A black 501CM is my main camera and I'm looking to add a 553 (motorised like the one this joker in the video had). It is simply sublime to use. The end result depends purely on the user
I loved the Hasselblad V cameras, and have kept a 2000FC/M with 80/2.8 (I still have to get rid of the 203FE, but have been too lazy to put it on eBay so far), but I also added a Rolleiflex 6008i for its pure competence and trueness of aim. Very cool cameras. I don't like the H*D cameras much, but they are competent.
The add ons (finder and automatic film advance) seem pointless, but the 500 series with the 80mm planar and waist level finder is just such a fun camera to shoot with. The kit above is a great example. There's this elegance to it with the square aspect ratio and everything and the finder that's the same size as the negative that's just great and it's small and light. Until you put a 40mm distagon on it. I owned an RZ system that I sold most of and it was awesome, but nothing beats the Hasselblad for feel, and the big 7x7 mirror slapping around made the image less sharp than I wanted on the RZ system although the lenses are excellent for it.
My dream 120 camera system is the Mamiya 7ii. So nice.
If you found it appealing you should try one. I don't think the film bodies like the workhorse 500's are that expensive. The Zeiss lenses are almost certainly very sharp
Basically, unless you are using flash, all 500-series cameras can be summarised by saying that they have no metering or other features, and use only leaf-shutter lenses (C, CF, CFi, CFE) The 2000-series has a focal plane shutter and can use F and FE lenses, but still have no metering. The 200-series is a bit mixed, but some of them are fairly advanced, with metering. They also have a focal plane shutter and take F and FE lenses. Both 2000- and 200-series cameras can also use C/CF/etc. lenses.
Policar wrote:
The add ons (finder and automatic film advance) seem pointless...
Once you've tried the prism viewfinder, you'll probably change your mind. Yes, it's a bit bulky, but you get an 1.0x magnification with the 80 mm lens and I haven't tried any camera with a nicer OVF ever. It's just amazing.
