Hasselblad 500 , by Marc Schmidt

I take a slightly materialistic interpretation of "icon", resultant from the fact that at work, I had just managed to get my hands on a heavily used Blad 500C, a camera I lusted after for quite a while (Unfortunately it belongs to my University, but who cares...) This camera represents to me a technical zenith (no russian camera jokes please) of camera design, both in usability, production quality and usability, and as such, is one of the instantly recognisable camera systems in the world. Often copied, but never reached!

Actually, in this image we have three icons in one, the camera, the 80mm Zeiss Planar lens, which is undisputedly one f the best designs available and Illfords HP5+, which is still one of my favourite films. It is interesting to note, that apart from the roll of film, every item in this image is older than myself :)

Technical details: Wista SP, Nikkor AM ED120/5.6, f/16, about 1/60th, Courtenay Solaflash 2000 scanned on an Epson 700 (Thanks Jo!), cleanup and slight tri-toning in Photoshop