"The Hasselblad Manual" by Ernst Wildi

[brian_keller]

I am a recent owner of the Hassy 500c/m system. Is the formentioned

book worth purchasing. Also, is there sufficient information

specific to my camera system in this book. Thanks for any help.

 

Brian.

[jason neymeyer]

Look for it in your local library. I just checked it out and after looking through it, I'm glad I didn't spend $60. The 500CM is a pretty straight forward camera, you can probably find all the info you need right here on photo.net.

 

Just my opinion, many people will suggest the purchase of this book I'm sure....they always do.

[nathan_ickes]

The Manual is more of a buyer's guide than a user's manual. It covers the features of

just about everything Hasselblad makes or has made (except the H system). It will, for

example, help you sort out the differences between the many very similar 500 bodies.

There are limited instructions and illustrations about how to use the equipment.

 

The book would probably be useful if you plan to purchase additional used

equipment to supplement your existing kit. A few web searches will tell you

everything there is to know about using your 500cm.

[barry schmetter]

I find Wildi's Hasselblad Manual pretty useful. It's got detailed information on

the operation of just about every piece of Hasselblad equipment. Every other

day someone posts a Hasselblad question that could be easily answered by

reading Wildi's book.

 

While you can search photo.net or the web for Hasselblad information, I've

never found a half decent site devoted to Hasselblad--and I've looked

extensively. The Hasselblad mailing list is helpful, but ther is no useable way

of searching the archives. Wildi's book gathers together extensive information

which covers most of the system.

[steve_brantley2]

Brian, with due respect to Hasselblad and the author Mr. Wildi, I found the book to focus way too much on the physics and basic training about photography, with no so much explanation about my new 501CM. I also found the author takes a lot of words to state something a bit more simple than the multiple paragraphs require. However, I felt that someone wiht a Hasselblad should already know much of the general photography "how to" stuff, and would want far more discussion on Hasselblad issues (such as, how to load the film back),than this book gives. There are good diagrams. But in general, try to take a look at one before buying, and decide. My local camera shop sells them for $58, whereas I have one only because I bought it off eBay for $28 (new, from a gray market dealer).

[paul_vincent1]

I recently received my first Hasselblad 500c/m a few months ago, having never taken a photography course or used a manual camera. I obtained it from my local library (through inter-library loan). I second those who suggest you read it first, then decide if you need to buy it. In my case, I found several charts and the chapter on macro photography useful and simply copied them before returning the book. The 3rd edition is probably the most useful for the 500c/m since it contains more information on that model than any other.

[rod g.]

See if you can find a copy of H. Freytag's 'The Hasselblad Way'. The copy I have has been a terrific help in learning the camera. It was printed in 1975 and covers the operation of everything from that point back to and including the 1200 and 1600 series cameras.

 

A little arcane info from the book that springs to mind. The 500C, C/M are so called because the top speed of every lens in the series is 1/500 of a second and the C, C/M designation is for the compur shutter in the lens, i.e., 500 'C'ompur. The 2000F series designation is derived from the 1/2000 'F'ocal plane shutter. Well... I did say it was arcane.

 

'The Hasselblad Way' gives a pretty complete understanding of the features and operation of every piece of equipment available to the Hasselblad system up to the point it was published, and may well serve as a useful companion to Wildi's book (which I haven't had the pleasure of reading yet).

 

Cheers!

[derek_simpson]

I wouldn't pay full price but they do turn up on the used market and I'd say mine was a tenner well spent. First time I saw one was at a library disposal sale and thinking I would never in this life own a haselblad I passed it by - but the world turns and what do you know - it's a very good photography manual as well as camera manual

[h._p.]

"I found several charts and the chapter on macro photography useful and simply copied them before returning the book."

 

Right, Paul. So I take it you have no objection to people using your pictures without paying you for them?

[paul_vincent1]

Harvey Platter wrote "Right, Paul. So I take it you have no objection to people using your pictures without paying you for them?"

 

The answer, Harvey, is "No, I have no objection whatsoever if the use falls within the fair use doctrine of the copyright act." For a photographic hobbyist, the use described seems to fall within the fair use doctrine. If the proposed use is for professional, commercial use, I would object. Your mileage may differ. Although I have not published or sold any prints, I sometimes write journal articles. It would not bother me if you were to copy one of my journal articles for your personal use. It would bother me if you were to sell copies of my article for profit.

 

Fair use is open to interpretation. The Copyright Act allows reproduction for purpose of criticism, comment, reporting, research, scholarship, etc. The statute lists four factors a court is to consider in deciding whether a particular use is fair:

1. Is the use commercial or is it for a nonprofit educational purpose? The more profit is involved, the less likely the use will be "fair."

2. Is the work reproduced purely factual or is it more "creative"? Non-fiction less protected than fiction, because author's creativity plays less of a role in its creation.

3. How much of the work was reproduced? Copying one page of an article is more likely to be fair use than copying the work in its entirety.

4. What is the effect of the reproduction on the potential market for the work? Copying an article from a magazine that is readily available on the newsstands is more likely a fair use violation than copying an equal quantity of text material from part of a chapter of a book that is out of print.

 

Let's examine the use I proposed, copying one chapter and a couple of charts out of the 3rd edition of Wildi's work, under this standard:

 

1. Purpose - It appears to me that Brian was proposing to use the work for his personal, non-profit education purpose. This was my purpose, as a hobbyist. No profit involved, so it is more likely the use is "fair."

 

2. Creative Work - Is the work reproduced purely factual or is it more "creative"? Wildi's book is non-fiction, but does contain some creativity in the manner of its presentation, and large portions of the book do discuss his ideas on creative techniques (along with some beautiful prints). However, the portions proposed for copying, the charts and the chapter on macrophotography, are purely descriptive. This argues for less protection, since the author's creativity played a minor role in the work's creation.

 

3. Proportionality - The copied portion is a minor portion of the protected work. Wildi's book is an extensive one with more than a dozen large chapters. My memory is that the chapter on macrophotography is very short. (I've never referred to it since copying it, I thought I might want to purchase some macro accessories in the future). It's an entire chapter, but a minor part of the entire book.

 

4. Effect on Market - The effect of the reproduction on the potential market for the work? None. The 3rd edition is out of date and out of print. Wildi's up to what, the 5th edition now? My memory is that this was a 1978 edition, something like that. Since the particular edition I wanted is only available in used copies, and there is a ready market of available used copies, there would be no benefit to the work's creator.

 

You can find the fair use doctrine at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/htm_hl?DB=uscode17&STEMMER=en&WORDS=fair+us+&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&URL=/uscode/17/107.html#muscat_highlighter_first_match

[ulrik]

Brian,

I have one english copy of this book from the early 80's before the advent of CF-lenses and one german translation from the late 80's when the 2003 FCW had just appeared. The older one is very good, it would be very useful to you. The newer one in german is very bad, the translation is very poor and it is full of mistakes, but I do not know if the author is to be blamed for the mistakes or not. An older version of this book should contain everything you need to operate a 500CM (which is not very much).

 

Ulrik

[h._p.]

Well, Paul, that was a full and complete answer. Obviously US law allows you to do that.

[christopher_goodwin]

I don't know why everyone's being so mean-spirited. It's a great book. It includes pretty much anything you could possibly want to know about the Hasselblad system but it also contains a lot of extremely useful advice about almost every aspect of picture-taking that is valuable even for those of us who think we know what we are doing. The section on achieving perfect exposure is worth the price on its own. Buy it!

[rod g.]

Thanks for an engaging exchange Paul and Harvey! Copyright issues are a real concern for the creative professional. When I was illustrating I had several 'single use' packaging (as in food packages) images turn up on a number of different items. One even became a book cover! Naturally there was no credit given. I would advise anyone selling creative images commercially to explicitly state the terms of use on their invoice or kiss their rights to the work goodbye.

 

As far as buying a second hand book or copying from a book, both would seem to have the same implications for the author as he profits from neither, both, using Paul's definition which I would go along with, would seem to imply fair use. At some point it may even be prudent to allow not for profit copying of your work as it helps to get it into wider circulation. Just my thoughts.

 

Cheers!

[jack_chase]

Ah, isn't it wonderful how in the US we have replaced ethics with lawyers!

[bob haight]

If you have the Hassy 500c/m system, I would buy the book if you are looking for insight. I've read the book and it is helpful. The cost of the gear really makes the book not a big deal or I am just missing something...?