Found a Power Winder for my Hassy 500C/M

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Pirate

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I was looking for a side grip / power winder for my Hasselblad 500C/M and came across an article about the APCAM 500CMX. Custom made in the late 80's and through the 90's. Found one at Igor Camera and ordered it. Should be here next week. Expect some pics and a review shortly after it gets here. I was originally looking at the H2 system and liked the way the grip looks so I started looking for an add-on for the 500 and found the APCAM.

Anyone had any experience with it?

Here's a link to it:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/companies/apcam/htmls/500cmx.htm
 
Wow ... that thing weighs over half a kilo without batteries! 😱

You may get a little arm pump. 😀
 
I've handled 'em many times at photokina (the manufacturer was a very nice guy and I'd always stop for a chat) and they look/feel very useful indeed. They're certainly easy to use, but I've never actually tried one 'in the field'. They may even have been made onto the early 21st century: I can't remember when I last saw him at photokina. I sincerely doubt you'll regret the purchase.

Cheers,

R.
 
It looks pretty similar to the CW winder. I tried once, to go out shooting in the street with my Hassy CW+prism+flash mounted on the prism+the winder+the 50/4 FLE, and after a couple of hours my arm dropped off... but, admittedly, I've never been in the army, not to mention the US Marines, haha...
 
I'm looking forward to the ease of shooting in the field with this, plus putting it on a monopod will help with support without the weight. We'll see if my theory works.
 
Apparently the APCAM came out before the Hasselblad CW Winder, and it was rumoured that the Hasselblad version was "inspired" by the APCAM. Hasselblad made a big deal about the CW Winder being optimized for the torque of winding the body, and that effectively killed off the APCAM sales. Nonetheless, I believe it'll improve the handheld ergonomics of the 500C significantly as my CW Winder did on my 503CW. I prefer the 45 degrees prism with the winder over the 90 degrees prism, as I do not need to lift the camera up as high!
 
Nelson Tan said:
Apparently the APCAM came out before the Hasselblad CW Winder, and it was rumoured that the Hasselblad version was "inspired" by the APCAM. Hasselblad made a big deal about the CW Winder being optimized for the torque of winding the body, and that effectively killed off the APCAM sales. Nonetheless, I believe it'll improve the handheld ergonomics of the 500C significantly as my CW Winder did on my 503CW. I prefer the 45 degrees prism with the winder over the 90 degrees prism, as I do not need to lift the camera up as high!
Click to expand...

LONG before!

Cheers,

R.
 
In that link is a "History" link that tells how and when the APCAM was developed and the relationship with Hasselblad and how things went.

I have a 45 degree prism I'll be using with this. I have the left side grip for using the waist level finder.
 
Got it!!! Shown with the Sonnar 150mm lens and prism finder.

apcam_by_christophersacry-d5famlv.jpg
 
Not sure what the price is on these winders, but for around $200 one can buy a motorized Hasselblad body. This gives one a backup body as well as motorized film advance.
 
The sound is actually very minimal. No problems with that.

The motorized bodies don't appeal to me because it's missing the side grip. That grip alone makes it a little more versatile in my hands. I like it.
 
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