Edward Burtynsky and his Flying Hasselblads

[Speedgraphic]

Edward Burtynsky’s Epic Landscapes - The New Yorker

^^^

That right there is a fantastic long read in the New Yorker about Burtynsky and his various projects and travels. I was truly fascinated and could not put it down. Some surprises to me were that it seems like he's given up Film. The purist in me thinks thats a bummer but I really shouldn't be shocked. His method of composing a Hasselblad H body on a drone sounds like a nightmare! But his images are sublime so it must be worth it. Those custom made drones are neat. I think I'd still go for one of the M4/3rds drones from DJI. You might not get the raw resolution SooC but it looks like he's stitching with a tele. There is a tele available for the DJI and it would make your life a lot easier in many ways. Plus I bet the dynamic range isn't so far off (CMOS vs CCD). Not that I should be talking anyone out of shooting Hasselblad, I think it's amazing!

I'd sure love to spend a few weeks living this guy's life.

Anyways hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

 

[jerome_m]

I think I'd still go for one of the M4/3rds drones from DJI.

There is an official MF drone from Hasselblad/DJI:

http://petapixel.com/2016/07/12/dji-hasselblad-team-create-monster-camera-drone/

 

[JeffSD]

Speedgraphic, thanks for posting that link; a very interesting read.

 

[DougDolde]

The only Hasselblad I'd put on a drone is a Lunar

 

[MomentsForZen]

[Taking this thread off on a tangent, but possibly of historical interest to some ... ]

I have a soft spot for Hasselblads as aerial cameras - REAL aerial cameras. Hasselblad had an excellent reputation as the supplier of cameras for this application, and this was an important part of their business at this time (i.e., mid- to late-twentieth century).

My current employer, Geoscience Australia, made use of Hasselblad EL/M cameras for acquiring aerial photography (shot through holes in the floor of a light aircraft) over many areas of Australia from the mid- to late-twentieth century. The photographs were used as base maps for geological mapping. They also revealed many aspects of the geology that were not readily apparent from ground level.

Following is a link to a picture that I have of one of these cameras ...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/momentsforzen/10216297254/

... MomentsForZen (Richard)

 

[jerome_m]

[Taking this thread off on a tangent, but possibly of historical interest to some ... ]

I have a soft spot for Hasselblads as aerial cameras - REAL aerial cameras.

It is not historical, Hasselblad still makes aerial cameras, the A series: http://www.hasselblad.com/special-applications/a5d-aerial and this is the one used on that copter I posted: http://www.hasselblad.com/special-applications/a5d-m600-bundle but most of them are used in pods on real size aircrafts. Aerial photography is a big market today.

 

[H3dtogo]

The only Hasselblad I'd put on a drone is a Lunar

As i remember myself shooting aerial photos with my 500 ELX... i had to duct tape the openings were the dark elder goes into the filmback to avoid the wind moving the film inside the cassette. LOL After a year doing that i switched to Penta 6*7 and 645 cameras

 

[MomentsForZen]

Thanks, guys, for taking the time to add to what I had thought was a tangent. You have both added some very interesting additional "color", truth, and knowledge to my understanding of Hasselblads and aerial photography.

... MomentsForZen (Richard)