Base10 had a fairly uneventful day today--just one minor crisis toward the end of the day and it wasn't even mine but someone else's that I helped on.

But I did do the pictures earlier. They were taken with a Canon EOS 20D. I love the Canon. It's a great camera and at 8.2 megapixels it's more than enough for anything I'm going to use it for. I have to say that its results are awesome. My only complaint is that that the images sometimes seem rotationally skewed so they have to be rotated several degrees and cropped. I don't know why this is, but it doesn't happen with film cameras. All in all, with the capability of taking large density digital images and getting immediate results and being able to easily manipulate the images afterward makes the digital SLR a winner.

But over the weekend, Base10 also took out his Yashicamat twin lens reflex film camera (until or course he got caught in Sunday's torrential downpour) and took some photos. Base10 is very happy with the reults of the development and subsequent scans of the 6x6 images. Therein lies the problem.

I want to do more with film. I'd like to try large format. As a matter of fact, I've had my eye on a couple of Speed Graphic press cameras on ebay. This is the next level after medium format and although the press camera doesn't have the complete movements of a view camera, it does have some and would be an interesting learning experience and not be too expensive.

But lets get to the real reason I want to stay in medium format film cameras: I want to buy a Hasselblad. There, I said it. I've always wanted one. I can afford one. And it will probably be the last medium format camera I will ever buy. (I reserve the right to buy another digital camera in the future). The thing about the Hasselblad is that it is a precision mechanical instrument. Heck, you don't get cameras made any better. While there are some quirks to their operation, Hasselblads are generally considered the finest camera ever made.

One of the selling points as well is the existence of a very large secondary market. This doesn't really exist for say the Rollei 6008. Also, the cost of the equiptment is really the cost of the lenses--precision Carl Zeiss optics. With such a large secondary market you can pick up great lenses at pretty good prices.

The thing I don't like about Hasselblad is the fact that they charge for everything. The camera doesn't even have a meter. Either you use a spot meter, or you pay through the nose for a metered viewfinder. Jeez, a winder costs over a grand new. In that sense, the company gives you nothing extra.

I think I would also buy the initial outfit new. Although you can save a significant amount of money buying used, prices are still very high. I think I'd rather buy new and get the three year warranty on something that expensive rather than trying to save a few bucks by buying it used or gray market.

But why spend this kind of money on a film camera? Well, digital backs are also available. These are actually the highest resolution digital cameras. A digital back can get up to 22 megapixels. The downside: the cost is about the same as the number of pixels. Expect to pay $20-30 thousand dollars. I suspect the prices will decrease in the future and on the used maket, but even then it'll be high. However, with the Hasselblad, you know that there won't ever be compatability issues. Who would make a back that wouldn't fit a Hassy?

Even Mrs. Base10 is not completely against the idea. She sees my looming retirement and has offered her support. All lights are green here.

- posted by Base10 @ 11:01 PM