"Hasselblad ... to discontinue 501CM,555ELD,905SWC"

This is the shock notice on page 9 of this weeks AP ( Amateur Photographer ) - UK .

 

Under the banner "Fuji Ditches medium-format film cameras", which I think is common

knowledge on this forum, come the shocker:

 

"The news comes just weeks after Swedish giant Hasselblad announced it was to

discontinue three V-system models - the 501CM, the 555ELD and the 905SWC wideangle

camera"

 

Does this mean the 503CW is the only real Hasselblad left ? ( I have nothing aginst Fuji per

say, having just bought a FujiBlad XpanII but the H1 is not my thing )

 

I thought there was talk by Zeiss of new V lenses in the works ... are we in for something

new or is it the beginning of the end?

well, producing only the 503 may make things cheaper.... i don't think anyone buys the 555.... i'm surprised the 903 is discontinued....

 

the 903 is such a pivotal camera... but i'm sure no one buys them new anymore.

This is correct, and Hasselblad themselves have confirmed it. They do of course have stocks and I suspect that buying one of the discontinued cameras will be possible for some time to come.

 

AP first published this information on 6th November.

Surprised to hear the news about the 905SWC, but not the 501CM & 555ELD. What's next?

Urm... Why's going to Fuji for lenses a smart move? Because of the AF?

Not surprised. certainly not for the 501 & 555. A biot of a reality check with the 905 though. Probably too many SWC, 903 around on 2nd hand market and then the 905 certainly is not digital friendly ...

 

Now that the H1 start to firm up. Does that mean Hasselblad will simply let the V series drizzle off to distinction.

It's all changing. Not only is digital eating into MF sales in both professional and 'advanced amateur' markets, more and more photographers today expect auto-metering and so on because they've grown up with it.

For me the more appealing Hassy would be a 503CW with the light meter (uncoupled due to leaf shutter only) of the 203. I imagine that such a Hassy would not cost anything in terms of R&D due to the existing body 503 and light metering of the 203. Hasselbald discontinued the 203 so they could use the existing stock or continue to produce (or buing) the light meter.

If there was such a Hassy I would bui it now.

I can't imagine why they discontineued the 555, in the digital era it is the more "digital ready" body of the series.... Will they now continue to develop digital back for 500 series?

Is'nt the 905 really useful for digital back due to its very wide angle lens?

I called Hasselblad USA yesterday, after reading the first posting. I spoke with technical support (they don't necessarily know the latest in marketing) and they claim not to have heard of anything discontinuing except the 200 series.

 

I will be a sad day to see the V system discontinued. Then again, there is a glut of Hasselblads on the used market at great prices...why by new?

"Then again, there is a glut of Hasselblads on the used market at great prices...why by new?"

 

I suppose the great quantity of used gear is from professional that periodically replace theyr stuff, so I suppose professional buy news, over all for reliability, warranty and so on. If there is'nt an affordable Hasselblad (H1 is not at all) like the 501 CM many of our amateur can't buy an Hasselblad anymore. Who nows if Hasselblad considered this?

I like square composition, it will be a shame if in the future will not be a 6X6 Hasselblad anymore.

"I like square composition, it will be a shame if in the future will not be a 6X6 Hasselblad anymore."

 

It would be a sad day indeed. And one that seems more and more likely to happen. It seems to be more a matter of when. 5, 10, 15 years? How long can Hasselblad sustain a product line that makes no money or creates an annual recurring loss for the company?

 

The best case scenario might be for Hasselblad to continue producing the V series (with a much more limited lens line) as a small-market "niche" item like Rollei has done with their TLR cameras. I hope I am wrong.

Hasselblad say they intend to continue with the 503CW and point to a digital back ( V96C) as indicative of their continued support for the V series. I'm sure they hope that many of the sales that would have gone to the discontinued models will migrate to the 503. Like everything else though how long this commitment lasts will presumably depend on how many new ones they sell- and not how many used Hasselblads are recycled.

David,

 

Thanks for the e-mail. I am inquirying around for either a 201F or 203FE body. I would prefer to buy it used asthis will be the most cost effective approach. Sad to see and hear about the direction that Hasselblad Sweden (Main office and probably THE headquarters) has decided for the sake of the future of the company sales.

 

 

Evan

I just left a voice message with Allen Zimmerman (President of Hasselblad USA), questioning about this information. When I receive a response, I will report back.

With all of these MAJOR changes at Hasselblad, I am led to believe the company must have been in real trouble before the merge. I guess some form of the company is better than nothing...at least we can still get equipment repaired at this point. Also, when I bought into the Hassy system, one thing I looked at was the outstanding quality of the product, and I did buy the equipment to last a lifetime. In the end, not much has changed for me regardless of what they are now selling or stocking, and with an active used market in E-Bay etc. I can still purchase equipment when I need it. Perhaps a course or two in Hasselblad repair may be in order??

Here's Bronica's explanation of why they no longer make SLR

cameras:

 

"Since the advent of digital photography, medium format sales

have declined at a rapid pace. Imports today are just a fraction of

what they were even two years ago," stated Inoue. "For Bronica,

that slip has been faster since our core customer base, portrait

and wedding photographers, has adapted well to digital SLR

equipment."

 

"These photographers are now providing customers with a

quality and cost-efficient product that has virtually eliminated their

need for the higher quality results that medium format film or

digital backs can provide," added Stacie Errera, Chief Marketing

Officer. "While some customers are faithful to the format, the

current sales volume and devastating purchasing forecasts

cannot sustain the production of Bronica SLR products."

 

The same forces are at work for Hasselblad, and soon they too

will fold their 6x6's.

 

The new selling fad is digital. Photographer's will be able to

seperate themselves from also-rans by now bragging about

their superior megabytes size instead of their superior Swiss

camera and format size.

 

But some fine art photographers will continue to embrace film,

but the pros are gone. I witnessed a huge inventory at Samy's

camera this week of used Hassleblad gear.

All of the reasons that MF is better than 35mm film will remain true with digital photographic technology. If larger film is better than smaller film, isn't a bigger sensor better than a smaller one?

 

Nonethelless, the used MF market is flooded. In the last year and half, I have bought a really nice USED Hasselblad setup (500C/M, CF50 FLE, CF 80, CF 150, A12, WLF, Hoods for all lenses, PM90, and 12 different filters). The only thing I bought new was an Acute Matte D screen. I need a few more backs, but am I going to buy new ones? No. I can buy a perfectly functioning A12 back for 1/4 the price of a new one. This is Hasselblad's problem. The V system has been around so long, that it makes almost no sense to buy anything new.

 

However, five years down the road, when digital backs are more affordable and the technological advances have reached a plateau, I will jump on the bandwagon and buy one. It will probably be new.

Roger, You should print this out & come back to it in 5 years to see if it still sounds like a good idea. The industry is changing so rapidly, I don't think a good many people know what the situation will even be like 2 years from now.

Yeah, you are right, but I am at least making a more optimistic prediction. I shoot film and I like it. If I needed to go digital, I would. But, honestly, I have no need of such things at this time. I am not a business, I have no customers, and I am more than happy with my film prints.

"the 903 is such a pivotal camera... but i'm sure no one buys them new anymore."

 

Well, I just bought a new 905. Wanted one for years and finally splurged before they start to raise prices for the strong Euro. Couple of years ago I bought a new Leica M6TTL just before Leica announced they stop its production. Is this some sort of omen?

I just bought a brand-new 905 SWC this past May. Glad I got one while I still could .....

Well I never heard back from Allen Zimmerman for a good reason...Hasselblad let him go after they merged with Imacon. I did have an opportunity to talk with someone on the staff who I have met in the past (in NJ). He said that the new management team is very aggressive and stated that they are planning 6 years of change within the next two months. Hence, there should be some interesting announcements. He would not confirm specific models being dropped, but the postings above seem reference it as true. One point was made very clear, the new management team stated that they have no intention of discontinuing film cameras completely because they believe there is still a future for it. They also recognize that Hasselblad will be one (if not the only) of the only MF film cameras to survive.

 

He said that 555ELD sales have been good in 2004. Apparently a lot of studios have been buying them for use with digital backs.

 

2005 should be an interest year!

Someone a few posts up asked "...isn't a bigger digital sensor better than a smaller one?". That's the wrong question. In silver photography the question was "how good can I make it?". Thus the success of ultra-high-quality gear like Hasselblad. In digital photography the question has become "how good does the image have to be?", and no one wants to pay for resolution that will only be lost in a cheap inkjet print. It's the 21st century now, convienience trumps quality every time.

And still (almost) nobody has checked with Hasselblad to see if there is any <b>truth</b> in this...<br>David? Why not???<br><br>Here's how things really stand:<br><br>"I also read the interview with our UK people. The answer was based upon information from Sweden but some misunderstanding has happened in the communication. Facts are that these models all have low volumes and therefore are potentially risking to be discontinued. <b>However no time schedule for this possible case has been set and no official announcement has been made.</b> As I already mentioned to you before, <b>the 905SWC will definitely not be discontinued in the near future.</b>"<br><br>I think the person i'm quoting won't mind me doing so, since the confusion is rife. Thanks to people who rather believe rumours than... A small dose of reality will do lots of good.<br><br>And now i'll brace myself for the barrage of "stating-the-obvious,-i.e.-nothing-last-forever,-you'll-just-wait-and-see!" posts...<br>;-)<br><br>So, people, the only Hasselblads discontinued are the 200-series models. You can still get as many 500-series cameras (including SWCs. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) as you would like. No worries.

QG De Bakker.

 

I think you have a view that no-one except you can possibly have a clue what's going on at Hasselblad and no-one except a Swede is in a position to tell you. This isn't very grown-up. No-one's given you a monopoly on Hasselblad, and there will be a lot of people in Sweden who are far from the strategy loop and some senior people in that loop who are not in Sweden.

 

You accuse me (in another thread) and others of not checking the facts. Well I offered to send you a copy of the email I had from Hasselblad and heard zero from you. Neither have you apparently made any effort to check the content of an article I have referred to you in detail and which comprises a direct interview with the MD of Hasselblad in the UK. There has been no retraction of this article in the month since it was published and indeed as indicated at the top of this thread it is now being referred to again. And what have you done- you say you've phoned the same guy in Sweden twice, and that he's sticking to his story! You seem to be uninterested to the point of avoidance in any information which might just conflict with your own narrowly -sourced contentions. What you've done is not checking- its simply repeating the same old stuff - but maybe you're so convinced of your rectitude that you don't have to try- only other people have to do that, right?

 

Does it not occur to you that if a senior manager were to announce the discontinuation of a good part of his range in the press in error then either a retraction would be sought pdq or he'd be fired; maybe both? Certainly you wouldn't expect the UK organisation, a month afterwards to be readily dishing out e-mails confirming the discontinuation of these three models, and the same information to be published again if anyone from Hasselblad had denied it.

 

Does it not occur to you that orgaisations with piles of stock or components to dispose of don't always choose to be very open about their intentions? Your person in Sweden may well be playing you the party line based on the fact(or an apparent fact anyway) that those who want to will be able to buy a new example of these models for some time to come. I suppose there might be an argument that a camera can't be discontinued if you can still buy a new one; but I think that most people would define discontinuation as an intention not to produce in future, or to cease production when current coponents run out, rather than as point of sale availability.

 

Which, as I've told you before has parallels in the recent behaviour at Bronica, where Tamron announced the cessation of production in autumn 2003. The European dealership denied this until I got a translation of the Japanese article put on the desk of the European sales director, who then indicated also that distributor staff and dealers hadn't been told partly because of stock levels. Even today their website doesn't indicate the SQA-i isn't available; it's only a matter of weeks since announcements were being made in the US, and you can still buy a new one without even looking hard in any major market.

 

These three models are going- get used to it. We'd apparently agree on the fact that you'll be able to get new ones for a while- but theres no way that Hasselblad would tolerate whats coming out of their operation if if wasn't true.