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Hasselblad Service


ben_hutcherson

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I'm assuming that you can no longer use the New Jersey factory service center for V system cameras, as they don't list anything about them on their website.

 

Google led me to a few independent folks who service Hasselblads, but I figured I'd ask here to make sure I'm getting the best. I know that "good" and "fast" can be mutually exclusive, but at the same time I'd also like to minimize the amount of time I'm without my camera.

 

My immediate need is to have my 80mm chrome C serviced-the focus is stiff and the slow speeds are effectively dead. I'd figure that for the initial round of service, I'd send it, my 500C body, and probably my A12 back. I'd then send my other lenses and backs individually as time and budget permitted.

 

So, with that in mind, can anyone recommend someone for service?

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I'm assuming that you can no longer use the New Jersey factory service center for V system cameras, as they don't list anything about them on their website.

 

Google led me to a few independent folks who service Hasselblads, but I figured I'd ask here to make sure I'm getting the best. I know that "good" and "fast" can be mutually exclusive, but at the same time I'd also like to minimize the amount of time I'm without my camera.

 

My immediate need is to have my 80mm chrome C serviced-the focus is stiff and the slow speeds are effectively dead. I'd figure that for the initial round of service, I'd send it, my 500C body, and probably my A12 back. I'd then send my other lenses and backs individually as time and budget permitted.

 

So, with that in mind, can anyone recommend someone for service?

 

I have some more stuff in route back to me from David Odess. He strikes me as a bit high, but delivers excellent service.

 

As I'm kinda accustomed to doing business with people who are a bit high but deliver crappy service, I'm pretty much ok with that.

 

He will also do a rush service for a surcharge. I believe you will find that he is highly recommended by all his customers.

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Note the excruciatingly stiff focus feel of the 50mm, 60mm and 80mm C lenses is inherent to the original design: believe it or not, Zeiss made them that way on purpose and it cannot be adjusted. David Odess was kind enough to warn me of this: he cannot make the focus helicoid feel any smoother or turn with less effort. It isn't just the awful lube Zeiss used, its the helicoid itself. Mr Odess is indeed the premier Haaselblad tech in USA: his communication is top notch. One of the very few specialist techs with genuine social skills (he actually enjoys discussing things).

 

While he is the best known tech working on Hasselblad V gear, he is certainly not the only decent or respectable option available. Certain very common repairs, like CLA of sticky lens shutter speeds, can be done by competent local repair techs. Hasselblads are complex beasts, yes, but they were also the standard camera system of working professionals for four decades: repair techs in many major cities performed lens shutter CLA on a regular basis as their bread and butter job.

 

Hasselblads are not hysterical pearl-clutching Rube Goldberg contraptions like vintage Leica or Rolleiflex (that can only be touched by three cultish techs in all of North America). They occupy an odd niche: exotic and expensive in their heyday, yet far more common than one would imagine given the cost of ownership. So leaf shutter CLA of the C lenses was one of the life-blood jobs of many camera repair shops: many have closed down or retired, but enough remain that its worth looking for one nearby.

 

That said, certain types of malfunction I would ship straight to Odess or another well-known Hasselblad-centric tech. The lens shutter CLA is a simple thing for your average tech, but the diaphragm mechanism is not. Issues like slow or nonexistent aperture stopdown require intuitive troubleshooting borne of long experience. Some body repairs require Hasselblad tools and jigs to truly perform properly. Knowing which malfunctions are "ordinary" and which absolutely need a guru is something one learns after some years using their Hasselblad.

Edited by orsetto
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Thanks guys.

 

Since I'm still a Hasselblad newbie, it sounds like David might be the guy to go to.

 

I've been told that there's a limit to just HOW much can be done to lighten the focus on a C lens, but my 80mm is still noticeably stiffer than my 50mm(although there's a night and day difference between those two lenses and my 150mm and 250mm). BTW, I'll also add that as best as I can tell, the original owner of my outfit(everything has SSNs, so I know it all belonged to the same person) bought the 500c, 80mm, and one back in 1961. The body dates to 1960, but the back and 80mm date to 1961(back by the SN, lens by the date stamp). Again, following lens date codes, it looks like he bought one lens a year after that as my newest one is from 1964 and they are all separated by one year. The only "errant" addition is the A12 back, which dates to 1970.

 

I'll add that I've put a bandaid on the stiff focus of the 80mm a bit by adding a focusing handle. I'm not wild about it-especially given the 330º of focus throw-but at least it makes it somewhat easier to turn.

 

All of that aside, even though I know synchro-compurs are ubiquitious as are Hasselblads, I'd still feel good having the best Hasselblad guy go through this at least the first time around. I'm planning on keeping and using this system a LONG time, so I think it would be money well spent.

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