gear

THE DIGITAL SOAPBOX OF ANDY CLEAVENGER

HASSELBLAD 501CM

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Email:  graycard18@gmail.com

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I don’t hate this camera.

Really, I don’t. I like it a lot actually. But having owned and used one for several years now, I think I’ve come realize that it’s not the perfect camera I once thought it was. I think Hasselblads are sort of like buying a Leica R9 or a Nikon F6...  it doesn’t make you a better photographer, or give you a significant capability advantage over bodies that cost less. It just tells everyone around you that you spent a lot of money on your camera.

I bought mine when I was still a student for two reasons: 1) I got a pretty good student discount, and 2) all of the pros that I assisted at the time used 500c’s as their primary cameras, and I wanted to be just like them. What do you want... I was young and impressionable.

This leads me to this camera’s first flaw: everything in the Hasselblad system is really expensive. It’s nearly 10 years later and I still have yet to afford additional lenses for this camera. All the technical excellence in the world doesn’t mean shit if I can’t afford the lens I need. Looking back on it now, if I had it to do over again I probably would have gone with a Bronica system. Bronicas are very good quality cameras, there are a ton of accessories available for them, and they’re very affordable.

Another flaw in the 501cm’s shiny armor is that I always seem to be bumping into the minimum focusing distance for its lenses. The 80mm’s minimum focusing distance is roughly 1 meter and I often like to get closer than that to my subject. I’ve borrowed other lenses to try out and they’re usually similar or worse in terms of minimum focusing distance. The 120mm makro is an exception. It will let you get about 2 feet away from your subject, but even then I would consider the term “makro” more than a little misleading. You couldn’t do any real macro work with this lens without an extension tube. By contrast, my Mamiya C220 is fantabulous for close focusing. With an 80mm lens attached to the C220 I can focus down to about 8 or 9 inches.

Back when I bought this camera I used to hear a lot of comments that now I had a good camera if I should ever want to start shooting weddings. I find that comment to be a testament to how drastically wedding photography has changed in the last 15 to 20 years. I can’t even imagine shooting a wedding with this camera today. There’s no auto focus and only 12 shots at a time. These limitations weren’t of much concern 20 years ago when the emphasis in wedding photography was on posed portraits. However, these days brides are being preconditioned to expect their photographers to be experienced photojournalists first and foremost which requires a MUCH faster camera. Hence the reason most shoot 35mm. A few high end wedding photographers still shoot medium format, but usually with a digital 6x4.5 format system that has auto focus, like the H1.

Probably the only way I would ever have the opportunity to use this camera professionally is if I started shooting for high end clients that for whatever reason demanded I use film (which isn’t unheard of for high end clients). But since I’m unlikely to leave my present job, this camera is relegated to strictly recreational use.