Photography Shoot w/ Hasselblad 501cm Square Film Camera 

Thomas Heaton you’re the man. Can’t thank you enough for taking my course and recommending it here. I’m thrilled to see you using a Hasselblad, my friend. The film photography community can only benefit from your pursuit of film. Beautiful photos and great video as always.

MORE FILM PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE !!! Im now happily married to a hasselblad and you inspired me to go on the first date !

That last shot is my favorite of the set.. love the layers

Ok but Nick Carver/Thomas Heaton collab when?

I think its so funny that: Digital: 200 exposures, 5 good pictures 35mm film: 36 exposures, 5 good pictures 120 film: ~10 exposures, 5 good pictures

Hi Thomas, very glad that you join the analog community. Welcome! Just one thing, you should always check the reciprocity failure before tacking a shot. I love your chanel. 👌

Seeing how you find those beautiful, minimalistic compositions that most people would easily go by without even noticing them is such a big inspiration to me. You don't have to travel all around the world to take amazing photos, there are a ton of beautiful shots right around the corner waiting for you to take them. Thank you so much Thomas!

Just such a relaxing 10 minutes or so. Love the photography but the peace in the process, the time taken. The whole process so enjoyable

Your truly compositional skills are emerging with square format ... in the footsteps of Charlie Waite!

I’ve watched you for a few years now and always enjoyed your videos Thomas. Now that you also shoot a Hasselblad I keep checking back for new videos. I shoot mostly with a 500 CM and the process changes everything. Well done mate!

The best thing about shooting with film is it forces you to be purposeful in your shooting. You can see it in action with your setup and resulting images! Awesome!

I love the fact that somebody as experienced as you can still be excited by something new in photography

Absolutely brilliant m8!! A true comment from you..... You thought you knew all there is to know about photography!!??? When I started shooting film I realised exactly how much I didn't;t know!! Analogue photography is like trying to explain space!!! It's an abyss of a subject!!!

I'm really enjoying these film photographs. Just looking at these images I feel like you're in your element and enjoying yourself a lot more (creatively) than I have seen you for a long time.

Mirror lockup, weighing down the tripod and lens hood....brilliant

As I said in your previous post with the 501CM, I was shooting with these Hasselblad film cameras long before you were born (1972 to be exact)!! It brings back fond memories watching you actually use this fine camera with a Zeiss lens. The only downside to owning one of these fine cameras today is repair & maintenance. There are NO electronics in the body nor lens. Everything is gears & springs, and they do eventually break, or need adjustment after a while. Good repairmen are becoming more difficult to find, so be sure to find one in the UK or Europe who can service your camera/lens when the time comes. There's only one good repairman left in the US - David Odess. Hasselblad USA no longer services these cameras. Just as an FYI - there ARE numerous digital backs available for the 500 series bodies, just in case you ever wanted to shoot digitally with it. Hasselblad made a 16 mpix square back which I once owned (around 2008, I believe). It was awesome, and printed beautifully up to 24"x24" (which was a big as my printer would print). Today, Hasselblad offers a new 50 mpix digital back (not cheap) for the 500 series bodies. Although this back now shoots a horizontal rectangle, you'll still have about 39 mpix when cropping to square once you've captured the image. Downside to any of the digital backs for the 500 series cameras is that the sensor is much smaller than the 6x6 film back, meaning you will lose wide angle capability. I'm guessing here that you're using the 80mm lens. It would become a 120mm lens with a digital back. But a used CF 50mm or 60mm Zeiss Distagon would provide you with a close equivalent to your 80mm Planar.

My Hasselblad is a 500C was built in 1965. I have two lenses both Sonnar f4's a 150mm and a 180mm. I do need a better meter though. Love the square format and it has brought back some mystery and joy that has been missing lately. I rather liked the last image. It has a mod and feel to it that the others don't seem to have. I love mod by the way.

doctor: “you have 16 minutes and 6 seconds left to live” me:

liked not only the drama of the last shot, but the sandy dark brown, that lovely roll of smooth dark blue gray surf, the impatient stormy sky - wow. Good video all.

@10:28 this honestly earned a genuine chuckle from me. Didn't quite expect that

Keep pumping out Hasselblad content!!! So satisfying.

I’m a XT-3 shooter, but this is the 3rd time I’ve watched this video. The 501c/m is addictive. Pure music.

This low dynamic range is mostly because of the slide film. One needs to be really spot on when shooting such film. You can try color negative film, which is more forgiving but wont reach that saturation and smoothness of a slide film (if you nail the the exposure). Glad to see you experiment with film.

Square calendar would be sweet! I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these and your book! Starting my RU-vid channel this week! Thanks for your passion!

Dont feel pressured Tom. I come to see your vision and I'm good with waiting

For anyone who has never seen the 3-D like view through a Hasselblad viewfinder it's a sight to behold. It's magical and one of the best parts of using it for me.

I love your last image. Thanks for sharing your thought process.

I sooo much enjoy this minimalistic shots

Fantastic !! Where are these people who complain not owning the latest mirrorless camera in the market ? 🤣🤦🏻‍♂️

Great video and images Tom. I think a lot of film photographers and vloggers are happy to see you making a move into film photography.

Of course you can get a vehicle as a business expense. As long as you actually have use for it in your business, it shouldn’t be a problem! And, it’s you who define what you have use for in your business.

I love this narrative way of video.

Nice video! Outstanding images as always. I could sense your stress near the end of the video and it was humble of you to not edit out your thoughts and reasoning beyond not completing the 120 roll. Thank goodness I do not have the "pressures of RU-vid" and my photography remains free of such bias. Film does allow you to expand your photography and the 501 is a perfect compliment. Shooting black and white and processing your own film and working in the darkroom is a magical experience that will soon be lost. Yes, a real darkroom is truly a different experience than Lightroom!. I do not enjoy spending time in front of computers as it is additional screen time of an already "screen-dependent world! Excellent of you to explore medium-format film. As always, very much enjoy your videos and great work you are doing.

Loving your square shots, Thomas!

That last photo is by far my favorite of the batch. I love the simple layering.

Thomas Heston is the David Attenborough of Photography videos, I could listen to his voice all day! Excellent video, I feel very lucky to live in the North East seeing this

Thanks Thomas. Another great video. You were the inspiration for me picking up my camera a year ago again and starting my own RU-vid channel. 😃

It’s hip to be square ... again. Go for the square calendar! I especially liked your final shot. Good ole Provia brought back fond film memories.

Love the colour of Provia

I like your new style of makeing videos... And i like that you are re-inventing yourself and just go with it and explore new things. Really enjoyed this video

Many years ago, I always wanted a Hassey 500c series camera. As I was young and didn’t have much money, the closest I got was a Mamiya TLR. These days, sometimes I shoot my Fuji XT1 in square format, B&W, with the LCD flipped for waist-level shooting, and a prime lens using manual focus. It gives just a little bit of the experience!

Very powerful & moving landscape moment love the simple but pure sea scape scene

Thank you, Thomas, for showing us your analog learning process. I think even if you have calculated the pictures well in advance, the tension is great when they are in front of you. Again and again

I love your videos about film photography!!

Brings back memories of shooting film. So much different than the digital we shoot today. Much more of a craft. Nice shots.

A square format calendar , yes please. And as almost always, loved this episode.

Absolutely loved this yet again really enjoying the voice over and the music is beautiful. Those pictures are surreal.. your a true photographer mate 👏📸 and I love your honesty

Yes for the square calendar. I really enjoy this series :)

the last one is actually my favorite.

I’m really enjoying your recent approach to minimalism. I think your photos lately look really great for that genre. Thanks Thomas. Looking forward to your next video.

I really like the music and the mood of this video. And my personal favourite is the fourth photo.

There’s just something so satisfying about the process of taking images with film. I’m not sure why it should be so different with DSLRs, but it is! Stunning images Thomas, especially like that last one. This was definitely a worthwhile investment 😉 Sam.

I just love the mechanical sounds of a piece of precision kit, which reminds me of the time 50 years ago when I used to sell Mamiyas and Bronicas - never did sell a Hasselblad though.

Cambois beach is interesting, along with the industrial backdrop of Blyth. Good video..

This is the most helpful video I’ve watched because I’m new to the field as you are,, Thanks a lot!!

Nice to see you adding more film photography in your videos Thomas! Love your work, and Nicks, and have been following you both for long time. Always nice to the respect in the online community as well👍

Nick Carver is the man, along with yourself, I've been following Nick for a while. Great video, nice to see someone learning the art of film photography.

Beautiful images, that's what I like, and on film, even better! Square format calendar? Yes, yes, yes, and I would add... Yes!!!

True delight to watch and even more now that you are shooting film. I always struggle to see people taking digital photo then spending hours in Photoshop and Lightroom to make the image look sometimes nothing like it is in real life. But to now see your delight in shooting film as well fantastic!

Loving your images with the hasselblad 👍

Nice. really like the minimalist shots towards St Marys.

I have been a regular watcher of your channel for awhile and have always enjoyed your work. However, as a film shooter myself, my interest and enjoyment has definitely grown. Long live film! Now that you are cutting your teeth on MF it won't be long until you dust off your LF camera. Those beautiful big negatives have a way of not only capturing amazing detail and depth but will capture your soul as well.

I got my book yesterday. Totally awesome! Well done!!

Dang great video man! I absolutely loved the photo taken on the second beach you went to. I just adored the textures, and tones, great job Tom.

I just came across this video and I learned and was inspired a lot in this 16mins that it had me subscribing. Awesome work, my friend. More power to you! :)

Thanks Thomas, I much enjoyed that and the Provia look a hit. I had an old 500C/L decades ago and ended up selling it after I got a full Bronica S2A kit with lenses for 1/3 of what I sold the 500 and two lenses for, and your film loading moment reminded me of why I called it a "Hassle-Blad", one of the reasons I ended up with using the Bronica for years. For casual photography fiddly magazines are ok, but back in the day when I had to reload often I preferred the Bronica as the mags were easier to load and 1/4th the cost so I had about 5. I also found the Nikkor lenses a notch above the Hasselblad lenses.

That other beach 5 miles north is likely Blyth, I used to go fishing there with my uncle and there used to be a colliery there which is why it so industrial looking.

Gotta love square medium format! Probably one of the most unique film formats you can shoot.

Thanks Thomas, I'm left a bit without words.... love the minimalist approach

Nick Carver is a legend! A damn good photographer too.

Great minds seem to think alike Thomas! I have also recently brought out my Hasselblad 501CW, taken Nick's amazing course, gone out with a Sekonic (against Nick's suggestion) and started shooting a bit of color film. The last time I did that was 22 years ago and in 35mm. I say an unambiguous yes to a square format calendar! Now you just need to go out in the desert with Nick to shoot abandoned western architecture and cactus/rocks.

I like Nick Carver's videos even though I have no intention of getting (back) into film: he's just so enjoyable to listen to.

Been enjoying Nick's channel for a few years now. Gotta check out that course.

Nick Carver is the man. Follow both of you and great to hear you talk about him. So chuffed you're using film Thomas.

This video is so relaxing. Please keep up the series on film. Love it Thomas!

Wonderful video, and gorgeous shots!

I love it, Thomas! I‘m having great time seeing you, enjoying film photography!

Definite yes on the square calendar. I took Nick's course on metering last year, and it completely changed the way I shoot both film and digital. Loved it so much, nice to see others getting the same benefit and spreading the word. I enjoyed this week's images very much. It's been cool seeing your journey with 6x6 so far, looking forward to a lot more!

I'm so with you on this journey Tom, I myself am re-visiting film with a Bronica SQ-Ai and am taking inspiration form your new found film stuff. Well done for shouting out Nick he's another inspiration.

Loving watching you learn your new camera. Loved the texture in the sand but the last one was my fave.

Love the square format, so it's a big thumbs up for me for the next calendar.

Last one the best.

I am thrilled you mentioned Nick Carver. He is an awesome guy.

Nick Carver is superb. I watch all of his videos and he has helped me massively with my Hassy 500cm. Loving your videos as well mate. I'm a pro wedding photographer but shoot with my Hassy 500cm, Mamiya RB67 and Leica Typ109 as a hobby.

Fell in love with squares! Never though i would take square images, now i love it because of you, thanks a lot!

Squarespace, 6 by 6 camera... Feeling boxed in..?

Not shot film since the 90s as a kid, but just bought an eos rp and looking forward to setting up a 1x1 to see what happens! Thanks!

Nick carvers channel is amazing... You're are both amazing photographers and always an inspiration

Thomas - awesome work and so happy you are shooting film as well as digital. A square calendar - I'm in. Peter

Hello Thomas, Hasselblad, it suits you! Forget about 5D MKIV, haha! Nick Caver's metering method is perfect!

nice mate , the last one was very painterly , great doctor surgery photos keep the customers calm !

Nick's course was eye opening for sure, it really helped a lot not just with film but also digital.

Dear Thomas, I have been following you since the very beginning and till now never commented anything on your content. You became my hero, the one I am looking up to! I just love the way you are and definitely your work! You keep on inspiring me more and more in my photography! Just received your book today and oh my.... Fell in love with it right from the frist page on :) Next years calendar would be my 3rd one from you and I really started enjoying the square format, thanks to you! I always was hooked to 16:9 but you really tought me how to use other formats! Really would love to see a square format next year! I could keep on writing such a long text here to tell you how much I appreciate you and your content but to cut it short: PLEASE stay the way you are and do not stop with photography! I freakin´ love you (not in a gayish way :D) Best wishes to you and your wife from Germany and stay health, Marcel

Cool how much more intentional you have to be when shooting film. love to try it one day

Thumbs up for nick carver reference. I love how you keep challenging yourself in the pursuit of photography Thomas. You're awesome, man

I love that you are doing film photography. It really appeals to me after watching this and Sean Tucker's film series.

Although I don't have a Hasselblad, I love shooting square with my Kiev 60!!!

Great video Thomas. Not sure if you noticed, but in all four images the horizon was more or less central in the frame. Worked for me as it made the images quieter and more thoughtful.

The last image was my favorite. I think a square calendar would work. It would be different than most calendars. I saw that my autographed book is on its way. I can’t wait to review it. Thank you so much for putting the time and effort into creating the book! Now I will have a collection of your prints.

North East coast and morning light less interesting. Sunrise light is warmer because of the low angle of incidence, but sunrise is "cooler" than sunset at the same angle. During the day, moist and dust build in the air and this causes the sunset light to be much warmer. With "lockdown" giving reduced traffic there is less dust in the air in general, which may make the difference more subtle