My first real entry to the MF world

minicoop1985 · Dec 12, 2013

Hey guys. Yesterday, I got myself into the MF world for real this time. I'm now stuck with a Hasselblad 1600f of my own, since the slow speed shutter mechanism needs some work. The clockwork is all kinds of slow and sticky and needs a good lubrication, and if I ever get the guts, I'll fix it. Basically, as long as I don't need anything slower than 1/25, I'm good. Here she is:

PC122543 by longm1985, on Flickr

80mm 2.8 Ektar lens. It's beautiful. It also came with something rather cool:

Untitled by longm1985, on Flickr

Reading material! Looks like I'll be an expert world renown medium format photographer in no time. :lol:

I'm kidding. But really, it's cool.

timor · Dec 12, 2013

Waiting for the first images. Lens you've got is very promising.

minicoop1985 · Dec 12, 2013

Got some film in it now. Playing with the extension tube and some ornaments-macro-ish. Maybe some landscapes tomorrow. I'm quite excited to see what I can do with it.

tirediron · Dec 12, 2013

Suuuuuu-weeeeeeet!

minicoop1985 · Dec 13, 2013

It really, really is. I just did something I was quite nervous about... That lens was all kinds of sticky. Horrible to focus. Those gear looking rings start to cut into the hands when it's that sticky. So... knowing what this lens is worth (a lot of money if you ask me)... I did the lighter fluid trick. As stupid as that seems, that lens was almost unusable as it was, so it was worth it to take the risk. None got on the aperture blades, and from what I read somewhere on the Internet (we all know that's ALWAYS right :roll

there wasn't much of a risk of it getting onto internal glass or aperture blades anyway. BTW, I remember seeing a few discussions about the number of aperture blades making a difference. :lol:

I should post this the next time it happens-it has at least 20 in two separate diaphragms stacked on top of each other.

limr · Dec 13, 2013

Sooo pretty. Like camera porn. Good luck with the lens!

minicoop1985 · Dec 14, 2013

Camera porn. :lol:

Looking at my display case (we have two-one's supposed to be mine, but my wife's Kodaks are taking up half of it) lately, with the Rolleiflex (before it sells), my Rollei 35, and this thing, can be rather arousing.

A little update on this bad boy: Finished a roll of film. Monday, I'll be going to Oshkosh to have it developed and put on CD (high-res I hope) since that's the soonest I'll get it done everywhere. Now on to that lens-it started sticking again. I did something even more nerve wracking: I actually ripped apart the Ektar 80mm. Here's a bit of a write-up in case there's anyone looking to do the same:

Basically, there's three little screws in the mounting ring that have to be slightly undone (there is one that sticks out-leave that one be as it's for the mount, not for the retaining ring), then a retaining ring comes out. Before doing that, definitely spin the focus to as close as possible and take note of how far the aperture ring is from the focus ring-that will be important later. After the retaining ring comes out, the glass and aperture unscrew in one piece (it's sealed, so there's ZERO dust in there-MINTY fresh) and the focus ring and mount are left. I took a rag, soaked it in lighter fluid, put out the resulting fire, then cleaned out all the old sludge in the threads on both parts that was, at one point, lubrication, then re-lubricated it with some of my favorite gun lube (Breakfree CLP) and a Q-tip. It's a higher viscosity than most, but it's not grease, and it stood up to guns firing and being absolutely beaten on in all kinds of weather conditions without splattering all over when I had them, so I figured it was the right thing to use. Anyway, I put the focus ring to its closest setting, then repeatedly thread the aperture/glass assembly in (CAREFULLY to avoid stripping) until I got it right. After that, the retaining ring has a finger (for lack of a better word) that has to sit in the glass/aperture assembly to keep it aligned. There are also three little indents in the side of the ring for the screws. The trick is to line the the glass/aperture up, then drop the retaining ring on without pressing it in completely, take a moment to finely align the retaining ring, THEN press it in place and screw it in place.

After all of that, the focus is incredibly smooth. In fact, I have a feeling it's as good as or better than when it left Rochester, NY, for Sweden. No more shredded skin, no more stuttering focus, and now I should have a lot better time taking photos with it.

minicoop1985 · Dec 23, 2013

Interesting update: I've nicknamed this thing "Blad the Impaler." Blad had a little impact with my car's door sill when the stitching of the strap on its old leather case (probably came with it) gave out. Strangely, instead of deciding not to work anymore or malfunction more than it already was, the slow shutter mechanism decided... to work. So I fixed it. By accident. :lol:

minicoop1985 · Dec 31, 2013

I think I might have found the cause of this light leak:

Leaky seal by longm1985, on Flickr

It probably had nothing to do with this. :lol:

Untitled by longm1985, on Flickr

Snatched a good seal from my A24 back and put it in the C12. That should fix it. Gotta love modular systems, right? :mrgreen: Now, time to get shooting again!

smithdan · Dec 31, 2013

My 500C fogged up the first roll, storing it for a long time with the slide in squishes the fuzzy strips. I'll put in new ones someday, electrical tape works great.

Rich petal detail and colour - nice..

minicoop1985 · Jan 14, 2014

So I noticed the focus screen was all kinds of chipped in the corners the last time I took it out (I DIDN'T DO IT! I SWEAR! I did make it worse though....). Since my 500EL is out of commission, I snatched its focus screen. Of course, on my initial attempt, I put it in backwards, but then managed to get everything sorted this morning with a lot less swearing. My advice to anyone without a steady hand or carpet that wants to replace a 1600f focus screen: Don't. :lol:

That being said, HOLY CRAP is that WAY better! I CAN SEE WHAT I'M SHOOTING! I wasn't aware that you were supposed to. :greenpbl:

minicoop1985 · Apr 5, 2014

I love this camera, but my god is it the antithesis of reliability. I've given it about 4-5 good thorough cleanings since I got it because of various issues with the slow speed mechanism, which is FINALLY reliable. I've reconstructed the lens and have everything operating smoothly now, finally. And today, I was given a damn near heart attack... THREE pinholes in the second curtain. THREE. Apparently, liquid electrical tape works, if applied with a toothpick. Since there's no more curtains for these things, I'm very glad it worked... But it makes me wonder, what's gonna break next? grr

dxqcanada · Apr 6, 2014

Good thing you know how to handle repairing it :wink:

Always a good skill for those that want to pickup those old clunker cameras and actually use them.

webestang64 · Apr 6, 2014

Nice piece of hardware! :hail:

minicoop1985 · Apr 7, 2014

dxqcanada said:
Good thing you know how to handle repairing it
Always a good skill for those that want to pickup those old clunker cameras and actually use them.

It's a necessary one, I'm starting to think. If people still repaired these, imagine the amount of money all these little repairs would cost-replacing curtains, several CLAs, lens service, upgrades.... I've saved a ton of money by switching to repairing it myself. :lol: