Jan 3

Jan 3 First attempt with my Hasselblad

Film, Hasselblad, Jiyugaoka, Roppongi, Shinjuku

I got my first images from my first attempt with my Hasselblad back from Popeye Camera last night. I went with Popeye scans as I wanted to get these up here quickly. I love this camera. When I nail the shot they are so good. When I miss them they are so bad... My current miss rate is more than 50%. Waist level finder, a reversed view in the finder, hand held metering, manual focus, manual everything - it's a lot to take in... I think it will take me a little while to get used to shooting with this.

You also attract a lot more attention shooting a Hasselblad than you do when shooting with a Leica. I didn't expect that. A lot of people come right up to you and ask 'Is that a Hasselblad?'.

Today's configuration: Hasselblad 501cm with a Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 shot on Ilford 400 XP2.

I got my new Hasselblad and did what any good photographer should do. I went to the massive Yodobashi film warehouse in Shinjuku and spend $250 on film ($100 if my wife asks)...

It is taking a while to get used to the waist level finding. I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out why I couldn't get this awning to line up. It was driving me crazy. Looking at in through a waist level finder backwards wasn't helping me to notice that it wasn't straight on the building.

Surprise... it's Suzuki Yakitori! I love this little shop.

Exploring Roppongi Hills after a lovely date with my lovely wife...

My wife Mayumi wanted to try my Hasselblad... Waist level finder, a reversed view in the finder, hand held metering, manual focus, manual everything - it's nothing to her. She nailed it. I can't say the same of my shots of her...but she promised to teach me how to use the Hasselblad.

While I got a few cool shots I did miss as many... I completely blew the exposure on this one. I am going to scan this one myself and see if I can recover it as it was a beautiful sky. Popeye scans with a single present for all images. I'm sure I can mix things up a bit and come back with a nice image.

I typically pick a focus point on the right or left side of the frame when shooting a Leica and use the negative space in the middle to create energy to my focus point. This clearly does not work in a square format at least with things on both sides. I need to learn how to maximize the square format.

and moving subjects are nearly impossible. At least for now.

I am loving this camera and there is something satisfying about the whoosh-bang-clank sound the shutter makes when I release it. I can't wait to explore more with this camera. Thanks for stopping by today...