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The upper rearcurtain don%b4t flip entire at the mirror

T

tim

New Member
Hello.

I have a problem with my 500 C/M. I have bought it at e-bay, and I was very happy when I´ve receaved the parcel, but: The upper rear-curtain don´t flip entire at the mirror. So its about 7 mm in the optical path. By releasing the shutter, it goes back to the correct position.

Is there any Repair manual online?!? Or Can anybody help me here?!? I know that theres a Hasselblad workshop near, but the camera was expensive enough... Maybee I can fix it by my self?!?

Sorry for my bad english... I never thought, that I´m going to need words like rear-curtain or optical path one day.

If anybody can help me, I would be very Grateful.
Greetings from Hamburg Germany, Tim.
 
Mr Zimmerman,

It's very unfortunate that you had a bad experience through e bay. Please forgive me if this message is not purely related to Hasselblad 501 CM but I think we need to be a bit more weary of ebay transactions. I bought an RTS III from a fellow who absolutely guaranteed that the camera was atleast like new minus. When I received the merchandise the switch on the preflash lever was snapped (broken). He very methodically made sure that this defect would not show on his otherwise very detailed series of photographs. This blatant dishonesty was a real shock. Eventually I ended up paying 300+ dollars for the top plate which had to be replaced and a sense of maybe this camera was not really so well taken care of after all.
 
Yes, this is exactly the problem with e-bay. You can get the camera of your dream relatively cheap, but no one knows, if the camera is working correct. But I´ve searched a long time for this problem with the rear curtains, and it seems to be a known, correctable error. The only problem is how...

Someone in an other forum had written:

Just for the sake of accuracy... this is NOT a spring problem. This is a bent door problem. There is a direct drive that powers the doors. The spring-load is designed to give it some flexibility in operation. At one time the door was stuck up and the mirror was brought down on top of it, bending the door. It's a fairly common problem with these older bodies. It certainly needs to be repaired. The reason the door got stuck in the first place is of primary importance, in my mind. The bent door, although it ruins your shots, is only a symptom of more serious malfunctions. Let me know if you need more help.

But to tell the truth: I don´t understand anything. What is a Bend door?!?

Greetings, Tim.
 
Well I have same problem as well. Had fixed by an authorized hasselblad repair center. Two rolls of film later same problem. I have since moved to canada, I will tell the store where I bought the camera from and had it fixed under warranty (Three months for used camera's). But not expecting much. My question is can it be fixed, Or do entire inards of the camera have to be replaced?
 
The problem of the top aux. shutter getting slightly bent is not that unusual, and it signifies that the winding blocking lever needs to be adjusted or replaced.

The winding blocking lever prevents the camera from being wound before the aux. shutters close. If you were able to wind the camera before the aux. shutters close, the top shutter would get bent.

This repair can be done by any qualified Hasselblad technician.

David S. Odess

Factory trained Hasselblad technician

www.david-odess.com
 
Well the plot thickens. Apperantly the camera needs a complete overhaul. Also the rear shutter curtain was overtighten at some point in the past and needs to be replaced. Total cost $400 US. I wonder if it is worth it at this point. The lens and back are fine. The body has an accu-matte screen.
 
Frank,

In you post, you wrote,"the rear shutter curtain was overtighten at some point in the past and needs to be replaced. Total cost $400 US".

This just doesn't seem right to me. I am a factory trained Hasselblad technician who has been repairing the Hasselblad system exclusively for 29 years, and I have NEVER had to replace a curtain because it was overtightened. In fact, I don't think it is possible to overtighten one of the curtains.

I have only had to replace a few curtains, and it was because the curtain had cracked at the axle.

I am very suspicious of the diagnosis that you were given regarding your camera body, and would strongly suggest that you take the camera body to another Hasselblad technician for an evaluation.

David S. Odess

Factory trained Hasselblad technician

www.david-odess.com
 
As I wrote in a previous post, a properly trained technician should be able to adjust the curtain without replacing it. It should not have to be replaced unless it is cracked.

David S. Odess
 
Been there, done that. Yesterday, in fact. I just bought a very nice used 501CM body from 1997 on eBay. The upper rear curtain was hanging just a little too low for comfort, so I dug out my repair manual, also from eBay. 9 screws and 30 minutes later all was well again.

Feeling confident, I then proceeded to clean and lube my trusty old 500CM body from 1974. No problems there either, and the operation of the body felt much better afterwards.

The only snag was to ensure that the mirror pre-release lever went into the right place when reassembling the pieces.

I had no prior experience with this kind of work, and I was painfully aware of the possibility of really me$$ing things up. But I had good tools, a good repair manual, and I went slowly and carefully. I saved a little money on doing the work myself, but the satisfaction of having done a good job was priceles
happy.gif
 
Morten,

My hat is off to you for not only repairing the upper curtain, but for figuring out how to get the camera back into the shell properly, by pushing up the side release lever prior to getting the camera into the shell. This is where a lot of people get into trouble. I can appreciate your feeling of satisfaction in doing this yourself. Even after 29 years of repairing Hasselblads, I still get that feeling of satisfaction after puting a camera or a lens back together and having it work properly.

Dave Odess
www.david-odess.com
 
Thanks, Dave! But as much as I would love to take all the credit myself, I'd have been hip-deep in ... eh ... trouble
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without that manual.

I can't remember who I bought it from (I think is was on eBay), but the title is "How to disassemble and repair the Hasselblad (long list of) Bodies", and copyrighted Dick Werner.

Now I'll just have to work on not getting overconfident
happy.gif
 
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