I think its a really difficult question to answer if I have a favourite when referring to a single one of my camera’s. Its like saying, who’s your favourite child. All my camera’s have their own qualities both positive and negative but if Im shooting stills & portrait, I guess it would have to be my Hassy.
The Hasselblad 500CM is a big lump and for me, it’s not the rig I would use every day. Thats down to my 35’s and my 6x7. My Hassy does require some stability when shooting with it but believe me, once you’ve got your hands round it, its a killer rig to work with. It’s certainly not a camera Id use for motion related media, so thats why is so well suited for me when is comes to stills & portrait. Others might disagree but it’s all about which camera and set up works best, and on the MF front, this is the one for me
I came close to the idea of selling it recently when I was thinking about the last time I used. A stupid thought indeed which was further endorsed by wifey - “don’t you dare sell that”. She’s was so right. If Im honest, Id never find another one as good as this one if I’d sold it, I’d really regret it. Stupid boy! It’ll never be for sale….Im dying with it by my side.
So, what makes my Hassy so good for stills and portrait work then? Well, I love how solid it is and easy to handle. It feels like quality which it is and then there’s that rather engaging element I love so much, looking down into the viewfinder where everything comes into view. And then there’s the lens. One of the very best pin sharp 80mm Zeiss lenses out there. Im still amazes me just how sharp it is. All my work is “out of the box” meaning that its shot how I shoot it. None of that after processing with PS & LR, filters, presets and sharpening modes. I don’t have any need for that, never have, never will. I keep my photography real. Others out there enjoy those elements of photography and good for them but it simple isn’t for me. Afternoon bleat over…
Enclosed below is a gallery of just a few of my portrait, stills and other related content that Ive shot with the Hassy on a variety of film stocks
