Street portraits with a Hasselblad 203FE

[Rolo]

My Hasselblad activity has been fairly quiet over the last couple of years whilst exploring the Leica M9 and MPs, but I came back to my Hasselblads and what a ball I've been having with them.

Shooting in the street handheld with a 203FE and a 110mm f/2.0 wide open is a completely different experience from snapping with a 35mm camera. It's not easy, but my images are really pleasing to me and I hardly want to shoot anything else at the moment. The Hass has a mind of it's own and encourages me to shoot in a more formal style, but these pictures hang together better and I can see a portfolio taking shape.

As I said, not much use with the Hass recently and so I suspect that there will be a change of direction before long and the tripod might come out. What I really like is the absence of debate about image quality, in focus images breath quality, so it's about subject matter and composition.

The 203FE provides fabulous facility in the street. With auto exposure, it's a point, focus and shoot camera. Makes it reasonable quick when subjects have been asked to pose.

You can see my recent results here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rolophoto/?=

regards

 

[nathantw666]

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Rolo]

So pleased that somebody commented here.
Appreciated.

 

[nathantw666]

So pleased that somebody commented here.
Appreciated.

I know what you mean. It seems like a ghost town here. People are viewing the posts, but nobody is really saying anything to contribute. It's a strange time to be a Hasselblad V user.

 

[Rolo]

Well, thanks for having a look and coming back to comment.

Appreciate that it's a gear centric Forum and that's a good thing for us owners, so no criticism, but it would be great if it was more.

 

[Cyril Jayant]

Nice pictures and lot of hard work in there. It is a real pleasure to see some 203 camera results. I have a 203fe and as what happened to you after your M9 my camera too was left untouched for several years now because of my M8.2. I was struggling to take out my 203 but strangely it never happens. But somehow i have to finish my last film stock which is fairly expired and one of these days I am going to take out this camera and explore the city streets.

I like to add too, it seems like a ghost town,,, really but I always appreciate this Forum . hope to see more of your work again!

 

[Rolo]

Cyril, thanks for your comments on the images. Appreciated.

I've responded to your question via Flickr mail.

The M9 is so easy to carry and it's tempting to abandon all else. However, there's a 'grandeur' about an image taken on a Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, or similar. I have a fine collection of images taken with my Leica cameras, but somehow I feel that the 120 stuff is more permanent.

It's not a resolution issue, rather a presence. I always question the need to shoot my Hass up to the point of sampling for the black in Photoshop. Only then do I know that my decision to carry the weight, bulk and suffer the reduced spontineity was right for me.

 

[Walter Ulreich]

I know what you mean. It seems like a ghost town here. People are viewing the posts, but nobody is really saying anything to contribute. It's a strange time to be a Hasselblad V user.

Yes you are right. Strange times ... I found the 203 street photos some days ago and many thanks for that link. Highly appreciated. I am quite a new 203 user with CVF 16 II and far away from such great results.

All the best and let us bring some live in the ghost town ...
Walter

 

[curmudgeon]

Wonderful photos! I am envious. I've tried to do the same kind of thing with my 500C/M and 80/2.8 Planar but my reluctance to get right in the subject's face and inability to hold the camera steady result in very few "keepers."

Like the others, I am disappointed by the lack of traffic on this forum. Perhaps part of the reason is the diversity of Hasselblad products. The only thing an H4D shooter and I really have in common is the name on our camera. There is a lot more discussion of the 500 series Hasselblads in places like the APUG medium format forum.

--Doug

 

[Cyril Jayant]

Cyril, thanks for your comments on the images. Appreciated.

I've responded to your question via Flickr mail.

The M9 is so easy to carry and it's tempting to abandon all else. However, there's a 'grandeur' about an image taken on a Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, or similar. I have a fine collection of images taken with my Leica cameras, but somehow I feel that the 120 stuff is more permanent.

It's not a resolution issue, rather a presence. I always question the need to shoot my Hass up to the point of sampling for the black in Photoshop. Only then do I know that my decision to carry the weight, bulk and suffer the reduced spontineity was right for me.

I agree on this and I have gone to see a Lab where i can dust off some of my old Blad Negatives from the shoe- boxes and scans and put in to display. And at the same time dust off my Blad Camera and clean and fine tune for reusing for clicking . I Think I need to calm down and go in to my old rhyme of clicking with the analog cameras that I did for so many years.
Thanks... bladdered.....:z04_photos: