Basically Brilliant

For my 21st birthday, way back in the mid 80s, I asked my parents for a twin-lens meduim-format camera, thinking that at best I would receive a cheap Minolta. To my absolute surprise (and at great expense to both my parents – thank you) I received a second-hand Hasselblad 500C. The 500C was first introduced in 1957 by the Swedish company and the landmark design formed the basis for Hasselblad’s product line for the next forty years. It became the standard image-capture device for NASA, as well as any studio photographer worth their weight. My camera is made up of the following parts: film back – 1966; body – 1968; and a Carl Zeiss 1:2,8 f=80 lens – 1968. It has a very basic design with the lens focus being achieved with the aid of a tiny pop-up magnifying glass and doesn’t even have a built-in light meter. I still have the camera and I’ve used it many many times since, it’s a brilliant object and a brilliant camera.

Wind on (excuse the pun) 23 years, and with the incredible advances in digital capture technology, photographers in their droves are off-loading their Hasselblad collections for very little money indeed. Just check out eBay and you will find cameras that retailed for thousands of pounds selling for a fraction of their retail worth. Your chance to own one of these incredible iconic products. Oh, and if you do make a purchase, remember you’ll need a Weston lightmeter – also available on eBay.

Nathan Usmar Lauder
Posted on Thursday, 10th of September 2009 Permalink Comment (0)