What's new
Medium Format Forum

Register a free account now!

If you are registered, you get access to the members only section, can participate in the buy & sell second hand forum and last but not least you can reserve your preferred username before someone else takes it.

A few Questions about a 500C

N

nmdelaru

New Member
I recently saved a Hasselblad 500C from a colleuage of mine. He had no clue what a Hasselblad was and suggested I use it as a paper weight because it was jammed. However, all I had to do was re-tension the lens and wind the body.

Now I am working on trouble shooting the camera and adjusting to Medium format photography. First we were having trouble with a light leak. Intially I thought it was the back. Upon more research, I found that the back seals do need replacing. However, I found out that the gaskets go bad on the lens. The 80 mm f 2.8 does wobble on the mount, but my 150 mm Compur-Sonar does not move at all. After shooting seperate rolls with just each lens I believe it is the 80 mm causing the light leaks. Any suggestions as to where to get it fixed or simple solutions?

I have a totally beat 45 degree non-metered finder on the camera. Althought the exterior is beat the glass is perfect. I really enjoy shooting this camera, but the lack of a meter makes it very impractical as I do not use this camera for studio work. I have been looking into purchasing a PME-3, but I found that you need to use a Accu-Matte screen. What are my options for screens? Do they make a split prism Accu-Matte? Does Beattie make an aftermarket replacement? Finally, where is a good placed to look for used Hasselblad equipment other than Ebay?

Nick
 
One last question, what do you think about the Kiev TTL/Spot Meter. It seems like a really cheap alternative... Is it possible to use that Meter with the stock focusing screen? Are they any good?
 
Hello Nick,

Good of you to save this 500C camera.

The problems you have with the 80 mm lens may be caused by wear on the lens or
they can come from the spring adjustment in the camera body.
These springs may need to be reset or replaced.
Wear on the bayonet side of the lens is another possibility.

You started with good questions and all of a sudden the K... word comes up.
The K... factory used to make poor copies from a famous Hasselblad camera.
Later they also made some prisms like the exact copy of the non metering prism that
Novoflex in Germany once made for Hasselblad. That is actually a good prism.

The metering prism from K... is no good period. Forget about it.
There are some good metering prisms from Hasselblad starting with the
VFC-6 and the later PME3.
The VFC-6 is calibrated for the old focusing screens.
The PME3 and later models are set for use with the later Acute Matte screens.
Both can be recalibrated if necessary or simply fooled by choosing a different film setting.

Paul
 
In my defense I was afraid of asking about the Kiev because I thought many of you would consider that blasphemous.

You say you can trick the PME-3 by setting a higher film speed. I guess you just have to a shoot a couple of rolls to figure out how much higher you have to set the film speed on the meter. Currently, I bring my Nikon FM2 and meter.
 
Nick it is not a trial and error course.
The PME 3 and later metering prisms are calibrated for Acute Matte screens.
If you use one of these prisms with older style focusing screens simply set the
film speed at the meter at twice the value you are actually using.
That is all it takes to correct the meter for older screens.

Feel free to ask about K...
Some parts of these cameras are quite usefull to keep older Hasselblads like
1000F cameras going.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top