Hasselblad 500EL

[clark_roberts]

Hi all,

Well I found one of these on ebay yesterday and the seller dropped it another $25.00 and I went for it.

So I know it takes batteries but between a 9 volt or other adapter's that use other batteries which ones work best.

I already have a 500CM with a 80mm CF and 2 backs 12 and 24, and a acute matte screen so I'm ready for this

beast!. Any thing to watch out for, any tips?

 

Thanks

[Ed_Ingold]

Fotodiox makes an adapter which takes two 6V CR-P2 batteries ($6.50 ea, Amazon). Unlike a 9V battery, it doesn't require a loose connector. I held out for a 555ELD, which takes five AA batteries, which last a very long time. The original rechargeable batteries have a short life span, losing capacity quickly with age.

 

Fotodiox Battery Adapter for Hasselblad 500EL, 500ELM, 500ELX, 553ELX (allows use of 6v CR-P2 Battery)

 

EL cameras are heavy and take a lot of space in a bag. They are also relatively noisy, and can't be used in some situations. However, I prefer my ELD over manual bodies for convenience, use of a long release cable, and flexibility. It is very easy to lock the mirror up and the self-timer is convenient to use.

[clark_roberts]

Hi, Yes it looks like a big camera but the price was great and would be fun to try something new out.

I like the idea of the auto winding in it that should be different. Is there anything wrong with the 9v battery

adapter?

[Ed_Ingold]

Is there anything wrong with the 9v battery

adapter?

Probably not in terms of function. There are mentions of glass in the construction (fragile), and you must snap a loose connector to the battery and tuck the wires out of the way. I've had to replace several 9V connectors. the 6v lithium batteries just slip into place. I suspect Li batteries have a longer life, cited as 200 exposures, than 9V alkaline batteries. However the set costs 4x as much as a single 9V battery.

 

I came across this (Hasselblad 500-EL, ELM, ELX NiMH Battery.), which uses 5 AAA batteries - high capacity, inexpensive and available as rechargibles. The downside is the batteries are a little too long to close the cover completely. No free lunch today ;(

[clark_roberts]

I saw that adapter for 6v lithium, the adapter about $30.00 dollars which isn't to bad and the battery I've seen goes from

$6.00 to $15.00 dollars. It's amazing that I could make my own adapter for a couple of bucks for this Hasselblad 500el.

I also have a Rolleiflex 6002 that needs a battery and looking for that a lithium battery goes for $100.00 to $125.00 dollars.

Their a guy on ebay who make the adapter it looks like it's 3D printed that takes three lithium batteries.

[coronawithlime]

Hi all,

Well I found one of these on ebay yesterday and the seller dropped it another $25.00 and I went for it.

So I know it takes batteries but between a 9 volt or other adapter's that use other batteries which ones work best.

I already have a 500CM with a 80mm CF and 2 backs 12 and 24, and a acute matte screen so I'm ready for this

beast!. Any thing to watch out for, any tips?

 

Thanks

 

I have a 500 ELX and several battery solutions. I have some original Varta batteries, one of the adapters that uses a 6v Li cell, and one that uses a 9v transistor radio battery. I can't tell 10 cents worth of difference in the function of any of them.

 

The 6v Li adapter appears the most elegant solution, but does not control the battery movement within the adapter well. The camera stopped operating yesterday and I thought the battery was depleted. I removed it and moved the battery inside the adapter a bit and it's working fine again.

 

The 9V solution strikes me as being the most utilitarian in view of the easy availability of replacement batteries.

 

If the battery dies while you are using the camera, you may end up with the film partially advanced, the mirror stuck in the up position, some other half finished operation, or all of the above. Replace the depleted battery with a fresh one and the camera will complete whatever it was previously doing. DO NOT try to remove the lens first, just replace the battery.

 

Put some spare fuses in the slots provided. Don't worry about the special old stock Hasselblad fuses you sometimes see on eBay at $9 each. Generic SloBlo fuses at 5 for $4 are fine.

 

I prefer a split image screen, but your vision is likely better so you may not care. In any case, the low cost asian knockoffs have mixed reviews.

 

If you're looking at screens, it appears to be common for somebody to have purchased an upgrade screen and stored the standard screen in the upgrade box. Years later the standard screen in the upgrade box shows up on eBay with the seller claiming, knowingly or not, that it is the screen marked on the box. Research.

 

These dudes are heavy. Get the widest strap you can find.

 

THE VERY MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT HASSELBLADS:

Research on the internet about installing/removing the lenses. The body and lens BOTH have to be cocked in order to remove/install lenses. Doing otherwise risks causing a mechanical jam and difficulty completing the operation. Might even require a repair if you had been sufficiently heavy handed.

 

If you buy an extension tube, research how to remove/install it. There is a specific order to do things.

 

Store everything in the cocked condition.

 

I rather like the extended focusing handles.

Edited February 14, 2018 by coronawithlime

[arthur_gottschalk]

My 553 ELD uses standard AA batteries, making it much easier to use. Be sure to keep a set of fuses handy.

[clark_roberts]

I received the camera today, while it a beauty, I tried a 9 volt battery and didn't work, it makes a

clicking sound when I press the shutter but that's all. The mirror is in the up position and the shutter

cocking screw is in the wrong position so I can't put a lens on. I'm going to get fresh battery maybe

this one a bit old, I hope that does the trick, any other tips would be great!

[coronawithlime]

You are in a better situation since you don't have a lens installed.

 

A weak battery will cause EXACTLY the condition you describe. Address that first of all.

 

The L O T switch on the motor drive portion should be in the O position. The other switch should be in the 0 position. If not try to move them.

 

In the DIN plug on the right side you can short pins 1 and 3 and it should fire the shutter if the battery has sufficient charge.

 

I'm betting on a weak battery.

Edited February 15, 2018 by coronawithlime

[coronawithlime]

You are in a better situation since you don't have a lens installed.

 

A weak battery will cause EXACTLY the condition you describe. Address that first of all.

 

The L O T switch on the motor drive portion should be in the O position. The other switch should be in the 0 position. If not try to move them.

 

In the DIN plug on the right side you can short pins 1 and 3 and it should fire the shutter if the battery has sufficient charge.

 

I'm betting on a weak battery.

[coronawithlime]

Alternatively, it sounds a bit like the body is in what Hasselblad calls prerelease. Which is sorta kinda like locking the mirror up on a 35mm. Looking into the front of the body the indicator will not be lined up with the red dot, but rather will be a bit clockwise past it. It may appear that it has fired, but it's in prerelease.

 

If the AS A 0 S RS switch was moved to the S position, it is spring loaded to return immediately to the 0 position. This puts the body in prerelease and you would not know from the outside. Inserting a good battery and pressing the shutter release should complete the cycle.

 

Check the fuse.

 

I'm betting on a weak battery.

[orsetto]

Congrats on the "new to you" Hasselblad 500EL!!

 

Re battery adapters: I've tried them all, and IMO the most cost effective, reliable, convenient type is the newer version single-piece 9v version with no loose wires (the entire thing fits neatly inside just one of the EL battery chambers). These adapters usually look like a gold-labeled black plastic cylinder with a removable metal battery bracket in the center. You pull out the bracket, snap in the 9v battery, then snap the bracket back into the cylinder.

 

The 6v lithium adapters seem nice at first, but tend to be overpriced, plus the two required lithium batteries are themselves more expensive than 9v batteries. And as coronawithlime noted, the lithium batteries can move in the adapter, causing issues. The very common cheap two-piece 9v adapters work OK, but installation is fiddly and the frail wires will fail at some point from friction against the compartment cover. Two-piece adapters were half the price of the other types until very recently ($19.95 vs $39.95), but lately I've seen the one-piece 9v selling between $20-$30. The lithium adapter still hovers closer to $40 on average.

 

Motorized Hasselblads are greatly undervalued and unappreciated due to mythical battery issues, and assumptions about weight and noise. The battery problems evaporate if you avoid the truly dismal NiCads. The original power system was a rare complete fail by Hasselblad: they should have used AAs right from the start. Instead, they got caught up in their own "Moon Camera" PR, carrying over the NiCads required by NASA (but not yet refined enough for earthbound use, as betrayed by the fuse which never fails with 9v alkaline batteries or AAs).

 

The weight difference compared to the 500CM can be deceptive. If both cameras have the old tiny 80mm Planar "C" lens mounted, the ELs do seem much heavier. But the minute you swap that for a 50mm Distagon or 150mm Sonnar, or add a prism finder, all bets are off. The 500CM is suddenly not the graceful featherweight anymore: its front-heavy and clumsy. The added motor weight of the EL becomes proportionately less.

 

The motor noise vs handcranked noise is also subjective, depending how, where and when you tend to shoot. People often forget the mechanical marvel manual-wind 500cm isn't exactly an Olympus OM-1 in stealth or smoothness. The initial shutter release is relatively quiet, but when you let go of the button those barn doors snap closed with a loud "thwack" amplified by the hollow mirror-up body. In fast moving situations where you'll be taking several shots in a row, the repeated cranking of a 500CM is a grinding sound, and as each frame locks into place the film back mechanism emits an irritatingly loud "zip-swock" noise. If two photographers stand next to each other in a quiet room, one equipped with a CM and the other with an EL, the noise from the CM release-wind cycle lasts longer than the EL motor noise: the motor even helps conceal some of the film back clattering. Strictly speaking, the motor is indeed louder, but it doesn't always matter.

 

Other EL advantages include a somewhat sturdier build and less fussy mechanism (I've had 500CMs jam on me several times for no apparent reason other than "lens allergy" but never once suffered a jam with an EL). Mirror up mode is easier to engage and less prone to mechanical interference. Shutter button feel is very smooth and soft. The added weight and different mechanical configuration impart extra damping that allows some users to get away with slower handheld shutter speeds than they can manage with the CM. Last (but not least), a cheap EL makes a fantastic "gym" for your lenses! The best insurance against expensive lens repairs is to keep them exercised: an EL body makes it super-easy to fire several shots at every shutter speed /aperture with each of your lenses once per month. Doing the same with a manual wind body gets very tiresome very quickly (tho the exercise is just as good for the camera body as your lenses).

 

Prices have dropped like a stone on all the EL variations. The original EL is a steal if you can tolerate the fixed, blah focusing screen. The ELM is worth paying a little more, so you can change screens easily. The sweet spot is the 500ELX: this was the first Hasselblad to get the larger gliding mirror (no vignetting with tele and macro, no worries about crumbling under-mirror alignment foam). The 553ELX is the 500ELX with AA battery chamber, usually at a significant jump in price. Shop carefully: a number of 500ELM and 500ELX were retrofitted by Hasselblad with the 553ELX AA modification (these are cheaper than a 553ELX). The final glorious 555ELD is still hugely more expensive, not justified unless you also own one of the uncommon digital backs that fully exploit its electronics and NASA-spec mirror (used with film, it has zero advantages over a 500ELX or 553ELX).

 

If for no other reason, some ELs are worth considering as backup bodies if you have any need whatsoever for the GMS (gliding mirror system). This non-vignetting, non-drifting mirror upgrade is still obscenely expensive to obtain in a manual-wind body, being limited to the rare-ish 501CM and 503CW models only. Simply because "nobody wants a motor body", you can pick up the GMS-equipped 500ELX or 553ELX for one-fourth to one-fifth the price of a 501CM. A 500ELX in nice shape typically runs $200-$300 without back or finder. The 501CM averages closer to $1000, the 503CW even more. Food for thought.

Edited February 15, 2018 by orsetto

[clark_roberts]

You are in a better situation since you don't have a lens installed.

 

A weak battery will cause EXACTLY the condition you describe. Address that first of all.

 

The L O T switch on the motor drive portion should be in the O position. The other switch should be in the 0 position. If not try to move them.

 

In the DIN plug on the right side you can short pins 1 and 3 and it should fire the shutter if the battery has sufficient charge.

 

I'm betting on a weak battery.

 

 

Nope no good it just clicks, I did change the position of one of the gears and the motor did open and close the rear shutter's

but the mirror did not go down. It's good to know that the motor works.

[coronawithlime]

Nope no good it just clicks, I did change the position of one of the gears and the motor did open and close the rear shutter's

but the mirror did not go down. It's good to know that the motor works.

 

Just confirming, did the mirror "not go down" or "go down and go back up."

 

By "change the position of one of the gears" I am guessing you are referring to moving one of the controls on the right side of the camera. If that is the case, which did you move and from what position to what position ?

 

It's also possible it's just a glob of old lubricant sticking stuff up and repeated actuation of the shutter might exercise things enough for it to loosen up.

Edited February 16, 2018 by coronawithlime

[clark_roberts]

Hi, It stayed up at all times.

[coronawithlime]

Just confirming, did the mirror "not go down" or "go down and go back up."

 

By "change the position of one of the gears" I am guessing you are referring to moving one of the controls on the right side of the camera. If that is the case, which did you move and from what position to what position ?

 

It's also possible it's just a glob of old lubricant sticking stuff up and repeated actuation of the shutter might exercise things enough for it to loosen up.

If you don't have the manual yet, visit http://www.butkus.org/chinon/hasselblad.htm and download it. Read up on the functions of the different control positions.

[clark_roberts]

Yes I checked it again, the only thing that turns is the front lower gear on the right, that spins and nothing

else.

[clark_roberts]

I also removed the two side panels to see the gears, one problem I saw right away, there was a

screw missing that holds down the large gear if you pop that up everything must of been out of

wack!

[clark_roberts]

I have the Hasselblad apart, it seems the problem is the this, when I press the shutter button

the mirror and flaps open but then that's it, it doesn't close when I lift my finger off the shutter

button no full cycle doesn't close.

[orsetto]

If your EL is the original version with fixed (not drop out) focus screen, its quite old now and may have been heavily used in a studio. While the motorized Hasselblads are remarkably rugged, ancient examples that were "rode hard and put up wet" (then perhaps sat unused for a decade) can develop problems that resist DIY repair.

 

Given their unpopularity today vs the cult for manual-wind bodies, it isn't cost-effective to repair the original EL cameras anymore. Fixing a dead solenoid or seized barn door actuator is not cheap. Return this EL and get a refund (or resell it yourself). For the money you'd spend on a proper overhaul, you could pick up a functional, later ELM with changeable screens, or perhaps even newer ELX with larger non-vignetting mirror. The bad news is the motorized bodies aren't worth repairing, the good news is you can easily find functional replacements for less than the cost of repair.

Edited February 21, 2018 by orsetto

[clark_roberts]

Good advice thank you, I've been looking at the later models and they seem a bit better build and some take

AA batteries!

[MikeT-NYC]

I recently got an EL with lens and 12-exposure back (but no finder yet) but the lens wouldn't come off. I got it off using the method described (with nowhere near enough detail!) in Thomas Tomosy's book Camera Maintenance & Repair (Vol. 1). The good news is that the lens is OK -- the shutter is a little sticky at 1 second but otherwise works.

 

But the body isn't working right. The instruction manual doesn't explain how the body works when there's no lens on it, but I assume when I press the shutter release, it should go through the wind cycle and the mirror should come down. But even with a new 9-volt battery in an adapter, the mirror stays up and I just get a click (the sound of a little prong coming out near the bottom of the magazine).

 

I'm also having problems with the magazine itself. The spool holder catch that opens the magazine is frozen and is absolutely rigid. I've tried turning it with my hand with all my might, but I haven't dared to use tools in case I break something. Has anybody else dealt with this problem?

 

Mike Taglieri

[q.g._de_bakker]

I recently got an EL with lens and 12-exposure back (but no finder yet) but the lens wouldn't come off. I got it off using the method described (with nowhere near enough detail!) in Thomas Tomosy's book Camera Maintenance & Repair (Vol. 1). The good news is that the lens is OK -- the shutter is a little sticky at 1 second but otherwise works.

 

But the body isn't working right. The instruction manual doesn't explain how the body works when there's no lens on it, but I assume when I press the shutter release, it should go through the wind cycle and the mirror should come down. But even with a new 9-volt battery in an adapter, the mirror stays up and I just get a click (the sound of a little prong coming out near the bottom of the magazine).

 

I'm also having problems with the magazine itself. The spool holder catch that opens the magazine is frozen and is absolutely rigid. I've tried turning it with my hand with all my might, but I haven't dared to use tools in case I break something. Has anybody else dealt with this problem?

 

Mike Taglieri

Both camera and back are in need of repair.

You can remove the covering on that side of the magazine, remove the screws revealed by doing that, take the side wall off, and see what is going on with the key or (simple) clamping mechanism. But there might be more that's not o.k. with the magazine.

 

The camera is not that easy. I assume you have tried it with the magazine off. A magazine can and will block the camera if the counter is beyond 12. The mirror being up however is a bad sign.

If it still behaves like that without magazine, it needs taking apart to see what is wrong.

The camera should work normally without lens and magazine.

 

The lens will need cleaning and relubricating.

 

If it is a set you sold not advertised as broken, you should return it.

Edited February 26, 2022 by q.g._de_bakker