Only for the committed camera geek

During the pandemic, a fancy Hasselblad camera came into my life unexpectedly, a rather old fashioned film-based device. I had been fully invested in digital photography previously, having largely given up on film years ago. Nearly every photo I've taken of my kids is digital.

And yet, here is this curious device, one which would have been the epitome of cool to shoot with when I was young. It had been known as the go-to camera for high end photographers back in the day, and NASA used a modified version of this camera to send to the Moon during the Apollo program. It's perfect for a midlife crisis! And much cheaper than a Porsche or Rolex.

So I've found myself reintroducing myself to film, even going so far as to buying into a small black and white film developing set up. But the call of digital remains in the back of my head, due to spending the better part of my career editing and taking digital photos. Adding the ability to take digital photos to this classic camera seems like a logical path, as it would yield very high quality images, being able to tap into the usual advantages of digital over analog film. So I researched "digital backs", devices which will turn an old analog film camera into something digital. The best of both worlds! I told myself. I can shoot either film or digital, depending on the back I attach to the camera for different situations.

In my research, each digital back offered a different level of the word "expensive". Some second hand digital devices are going on two decades old, devices that won't outlive the original camera they were intended for. You know how electronics tend to last only so many years; think of your mobile phone. The lowest price rung for this sort of thing starts in the neighborhood of $1k. I think I'll just keep my film development setup and be happy. The digital SLR I've used for years has been quite dependable when I need digital.

Frame comparison graphic

But here is the lock down graphic which I put together, at least partially for amusement's sake. Rather than the usual comparison between such devices (pixel count, megabite size, etc.), my graphic depicts the frame sizes of three digital backs, plus also 35mm and 120 6x6cm film frame for reference. The point here is to depict how much of the picture the lens produces is is cropped out, depending on which device is chosen. It is a small point for some, but a big point if one is taking a wide angle shot.

Geek out!

#vsystem #digitalback #mediumformat