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wbulte

Active Member
See.. I knew that subject would draw your attention..
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2 of your fellow forum dwellers have supplied me with a 2000FC equipped with a wrecked shutter. The (slightly ambitious) plan is to equip this camera with new shutter curtains. Not titanium foil like the original, but a very thin & lightweigth high tech polymer material.

Although there are working prototypes in existence it remains to be seen if I will succeed. I volunteered to be the Guinea pig for finding out if the instructions and procedure are do-able for a non-pro.

Anyway, for now I present you with some pictures of our research project.

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As you might be able to see in the last picture one of the thin 'cables' that propel the curtain is broken (lefthand bottom). Whether this was the cause of the wrecked shutter I can't tell, but this shutter sure has seen better days.

Wilko
 
This is part of a courageous initiative to rescue cameras from the 2000 series that are gathering dust because the shutter is damaged.
Hasselblad does not supply shutters nor any other parts for these cameras any more.

I had the pleasure to test a 2000 FC/M camera equipped with the new shutter material.
Not only was it a reliable performer, the new shutters are foolproof.
It is virtually impossible to damage the new curtains.

All speeds up till 1/1000 were very accurate.
The 1/2000 was about 1/1500. Not bad for a camera that is nearly 30 years old.
The fact that the camera did not quite reach the fastest speed has nothing to do with the new shutter but can be explained from springs in the shutter that loose their strenght after many years of service.
 
May I add that this specific camera was supplied from Hasselblad to Mr. Toni Angermayer as a demo camera for the second edition of his book "Hasselblad Praktikum".

Ulrik
 
John in the UK has recently retrofitted my damaged 2000FC with the new polymer shutter. He has tested it and it matches the specs quite nicely. I should receive it any day. I will let you know how it works out. This could mean new life for a bunch of great old cameras. John is a class guy.
 
I received an email from Dr Emmett that a 2000FCM sent to him with an injured shutter has had a transplant using his new polymer shutter material as well and that the camera is on its way back to me. Like Rod's camera, he reports that the shutter speeds are right on what they should be. Thanks to John Emmett for his knowledge and skill and interest in developing the replacement shutter curtains and to Paul Kirchoff (a fan, as I am, of the 2000/ 200 focal plane cameras) for putting me in contact with John.
 
This is most encouraging news that i heard so far. There ar emany of the
2000 series bodies out there with torn or damaged rear titanium foil curtains. Prior to this news, there was a very short supply on hand of new titanium foil curtains from Hasselblad. With this viable polymer solution, I guess that there will be new life once again for the older 2000 series bodies.

Are there any known problem with the 2000 series beside the curtain issues? I understand the electronic circuit boards are no longer available new. Are these circuit boards easily repairable?

Thanks again to Paul Kirchoff for this source of new information.
 
I hope that there is a source for the pulling cable as well. The 2000FC that is pictured above worked well until the shutter was accidently damaged (not by the owner of course). So the broken cable is a result of the damage to the shutter curtain.

I bought the camera because even if the shutter repair is not succesful it still comes with working electronics which would make it a spare part carrier for my other (mint) 2000FC.

Ulrik
 
@Evanjoe610

I am waiting for the latest revision of John Emmetts shutter replacement manual before I "dig deeper" into the camera. The electronics are well hidden behind the steel bottom plate.

In general with this kind of surgery one should resist the urge to dismantle more than strictly necessary. That said, if John's instructions call for access to the electronics I will of course take the opportunity for a closer look and take some pictures.

The Hasselblad repair documents explains to a certain extent how the electronics and the mechanics mesh together. Complicated it sure is.

Wilko
 
The replacement polymere shutters will be supplied complete with new pulling cords.
It would be to great a risk to try to use the old ones.
From what I understand the shutters will now be supplied ready to fit.
For those who have a local repairman who is willing to fit the new shutter only the rollers from the old curtain need to be send in to get them back with a fitted new shutter.

It is a pleasure to help John who took the initiative to do something about the situation of these cameras.

Hasselblad owners are very lucky as far as service is concerned.
Most lenses, bodies and filmbacks can be serviced at modest cost.
Besides official Hasselblad service centers there are many independant technicians who can service and repair cameras regardless of their age.
 
The plot continues: here are 2 pictures showing the freed shutter shafts along with their curtains, and the back of the camera body, sans shutter.

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As you can seen the cords on the original shutter are a total writeoff. The cords are attached to the shafts by means of tiny slits in the shafts. A minute knot in the cord along with some adhesive fixes them in place.

The titanium foil of the original curtains is thin like paper. Although very strong in a way it is also easy to tear in shreds once a minute tear has started on the edge. The curtain is glued onto the shaft with epoxy glue.

The shafts run on minute ballbearings, and couple to the driving mechanism in the camera with little cogwheels. The mounting of the shafts allows to adjust the shafts height relative to the body. This in turn allows aligning the movement of the shutter curtains exactly on their guide rails.

To be continued..

Wilko
 
Wilko

I admire your courage to work on this "dead" camera . Although I have worked a lot in modeltrain mechanics , I would not even touch one single screw on my HASSELBLADs .
Good luck and show us , how you proceed .
Regards Jürgen
 
To get some idea of what is going on here I looked at an exploded view of this camera.
Exploded is the right phrase for it.

It looks like an enourmous pile of miniature parts.
They must have had small robots to put these together.

No wonder these bodies were nearly three times more expensive than the 500C/M thirty years ago.
 
Hi Juergen,

It sure is a nice adventure. I have just packed the shafts of the shutter for their trip to John in the UK. He will arrange for the replacement polymer curtains to be fitted, then return the subassembly back to me for fitting on the body. As an important by-product I can supply John with feedback on his draft installation guide.

The 2000FC is most definitely a more complex camera than a 500C/M or a 500EL/M that I have had the pleasure of peeking into. But even a 500C/M is complex enough to stop the amateur from attempting anything but the simplest fixes. I once disected a scrap 500C/M corpse and that proved very interesting indeed.

Some repairs definitely require dismantling the camera more or less completely, then need special alignment/test tools to put it back together within factory tolerance. Ease of serviceability was not high on HB's design goals list as far as I can see. As a result servicing HBs can be costly because the time required by the technician.

But I do marvel at the beauty of the mechanical design. Still wonder how they do that. I can design & build computers, but this stuff I find amazing. So, yeah.. I am enjoying myself.

Wilko
 
Paul or Wilko,

Has anyone had the new curtains installed yet and have used their reborn camera body? I am curious as to how it functions and could someone post some jpegs of the final curtains?

I am interested in having a body retrofitted with these new curtains.

Evan
 
Patience Evan, Patience.
The rollers that will be fitted with new curtains are not back yet.
Wilko is anxious to continue with the refitting.
As soon as there is more news it will be posted here.

Paul
 
Hi all,

I just received my 2000FC rebuilt with the new shutter material. According to John Emmett who graciously and expertly refitted the camera, you can actually poke it in with your finger and it will bounce back and keep working. I am too afraid to try it. Anyhow, it works fine. John tested the shutter speeds and they are up to spec. I have not finished testing it with film however I am certain it will come out fine. Here is a picture of the finished product.

The 2000's relive again!
 

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Hello Rod,

Congratulations with the new 2000FC.
I had one to play with a couple of months ago.
It was a pleasure to use and much more relaxed when you know the shutter is foolproof.

About 20 miles from where I live Wilko is struggling to do the fitting himself.
The 2000 series are not the easiest cameras but well worth the trouble to get them going again.

Paul
 
Paul,

Actually, it is thanks to you that I found out about John and his new shutter material. Thank you for spreading the good news. Next up is damaged 2003FCW!

Rod
 
Rod,

Please keep your voice down.
Everybody will be after the 2003 FCW.
It is the best from the series and also a rare one.

Total production less than 3000 cameras.
Those L**** freaks are drooling over cameras that
the factory in Solms made 30.000 of.

I just found myself a nice 2000FC with a damaged shutter.
It will be a nice companion for the 2003 I have.

Paul
 
Good Morning Y'all--

I have a dead 2000FC with a shutter that my normal repairman looked at and gave up on repairing it. The body is currently in a stage of disassembly waiting to see if we can find a donor shutter(so far to no avail). How does one go about having this new type of shutter installed in place of the titanium one? Is this something that is available to all of the forum at this time or is it still in the development stage?

Thanks for the info,

Don
 
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