Photography

Fabian Schmich

Going Analog

Around one year ago was the first time I held a Hasselblad 500 medium format camera in my hands. I remember when I first pressed the shutter and things inside the little box started to move. From that moment on, I was hooked. I was deeply impressed by this mechanical masterpiece without any electrical part, let alone the massive focusing screen with such a crisp image.

So the next half a year or so, I spent a lot of time browsing flickr for Hasselblad photos, reading up on different bodies and lenses for the V System and analog photography in general; different films, how to develop negatives, darkroom printing, ... well, and at some point I went on eBay. Then, last Christmas, I got myself a Hasselblad 501cm with a 150mm Sonnar in fantastic condition. Since that day, I have used my digital SLR twice. I developed my first film in the bathroom, joined the ETH darkroom, bought the Planar 80mm, a lot of film and spent my time learning how to shoot. I extremely enjoy it to be limited by only 12 shots per roll, static film sensitivity, prime lenses and no automatic light metering. It makes me think about what, how, and most importantly, if I take a photo. And that's great!