Actually Using The Hasselblad 500C/M

There is one other lab in the city (ironically closer to my apartment) that looks like they will be getting the next roll for processing. I consider myself lucky to have 2 labs that still do 120 within walking distance from my apartment. The lab that did the first roll has done some good work for me in the past so its interesting to hear these observations (I still have lots to learn about film). I have 5 exposures left on a Portra 100 roll that I'm working through the camera now to see how it does with color. I will most likely shoot at least one roll of BW this weekend as Im heading back to the shore.

This may all just lead to me getting my home lab up and running sooner. FWIW if anyone is in the philly area and wants to help out they are more than welcome to join when I get everything in order.

Regards
Dave

 

Overexpose the last shots of Portra and see the difference it loves being slightly overexposed

Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk

 

There are many labs across the US which are setup for mail-in/mail-out service. Richard's in Los Angeles get very high ratings. If you were in SoCal I would be happy to help out. Hell, you could develop and scan at my place and enjoy a glass of wine.

 

You have a fine classic camera that has made legendary images. I hope you enjoy it.

 

This may be reason enough to make a trip out from the east coast, I may wait until the weather here takes a turn for the cold . I have thought about shipping it out and I may end up trying a few places, Im going to give the other Philly lab a shot before I jump to any conclusions and I may even get the ball rolling on doing it at home.

Im doing my best to get out and use it!


The weather this weekend has been less than optimal so not much photography has ensued. The forecast has it clearing up tonight so I hope to get out tomorrow and finish off the color roll I have in there.

Regards
Dave

 

The weather at the shore finally broke on Sunday and lead to a great day. I finished off the roll of Portra I had in the camera (a bit over exposed as suggested) and ran another roll of HP5+. Dropped it off at the new lab this morning and it should be ready by 3pm Wednesday so Ill post the shots when I get it back. Turns out the new lab is not only closer to my place but about 20% cheaper (for a roll of 120 dev,print,scan deal) which is nice.

Things I learned this weekend shooting in the wild with the camera,
- "Can you take a picture of us? That looks like a big camera you seem like you know what your doing" (asked by at least 3 beach goers, little did they know I dont really know what Im doing...)
- My girlfriend did not quite understand why I needed "such a big contraption to take a photo"
- The biggest difference I noticed was that when out shooting with my D3300 no one seems to think twice about jumping in a shot, walking in front of me or otherwise acting like I don't exist as they swing their selfie stick this way and that. Drop a tripod down on the beach with a "fancy" looking camera and people will actually ask you if they are in your shot or need to move for the shot. It was very interesting the way the interactions changed.

Regards
Dave

 

Respect ... it is all about respect. (See, size does matter.) Perfect weather this weekend, warm and dry (upper 70's, humidity under 50%).

 

2 roll from the new lab (see roll 2 and roll 3)...

The color came out really nicely and I really cant complain about it so for the price they will be my go to C41 lab. My only quam is that they give you the scans on a CD and I have no computer with a CD drive anymore.

Now for the black and white, the light lines are back and they are worse than before. Now that I know what to look for I asked them about it when I picked my prints up as I was pretty upset. Unfortunately they did not seem very surprised at what happened which angered me even more. Apperently as a result of the machine they use and the way it pulls the film through added with the development time, black and white high iso film is prone to problems like this. So it looks like its time for me to order some the chemicals and start doing this at home (I have been slowly acquiring tanks, changing bag etc.). I was fairly furious yesterday but the lines only appear heavily on the last 4 images of the roll even though they were my favorite images.

This image has some of the worst


Still lots of things to learn as some of the images did not come out exactly as expected.

Regards
Dave

 

Dwayne's photo wouldn't have that issue. Too bad. Those color are fantastic. Rich and sharp. Looks like a nice camera to say the least. Looks like the meter is sorted.

 

These 2 rolls (for all but 1 image) were metered with the new meter which looks like its working as it should. The new meter also has incident capability which the old one did not. This has helped me on some of the closer shots. I think I have also just been interpreting the meter readings better as well. I have been reading (and re reading) Ansels "the negative" as I go through this self imposed exercise.

Some thoughts on the camera so far,
- Yes the camera is very sharp and I have been very pleased with it so far.
- When paired with a meter that reads out EV's the camera is so simple to use its a delight.
- The depth of field indicators on the lenses are interesting and a new way of thinking about selecting shutter speed/aperture combos.
- The hot swappable film backs are really nice, I have been mainly using them to switch between color and black and white when I need to.


Regards
Dave

 

Thank you for the encouragement! My B&H cart is currently full of chemicals I got some used tanks on Ebay which are in fairly decent shape (both Paterson auto loading style as well as the metal real kind). I have a changing bag and an old roll I have been practicing with and hope to run a roll soon. My understanding of it so far is that the most important chemical choice is the developer and the fixer and stopper have less of an impact on the outcome. I am leaning to using all Illford chemistry (the documentation seems really good and easy to find) then messing around with some other stuff. Adox has also caught my eye as of recently. I still need to get some graduates to measure everything out but other than that I have a fair idea of what to do (lots of reading still to go). One of my biggest concerns right now is the water in Philadelphia. Unfortunately Philly has very hard water and since I live in an apartment I have limited control over putting filters in. I may use some distilled water to solve the problem but that gives me less thermal control.

Regards
Dave