Sell the Hassy?

[PhotoWrangler]

A couple years ago I was buying camera gear faster than I could edit/process photos. I wound up with a Hasselblad 500c/m kit that looks really nice sitting in the display cabinet. The problem is I don't shoot it that much. In the last year, I've shot my Nikon FM, and Nikon F100 more than anything when it comes to film.

I love my Hasselblad, and when I shoot it, I enjoy it. But I also know that I've got money tied up in it, that I could use to buy more glass for my Nikon cameras.

I've always said that they would have to pry the Hassy from my cold dead hands, but I'm starting to rethink that stance.

I'm seriously considering selling the Hassy kit to fund the purchase of a 70-200 VR, I just can't be certain that I wont kick myself in the ass later on if I do.

How have you processed these decisions when you needed to?

 

[peter27]

You don't use your Hasselblad camera and equipment very often.
You use your Nikon cameras and equipment fairly often.
You enjoy using both.
By selling your Hasselblad you would make money available to add equipment to your Nikon collection.
Adding extra equipment to your Nikon collection would increase your enjoyment.
Retaining your Hasselblad and keeping your Nikon equipment as is will not increase your enjoyment.
Sell your Hasselblad.

 

[limr]

You already know the logical answer, but I think now it's the emotions of selling that you're dealing with. What you would ideally want, of course, would be to keep the Hasselblad AND have the new Nikon lens. Even though it makes logical sense to sell a seldom-used camera to buy a lens that will see a lot of use, we aren't always ruled by logic.

I would do a few things to try to 'trick' myself into figuring out how I really feel. Take the Hasselblad off the shelf and put it out of sight. The next morning when you're all groggy and aren't even really sure what day it is, look at the shelf - how do you react when you see the place where the Hassy used to be? A few days later, do you still notice the absence or are you starting to forget it? Or let someone else shoot it for a day and take note of how you feel about the camera being in someone else's hands. Blinding jealousy? Or content that it's going to someone who will use it more?

Also, think about your shooting patterns - do you go through phases? Have there been periods when you weren't using the Nikon very often but preferred something else? Might you go back to shooting the Hasselblad on a more regular basis sometime in the future? Or has it been a slow progression of trying cameras and leaving them behind until you settled into what feels right? If it's the former, I'd say keep the Hassy. If it's the latter, sell it.

 

[tirediron]

I very rarely haul out my medium format gear any more, but when I do, I enjoy the heck out of it...for the $1000 - 1200 that I could probably get for it if I sold it, it's worth it to me to keep on the shelf to have for those rare occasions when I want to go out and do something quiet and peaceful! You can always collect a few more deposit bottles to fund the new glass!

 

[Designer]

Don't sell it, bronze it.

Your great-grandchildren will thank you.

I think.

 

[Derrel]

I very rarely haul out my medium format gear any more, but when I do, I enjoy the heck out of it...for the $1000 - 1200 that I could probably get for it if I sold it, it's worth it to me to keep on the shelf to have for those rare occasions when I want to go out and do something quiet and peaceful! You can always collect a few more deposit bottles to fund the new glass!

This is kind of the way I feel about my MF gear...the 'early stuff' I bought for weddings back in the 1990's at FULL market prices, which could not even remotely be approached today in the used market...the stuff I added in 2007 was at just about the absolute lowest low of the lows, price-wise, in the MF film market...prices were ridiculously low when I found a body,back,waist-level finder, and 50mm and 80mm for $299...for the whole outfit!

I dunno...I supposed it depends on how much money you think the Hassy kit would fetch...but likely, it's not as much money as the stuff is worth as "a shooter".

 

[sm4him]

I would keep it.
This is something that will get harder and harder to replace in the years to come. If you sell it now, and DO end up regretting it, there may be no recourse--or at least, no reasonably priced one.
You can always save up enough money, or find other things to sell and STILL buy that 70-200. But you can't sell the Hassy and then change your mind later and replace it for anything like what you likely bought it for the first time.

The Hassy is a piece of history. The 70-200 is just a lens--a lens that can be acquired other ways.

 

[limr]

I know you were asking more about how we'd process a decision like this rather than for actual answers, but...the more I think about it, the more I believe you should keep it.

I've got a Mamiya 645 that doesn't get a lot of action, but every single time I bring her out, it's exciting and I want to do it more. I'll never give it away, even if I get other MF gear (wait...maybe you should sell the Hassy. To me! ) Even though my other cameras get a lot more use, I still value the chance to shoot the Mamiya when I'm able to.

 

[cgw]

I still like the medium format gestalt. Still, if I didn't have the easy access to top-shelf C-41/E-6/b&w processing I enjoy now, I'd probably move it all along. Lucky enough to snag mint/NOS Bronica and Mamiya gear 5-6 years back when prices had cratered.

You bought the ticket, take the ride. Get some film and shoot it. Don't shoot the usual stuff and remind yourself what it can do.

 

[compur]

I've never regretted keeping a camera. I've only regretted selling them.

 

[sm4him]

On further reflection, I've decided you really *should* sell it and move on. Get that nice versatile 70-200 lens. That Hassy is nothing but a memory taking up space on the shelf...

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how much did you say you wanted for it?

 

[PhotoWrangler]

On further reflection, I've decided you really *should* sell it and move on. Get that nice versatile 70-200 lens. That Hassy is nothing but a memory taking up space on the shelf...

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how much did you say you wanted for it?

im thinking $1050 shipped and paypaled.

I've got he body, lens, back, WLF, Polaroid back, bellows pro shade, left hand grip, 4 filters, cable release, and a few other things I think.

 

[runnah]

im thinking $1050 shipped and paypaled.

I've got he body, lens, back, WLF, Polaroid back, bellows pro shade, left hand grip, 4 filters, cable release, and a few other things I think.

Sounds like a no brainer to me, but I am not a very sentimental guy.

 

[limr]

It's got a Polaroid back? AND a WLF? :heart:

 

[PhotoWrangler]

I think I've decided to sell it, and have taken the photos to post an ad. Now I just need to bring myself to post the ad...