After selling all my Nikon gear some years ago, I bought a Leica M camera. The plan was to go old school, think before pressing the button and in general slow down.
I have really enjoyed the last couple of years with my Leica camera, with all it’s quirks and limits. For me, it was the right descision and direction.
I have always thought of shooting film again (I did it in public school about 25-30 years ago), however buying a film Leica is not cheap… So instead I thought, why not go a step further and get into medium format cameras… After a bit of research, I discovered that I could get a complete Hasselblad V system cheaper than a 35mm Leica film camera. The film (called a 120 film) gives 12 frames on a roll and the negatives are 6×6 cm! Which is actually more manageable than having 36 frames on a 35mm film.
I searched eBay for a 500 c/m system, but prices were high due to increased interest in film photography lately. I ended up finding a 503 cx in great condition and actually a bit cheaper than the 500 c/m’s currently on eBay. The camera is “only” 25 years old and in great condition. The 500 c/m systems available were 10-15 years older…
I also found a Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 lens at a good price on eBay and now the system is complete.
An 80mm lens on a medium format camera is roughly 44mm in the 35mm equivalent camera world.
The next 3 photos are from my first roll of film, a Kodak Portra ISO 400.
Together with a few colleagues I went to Munich for a small photowalk. This time I have a black & white film (a Kodak Tri-X ISO 400) loaded in the Hassy. Maybe not the best choice for our destination…
We went to Schlachthofviertel where there is a lot of colorful graffiti.
I’m exited to see the results in black & white… This was a deliberate choice as I need to test various films to find the best one to my liking.
On the way back from Munich, we made a stop at the u-bahn station Westfriedhof, which is famous for it’s special lightning.
All in all, I’m extremely happy with my new Hasselblad system and I’m completely in love with the process of shooting film. It has a certain “zen” to it…
This does not mean that my Leica will be put away, on the contrary, shooting film should hopefully improve my photography overall.