Shutter stuck on my Hasselblad 500 cm

The shutter of my Hasselblad 500 cm is stuck and i cant crank the the winding crank. I cant detach the lens, its stuck too. Both indicators are showing red.

I removed the filmback but couldnt press the shutter in that state either.

The curtains we open and the mirror is up. Then when i fiddled about with the small metal piece on the lower right corner the curtains suddenly shut.

Now i have no idea what to do. I’m in the middle of nowhere at the moment with a limited tool-supply so to speak.

I dont have another filmback with me to try either.

Please help me out!

i asked a friend with lots of experience with hassies to stop in here to help. he gave me a couple links but id wait before trying anything just yet since i dont know your experiance.

How to un-jam Hasselblad lens.: Open Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Unjamming an Hasselblad

A jammed Hasselblad has just two possible causes: a one-time simple malfunction which can be fixed with the tip explained in the first link paul ron suggested, or the camera is royally snookered and will need full disassembly and reset by a trained Hasselblad technician. Sooner or later, most of us have had to attempt the screwdriver thru the back flaps trick: it works 80% of the time, so well worth a try in your situation. Just be careful to use a cloth or glove or something, to protect the rear element from being scratched by the screwdriver.

If that doesn't solve your problem, I would not recommend the more extensive DIY solution described in the second link unless you're desperate enough to risk wrecking the body altogether (and have a backup body on hand to continue shooting with the freed lens). That second procedure will free the lens without harm 100% of the time, but It is very VERY tricky to pull off successfully enough that you also rescue the body. It involves removing the cover around the lens emergency cocking screw inside the camera throat, and completely releasing the cocked winding spring/geartrain underneath. This does allow the lens to be dismounted safely, to perhaps be used on a backup body, but the jammed body is now in a precarious state. It becomes a matter of pure luck if you can get the body to operate normally afterward: luck that you don't drop the cowl screw and lose it inside the body, luck that you didn't mistakenly loosen the third tension screw so far it falls out, luck that you (blindly) turn it back to within a micrometer of its precise starting position, and luck that the jam was localized completely within the lens cocking assembly.

Some years ago I had a 500cm that was prone to jamming as I removed my 150mm Sonnar (only that one lens, which worked fine on every other Hasselblad). Three times in the course of a year I was able to free the Sonnar and get the 500cm sorted by removing the gear cover in the throat, releasing the tension, then re-tensioning. But it got more difficult each time, and the fourth time the camera would not return to normal despite getting the lens off. The overall timing of the mirror/shutter/winding sync had drifted to the point of hopeless: after consulting an honest tech, I sold that body for scrap and replaced it.

The jam occurs when the shutter is tripped out of sync with the camera. If it occurs when the lens is fully engaged, you can usually cock the lens through the rear of the camera. If it trips while removing the lens, it's likely to require factory service. The lens is held cocked using a very simple latch, which can wear out and trip prematurely.

You cannot remove nor attach a lens unless both the lens and body are cocked. The actuating coupling doesn't line up.

If this happens again try push the mirror lock up lever, it should not move at all, if it starts moving about 1 mm this may unstuck your camera.

Good luck.

I'll come out of retirement briefly for this.

There is no jam. Please note that the OP said that moving the shutter locking lever released the locked shutter, so...

Duh...!

A RTFM instance. (for which i do not blame the OP. Old camera, not many come with a manual).

This is why i retired fromPNet. Apparently not many of the responders know the answer, do not know the camera (or any other thing) the question is about (enough) to be able to provide a useful answer. But that never gets in the way, does it?

The shutter of my Hasselblad 500 cm is stuck and i cant crank the the winding crank. I cant detach the lens, its stuck too. Both indicators are showing red.

I removed the filmback but couldnt press the shutter in that state either.

The curtains we open and the mirror is up. Then when i fiddled about with the small metal piece on the lower right corner the curtains suddenly shut.

Now i have no idea what to do. I’m in the middle of nowhere at the moment with a limited tool-supply so to speak.

I dont have another filmback with me to try either.

Please help me out!

'll come out of retirement briefly for this.

There is no jam. Please note that the OP said that moving the shutter locking lever released the locked shutter, so...

Duh...!

A RTFM instance. (for which i do not blame the OP. Old camera, not many come with a manual).

This is why i retired fromPNet. Apparently not many of the responders know the answer, do not know the camera (or any other thing) the question is about (enough) to be able to provide a useful answer. But that never gets in the way, does it?

Excuse me, but where does he say the problem was solved? His cry for help doesn't seem to say I GOT IT.

Where are the misinformed answers BTW?

stay in retirement please!

.

The lens shutter is held by a simple latch, shielded by a half-tube on the back of the lens. A pin on the body should this latch only once the coupling shaft is fully engaged. That coupling then holds the shutter open, releases the shutter (and diaphragm) when the camera is fired, and cocks the lens when the film is wound.

If the latch is worn, something in the mount is misaligned, or (most likely) you are hesitant when mounting or dismounting the lens, the coupling is no longer in time between body and lens, and you have a jam.

It is always reassuring to hear from deBakker that jams can't happen. Perhaps all the fuss is due to mass hysteria.

It is always reassuring to hear from deBakker that jams can't happen. Perhaps all the fuss is due to mass hysteria.

I guess I was imagining the one that happened in the camera store when I was looking at the 500C outfit I now own/use...

Fortunately that turned into a good learning experience since I also got to learn how to unjam it :) (and why there was a long screwdriver in the bottom of the box). I've been careful enough that I've not had a jam since then, though, although I know that the day will come...and I also still carry my screwdriver.

I was being sarcastic, referring to deBakker's denial. You've had jams, I've had jams, everybody had jams except the elder statesman of Hasselblad History.

Trust me, I realize that...

That reminds me, I need to go uncock all of my Hasselblad and other leaf shutters and I should also make sure all of my tripod screws are as tight as can be.

This is why i retired fromPNet. Apparently not many of the responders know the answer, do not know the camera (or any other thing) the question is about (enough) to be able to provide a useful answer. But that never gets in the way, does it?

It certainly never did in your case.

I was testing the mirror-up operation of my 500c/m with the film back on, but no film loaded.  The dark slide was out.  The rear curtain opened but I could not fire the lens shutter.  Now the lens was locked to the body and I could not re-cock the shutter.  I could not insert the dark slide more than 1/2 way, so it was impossible to remove the film back. The windows on the body and film back were both dark.  After several hours of trouble-shooting and reading this forum and others, I decided to apply a little force to the dark slide and see if I could get past the rear curtain’s locking mechanism.  That worked!  Once the dark slide was in, I was able to remove the film back and re-cock the shutter which dropped the rear body curtains.  Lens was now also removable.  I was afraid this camera would become a paper weight, but it all works as it should. 

Dan, next time this happens, (since you had no film in the magazine) you could have slipped the film holder out of the film magazine.  Then by lifting the small round door on the back, you could peer through the film gate, and the open auxiliary shutter flaps so you could insert a tool to reset the shutter.