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There is nothing like a Hasselblad

I shoot a ton of pictures on my Canon digital system. I have probably shot over one million frames in the last eight years. As much as I love digital photography, it is hard to beat the look of black and white film.

The texture. The latitude. No instant results. It makes you appreciate the roots of photography as well as where technology has taken the medium.

I haven’t shot 35mm film for a while. I have a cheapo Chinese Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) called a Mudan. It shoots on 120 film. However, letting go of a camera that is not on a strap is never a good thing. Bye bye ground glass.

I’ve been keeping my eyes out for a Hasselblad – the supreme camera for shooting 120 film (medium format). I found a used one that I took out for a test drive yesterday.

It is a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M. On the front, I was shooting through a Carl Zeiss 60mm f/4 Distagon lens. Inscribed on the lens mount, it says “MADE IN GERMANY WEST FOR HASSELBLAD.” This camera and lens is a piece of history that will keep on recording.

I took a road trip down to Potosi, MO to visit the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to run a roll of film through it. I fired off twelve frames of Kodak TMAX 100 and I can’t wait to see the results.

A Hasselblad 500 C/M set up on a tripod overlooking a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

A Hasselblad 500 C/M set up on a tripod overlooking a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Trying to replicate the image I was about to make on a Hasselblad 500 C/M in Potosi, MO at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. ©2009 Max Gersh

Trying to replicate the image I was about to make on a Hasselblad 500 C/M in Potosi, MO at the Sayersbrook Bison Ranch. ©2009 Max Gersh

Looking down at the ground glass of a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

Looking down at the ground glass of a 1976 Hasselblad 500 C/M at a stream in Potosi, MO. ©2009 Max Gersh

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