Hasselblad Winding Debate

[rude boy]

I have been wanting a hasselbad for years, and finally was able to

purchase a 500c. I've read up, and studied all I could on it (save

for the Wildi books, which I cannot get my hands on), including

reading darn near every hasselblad question on photo.net. But the

one thing I couldn't find was about winding. I've been told two

seperate things. 1.) You should always keep the camera wound, so

that it is ready to fire, even when you don't plan on using it for a

day or two. 2.) After you've finished a roll, or a shot, do not wind

the camera and leave it wound, it will kill the tension on the

spring. The latter of the two is what I had always done with old

manual cameras. Which is correct for a hasselblad? Thanks!

[bas1]

Keep it wound consistently to avoid any problems with jamming. You'll enjoy the Blad enough to excersize it regularly so it won't be an issue.

[chris_y.]

They tell you to keep it wound because the lens will jam on the body if you try to remove it and the camera is not wound. Thats the only reason. If you can remember to wind it before you take the lens off, you can leave it sitting around unwound. Jamming is not fatal to the camera, (though it can cause heart failure in the owner) it can be unjammed, depending on the proximity of a knowledgeable person or your handiness with a screwdriver. Do a search on Hassleblad and jamming, this is almost all you need to know about this Harley-Davidson of cameras....

[richard_cochran]

I've read several places that Hasselblads were designed to be

stored wound. You can't remove the lens without jamming

unless it's wound. If you have more than one lens, the

lenses that are stored off the camera will have to be

kept wound, anyway, unless you want to risk jamming by

fiddling with the wind coupling mechanism. It seems

they designed the mechanism and coupling to really encourage

you to store your lenses wound -- don't fight it. Always

wind the camera immediately after firing the shutter.

<p>

I've also heard the general advice to store most mechanical

cameras unwound, but I don't believe that advice applies to

Hasselblads.

[godfrey]

I always store the Hassy wound, with dark slide in to prevent accidental

tripping of the shutter. It will not harm the shutter mechanism or anything else

and it prevents you from accidentally jamming the lens if you try to remove it.

 

Godfrey

[fotografz]

If storing a Hasselblad wound was destructive, then all the motor cameras

and 503CWs with motors would be broken.

[q.g._de_bakker]

Springs don't wear by being kept under tension. It's repeated cycles of tensioning and releasing the tension again that does that. So don't worry about it and keep the camera wound.

 

Foam light seals however do lose tension when kept depressed by a dark slide. So take the darkslide out of your magazines whenever possible. It will lengthen their usefull life if you do.