Hasselblad knocked on concrete

[sebastian toma]

Subject: Hasselblad knocked on concrete

 

Hello everybody, A little over a week ago my Hasselblad 501CM + 80mm

lens got knocked on the concrete floor from a tripod (about 1 m

height). It hit the floor on the left side (opposite from the winding

crank). The only visible damage is a slight scratch on focusing

rubber on the lens. Also, I noticed that the film marker in the film

magazine turned instantly red so I took the film out. Other than

that...nothing. At least to the naked eye. I took the lens out and

looks fine, the mirror looks fine and overall, the camera+lens work

like before. My question is should I go to a Hasselblad Service

Centre and have it checked or I shouldn't bother? What else should I

do? Anyone out there who had the same or similar experience? Any

other advice to help me would be greatly appreciated.

Kindest regards,

 

Sebastian Toma

[russ_britt1]

Shoot some film, if it looks fine don`t worry. They are tough cameras.I`m sure others will say to send it off and spend hundreds on it. If it has other problems I would have it checked but if not I would just keep shooting.

[maury_cohen]

If you're a working pro it's a disservice to yourself and clients not to have the camera checked. If there's hidden damage it could end up wasting time and money for all.

If you only use the camera for your own satisfaction it's your choice. If it were me (I'm no longer shooting professionally), I'd probably go the test-roll route.

[sebastian toma]

What would be the procedure to shoot a test roll?

 

Sebastian

[Spearhead]

My Mamiya 7 hit a concrete surface in the jungle in Vietnam. It showed visible body damage, but I didn't have much choice so I kept on shooting. The photos were fine, but when I sent it in to Mamiya, they found that the shutter in the lens that was on it when it was dropped was damaged and, although it was working, would be likely to stop working at some point. The real problem, as I saw in this case, is that it is fairly easy to have damage that a) is not visible, and b) does not manifest itself immediately.

 

If you're not insured, there's certainly a good lesson here - my repairs ($800 total) were completely covered and made the accident a lot more bearable.

[s._c.]

This almost happened to me while I was setting up to photograph my friend's two year old daughter for halloween. One tripod leg off the floor, but safely made it back down. I think my heart stopped for a couple of seconds. I think I would agree with russ. If test rolls are w/o incident then it should be fine. If you are a working pro, then you can't afford to have equipment fail at a critical time so a service check may be appropriate. You may consider having a backup body and lenses. I got an elm for the purpose because the price was right. Good luck.