500 EL/M won't fire with pressing of release button

hello all

i'm new here in a comprehensive kind of way (just got my first mf

camera and, thanks to the sage wisdom of my older brother ;) i

went straight to hasselblad (or was that the poor house. . .)) so,

i've got a used 500 elm that i can shoot by switching the lever on

the battery case from 'o' to 't' (the latter, if i understand wildi's

book properly, is for timed exposures), but the shuttter will not

release when i push the release button. is this something with

the fuse? is it a much bigger problem i should know about?

again, as is, i can take pictures, but i'd rather be able to push a

button than switch a lever! :)

thanks for any and all help (oh, and i must say, this thing is

worse than cigarettes! i'm addicted, and it's only been a week!)

charlie

Remove the dark slide, or try with no magazine on.

Set AS A 0 S AS to 0

Set L 0 T to 0

Make sure you have a white dot on the right side of the magasine.

Remove the lens and look through it - if you cannot see throught it, wind and cock the shutter.

See "101 way not to get a photo with a Hasselblad"

i removed the dark slide. again, i can take pictures by sliding the

lock lever from 'o' to 't', but i cannot get the camera to respond to

the release button, and i'm mostly wondering if this is simply a

result of a blown fuse or if it is indicative of a much bigger

problem. as is, i've already shot two rolls of 120, but i'd rather

have a steadier hold on the camera when firing.

thanks again!

charlie

Have you read the manual?

Are you pressing the shutter release button or the lens release button?

Mine is the 555ELD, on the front of which there are three holes: I often keep the button in the wrong hole when I am using a wire release - is your release button in the right hole?

Have you a cable or wire release with which you could release the shutter, as a fault-finding exercise?

Are the batteries flat or incorrectly inslatted?

If all else fails, check the fuse.

The manual goes out of its way to be unhelpfull, with the bit about checking the battery miles from the other sections about the battery, and it does not say if a blown furse prevents you getting a "good battery reading" on the battery test LEDs, but I think there is only one fuse, and if it goes you cannot wind on or do very much at all with the camera.

Pull out the release button (I think it is square on the ELM) inspect, (clean) and re-insert.

Charlie,

We can assume that you tried with the LOT-lever set to 'L'? Good! ;-)

I doubt it is the fuse. But have you checked the thing? It's easy enough!

It will either be the release button itself (which, perhaps contrary to what you would expect, is not an electrical switch, but a mechanical plunger thingy. So pull it out and see if it does what it is supposed to do. If you're still in doubt after that, you can test it by changing it for another one too. Perhaps a Hasselblad dealer near you will let you try this using one from a camera in his shop),

or something in the camera itself (release magnet stuck? A defect in the wiring?), in which case it's back to the shop, or off to a repairshop.

Charlie,

Something made me write:

"We can assume that you tried with the LOT-lever set to 'L'? Good!"

Not good at all! It should of course be "set to 'O' " ...

I'm off to bed now without having my supper. And come tomorrow i'll do 200 lines "I must mind my Ells and Ohs".

Dick,

Just so you know: ;-)

- Using any hole is good on an EL/M. The distinction between "release" and "remote" plug was introduced on the ELD model, together with the third, inactive hole.

- There is no battery test reading on an EL/M, 'cause there is no battery test, apart from the motor running slow.

- There indeed is only one fuse.

- The square release button was introduced with the 500 ELX, and has vanished already, at some time during the 553 ELX period. So the majority of EL(...) have the same round release button.

Hello again...

I wrote: "between "release" and "remote" plug". That should of course be "film" and "digital". Sorry!

If the film winds (you said you've shot 2 rolls?) after you switch the lever to T from O

then your batteries and fuse are good. There is a simple electric switch under the

release button that runs juice to a solenoid that gets everything going. If the button

doesn't fire it then there is a problem in the switch, wiring or solenoid most likely. Can

you hear a small click when you push the release button? That means it's trying to work

but is being held up mechanicallyspeakingwise. If you hear nothing than the solenoid

isn't getting any electricity or is frozen it place. This is generally not a big deal repair

as the EL series cameras are electrically very simple.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

Charlie,

The T-mark means the �endless� exposure. Switching from O to T opens the shutter and curtains and exposure is go on and on till you return the lever from T to O. The release button doesn�t respond during that exposure at T. It�s normal.

Regards. Victor.

"Can you hear a small click when you push the release button?

That means it's trying to work but is being held up

mechanicallyspeakingwise"

bingo! i do hear a little click when i push the button, so now i'm

left wondering, is this gonna cost me an arm and a leg, or just

my first born? :) thanks for all the help everyone, especially Mr.

Rosenthal! (i hadn't even thought to mention the click!)

have a good day!

charlie

mine does not work to

when the shutter button is pressed, the will be a sound of the click but the shutter wont fire

erm how do i fix that?

and the lens doesnt work as well

thanks

Just in case there are any people out there who still use Hasselblad EL models... I just acquired a 553 ELX to use exclusively for studio portrait work. Everything on it works well, except for the shutter release. Unlike the OP, I can sometimes get the shutter to release by pushing the shutter release button, but only about every other time I press it (actually pretty consistently the first press doesn't fire the shutter, but the second consecutive one does). I made this video to illustrate what's happening:

In trying to troubleshoot this, I took off the film back and the lens and can watch what happens when I depress the shutter release. The little flat head of the release lever (number 26 in the diagram from the service manual, page 18) pokes out of the back of the body but the shutter doesn't fire. However, if i nudge the little poked-out head of the release lever with my finger (pressing lightly down on it) the shutter will then fire as expected! If I put it in 'A' mode and try this without the back on, I can pull out gently on the release lever head, and the shutter fires every 1 second or so, as expected in A mode.

Also, further info: I also tried the second release button hole and experienced the same problem, and took it to a camera repair shop and they tried another button, so it's not just the release button hole.

Does anyone out there know how I could go about fixing this without having someone (or myself) tear down the camera to adjust the release lever?

Shot in the dark, and I hope no one minds me resurrecting this thread from the depths.

Thank you in advance internet.