newbie again: Differences Between Hassy 201F and 202FA

[faneuil]

If the 202FA was the newer model after the 201F, why did Hasselblad hobble
the 202FA by not letting it use C lenses?
What does the 202FA offer as an improvement over the 201F?

I ask because I bought a 202FA and want to know if it would better to
exchange if for a 201F.
The 201Fs in general seem to be cheaper too.

a H-newbie,
Eric

[Q.G. de Bakker]

Post by faneuil
If the 202FA was the newer model after the 201F, why did Hasselblad hobble
the 202FA by not letting it use C lenses?
What does the 202FA offer as an improvement over the 201F?
I ask because I bought a 202FA and want to know if it would better to
exchange if for a 201F.
The 201Fs in general seem to be cheaper too.

The 202 FA has exposure automation. It is difficult to override the automat,
and it cannot take C lenses at all.
The answer to why did Hasselblad produced this thing most probably lies in
the then owner's intent to milk the Hasselblad name for all that it's worth.
The strategy was to diversify the Hasselblad product line, offering lots of
choices. The sad thing was that some of these choices were not consistent
with what people thought a Hasselblad was.

The "hobbled" 202FA is an example: it must have been thought of by the
powers-that-were as a Point&Shoot alternative to the sophisticated 203 FE
and even more sophisticated 205. But there were no takers. Nobody understood
what a P&S was doing in the Hasselblad line-up. And your question, why this
thing was "hobbled", was on everyone's mind.
No shutter lenses? A major faux pas.
And the 202 FA's manual mode is a bit trying too: you're not setting
whatever you want (there's no shutter speed setting ring to begin with), you
are trying to convince the camera to do what you want it to do instead,
after first letting it tell you what it wants to do. Now who's boss
again...? ;-)
And there's the "slow" fastest speed of 1/1000.
So the inevitable happened: exit 202FA.

But... though it didn't hold up in comparison to both 203 and 205 cameras,
the "restricted" 202FA still is a good camera. Especially if you want to use
aperture priority automatic mode only, and don't want to use lenses with
shutters. Qualitywise, it *is* a Hasselblad, all the same.

The 201 F is a meterless beast, a 2000-series camera but with a less
vulnerable focal plane shutter (cloth in the 201F vs thin metal foil in the
2000-series cameras). And TTL flash control. And a slower top speed of
1/1000.

So what are the improvements? Metering and exposure automation. That's
basically it.

[faneuil]

Thanks - that explained quite a bit!
I am an aperture priority shooter - My M7 never leaves 'auto' so the 202FA
may work well for me.

Cheers,
Eric

Post by Q.G. de Bakker

Post by faneuil
If the 202FA was the newer model after the 201F, why did Hasselblad hobble
the 202FA by not letting it use C lenses?
What does the 202FA offer as an improvement over the 201F?
I ask because I bought a 202FA and want to know if it would better to
exchange if for a 201F.
The 201Fs in general seem to be cheaper too.

The 202 FA has exposure automation. It is difficult to override the automat,
and it cannot take C lenses at all.
The answer to why did Hasselblad produced this thing most probably lies in
the then owner's intent to milk the Hasselblad name for all that it's worth.
The strategy was to diversify the Hasselblad product line, offering lots of
choices. The sad thing was that some of these choices were not consistent
with what people thought a Hasselblad was.
The "hobbled" 202FA is an example: it must have been thought of by the
powers-that-were as a Point&Shoot alternative to the sophisticated 203 FE
and even more sophisticated 205. But there were no takers. Nobody understood
what a P&S was doing in the Hasselblad line-up. And your question, why this
thing was "hobbled", was on everyone's mind.
No shutter lenses? A major faux pas.
And the 202 FA's manual mode is a bit trying too: you're not setting
whatever you want (there's no shutter speed setting ring to begin with), you
are trying to convince the camera to do what you want it to do instead,
after first letting it tell you what it wants to do. Now who's boss
again...? ;-)
And there's the "slow" fastest speed of 1/1000.
So the inevitable happened: exit 202FA.
But... though it didn't hold up in comparison to both 203 and 205 cameras,
the "restricted" 202FA still is a good camera. Especially if you want to use
aperture priority automatic mode only, and don't want to use lenses with
shutters. Qualitywise, it *is* a Hasselblad, all the same.
The 201 F is a meterless beast, a 2000-series camera but with a less
vulnerable focal plane shutter (cloth in the 201F vs thin metal foil in the
2000-series cameras). And TTL flash control. And a slower top speed of
1/1000.
So what are the improvements? Metering and exposure automation. That's
basically it.