London Hasselblad repairs (CLA)

I'd like to start by saying that I'm an idiot.

I recently purchased a Hasselblad 500C wwhich I dearly and truly love... and

because I wanted to show it how much I cared, I thought I'd give my baby a

little dusting. and yes, I took the screen off, eventhough I DID notice the

drops of glue that held the screws at a very precise position...

I have labeled my screw ddrivers box with something that reads "Before you go

on, think. Then think again."

Now as you might imagine the focus is clear and sharp in the finder... but it

doesn't exactly match what's on the back (duh)

I live in London (UK) and am now looking for someone who could look after my

baby for the smallest possible fee (I'm a student)

any thoughts?

ps: hold the insults andb banter, my self-inflicted wounds are still healing.

David, I picked up my latest copy of 'Amateur Photographer' and looked at the Specialist Services section and spotted this camera repair firm in Finchley, and yes they do handle 'Blads'.<br><br>

AXCO ~ (phone) 0208 346 8302.<br>Good Luck!

Hello David,

Maybe add another warning to your toolbox:

Please do not repair working equipment.

Sorry it came up from memory long ago.

In London I can recommend JD Camtech.

John Dellera is a trained Hasselblad tech who knows what it is all about.

You will find contact information with Google.

If something like your current problem happens where no help is available you can follow the following procedure:

Take the focusing screen from the camera, carefully reshape the springs that push the screen up so it sits higher than before, refit everything but do not tighten the four screws, mount an 80 mm lens and set focusing to infinity, point the camera to an object at long distance, align the focusing screen to focus at this object.

As a matter of fact you can do this now as well of course.

The factory procedure is more complicated involving mirror alignment etc.

I have been highly recommended a chap called Ziggy at London Camera Repair Centre on

Golbourn Road in Ladbroke Grove area.

JD Camtech struck me as a chancer.

thanks for the help!

I've decided to go with sendean in Soho... It'll take under a week and they told me it would be ?99 (although it says ?85 on their site...)

I'll let you know

thanks again to all

d

<p>yeaaaaars have gone by... i forgot to update<br>

I wasn't happy with Sendean's work as my focussing issue had not been resolved. I did mention several times that my problem had nothing to do with the lens and the ficus plane but just the focusing screen that had been removed and put back at a different height than what it should have been.<br>

I had a discussion with the lady in charge and showed her the test prints i had brought. And eventually I got a refund. So all ends well, minus the time wasted and the cost of doing tests post "CLA"<br>

I used the money to purchase a <a href="http://www.hartblei.com/imgs/accessories_GroundGlassBack.jpg">focus screen</a> that sits where the film back goes... set to B, the camera then operates just like a view camera.<br>

I then focused looking at the back on a light stick put on a table 2 meters away from the camera (at f 2.8). Then, i took my loupe to the ground glass and adjusted it by tightening and loosening the 4 holding screws.<br>

Tests with film revealed my job had been done correctly and gave very pleasing results.</p>

<p>Sendean have been there for a while, I'm not telling you not to go, just that they didn't help me...</p>

<p>Just a bump to an old thread--and useful information for those in the UK looking for top-notch Hasselblad repair. </p>

<p>My local camera dealer (www.croydonphotocentre.co.uk) was looking around for someone who could repair the shutter on an early SWC that I was sort of interested in buying. After every place he'd tried--including Hasselblad UK--said it couldn't be done, I got to doing some research and found the folks below. They not only repaired the camera--and got it done in a week or a bit more--they later did quick and excellent work repairing the flash contact on my CF 80/2.8. So if you're needing work done on anything Hasselblad, you might give them a shout. They're not exactly cheap, but they are quick and they seem to be very good indeed!<br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.happyblad.com">HappyBlad.com</a>.</p>