A12 'notches' and blotch

[edward_issac]

<p>New Hasselblad user. I just ran my first roll of HP5+ through a 500 c/m + 180mm CF. I notice that every shot has two slight notches in the left side of the image, as well as a funny black splotch lower down the same edge.<br>

See images (take a couple of seconds to load):<br>

http://gallery.me.com/emile_lebrun#101087/hassy1030&bgcolor=black<br>

http://gallery.me.com/emile_lebrun#101087/hassy1032&bgcolor=black<br>

http://gallery.me.com/emile_lebrun#101087/hassy1031&bgcolor=black<br>

My questions are:<br>

1. Do all A12 magazines have this distinctive side double-notching? I see the two indentations on the magazine that are causing this but I'm hoping a later version of the cassette is free of them. My magazine SN is UP 429890.<br>

2. What the heck could be causing that blotch lower down the same edge?<br>

Thanks everyone.<br>

Edward</p>

[b_christopher]

<p>AFAIK, all production Hasselblad backs have the distinctive "double v" notches. Even the later versions of A12 have them. As for the corners - that is the small space between (auxiliary?)film guide rollers and the edges of the frame. Hopefully, others here on PN with much knowledge of Hasselblad history and technology will chime in and give you more specific information. Below is what the frame edges look like from 3 A12s, ca. 2003.<br /> <img src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs048.snc3/13559_1253999502826_1014711138_30808139_8000541_n.jpg" alt="" width="604" height="604" /><br>

EDIT<br>

I just noticed the small blotch lower in the frame, in your pictures. You should be able to see or feel that on the edge of the frame. Try removing the insert and darkslide first.</p>

[dave_wilson1]

<p>Yep notches, no blotch that I know of. Why don't you like the notches, they're part of the "Hassie experience" 8-))</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

Edward,<br><br>That black 'blotch' probably is caused by a burr in, or a rough bit of paint on, the frame's edge.<br>You should be able to tell better than we can, by inspecting the actual magazine (as opposed to the result in images posted on the web). Smooth it out, and if needed, put some dull black paint on any bit of bare metal you may have exposed (but then make sure it's a thin layer of paint ;-)).

[edward_issac]

<p>Thanks B.and Dave -- OK on the notches-- I gather that's part of the Hassy profile. But the edge blotch (not in the corner by midway down from the notches) must be an aberration of some kind, no?</p>

[edward_issac]

<p>Thanks Q.G., I did check the mag closely and didn't see anything suspicious. But a good suggestion. Cheers.</p>

[stuart_richardson]

<p>If the notches really bother you, you could always switch to the Rollei 6000 series -- many of the same lenses, only a more electronic system. No notches...<br>

<img src="http://stuartrichardson.com/angry-fish1.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[edward_issac]

<p>Thanks everyone. Paint fleck seems the most likely explanation for the blotch. I see spots where paint would have come loose. <br>

The notches are fine with me .... Nice image, Stuart.</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Yes, some of my backs have them as well, and oddly, I seem to remember they are in roughly the same spot. One is bad enough I have to photoshop it out in scanning, because I've been too lazy to figure out which back is giving me the problem.</p>

[auger_jean_pierre]

<p>What is the purpose of these 2 notches inside the magazine.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

<i>"What is the purpose of these 2 notches inside the magazine."</i><br><br>Marketing.<br>They instantly show anyone handling the film/images that they were made using a Hasselblad.<br>A bigger thingy back in the days when film passed through many hands in the industry than it would be nowadays, when all that is passed around are drives containing digital files.<br>Still, as back then, many people today print so that the borders with the notches are visible, just to show them off.<br><br>Bronica once made a mistake involving these marks. In a brochure extolling the virtues of the SQ system, they printed an image that clearly showed those tell tale Vee-for-Victor notches. A Bronica wasn't good enough to shoot the photos used to show what nice photos a Bronica could produce?<br>They obviously used stock photos from an agency. Nothing wrong with that. But someone down the line should have noticed.<br>That they did not shows the rather modest merit of those notches as a marketing tool.

[auger_jean_pierre]

<p>Thank you Mister De Bakker. I thought it was to identify which magazines was used if a problem occured. In that case you should have send all your magazines to the repair shop to add more notches.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

The two Hasselblad notches are just there to identify the brand of camera a film is exposed in.<br>But you do indeed hear about people doing that - add more notches - to identify either the photographer or the individual magazine.<br>And now and again you do see magazines that have extra notches in the used-equipment market.

[kparratt]

<p>Yes the notches are the Hasselblad signature, but they also serve to indicate that you are projecting/copying the image correctly, not reversed. As well as frame numbers on the edge, the notches are easily and quickly noticed. This has helped me for sure, especially when printing EFKE R14 for the first time. The edge numbering is blurred, and the emulsion surface almost as glossy as the back of the film.<br>

(EFKE R14 now re badged as R25 - best exposed at R20, 20 being the ASA equivalent of DIN 14)</p>