Hasselblad Light Leaks

Is it possible to check Hasselblad backs for light leaks without sending them to a repairman? I've just received some (ruined) negatives, which were professionally processed, with have strange light markings and I'd like to find out why before my next major shoot.

got pix?

 

orient the negs to the camera and see if its the door seals or darkslide baffle tyat line up?

Probably the dark slide seal, but it would be good to see some pics of the negatives to be sure.

 

If it is the seal, it’s a pretty easy DIYer.

It can be tricky sometimes to figure out what exactly is ruining films from a Hasselblad. Increasing reports of late indicate sloppy labs are contaminating 120 film is such a way that it looks very similar to a Hasselblad light leak, which can drive some owners in frustrating circles until they rule out the camera itself.

 

The above suggestion to orient the processed film against the camera back, to track down the direction of a possible leak, is a good place to begin. Make a mental note of which point the light appears to be coming from (dark slide slot, overhaed, opposite side). Counterintuitively, light leaks from the dark slide slot often manifest on the edge of the film opposite the darkslide slot.

 

Next, examine the camera for any blatantly obvious leaks from that direction. Do this by attaching the suspicious (unloaded) film back to your Hasselblad (finder closed, no lens on the camera). Remove the dark slide, and wind the camera. If your Hasselblad is a 500c or 500cm, press and hold the shutter button, while turning the handle around the button from "o" to "T". This will lock open the camera in time exposure mode so you can check for leaks. (Later models require you attach a locking cable release, the motorized models like EL have a an electric T switch on the motor housing near the power connector.)

 

Bring the camera and a small bright LED flashlight into a darkened room at night. With one hand, bring the front of the camera up to your face and press your eye into the lens mount (blocking out any extraneous light). Using your other hand, press the flashlight against the bottom of the darkslide slot and slowly move it toward the top of the camera, then over the top, then down the other side, then underneath (rotate the camera as necessary, following the seam between camera body and film back).

 

The inside of the camera should remain dead black the entire time. If at any point you see light fanning in, the leak is wherever the flashlight is positioned. Usually it will be from the dark slide seal: this is a common, simple thing you can fix yourself with a steady hand, a jewelers screwdriver, and a strip of camera foam or black velvet ribbon. If the leak is coming from the top, other side, or bottom of the magazine, that indicates poor fit of the back against the camera: this requires a good repair tech to evaluate. Sometimes this is easily repaired, sometimes not.

 

This flashlight examination is only a rough test, of course. If you have a very important shoot coming up, it would be worth paying a qualified tech to check your Haselblad professionally and perform preventative maintenance like replacing the dark slide seal and adjusting the fit of your back(s).

Edited March 2, 2018 by orsetto

I will just toss in that light seal kits of the "proper" construction with mylar and foam are readily available on Ebay for a few bucks(I think about $12 with shipping). Theyr'e the easiest seals I've ever changed-I did both my backs and the first took me probably 15 minutes. The second took less time. The trickiest part is getting the foam "tucked" correctly. You need nothing but a properly fitting flathead screwdriver.

A warning about changing seals: When you remove the frame from the front of the holder, tucked away in a rebate of the main holder body, off on the side away from where your attention is, is a very tiny coiled spring with a longer leg. If you dislodge it, which isn't inevitable, it will be very difficult to find. How do I know that? :)

 

Otherwise, it's not an incredibly difficult job, and I did four of them in about a half hour, easily. As Ben says, tucking the sponge is the hard part, but once you figure that out, it goes quickly.

 

If your camera is old at all, that would be the first place I'd look, in fact if there's a bit of suspicion of a leak, I'd do that first, just because. In my holders all of the sponges, which are necessary to spring the gap where the slide goes, were rotted down to nothing, doing nothing.

I see that the leaks appear along the right side of the negative. This suggests that the light is not coming from the dark slide slot (left side). This was Fuji Acros 100 film, processed by a pro lab in Santa Fe (the only one), but shot using my Imagon-bellows set-up. I'm wondering if the leaks could have come from there but previous pictures shot with that are OK. I'm also wondering if there's another Hassie repair person other than David Odess, who has so much work that his turn-around takes weeks and I need this done ASAP. True he charges a rush fee, but that gets rather expensive.

I also realize that the way I expose with the Imagon is to pre-release the mirror/ rear curtain and fire the Imagon's front shutter. But I doubt this has contributed to the light leak.

Yikes! Now I'm wondering if light might have entered the camera while the mirror was released, waiting for the shot. Was not in direct sunlight but still....

Dark slide light leaks will show on the opposite side of the frame, not on the dark slide side.

Lots of examples to be seen of this - google it!

Thanks Henry. That must be it, although those negs were made in very low light and no direct sun on the slot.

I'm also wondering if there's another Hassie repair person other than David Odess, who has so much work that his turn-around takes weeks and I need this done ASAP. True he charges a rush fee, but that gets rather expensive.

 

David Odess is great, but as you noted he has a backlog and his rates are pretty high unless you truly want/need a a soup-to-nuts overhaul. There are plenty of techs still around in big cities (Precision Camera, KEH, Samys, etc.) experienced with most of the routine Hasselblad glitches like light leaks: such simple repairs don't require a complete teardown/rebuild, and shouldn't be horrifically expensive or time consuming (if you'd rather not DIY). Odess is the go-to guy for overhauling the ancient metal-barrel C lenses, esp tricky aperture issues and stubborn shutter problems. He also handles arcane body issues with aplomb that can stymie other techs.

 

Hasselblad film backs are perhaps the Achilles Heel of the system: it pays to own at least two or three as insurance against sudden failure. Swapping backs is also the quickest way to determine if any particular back has developed a leak or spacing problem. Second-hand prices on A12 backs have shot up again recently, but A24s are plentiful and still cheap. You can use 120 film in the A24 backs pretty much the same as you would in an A12: you simply need to line up the start arrow somewhat differently, and remember your frames run out after 11 or 12, not 24. Careful loading will get you the full 12 exposures, but its best to limit important shots to 11 and consider the 12th a "bonus". See older threads on the topic of "120 film in A24 back".

The older 12 backs are a fair bit more affordable than A12s.

 

My camera came with two backs-a 12 that was probably bought new with it(body from 1960, back from 1960) and an A12 from 1970. The only thing I've bothered to add is an A24-I bought it because I still use TXP 320 and all I have is 220(the 120 version was discontinued a long time ago, the 220 version in 2012).

 

The 12 backs are not as fast or easy to load, but IMO with practice they're not terrible. For anyone not familiar with them, basically you pull the insert and load the film just as you would on an A12 except that you don't have to wind to the arrows. You then push the insert into the shell and open the "peephole" on he back. You advance by turning the key on the side(which looks just like the one that locks/unlocks the back) clockwise until you see the "1" on the backing paper through the peephole. At that point, you turn the crank counter-clockwise until you hear a click and feel resistance. When you do this, the frame counter starts("1" will appear in the frame counter window) and from that point forward it's just like using an A12 back. It just doesn't have the nifty little red stripe in the unlock key to show you the roll progress(although I just look at the frame counter even on an A back).

 

The 12 backs also don't have a film box tab holder. Instead, the cover for the peephole lets you set the speed and type(B&W, color, reversal) as a reminder. If you're a Kodak shooter, this doesn't have an affect on you since Kodak(to my knowledge, and at least in the US) only sells 120 in boxes of 5 and-unlike Fuji-they don't put a tab with any meaningful information on the box flaps.

 

There's even an officially sanctioned way to shoot 220 film. To do it, you plug the hole(using either the Hasselblad-made plug or, absent that, any suitably light tight object that won't damage the film. The manuals tell you exactly how many times to turn the crank, and then when the counter runs out you manually restart it again. It's a pain to do and I don't suggest it given how cheap A24s are(I paid $31 including shipping for mine, although the reminder tab was missing) but can be done.

 

The 12 backs take the same light seals as all the other backs.

 

BTW, I just checked and I paid $14 each on Ebay for the light seal kits. That's for the mylar film and foam rubber, both pre-cut. It really is an easy job to do yourself. I went ahead and did both of mine because I got an occasional edge bleed on my A12 and it's so easy that I figured it was time for both. I don't know how old the ones I removed were, but on both the foam had deteriorated to the point where essentially only the Mylar was actually doing anyhting.