peter_rosenthal

Hey Jay-

Thanks for the libel and professional character assassination . That's just what this

forum needs. Useless attacks and ignorant misinformation from people with no useful

info to add. As far as your 500 series goes... call up Hasselblad and ask them if that

gear can slip. They will say no. Gears have teeth you see. They cannot slip. I stand by

my statement that it is a direct drive that cannot slip. 6000 Hasselblad repairs in

more than 25 years tells me so. How many have you repaired? 'nuf said.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

Peter-

The problem cannot be in the body. There is no finesse in the body film relay gears.

It's a direct drive. One rotation on the winder relates to one rotation of the gear

you see on the back plate. It NEVER breaks. The back on the other hand can and

often is troublesome. If you are new to Hasselblad go to a dealer or an experienced

friend and have them show you the ropes. There are lots of ropes! The back should,

as previously stated, be taken in to someone you trust for evaluation. You can make a

test roll yourself to test it on a regular basis. Or at least 'til you have confidence in

it.

Find an old, outdated roll (if this is an A24 this tape thing doesn't apply) and roll it

tightly onto an empty spool until you get to the end of the film and put a piece of

scotch tape over the film end, taping it to the paper. This allows you to use the same

roll over and over. Re-roll it to the beginning of the roll. Load it properly and without a

lens on it start marking, in a consistent and orderly manner, through the front of the

camera, the top and the bottom of the film with a ball-point during an "exposure". Go

through the whole roll this way. Take the film out and examine the spaces between

frames. This will tell you how it's doing. I've found through the years, that adding

about 1/4 to 1/3 of an additional rotation to the arrows on the film and magazine will

give a longer leader and additional space between frames. Not a bad thing! I

recommend this to all my customers. It works well.

This is a good reality check for Hassy backs. Hope it helps.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff AZ

Tim-

Since there is no way to mount a lens while the camera is partially through a cycle, I'd

just try tapping (rapidly and firmly) several times on the release button. Sounds silly I

know, but many times this can get the mechanism spinning again. Of course it's not

supposed to be stuck in this position. Several things can cause this. Only one, the

mirror release, is under your control. Even if you get it going again, it would probably

be in your best interest to get it serviced. There is a good chance that standard

maintenance will take care of the problem in the worst case. G'luck!

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

If you are able to turn the "key" to wind the shutter until the slot is horizontal, you

should then be able to remove the lens. Whether it stays cocked or not. All you need

is four hands. One for turning and holding the "key", one for holding the body, one to

push the lens release button and one to turn the lens off the body.

Get a friend to help. Once it's off, test the body. Cock the lens and see if it fires

off the body. If it does, cock it again and put it on the body and go to town...

As far as a blown mainspring goes... it is very common and cannot cause this problem. It

turns the lens mechanism into a non lens mechanism. Nothing to cock, nothing to fire.

No problem. A nine hour repair job?! Somebody's been had I'm sorry to say. A proper

repair on this equipment shouldn't take longer than an hour. No matter how much

somebody charges.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

If you are able to turn the "key" to wind the shutter until the slot is horizontal, you

should then be able to remove the lens. Whether it stays cocked or not. All you need

is four hands. One for turning and holding the "key", one for holding the body, one to

push the lens release button and one to turn the lens off the body.

Get a friend to help. Once it's off, test the body. Cock the lens and see if it fires

off the body. If it does, cock it again and put it on the body and go to town...

As far as a blown mainspring goes... it is very common and cannot cause this problem. It

turns the lens mechanism into a non lens mechanism. Nothing to cock, nothing to fire.

No problem. A nine hour repair job?! Somebody's been had I'm sorry to say. Shouldn't

take longer than an hour. No matter how much somebody charges.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

There is a simple lever that prevents (in a perfect universe) the film wind lever from

moving past one. They often get hung up because of bad lube or cosmic rays or wind

shear or some such thing. The film will continue to roll until you are out of film. This

assumes the counter is counting, just not stopping at one. If your second problem

about the counter not turning to one means one never even shows up, then there is a

good chance that the magazine linkage spring (it activates the counter when you insert

the magazine) is busted. If not those things... more parts needed. Not likely tho!!

Good Luck!

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

Nadine-

How about this... every time you load a roll of film or switch backs, look through the

camera and lens and "test" your speeds, look for good aperture function (stopping

down). If you don't see a problem move on. If you do see a problem get out your back

up. You will have lost no more than 12 frames and probably less. If you use 24 exp.

rolls all you really need to do is every 12 frames or so wind the body and lens and

LOOK into the front of the lens and fire off 1/15th of a second (you can see open and

close easier), or not, and look for misplaced blades.

If you make this a part of your wedding shooting ritual, there is no way blown blades

or shutterspring can ruin a whole wedding. Only a fraction of a roll. Those are pretty

good odds if you ask me. Polaroids work well but can take extra time. I just worry your

one bad experience, as bad as it was, will ruin your "shooting experience" from now on.

Oh yeah... if you shoot stobes at weddings be sure to look through the body and lens

and fire off a shot or two while pointing it at the strobe to look for proper sync

function. If you use C lenses be sure the sync mode is set on X (it can be locked on X

by a shop). This one little oversight has ruined 100 times more wedding shoots than

any malfunctioning equipment.

Peter - PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff, AZ

Nadine-

As far as a published maintenance schedule goes... there are way too many variables

for it to be useful. Temperature, humidity, corrosive atmosphere, sand, salt air and on

and on prevent a useful shedule. This isn't even taking usage and storage into

consideration. Speaking of storage... I recommend letting the lenses and bodies sit

fired (unwound). This prevents some pretty high power springs from getting a set and

getting fatigued and snapping. Your equipment is much better off being used on a

fairly regular basis than just sitting. The oils and greases that Hasselblad uses have

been notorious for congealing and causing problems when allowed to sit.

Replacing parts on a regular basis is a game that might be tough to play well. If I had

to take a shot at it I'd say that the light seals on the back should be replaced more

often than any other part. If you live in a climate that is average humidity (35-55% or

so) and isn't too hot, the seals can safely last 7-10 years or so. If it's really wet or

dry I'd cut that down to 5 or less. The mainspring in the lens is quite a piece of work.

The less time it spends wound up the better tho. If it were mine I'd consider getting

it replaced along with the moveable sync contact every 3-4 CLA's. About 12 years or

so. The blades are a tough one. There is reality and then there is your confidence.

Very different considerations. Reality would dictate replacing all the blades maybe

every 10-14 years. YOUR concerns would dictate more often than that. How often

depends when you start to get nervous. Or maybe get too relaxed. Blades can die at

any time but is very rare below 6 or 7 years. Perhaps 8 years would be a good

compromise.

Keep in mind that many people go decades without any parts replacement. Many only

shoot on weekends (weddings and such). Some get everything replaced every 5 or 6

years. It really runs the gamut.

I hope this helps. It may confuse you thoroughly. The cost varies considerably

between shops. Hasselblad is VERY expensive and many (not all) have had excellent

results. There are many fine independent shops with a lot of experience. How much

the shop cares is as important as technical knowledge and ability. My own feeling is to

get a good working relationship with a repairman you trust (how the heck do you do

that??!!) and stick with them.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

Security is an illusion. / Helen Keller

Nadine-

You seem to be worried about your shutter blades. As it turns out broken blades on

Hasselblad lenses is not an uncommon problem. A CLA on a lens will not prevent

catastrophic parts failure. Unfortunately there is no maintenance for blades. You

could have them replaced every 6-8 years or so but this wouldn't solve the problem

and may be throwing money away at the same time! I used to think that blades had so

many shots in them and that was that. Old blades just get older. I've since changed

my mind and believe that when they go, they go. It can't be predicted. On the other

hand, wholesale preventative parts replacement can get grotesquely expensive. I've

seen relatively new lenses snap a blade and I've seen VERY old lenses with a lot of

miles on them go on and on without any problems at all. You need a back-up lens and

body and back and lots of awareness of your equipment's condition at all times. This, I

believe, is the best way to prevent wedding disasters.

There are other, more common problems that need to be addressed on a regular (how

often is up to you and your pocketbook and comfort level). The flash sync contacts

need to be replaced more often than the blades. Sometimes they just break. Speed

escapements need cleaning and maintenance. You can notice the low speeds becoming

erratic and longer than spec. The mainspring has a limited life. The lightseals on backs

are the most common failure of Hassy equipment but you can see lightleaks coming

way-ahead of important shoots if you test them occasionally. Cheap and easy. Frame

spacing can become erratic over time if ignored. The bodies themselves are extremely

troublefree (not maintenance free!) compared to the lenses and backs. They are so

simple mechanically.

Every photographer who owns a Hasselblad has their own schedule and attitude

towards maintenance. You must find out what works (or seems to work) for you. Many

will respond to your query here, no doubt, so maybe then you can get a feel for what

you may like to do. It's not a question that has one answer unfortunately. G'luck!

Peter / PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

A neutral-density filter wouldn't help at all. In fact would do more damage than

without it. While it seems that the "intensity" would be reduced, it wouldn't change

since the film is what determines how much light gets used in an exposure. If you

used any filter you would have to compensate to get a properly exposed negative. The

size and shape of internal air/glass surface reflection artifacts would change as you

change aps to compensate but that is the best you could do with a filter. The larger

ap could make the artifact larger!!

As far as the hopes of flat filter surfaces helping in some way... it would only degrade

the image further in that it would add more surfaces for light to reflect and

interfere with. To sum up this long-winded diatribe of mine... Even with the filter

added, light would still have to go exactly where it went before the filter was added,

causing whatever it causes, with the additional damage of additional reflections and

scatter.

As far as the original thread goes... modern lens muticoatings will help to one degree

or another. Whether it would be enough to make difference in your perception is hard

to say. I would try a different lens design than the Planar. This would have a profound

effect on the flare in your sunset/sunrise photos. The focal length would change but

so would the internal reflections. Maybe better, maybe worse. Only tests will tell. The

sun is the most demanding element to deal with in photography, bar none. Other than

an obstinate model of course. Hope this helps.

Peter, PR Camera Repair - Flagstaff, AZ

Simon-

As part of their make-up, all modern focusing screens have at least two parts. Some

four. There is the necessary matte side that actually performs the focusing part.

It's nothing more than a micro texture that the image falls on. The other, nearly as

critical part, is a fresnel lens. This is where your "problem" is. Without going into

annoying technicals, it makes the screen appear brighter. It consists of micro

concentric steps that make the flat surface become a magnifying lens. You either

have water, as noted, or more likely, oil on the fresnel lens. The moisture or oil wicks

around the fresnel interfering with the function of the steps making it look darker.

If it goes away soon it was water. If it doesn't go away, it's oil. Others have said it's

between two elements of your screen. This can only be true if your screen is a two

parter. Many are only one. Some screens have the fresnel on the lower, outer surface

making it easily cleanable.Without knowing which screen you have (you MAY not be able

to tell by looking) it's impossible to tell you if you can clean it yourself. It is

repairable at any rate!!

Good Luck-

Peter PR Camera Repair Flagstaff, AZ

Roger

You have discovered what about 1 of 7 Hassy users and an even greater percentage of

4x5 users (in my experience) have discovered. I end up having to replace their newer

screen with an older one. While the "newer" screens are brighter, no argument, they

don't have that obvious "snap" when focused. My eyes are pretty good and I shoot in

brighter conditions. I prefer the older screens. Many find that the newer screens

supply the brightness they need. I have also found that many of these users have

"focusing issues" on their negatives with certain lenses and in certain conditions. I

think it's because the "in-focus snap" just isn't there.

This is a very subjective thing and your mileage WILL vary. I find the lens speed is

almost always a factor with screen issues as well. Good luck with your tests.

Peter / PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff AZ

Yikes!!!

No they are not all like that. Not even close. Let's try going at it this way... If you

have four screws visible from the top of the camera next to the screen corners,

THAT is how it needs to be adjusted. If you have no screws visible, and have tabs

midway up the sides of the screen on the body that hold it down, that is for a C/M

(one unit) screen.

C internals have no goldish seat screws for a C/M screen. C cases have no tabs to hold

down C/M screens. C/M internals have 4 goldish, non-slotted screws for the C/M

screens to sit on. C/M cases have two tabs to hold C/M screen assemblies onto the

seat screws. There are some bodies that have mostly C internals and C/M cases.

Transitional? Maybe! Regular C internals can work fine in C/M cases and there is

nothing that keeps anyone from assembling them this way. Does this make any sense

at all?? It's exhausting writing it!!

One more thing. Here is the danger. If your screen is held in place by the four small,

black screws holding down a black frame at the corners and you removed them, getting

them all back into place to make your camera focus properly is not easy to do properly.

This is one thing that makes an SLR focus correctly. Beware!!

Peter / PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff, AZ

There are NO adjustment stops under the C screens. There are large springs that

hold the screen and top-frame against the 4 screws that get adjusted to infinity. All

four corners! Please, don't anyone mess with these screws unless you have nothing

else to do for the next several days and then pray your pics are in focus. Not all

newer replacement screens can go into the C frame anyway. Some just won't focus,

ever. ALL old screens © can be replaced with other old screens tho. No problem. You

just need to find one. Feel free to e-mail me if you have questions!

Peter / PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff, AZ

You are doing nothing wrong! This is most likely a problem with the counter

adjustment. You can easily check it. Wind forward, with the magazine inserted and

locked, until the counter almost gets to 1. As it nears 1, wind VERY slowly. The white

flag should drop the same instant or IMMEDIATELY before it stops winding. My bet

is that your white flag drops well (1/8th of a turn or more) in advance of the wind

lever stopping.

Adjustment of the counter after cleaning and lubrication will take care of your

problem. This shouldn't be an expensive or demanding job. Good luck!

Peter / PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff, AZ

Your test tells you there is an error. It doesn't begin to tell you where the error is.

It is important to rule out variables one at a time. Let me know.

Peter / PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff, AZ

Diagnosing Hasselblad problems over e-mail is dicey at best but what the heck. First of

all I'd stop trying to do tests at 7m or using the focus scale. Put the camera on a

tripod and go outside at point the camera at infinity. Not just a coupla hundred meters

but 1km or preferably more. When the lens stops at infinity your VF image should be in

focus. If not, and even if it is, you could have a problem with the focus adjustment of

the lens and/or the focus screen and/or mirror and/or all of the above. You need to

rule out the lens first to even get near the problem.

The only valid photographic focus test you can do on the lens is point it at infinity, it

should look in focus on the screen, preferably in darkish conditions to remove depth-of-

field issues, set the lens at infinity and examine the results on the negatives or GOOD

prints. If they are not sharp you have lens focus problems. If you get good results on

the film but the VF image was not in focus when the lens was set at infinity, you have

mirror/screen problems. Unfortunately, you have no way to figure out which.

Your 250 as a standard to test the body can be used but be warned, if there is any

error in your 250 you will never get out of the rats nest created by an evergrowing list

of compounding errors! Many times lens errors can be compensated (confusing the issue

tremendously) for by accidental compensating errors in the mirror and/or screen.

Probably the best you can do, besides taking the lens to a shop to have it tested for

infinity focus, is try it on several bodies at infinity and make a judgement as to it's

accuracy and HOPE it's still OK.

As far as figuring out the focus screen/mirror angle dilemma... Without an expensive

tool to measure mirror angle you have no way to divine the problem. The mirror is simply

required to sit at a certain angle and the focusing screen is then adjusted to give good

focus at all 4 corners as well as the middle. This is how it's supposed to be done and

any other way is fraught with peril as other errors can be introduced at worst and

ignored at best.

Ideally, a mirror angle alignment tool should be used along with an autocollimator to

determine and adjust your focus problems. Let us know what you end up doing...

Peter / PR Camera Repair / Flagstaff, AZ

You can put 120 film in a 220 magazine but NEVER put 220 film in a 120 magazine. The

reason is that Hasselblad backs use the counter to space each frame and certain

assumptions are made in the process. The most important of which is that the film and

paper backing on 120 is thicker than just the 220 film. The mechanism turns a fixed

number of rotations for each specific frame number while pulling the film through. If

the diameter of the take-up spool is too small, as it will be with 220 film (no paper) in a

120 shell, it will pull less film through at each frame and all of your frames will overlap.

Guaranteed!! In answer to the second of your two questions, you will have 12 overlapping

frames. There is NO way to get 24 exposures with an A12 back. Ain't it always

something?

Peter

PR Camera Repair 111 E. Aspen #1 Flagstaff, AZ

There is no reason you can't put a 120 magazine in a 220 shell and there no reason you

can't put a 220 magazine in a 120 shell. You can put 120 film in a 220 magazine but

NEVER put 220 film in a 120 magazine. The reason is that Hasselblad backs use the

counter to space each frame and certain assumptions are made in the process. The most

important is that the film and paper backing on 120 is thicker than just the 220 film.

The mechanism turns a fixed number of rotations for each frame while pulling the film

through. If the diameter of the take-up spool is too small, as it will be with 220 film

(no paper) in a 120 shell, it will pull less film through at each frame and most or all of

your frames will overlap.

As far as mismatched magazines go... Probably 1/3 the backs you can buy used have

mismatched serial numbers. They all work fine. If they don't it isn't because of the

serial numbers. You just don't want to mix magazines of profoundly different eras.

Virtually all cameras create a SPACE for the film to move through. The pressure plate

sits on outer rails that are raised relative to the inner film plane rails by the film

thickness plus a few thousandths just for the heck of it. By moving the pressure plate

sideways manufacturers can put the pressure plate at a different height (more or less

space) compensating for the difference in 220 and 120 film thicknesses. Hasselbad

crudely, but effectively, just presses the film and/or film/paper against only one set of

rails on the sides of the shell (film plane). It actually makes a more accurate film plane

as there is no slop in the film due to the space created by other manufacturers.

I hope all this makes sense.

Peter

PR Camera Repair 111 E. Aspen #1 Flagstaff, AZ

my two cents worth from a non-photographicalspeakingwise point-of-view...

My experience with bellows for Hassy is they are plastic, they are expensive to buy and

repair and they break at the drop of a hat or anything else for that matter. ...not to

besmirch the character of bellows owners or anything as I'm sure they are, for the

most part, very fine people who take excellent photos. As far as tubes go... they are all

metal, they are expensive, they "never" break no matter what and they will last several

lifetimes. Several!! I've only had to repair one (1) in 25 years and it spent time scuba

diving in the Colorado river. Here is a piece of very functional photo equipment made of

high quality stuff with only 2 moving parts. That's what I want in my bag. The

downside? Multiple tubes can cause a profound imbalance on a tripod.

Peter / PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff AZ

It's difficult to tell from the photo but since it's near the edge my guess would be lens

separation. Two glued-together pieces of glass whose glue joint may be breaking down.

If you can see THROUGH it without really seeing IT it would be lens separation.

Generally doesn't affect results much when small but does decrease the value

considerably.

Peter Rosenthal PR Camera Repair Flagstaff, AZ

These "barn doors" do get cracks in them over time. Especially when, through certain

types of body jams, the mirror is forced down against a locked UP door. If this happens

several times they get cracks at the backside at the hinge pin. The bottom door rarely,

if ever, gets cracks in them because they are allowed to flop around more (no mirror to

stop their movement). As long as they close properly and securely there is no reason to

replace them. I've never seen a door fail because of these cracks. Theoretically light-

leaks could be a problem but in reality, I've never seen it. Fire away!!!

Peter / PR Camera Repair, 111 E. Aspen #1, Flagstaff AZ

If the film winds (you said you've shot 2 rolls?) after you switch the lever to T from O

then your batteries and fuse are good. There is a simple electric switch under the

release button that runs juice to a solenoid that gets everything going. If the button

doesn't fire it then there is a problem in the switch, wiring or solenoid most likely. Can

you hear a small click when you push the release button? That means it's trying to work

but is being held up mechanicallyspeakingwise. If you hear nothing than the solenoid

isn't getting any electricity or is frozen it place. This is generally not a big deal repair

as the EL series cameras are electrically very simple.

Peter - PR Camera Repair, Flagstaff, AZ

Low humidity, below 40%, is far superior to high humidity, above 65%. This is mostly

true of higher temperature tho as heat speeds up fungus growth. Fungus ruins the

coatings on lens elements both internal and external. It's expensive to repair. As far as

water absorbers go... they only work for a couple of days (depending on humidity levels)

and have to then be reheated to drive the water out. Do this for the length of storage.

Yikes!! I can tell you tho that not using your equipment (previous post) is far more

damaging to the lubricants as they congeal regardless of humidity and temperature and

getting them replaced is a useless expense. As far as permanent damage relative to temp

and humidity goes, high or low... I've never seen it in my 25 years of repairing Hassy

equipment except for fungus growth from tropical climates. Cool and dry is good. Hot

and humid is bad.

Peter PR Camera Repair Flagstaff AZ (very cool and very dry country)

Viktor-

The 501 does not have more metal on/in it than the 500. There were a couple of internal

changes and improvements (in my humble opinion) to the 500C/M during it's production

run and the 501 incorporates all of those improvements and more. I actually prefer the

release button on the 500 cameras as there is the "time" aspect to it as opposed to just

"bulb" but this is a very subjective thing. The 500 is not more reliable in any way since

the mechanisms are (second sentence above) identical to the 501's. All things equal, the

501 would be more reliable since they are newer. The difference in used prices reflect

the age and miles on the 500 series. The screens are easily user-changable on both 501

and 500C/M's. If you don't shoot professionally I'd look for a later model 500C/M

without a lot of wear on it. It may be the better deal.

Good Luck-

Peter PR Camera Repair Flagstaff AZ