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50th anniversary

Gilbert

Please don't let us groping around in the dark . Tell us about the square sensor
(bigger than 37x37mm ? ? ) .

Yes definately , good to hear that Simon is back to the forum . Without Simon in the forum , it is like a soup without salt .

Jurgen
 
Yes:
Oops, left out (larger)!

Nothing is cast in stone. 4848 & 54x54 were mentioned. It may never happen too! Demand and competition will determine the future. As all of the previous items mentioned here before.

Regards:

Gilbert
 
I would have to add comment about the demise of the V system in years to come. Hasselblad Uk warns of such rumours. The V system will be going for some years, especially as there is a digital solution for it. Over the past few weeks I spoke to several Advertising photographers in London, due to pre purchase of the CFV, they use the V system with other Digital backs not just CFV's. Most of these photographers have the V system as a matter of course.

The sales of new 503CW cameras may not be apparent but lets not be fooled that this means that no one is intereted in using them. Professional photographers all over the country, and not just enthusiastic ameaters, use them with their existing systems. The CFV has many features that professionals find useful, like Video link straight to screen and cordless operation found on more expensive backs.

I am not just talking about the photographers who are just surviving these are world known and respected names in Advertising and Fashion photography that I used to assist, who were and still are mentors. Even younger photographers were able to offer advice about the purchase of digital backs, makes fors and against. It made for interesting listening.

So do not worry about such gossip, even if they stopped making them tommorow it would not make them a redundant piece of equipment. best wishes, Carl
 
The best thing that can happen to give the 500 series a new lease of life is a good price decrease of digital backs.

With prices for d&p going up and good services becoming more difficult to find the turning point for non professional shooters to switch to digital is coming nearer every day.
 
Hi Paul, agree with the digital backs coming down in price, I was fortunate to get a deal of £1,000 ($2,000?) less for the CFV back, this can be set against earnings anyway so the price for some photographers is not such a big issue.

The second comment is of interest and was the reason for purchasing the CFV, the printing company we used had three branches, this has now been reduced to one, which has moved out of the area. The reduction in branches is due to the increase in Digital process and direct delivery over the internet. This was the lab that also trashed our film and lost us clients, we have a solid background in computing and image manipulation with software so we find that digital is the solution for us. Digital backs will always come down in price over the years, this will allow others to jump in and join in the fun!


best wishes, Carl
 
CVF Back

After much swearing, I have just found out through the flexcolour manual (should have looked there first) that certain Pc laptops won't use main power, looks like I have one of them, (Dell Inspiron 9300) hence you have to use the battery, does anybody no why or a way around this, makes no sense to me?

I had my first area come up on my CFV back today, saying something like internal error, which I hope was due to the battery getting low. If the above problem can't be solved I think I might have to invest in another battery.

This is the second reason I now wish I had a Mac.
 
Hi Paul,

Some laptops do not supply power through the firewire port like my Compaq, so I purchased a PCMCIA firwire card that allows me to use an external adapter so I cam power my Proback on my 503CW. If I'm on location and running battery power I use a battery on proback too. Hope this helps you.

Franc
 
Sods law, my pc didn't have firwire so I brought a firewire card, but I guess the card I brought doesn't allow me to use external power either, I'll remember your advice for next time, thanks Franc.
 
Paul

When the battery power of your CFV BACK is low , you will get a "beep" warning from time to time . I cant tell about the time between the beeps , but it sounds , as if you have a little bird in the back .
 
If I recall correctly, my Mac G4 laptop won't power the CFV either, I must use the CFV battery to shoot to this laptop. There are Firewire adapters that plug into the external slot that provides A/C power for peripheral Firewire devices.

" Body: SWC , Exposure Time: <1/8sec." - Jurgen.

Jurgen, did you try just extending the Exposure time to 1/2 second? I was experimenting with the CFV for a job this past Sunday, and was using the ground glass and a "Chimney" finder. I was getting the smeared magenta frames, but when I lengthened the back's exposure time via the menu, it was fine after that, I left the camera selection on SWC and no sync cord was necessary. Pictures came out fine.

"I had my first area come up on my CFV back today, saying something like internal error, which I hope was due to the battery getting low."

Yes a weak battery can cause issues, but it's not necessarily the only cause. Definitely get a second battery to swap out if this happens to eliminate that as a possible cause.

Any inadvertent user error will result in a "Error Code". OR, if the back gets confused (it is a computer), it'll error out, ( "Reboot" has also now become a photographic term : -) Usually, powering down and then removing the battery will clear the problem. If it doesn't, then the next step is to remove the back and reinstall it.

If you suspect that it is an error on your part and you can't remember what you may have done to cause the problem, go into the menu and reset "Factory Defaults" which will eliminate any setting you may have inadvertently set.

Not that these steps are a cure-all, just the ones to take to quickly eliminate issues yourself. Beyond that seek council from Hasselblad tech support.
 
Marc

No , i have not tried that yet . " Body : SWC , Exposure time 1/2 second " . I dont find the sync cord very handy either . I will try out and give the result later .
 
Marc

It does not work with my 905SWC . What happens is as follows : (battery fully charged)

Body : SWC , Exposure 1/2 second results in an image , where only the left half of the square is "exposed" . The right half is black .
Also , the image shows a soft magenta cast .
Additional to that I found , when pressing the release button just a little bit (shutter was not fired) a "black" image is recorded on the CF card .


Body : SWC , Exposure time set to 1 second results in an image 3/4 (left) are "exposed" and the rest is black . The magenta cast can also be seen .

Body : SWC , Exposure time set to 2 seconds , gives a full "exposed" image and also clear and good colours .

I think , even using the 2 second setting can result in a "black" image being recorded .
The sync cable overrides this possible error condition , because the image is recorded when the shutter gives the "fire" signal .
I do not like the sync cable , but using it , you are on the safe side .
 
Hmm, let me go back and look at my settings. I didn't get any black frames after setting the longer exposure time. Were you shooting tethered or to a CF card? I presume you had set SWC on the menu. Did you press the cable release long enough?

I may be wrong on this, so need to retrace my steps. I did not use a sync cord and did not get any black frames is all that I can remember, so let's investigate further to keep from needing the PITA sync cord.
 
Marc

I have done some further testing .
Setting is SWC , daylight , shooting to CF card , exposure time settings (at the CFV back) to
1/4 sec , 1/2sec , 1sec and 2sec . Keeping the release button pressed till the "exposure complete beep" can be heard .
Depending on how timid I pressed the release button , I always got partial black frames for 1/4 and 1/2 second exposure time . All the partial black frames have two things in common .
The black part varies in size and the exposed part has a foggy magenta cast .
I managed to get perfect frames for 1 second time now .

The behaviour of the release button might vary between 903SWC and 905SWC and also among the same models .
 
Marc

An other couple of shots with setting to SWC and exposure time setting to 1 sec . this afternoon , produced good results . So , for me the 1 sec. setting frees me of the sync cable .
 
Marc

Thanks for that hint .
happy.gif
 
Jurgen-

You found the key. I thought my L-bracket was defective because i couldn't make the back work with my 903swc either, until I reread the manual for the back, which explains that it is best to hold down the release for both swc AND the 503 for exposures longer than 1/8. I do this by habit now and the exposures are fine.
 
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