been better since it needed to be defined as a M camera (despite the German language linkage) - 2 media side by side so take your pick, film or digital. Here's hoping they get this sorted out very fast.

Otherwise how good is the sensor; how does it compare to the best of Imacon's / Hasselblad's sensor's (puting aside size factors of course) characteristics.

Those who fail to learn from history risk repeating it!
happy.gif
 
Simon, Imacon had nothing to do with the M8. The sensor is a Kodak CCD and Jenoptic replaced Imacon on the rest.

The Jury is still out on the camera's performance IMO. It has problems, and some people are trying to whitewashing them ... coming up with solutions that one shouldn't have to even think about with a camera this expensive. I've seen some pretty darn good images from it, but I have no idea how much work each involved to get there. I haven't had a chance to get anything that great yet. The IR contaminated blacks and spectral highlight banding are the worse issues. An IR filter on the lens helps. The banding is being worked on.

We'll see what Leica's response is in a couple of weeks.. Disappointing to say the least.
 
Thanks Marc. NO, I didn't suggest Imacon was involved in the M8 - I wondered what your view was of the comparative image attributes between the Leica and Hasselblad / Imacon sensors (excluding size aspects of course)?
 
On places to go:

First, the moon (OK, been done with a 'blad and not very practical).

So then, Antarctica (not on a commercial tour and via Macquarie and Heard Islands).

Other spectacular places:
NW Western Australia (been there a long time ago as a kid)
SW Tasmania (been there)
Himalayas (been there)
Patagonia (haven't been there)
Many places in Africa (haven't been there yet, but the Serengeti and Okavango Delta; Mali and surrounds - who doesn't want to go to Timbuktu? -; Madagascar.

Lots of others, but theses are starters.

Might have to stick with Red Rock for the moment though. It does have a beautiful estuary though.

26411.jpg
 
Simon,

I assure you it was shot with a Zeiss T* lens! Only attached to a compact Contax digital...my one and only little digital thingo.

Actually, the reason for the picture was 'work', showing the mangrove tree. It is the species I am researching for my PhD! A 'blad is a bit over the top for that.

Not all estuaries are equal, and I really like the pretty ones like this one of the Corindi River. Not as pretty as the Sandon River, just to the north, though. I paddle them in my kayak.

Nick
 
Hi Guys,
On places to shoot, well Paris is great, even having lived there for 12 years and springtime is magic!
My current favourite is Venice; see shot - OK it's taken with my lightmeter, but I don't have a digiback for my 500 C/M.
I'm in Copenhagen today, but without sun it's pretty depressing.
This weekend it's Amsterdam, again great in the sunshine, or for wet night scenes, which are probably all I'll get.
Still, off to Capetown on Monday!
Regards to all - Gerard
26415.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top