Hasselblad lens not locking into body.

nitter · Nov 15, 2004

Hi

I have a carl zeiss T* lens for my hasselblad 500c/m body I recently bought a 56mm extension tube. On first use the lens locked to the extension no problem and the extension to the body, But once I tried to replace just the lens to the body it would not lock it to place but the extension will still lock to the body If anyone has any idea what may be the problem I would be very greatful to know.

Thank You

Nitter.............

ksmattfish · Nov 15, 2004

Do you know about making sure the lens and body are cocked? Cock the body by advancing the shutter. Cock the lens by inserting a coin into the small slot on the base of the lens (the part that sits flush with the body) and turning it clockwise until the slot points to the red index dot.

Other than this I don't know what could be the problem.

nitter · Nov 15, 2004

Hi

Thank you for your very quick response and thank you for fixing my problem. How easy would it have been if this was in the manual

ksmattfish · Nov 15, 2004

It's in my Hassy manual (covering 500c/m, 500el/m, and swc/m) on page 11.

nitter · Nov 15, 2004

thanks again i will have another look....

ksmattfish · Nov 15, 2004

I just got my Hassy, so I'm freshly read up on the manual

I've been using other medium format cameras for years, but there are some important do and don't specific to Hassy's and attaching lenses or film backs. Apparently not following some of these procedures can result in the lens or film back locking on the body in a semi-permanent manner (meaning you need to send it off to be fixed), so watch out!

Mitica100 · Nov 15, 2004

A good idea is having a Hassy tool for unlocking/winding up the lens and body shutters. I found it on E-bay for under $30 and it's worth having it (although I never used it, yet). That way you won't mar the camera and lens winding up slots.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29977&item=3852427345&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Good luck.

ferny · Nov 15, 2004

What's different about the way Hasselblad lenses attach then? I've only ever know bayonets and screws.

I could be showing myself up here.

ksmattfish · Nov 15, 2004

ferny said:
What's different about the way Hasselblad lenses attach then? I've only ever know bayonets and screws.

It's a bayonet mount, but Hassy 500 series cameras use leaf shutters which are in the lens itself, rather than focal plane shutters, which are in the camera body. But the Hassy leaf shutter lenses are normally cocked by turning the crank on the body.

The body and the lens and the film back all need to be cocked (or all uncocked) when attached so that everything is lined up accordingly, and functions correctly (when you turn the crank the shutter cocks and the film advances).

ferny · Nov 16, 2004

Thanks Matt. That's an odd system. I wonder why they used that.

ksmattfish · Nov 16, 2004

Leaf shutters are almost always in the lens. They don't have the upper range of shutter speeds (above 1/500th or 1/1000th) that focal plane shutters have, but they open all the way on every exposure. That means flash sync at any shutter speed; makes fill flash very easy. They also create a little less camera shake, although the Hassy has the standard SLR mirror movement, which probably makes up for that.

Having interchangable film backs means not only can you switch film types (BW to color, or a different speed) in mid-roll, but even different fomats (you can go from 6x6 to 6x4.5, digital back, polaroid back, etc...).

Most of my cameras that use leaf shutters have all the shutter controls on the lens, and advancing the film would be somewhere else, but Hassy wanted to make it so that just one operation (turning the body crank) cocks the shutter and advances the film. There are little indicators on the body, lens, and film back which show what state each part is in; the rule is to never attach anything unless the indicators match.

Axel · Nov 16, 2004

Is Hasselblad German?

Hertz van Rental · Nov 16, 2004

Swedish

http://www.hasselblad.se/

Mitica100 · Nov 16, 2004

Axel said:
Is Hasselblad German?

Hertz is right about the body of the camera. Lenses are almost all Zeiss, of German make.

In regards to the mirror shake, on the 500 series you can lock the mirror up via small lever next to the winding knob.

Hertz van Rental · Nov 17, 2004

All I know is that I used to be able to change the film in a back in about 6 seconds.
Knew one assistant that could do it one-handed in 8!
But we used to have lots of hassles with 'Blads. They were supposed to have fail safes built in but they didn't work. They were always jamming and such because you had to make sure that everything was set the same before swapping bits and you didn't have the time. Once other medium format cameras started doing inter-changeable backs then pros stopped using them.