Apeture help on hasselblad

[rob_knight]

I'm sitting here with my brand new hasselblad 500 CM, and I seemed

to have run into a bit of a problem wich involves the lense. I have

always used 35mm until now, so if this question sounds stupid or

easy to answer, well, sorry. I seem to have locked the apeture in,

which is easy to do on a 35mm, so you can check depth of feild. But

I can't seem to get it unlocked so that I can shoot. Also, how do

you overide the shutter/appeture connection? I am very thankfull

for any help!

[cosmo_genovese]

Which lens are you talking about?

[simonpg]

Rob don't worry - it is NORMAL.

 

Since you have a 500CM the lens must likely be a C series labled something like C T*.... This series (2 since) has a permanent coupling of aperture and shutter speed rings showing an EV value. So to un-lock them you have to push the silver metal thing near the EV scale printed on the lens - this releases them so you can independently move the shutter and aperture rings - a bit of a nuisance for some users buit you will get the hang of it.

[Ed_Ingold]

You are in the DOF Preview mode. If it is a C lens (the shutter and aperture rings are locked together), simply move the aperture ring to the fully open position, than back to where you want. You may have to press the silver tab to uncouple the rings.

 

If you have a CF lens, then there is a rectangular button on the top left side of the lens as you hold the camera as to shoot. To release the DOF Preview, just press inward on the left side of that button (the button rocks to unlock).

 

The DOF Preview mode won't prevent you from shooting, it just makes it harder to focus and see the image in the viewfinder. The aperture will return to normal operation when you wind the camera.

[q.g._de_bakker]

A sometimes quicker way to get out of 'preview-mode' on Synchro-Compur C-lenses (and C-lenses only) is to remove the magazine and press the shutter.<br>But remember to reset the camera before attaching the magazine again. ;-)

[terry_evans3]

Q.G.

Since you mention this, please explain how to avoid locking up a Hasselblad. What exactly does it mean anyway? The instructions for my 501 don't mention it.

Thanks,

Terry

[q.g._de_bakker]

Terry,<br><br>First, i didn't mention anything that even remotely has anything to do with locking up.<br>If you attach the magazine to the body, before recocking the body, you will waste a frame of film when doing so. Hence "remember to [etc.]".<br><br>"Locking up" or "jamming" a Hasselblad is, contrary to what people would want you to believe, a very rare occurance.<br><br>First, it helps to understand how Hasselblad cameras and lenses interconnect, and are made to work in synchrony.<br>The shutter in a lens is connected to an axle, the end of which is the well known slotted disk protruding through the rear of the lens (or extension tube, etc.). The shutter is set to go, but is (b)locked by the axle.<br>The axle itself is held by a catch when the lens (etc.) is not mounted on the camera (the tiny thing in the semicircular surround on the back of lenses), and by the dog/key on the camera body when the lens (etc.) is mounted (the catch is released by a pin in the camera's mount.)<br>The camera allows the dog/key, and with it the axle, to rotate through set angles during the different stages involved in the release cycle. It is a stop-and-go thing, which you can observe when firing the camera without lens attached.<br>So, what matters here is that the axle is connecting shutter and camera, the camera stopping the mechanism at the other end (shutter) through control of this axle. And that everytime you insert something in between lens and camera, you add a segment to this axle, that again is spring loaded, and held by a catch.<br><br>So now to the "jam". There are two types.<br>It may happen when using things (extension tubes, or converters) that go in between lens and body that are not properly adjusted (either because they were badly made, like some teleconverters, or because they are worn). Firing the camera will release the axle, but ill-adjusted intermediate segments may block the cycle midway (the risk increases with every next item you insert betwen lens and body). It will help to 'jiggle' the thingies to release the axle and allow it to complete the cycle. Recocking then is not a problem.<br>If jiggling doesn't help, the screwdriver-to-the-axle-through-the-rear-shutter trick (either jiggling it until it completes the cycle, or turning the axle until it locks in the start position) will do the trick. (You do not need a special tool! So do not spend the ludicrous amounts people are asking for such silly contraptions!)<br><br>You can avoid this type of jam by making sure you use properly made (and maintained) equipment. I had this happen only twice: first with a rather poor thrid-party teleconverter (the jiggling-trick worked), second with a faulty automatic bellows unit (which needed repair. The screwdriver helped then).<br><br>The second type of jam may occur when you forget that what is blocking the sprung mechanisms inside tubes and lens is the dog/key in the camera's mount. If you remove a lens and tube, as a unit, from a camera, chances are that these things will 'fire'. That in itself is not a problem. You just recock the things by turning the axle.<br>A bigger problem may occur when such a lens+tube combo, taken off the camera does not fire, you then try to remove the lens from the tube, and the things fire while you are doing that. The two may get out of synch, and it may be impossible to either get the lens off the tube (or tube off another tube), or cock and reattach both so you can try again.<br><br>So how to avoid things "locking up"?<br>Either by using properly made and maintained equipment. Or by following instructions (i'm sure the manual says something about the proper order in which to attach and remove lenses and tubes).

[terry_evans3]

Thanks. I'll have to read this a few times.