New to MF & Hasselblad

[martinrjohansen]

Hi Everyone,

I bought a hasselblad 503CX,A12 Magazine and a 80mm F2.8 couple of days ago, and would appriciate some starthelp, tricks & tips.

I have already destroyed 4 films trying to load them =) (old tungsten film i got for free for the purpose to have something to practise loading unloading with)

I think ive learned it now, and i bought 5 dias films, (how does the positive-negative works?) to practise the light meter.

Any help, do`s and donts is highly appriciated.
I have a canon 5D Mark II, and been shooting with 1D Mark III before that, but i am looking forward to learn alot about the MF and my new toy.

PS. I will use this camera for portraits, streetphotography natural li

Best Regards

Martin

 

[polypal]

Welcome Martin at Hasselbladinfo forum.

If you do not have an instruction manual for your camera you can download one free of charge at: www.hasselblad.se
Register with the body number of your camera and downloads are available.
Loading of the film back is also explained.

Practical tip:
Always leave the lens/body combination cocked.
That way you can change lenses immediately or take a picture without having to cock the camera first.
This also goes if you store lenses and body not mounted.

An attempt to fit a non cocked lens to a body will result in a seized combination.
The same will occur if the lens is not cocked and the body is.
Use the routine I recommended and this problem will not occur.
In case you wonder all springs in both lens and body can withstand longer periiods of being cocked without a problem.

For portraits you will probaly need a longer lens.
Any of the 150 lenses will do.
Do not look down on first generation silver 150 lenses.
Some of the worlds best portraits were made with these lenses.
You should be able to find a good 150 in silver for 250-350 euro.


Paul

 

[martinrjohansen]

New to MF and Hasselblad

Hey Paul!

Thank you for the tips, a quick reply and for the lens suggestions.
I have the manual, and the loading filmpart i think im mastering that part, but it was good with some free films to practise on.

My english is not 100%, and i have a couple of questions.

1. What do mean by the lens or body are "cocked"?

2. When i look down the focusing screen, is the whole screen the picture, or is it just inside the four corners that i see in this screen?

Sorry for bothering you with "noobie" questions, and thanks alot for the help so far!

Best regards

Martin

 

[polypal]

Hello Martin,

Cocked means the position the camera has after the film is transported.
After you take a picture the camera is uncocked.
As soon as you wind the camera again it is cocked.

Lenses can only be removed or fitted if the body is in cocked position.
What often happens after a lens is removed and the body is released
the attempt to fit a lens leads to a blocked camera.
The lens can not be removed nor can it engage the body completely.
Believe me that is no fun when pictures must be made.
You need a special tool to disengage the partly mounted lens.

I am trying to get an idea what screen is fitted to your camera.
Does it have a grid and a split?
In any case as long as you use A12 film backs what you see from
corner to corner on the screen will be part of the exposure.

Your English is fine do not worry about that.
This is photography not literature. Language is a means to an end here.


Paul

 

[martinrjohansen]

New to MF

Hey Paul,

Thanks again.

So if i understand this right, its impossible to take on/off the lens when the camerabody is uncocked?

My screen has both grids and split (four corners), and by budget tells me that im going to stick with the A12 Magazine for a little while. But thanks for the info, so i can get my compositions right.

I have some troubles with focusing though, the focuscircle? gets black sometimes, either on lower part, or upper part, even though it looks like ive done the right focusdistance. Do you know why this happens?

Im also having some troubles finding out how to use the depth-of-field scale- im pressing it, without anything happening.

again,

Thanks alot beeing patient and for good answers!!

Best regards

Martin

 

[polypal]

If your camera has the 80 mm lens from the same period it will look like the one in the image below.

The DOF selector is the small black control in the middle of the lens.
To close the aperture to the preset value simply slide that control to the left.
To open the aperture again a little push on the left hand side will move the control back to the right and open the lens.





If your lens looks different you probably have an older lens.

In that case I need a lens number to explain what to do.

Any lens produced by Carl Zeiss for Hasselblad from 1957 onwards will fit your camera.
That means there are at least 7 different 80 mm lenses that will fit.

The circle turning black is the little split in the center?
That means the light level is too low for the split image to function.
More bad news: The 80 mm lens is the fastest available.
You can count on it this problem will be worse with other lenses like the ones with F4.

 

[martinrjohansen]

New to MF

Paul!

it looks like the same lens, and i think i understood it.

and thanks for the explanation of the splitcenter circle thingy turning black. It mase sense, i just tested to see if the "blackness" got lighter when i switched f-stops, and it did. =)

Does this mean, that if its no "black" there, i have got enough light to do an exposure?

I think ive experienced this because i have iso 100 film in the magazine, but i have ordered some iso 400 film now!

Thanks alot. Again.

Martin

 

[polypal]

Hello Martin,


I am glad the DOF operation of the lens is now explained.

The split turning black is not related to the ISO value of the fim you are using.
That means although it indicates low light levels it does not say anything about correct or incorrect exposure.

Provided the subject is stationary you can adjust for low light levels by using slower shutterspeeds.
That will mean the use of a good tripod in most cases.

That brings me to the fact that handheld exposures are best limited to 1/125 second or with some luck and training to hold the camera 1/60 of a second.
This is also related to focal length of the lens, in this case an 80 mm Planar lens.

400 ISO will give you more room to play with aperture and shutter speeds at the light levels you are working now with.


Paul

 

[martinrjohansen]

Paul!

Thanks alot,

Just one final questions.. can i hook the camera up with my pocketwizards?

M

 

[polypal]

Martin,

Sure you can, only do not ask me if and how the TTL function can be used.
That is something for a specialist or user of these control systems.

Paul