Collelungo from the Morre Road – Hasselblad – Kodak Gold 200 – 2023
The Tenth
My Hasselblad 503CX was gift from my wife who colluded with my friends at LCE to surprise me with it. This was ten years ago, before we took on the renovation of our house, before we took on interns, and before I turned pro.
When it arrived, it quickly replaced my Bronica ETRSI, it saw off a now long-ago sold Mamiya C330 Professional that tried to usurp it, and it remains the reason my Fuji GW690 III doesn’t see enough action. It is now one of my longest serving cameras. (Which I suppose just underlines how fickle I am).
Intern Number Two – Hasselblad – Kodak Gold 200 – 2023
Here to stay
I’ve written before of the guilt powered cycle that drives the use of my cameras. I have this consistent belief that if I’m not using them, someone else should. The longer I go without using a camera the more I feel like I ought to part with it. (This feeling is made all the more powerful as the cameras accrue value and the time I spend with them dwindles).
The Hasselblad has never suffered this indignity. I don’t think it’s ever been in danger of being sold, (even if I have considered selling the lenses). This is partly because it’s the best present I’ve ever received from one of my favourite people, and partly because it’s so good.
I make this photograph every year
Kodak Gold 200 – Umbria – 2023
Likewise
Kodak Gold 200 – Umbria – 2023
The first picture I made with my Hasselblad – FujiColour 160NS – Umbria – 2013
The First
The Hasselblad was my first un-metered camera, (I now have a metered prism) so it introduced me to using a separate meter. I got to shoot my first rolls with it in the Umbrian hills in central Italy, all the while desperately paranoid that I was wasting both opportunity and film.
Once I had a few rolls in the bag I decided to get them developed in a local lab, (which then meant three or four trips to collect the prints which were always going to be ready tomorrow). In the intervening years I shot my first rolls of medium format slide film, and eventually used it for commercial work.
Louise – Kodak Portra 400 – Stroud – 2017
Intern Number One – Kodak Portra 400 – Worcester – 2018
Routine
Having shot a fair few emulsions in it over the last decade, and tried on occasion to use it for the wrong sort of thing, the Hasselblad and I have settled into a bit of a routine:
I shoot Portra in the nice A12 back that I got with the camera, and have Ilford HP5+ in an absolutely battered secret A12 back that’s functional but ugly, (it was also ‘cheap’).
The deal is, I use the camera for the things it’s good at, and the Hasselblad rewards me with pictures that make me happy.
Kodak Gold 200
I’m aware that I’m a boring and predictable evangelist for Portra 400, (it’s just such nice film), but before I loved it, I loved FujiFilm’s Superia 400. Given my recent love affair with Ferrania P30 it seems sensible to play the field a little.
More than a year ago, Kodak launched Gold 200 film in 120 format. Never one to be behind the times, I jumped on shooting it, a year late, and as my GW690III is on loan, (possibly because I don’t use it enough), this summer has been about the Hasselblad loaded with Kodak Gold 200.
Kodak Gold 200 – 2023
A Nice Pair
The Hasselblad is sharp and expressive, does certain things very well and the film is forgiving, pleasantly saturated and scans well…
Kodak Gold 200 is ace, and my Hasselblad is also ace, groundbreaking conclusions indeed. As a team though we can make pictures I like, and Gold 200 is considerably cheaper than Portra, which means I can make more pictures I like.
My recent obsession with the marking of time has on occasion been a little morose and self-indulgent. It’s interesting to note that, looking through the waist-level-finder of the Hasselblad, it’s easier to see how good the last ten years have been. With Gold 200 as a new and more cost effective option, the future looks bright, (also sharp and well saturated). We’ll see what we get to make together over the next next ten years…
Rockwell Moment
I don’t have affiliate relationships but it might be useful to know that I get my cameras (& drones) from London Camera Exchange, my film comes from Analog Wonderland, and Silver Pan Lab do the development and scanning.