More Shooting With The Hasselblad And A Flash

While many move toward carrying only an iPhone or small, mirrorless system, I’ve been thinking bigger.

A Hasselblad is big enough on its own, but add a prism finder, longer lens, and that big awkward flash unit and it becomes downright unwieldy. It’s also awesome. Most of my favorite images from recent years are from the Hasselblads. I blame the Zeiss lenses. I love the look they produce and have yet to find anything matching it.

The flash, a Hasselblad D-Flash 40, is a recent addition. With the 503CXi body, it’s fully TTL and meters directly off the film. This means getting a decent exposure every time without doing much of anything. I just set the camera to f8 and 125th second and shoot.

This is terrific for shooting indoors. I just don’t have the eye or the hands for handheld natural-light shooting indoors. I’ve always preferred natural-light photography, but using the Hasselblad handheld with an on-camera flash creates a different look, and I’m learning to enjoy it.