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Street portraits with a Hasselblad 203FE

Sandokan63 said:
Even 10 years later, your photos on Flickr are good. Nice body of work
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Thank you. I still have the 203FE and it's working perfectly. I also still have a 503Cx I bought new in 1992. After 15 years of trying to get pleasure out of Leica M digital, I gave up and returning to film. Last month I bought a Leitz V35 enlarger and last week I ordered a Focomat IIc, so I'm back in the game I suppose. :cool:
 
Very happy with the purchase of the mint V35 and easel, safelight, focus finder and enlarger timer, all for £250. Then I realised that going forward I'll be mainly shooting 120 roll film 6x6, 6x9 and 6x12, hence the Focomat IIc which will manage all up to 6x9. 6x12 and 4x5 will be contact printed, or scanned. Maybe I'll sell on the V35, maybe not.
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a photographer and his money are soon parted ! :cool:

Gary
 
I stumbled across this thread. Not sure how 'alive' it is at present. Anyway, I own and use the 203FE and 110mm Planar, as well as too many other Blads.
I have used it for 'street' but my style for street is mor candid than any Hassy will permit. In my case Leicas are the best street cameras, but they still have issues with the need for silence, because they are not. The 203FE + 110mm lens does give a unique image quality and I ALWAYS use a 45 Deg prism finder, and sometimes a winder. One can snare a good candid with this sort of combo, but you only get one bite of the cherry because your subject will be alerted to you by the camera noise. OTOH Leicas can often give you several shots before the subject becomes away of you.
If you are engaging the subject directly and arranging them to pose, Hasselblad is fantastic. In fact it usually engages the subject in conversation that makes for more shots.
in the end, it is your technique of shooting that will dictate the best camera for purpose. These days, my Blad gear is mostly for non-candid stuff and it does have a quality that is special, subject to your PP of course. Above all, I love the square format. So much more versatile than rectangular.
 
i find the Hasselblad too slow in focussing for street portraits, even with the cooperation of the subject. Results are fantastic when it works. Much preferred is the Rolleiflex (mines f2.8) which can capture quick portraits, with or without cooperation. My Leica, currently an M3 with King of Bokeh, is very quick to use, but much less satisfying in the production stages Because of the film format.

I'm contemplating a big change at the moment, but quite unsure which way to turn.. :-(
 
First of all you must decide the direction you want to go in. Then let that dictate the right camera. Just as a carpenter working with timber decides which tool to shape it with. He already has the shape in mind. Then chooses the tool(s).
Your Leica will be superior for street portrait that are candid. The Hasselblad will deliver superior images but will be slower. As I mentioned somewhere, to speed up a Hassy, it is imperative to have the 45Deg finder and the winder for 203 series. The finder corrects the image from reversed, but also relieves the stress of reflex viewing vertically down into the standard finder.
 
I am glad to find this site living again.
@baddered
We can't compare the old analogues Medium formats to Leica and specially the Blad square formats. "Horses for courses' would be the right application here for me.
As far as the street shooting it looks like a big joke to other non-experienced Medium format/ or Hasselblad shooters in this area. Hasselblad is always a camera for CONCEPTUAL PHOTOGRAPHERS ( If you believe what is conceptual photography or it's existence )
 
@imagenan
Hi Imageman, Do we know each other ? I know you are the same person from the Leica Forum.
For me it is sad I had cut my line from that Hub. But I am happy and doing well as ever. Good to see you again.
Cyril
 
I don't believe we have met, but I have 'come across' you at times on various fora. Hassleblad was my mainstay for most of my working life, but graduated to Leica late in life. Fortunately, because I can not carry all the Blad gear I used to, plus lights etc. Now, I am stricktly available light and compact gear. But when I take the Blad out for an 'airing' The images still sing.
John. aka erl
 
imageman said:
I don't believe we have met, but I have 'come across' you at times on various fora. Hassleblad was my mainstay for most of my working life, but graduated to Leica late in life. Fortunately, because I can not carry all the Blad gear I used to, plus lights etc. Now, I am stricktly available light and compact gear. But when I take the Blad out for an 'airing' The images still sing.
John. aka erl
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So . . . . . it would be nice to see some of the singing images . I never tried street photography with a HB .
 
@imageman
Hi Erl,
Yes I was in the Leica Form and I left it few years back.
Glad to see you here again. I can't agree more about singing images of HB.
I also love Leica and Hb is too bulky in many ways. I remember How I did many Street photos with my 203FE. I n one way it is different and an special camera and fast with many electronics and aperture Priority etc. But I still give lot of credits to that camera.

@jotloob I have done many street photography with HB in Paris. I used it applying " horses for courses " theory. Those photos has many distance and different in regards to ' Street photography. But as documentary series they are all fits in nicely.
But due to the contemporary hi tech cameras it is true we always forget what those older cameras could do and what they were able to do in the past.
 
jotloob said:
So . . . . . it would be nice to see some of the singing images . I never tried street photography with a HB .
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Here are three images from the same roll, shot on TriX, not my favourite film. Gear was HB 203FE & 110mm Sonnar using the FCW Winder.
 
Here are three images from the same roll on TriX using 203FE & 110mm Sonnar and FCW Winder.
 

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quoting The Fontane....

Speaking of expert repair, for Hblad V kit - Classic V in the UK are the shizzle - https://www.classicv.co.uk
Even if you're not in the UK, and your Hblad needs a service or tuning, it's worth the cost to courier it to them. They do top notch work on bodies and backs, haven't been able to find anybody as good elsewhere.
 
Hi David,
I think I've seen mention on here that people have posted gear to him from abroad. If you contact him I think the arrangement was to sent kit to a PO box where they collect from.
I don't work for him but I am a very happy client. Steve.
 
@superwhite , Thank you for the above post . I need to get some informations regarding Blad 230FE and the latest Module

NEW Hasselblad 907X CFV 100c camera and it's interchangeability of FE lenses.​

 
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