Hasselblad 500cm Jamming

When I press the shutter the lens fires but then the aperture blades stay closed and the mirror remains up. I am able to open up the lens aperture blades using the old trick of turning the small screw mounted inside the body (going though the barn doors at the back of the body) and then cocking the mirror by removing the focusing screen and manually pushing the mirror down again. However, every time I do this it just jams again with the shutter closed and the mirror locked up. The knob on the side for the film advance is locked and will not advance at any time.

 

Any suggestion VERY gratefully received!

 

Thank you

 

Tim

Does your 500 C/M have a locking lever on the shutter release button? Maybe it is set to T.

 

You could try pushing the prerelease on the side. Maybe that got accidently pushed a bit and stuck in a half way position.

 

If not, it sounds like a problem only a full repair will fix. No quick fix trick.

Edited November 21, 2020 by q.g._de_bakker

Unfortunately I tried both of those things without success.

Does it jam without lens?

If you woble the lens will it un- jam?

Can you try another lens?

Sorry for not seeing this sooner. The best approach is to break the problem down to its smallest component. In this case, the body. Remove the film magazine and lens and see if the film advance knob allows you to reset the shutter. If not, the problem is in the body. Just FYI, when a 500C/500CM shutter release is pressed, it sets things into motion.

1. the mirror begins traveling upward.

2. after approximately 2/3 travel upward, the auxiliary shutter flaps open

3. traveling a bit further upward, the shutter mechanism is released.

4. removing your finger from the shutter release button allows the aux shutter flaps to close.

5 When you wind the advance knob the mirror will come down and the shutter release mechanism resets for another shot.

 

A properly operating body will do all these things with no film magazine, lens, or viewfinder. The drive mechanism that the advance knob is attached to, has a cam on it that pushes the mirror down to its "home" position, where it latches in place. Where in its 360 degree rotation, is the advance knob? The correct home position is with the solid red circle aligned with the indicator on the body.

"The knob on the side for the film advance is locked and will not advance at any time."

 

I think it is safe to presume that the normal sequence of events will not be observeable.

The camera needs taking apart and a repair of whatever it is that gets in the way.

Yes I tend to agree.

One of my 500 c/m bodies which I bought on Catawiki auction site - stay away from that site, they are not serious and have no control what is put on sale, and don’t care either - have the same symptom.

 

You have to open the body. Guidelines you find here at

1984 | SPT Journal | Learn Camera Repair

 

I have had to dismantle everything. Started to wash old grease inside the body for the shutter mechanism. Still did not work to fire and advance.

 

The problem lies with the connection between the film advance mechanism (turning knob/crank) and the back shutter. I have washed all old grease away and put new on, still it tends to jam.

 

Second problem is that the upper flap does not open fully which means with a A12 magazine there is a black stripe. I can not get it to open fully.

 

Maybe we should start a new thread but I think we can benefit from our mutual experiences. On example, do NOT open the screw where the spring on top on advance for the film magazine. It is very tricky to get back.

 

BR /Mats

I would suggest you open a new thread with your specific problem and this way the responses you get (and the archive that is created) is related to your problem and not someone else's. And yes, the first thing to do is remove the idler gear and release the "clockspring" within the gear that drives the film magazine before removing the cover. This way the spring stays contained within the recess of the gear/spring barrel. When you open the new thread I have some questions to ask before making suggestions.