Cost to manufacture a Hasselblad 500C/M Kit today?

[leonard_borger]

<p>It seems to me, IMHO that used Hasselblad equipment is the bargain of the century. I have an old price list from 1990. A new 500C/M kit was $2,200. Taking inflation into account, what is that in today's dollars? If Hasselblad was going to manufacture a new 500C/M kit today, what would it COST them to produce? What would be the SELLING price? They will not, because the volume will be too low, but interested in others opinions. . If you buy an OK used 500C/M KIT for about $1,000 and spend another $1,000 on a complete overhaul, you will have a camera that will easily last 10 years or more. It might not be perfect cosmetically, but the pictures will be superb. Thoughts?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>According to</p>

<p>http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl<br>

1990 $2,200 = 2014 $3,996.58<br>

As for the value judgment, most film cameras are incredibly cheap except for the occasional collector model.<br>

"Cost to build" is comparing fine machinery with electronic circuits....<br>

In my experience, it's the mechanical parts that fail first in the modern camera.</p>

[BrianS1664879711]

<p>Bad title: One cannot compute the cost of manufacturing from the price a products sells/sold for, and the question raised is the price of selling.</p>

<p>I think you are correct that the volume is too low but that never stopped anyone from a boutique item... like Rollei did with the TLR. They put a staggeringly high price on it and seem to have no problem selling. So perhaps it is possible for a specific share of the market but probably not for the majority.</p>

<p>I would not hesitate, BTW, to pay as much and maybe even more than the selling to have good equipment overhauled. to get a reliable system. As you say, that kind of investment will allow the gear to be reliable and last another 5 years. :)</p>

[Aoresteen]

<p>The problem is that they would be competing with their own goods that are on the used market. </p>

<p>I have a 1969 500C that I had completely redone 10 years ago. I had a Maxwell screen put in it. Cost was $130 for the body, $200 for the overhaul, $150 for the screen, and $50 to have it installed. Total investment was $530. So far that's $53 per year. Cheap! It works extremely well with my C lenses.</p>

<p>There is just too many nice used Hasselblads out there. It would be more profitable for them them to make spare parts to keep the old ones running.</p>

[User_1172872]

<p>If we use manufacturing a new one at today's cost as benchmark, a fully restored Duesenberg might turn out to be the bargain of the century. More to the point, what is the expenditure required relative to the goal? Manufacturing cost has nothing to do with it. If spending $1,000 on the camera and spending another $1,000 on a complete overhaul is the most cost-effective route to achieving your desired results then it's clearly the right choice for you.</p>

[c_watson1]

<p>Hasselblad killed the V system in mid-2013 because it wasn't selling. Why wasn't it selling? Maybe Kodak's dumping its film production onto the market at that time sheds some light on all this, no? Have three MF camera systems and don't plan on spending anything more on any of them, much less an even pricier orphan. More concerned about what will be left of film production in the next 5 years and the state of the infrastructure to process it.</p>

[douglas_fairbank]

Hasselblad V system does have some unique selling points that make it an interesting prospect. While it is true that many

V users moved to Hasselblad H they probably held on to the old cameras and I see a lot of people returning to their old

cameras to remind them of the old days. It still remains the camera of choice for many colleges. The huge popularity of

the V rear mount means that anybody who has one does not limit themselves to film alone, there is a large choice of

digital backs that fit. I don't think it is fair to say that Hasselblad killed of the V series, the CF adapter for the H cameras

and the various digital backs that they make even now plus the fact that they still offer servicing suggests otherwise. But I

would like to see more active selling Rollieflex style and I also would like to see an initiative to create a new line of lenses

using some of the new lens designs for the H system, maybe with an electronic shutter. Hasselblad often surprise us so I

will keep my fingers crossed.

[c_watson1]

<p><em>Hasselblad often surprise us so I will keep my fingers crossed.</em><br>

<em> </em><br>

<em><br /></em>Hasselblad "surprises" like the whacko one-percenter stocking stuffers based on Sony cameras suggest a troubling lack of connection with reality. The CFV50c back is 15 grand and probably won't find a home snuggled up to many old V series bodies. Hasselblad very much did axe the V series and I'm not convinced many H series owners who make a living from them use their old gear much, if at all, in 2014. 15,000 bucks buys a lot of FF Nikon/Canon digital gear--or the new Pentax system.</p>

[sfcole]

<p>There is already a modern equivalent that is still on the market: Leica. Of course the Hasselblad is larger, but I doubt absolute size correlates that much with manufacturing time/cost. There is still costly hand finishing and quality control. It also depends on the labor market in the country of origin. Is there currently a difference between German and Swedish labor or exchange rates?<br>

The lens prices of new Leica vs new Hasselblad Lenses certainly seem in the same ballpark. Also, until just recently, the price of new V backs was listed at almost $1k on the Freestyle site, although they have since disappeared. A new Leica winder is $1k. I might be comparing apples to oranges, but they are still both fruit..</p>

[ondebanks]

<blockquote>

<p>I also would like to see an initiative to create a new line of lenses using some of the new lens designs for the H system, maybe with an electronic shutter.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's a runner. The image circle requirement and flange distance are both smaller for the H lenses, so it would only be by luck if 1 or 2 of them could image 6x6 at infinity focus with a shortened barrel. And making a V body compatible with an electronic shutter would involve a pretty serious overhaul of the internals - certainly doable, but involving a lot of R&D and re-tooling effort and expense...for what? a design which is more like a H camera, but not as good as a H camera at what it does? </p>

[douglas_fairbank]

<p>Obviously when I said that Hasselblad were capable of springing surprises it was not the Sony rebadge cameras that I had in mind. I don't want to get drawn into a discussion about that and history will judge whether it is a good collaboration like the Xpan or not. I have a unique perspective with regard to Hasselblad owners and my experience is exactly as I have stated, many experienced professional photographers love their craft and still have the cameras that they learnt on or have gone out in the market and collected good examples to use and enjoy. They also enjoy using the skills they have developed with digital backs but on a fully manual camera and one of the most frequent questions I get asked is can I source a good used CFV back. Some digital users of V system cameras are using their cameras to such an extent that the lens shuters are rapidly becoing exhausted despite regular servicing, hence my wish that new lenses might become available, like the Zeiss ZV range. Nobody has to like or agree with the points I make here but I think that secondhand values speak for themselves. I have no idea what direction photography is going and it would seem that I am not alone.<br>

As an afterthought while I was still part of Hasselblad I was interested to see what settings photographers had their H cameras set to. My impression was that approx half were set to manual exposure! I am not sure what conclusions can be drawn but to me is says that the photographers preferred to be totally in control.</p>

[leonard_borger]

<p>Per David Odess, who, if not the finest Hasselblad repair person in the USA, then certainly one of the finest and most respected. <br />"In the 38 years that I have been servicing the Hasselblad system, I can only recall two cases where the shutters in the older style C lenses were worn so much that I was unable to repair them. So, just to be safe, I would suggest that you stay away from the older style C lenses. You should have no concern regarding the use of the CF and newer lenses". </p>

[c_watson1]

<p>Looks like Hasselblad needs to move some H-series merch badly given recently announced discounts. H5D-40 bodies are 1/2 price.</p>