Hasselblad 500 C/M: Thoughts? Advice? Anecdotes?

[StoicalEtcher]

Thank you for the reply.

Are you talking about brick and mortar storefront dealers, or online dealers? I found the KEH online dealer that seems to be good......but I dunno of any place near me at all that handles old cameras like I'm talking about....

Do you have stores over there you can go to and physically touch and look at before buying with old film cameras?

Thanks in advance,

cayenne

Cayenne,

Yes, sorry, I was talking about bricks and mortar stores - though they all have online presences too.

May be different in your neck of the wood, but the UK still has a few decent real stores - they are few and far between, but as it is the UK "far" doesn't mean quite the same as it does in the States.

Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[cayenne]

I've used with KEH with good experience (selling, not buying). As to storefront dealers, there are two I've dealt with. Robert's Camera in Indiana has excellent selection of used gear which you can handle. They sell on eBay as well. Also Camera Exchange in Michigan has a strong medium format background but with definite Mamiya bias (owner was former MamIya representative). They sell on eBay as tecsales and on Amazon. Probably not the place to look for Hassy stuff though. Obviously neither help if you aren't in those areas. Have you tried Craig's List, someone may be selling locally.

Well, I live in the New Orleans area....I keep an eye out for garage sales, craigslist, etc.....but nothing on the hasselblad level yet.
I did score a mint yashica mat 124G for $75, which I have loaded with film and hope to play with some this weekend.

I've not yet found a used camera store in this area yet like on the level of what you described.

I also have a fear that Katrina may have destroyed a lot of what might have indeed been in the area as far as old cameras that people had in storage.
If they were in attics of tall houses some may have survived, but I have to think a lot of what might have been in the area was lost.

But I'm still searching.


The hunt is part of the fun and I appreciate the input from everyone on trying to make good choices.

cayenne

 

[cayenne]

Just a quick update for everyone that gave me such good feed back (thank you again!!).....

I just pulled the trigger...I spent a bit more than I originally intended (but don't we all when it comes to the camera addiction...er...habit...er...)

I bought a used 501 CM off eBay from the ken.com outlet there....kehoutlet.
I also bought a back, both were in 'bargain' shape.

I also bought a 80mm f2.8 CF T lens for it from the keh.com site itself.
This was listed in excellent condition.

I'm hoping everything I"ve read and watched about KEH and their grading proves true...that they tend to grade a bit harshly and that their BARGAIN level is often much better than other folks' excellent.

I'm also eyeballing one more lens, the 150mm f4, it is on sale, and also rated excellent ....as that when I was reading up on the cash back on my business CC...I found I had almost $400 in cash back I didn't know about....so, BONUS.


Anyway, hoping these arrive around middle of next week (don't you HATE waiting on shipping?).....

KEH does seem to charge a bit more at times, but I've researched and their return policy, and warranty....and reviews seemed to make me feel better about trying them out for what is my first real used major purchase, and with this type thing, well, I want that peace of mind.

Anyway, I'm now antsy and figuring out shoots to go on with the new gear when it arrives.

Again, thank you everyone on the advice. I'll try to update after I've shot it a bit and how it works, etc...

cayenne

 

[StoicalEtcher]

We'll be watching with interest!

 

[cayenne]

Ok, I've got the camera in, and both the 80mm and 150mm lenses.

I'm gonna try to shoot a quick test roll today just of stuff around the house with both lenses and drop by the develop place and hope to see them this weekend, to make sure no light leaks, etc.

But may I gotta tell ya, the camera body was listed as 'bargain' and the lenses as 'excellent'....and this thing literally looks almost new out of box the whole thing!!

The film back was 'bargain' and the only thing I see is a bit of tarnish or chrome rubbed off the thing you use to open the back to take the film caddy (?) out for loading/unloading film....but other wise even that looks mint, almost no wear I can see.

The barn doors on the rear of the camera each have little lines, but I"ve come to find out this is normal for the later versions that had a coating put on them that does crack and apparently is pretty much normal.....

Anyway, will do some quick shots to get film in today or tomorrow...but will still go out and shoot this weekend even if I don't get them back in time to make sure.

But I do wanna do test shots to make sure no light leaks ,etc...while I still have return policy on....

(so excited).

Thanks all,

C