Introducing myself

Hi, everyone,

I am new in the Hasselblad family; in fact, I am new in the MF photography and I'd like to introduce myself.

I am an amateur photographer and I consider photography as my hobby, but a serious one! I've been taking pictures systematically since 1993, first with an AF NIkon and, since 1998, with Leica. I now own two M and two R bodies, along with ten lenses, plus a good number of Leica digital cameras, which I rarely use. I still am a manual camera and film devotee.

My main interests are street/documentary and landscape/travel photography. I almost exclusively shoot with Tri-X and Velvia 50 and Ektachrome 100. I used to process the B&W myself years ago (when I attended a two-year evening photography school) and now, with my new MF "toys", I reconsider starting over again.

My decision to turn to MF photography came from a desire to explore something new and challenging, so I bought a secondhand 501CM complete kit with a Planar 80/2.8 T* CB which I will soon expand with the 50mm Distagon. I also bought a Bronica ETSRi (6x4.5) with a 75/2.8 just to train myself on MF systems before I start the 501CM systematically.

I have already seen shots on Velvia 50 with the Bronica and I find it difficult to believe the quality of the slides. I am now looking forward to repeating it with the Planar. I expect superlative results! My only concern is that scanning such slides without qulity loss will require an considerable investment on first-rate scanners.

I will try to post my first impressions from the Hasselblad soon.

Thanks for reading this,

Paul