Hasselblad Question

[ray*j*gun]

I'm looking at a back for my 500C/M and there is one for sale that appears as if it would fit my body. It has a 12 label (like my C/M back) but the insides look somewhat different than my back/cartridge. My question is are there any issues with earlier backs for the 500C fitting the C/M?

Thanks!!

 

[Jamie123]

No, all of the 500 series backs fit all of the models. The difference between the older 12 backs and the newer A12 backs is that on the old ones aren't 'automatic'. You have to advance to the first frame by looking at the numbers on the backing paper through a hole in the back until you see a 1 and then you manually reset the frame counter by turning the winder knob the opposite way.

 

[21-135 Apo All Good]

On the older backs wear & tear as well as the age of the light traps (where the dark slide goes into) comes into question. Most folks replace the traps as soon as a light leak is detected and change any bent dark slides right away. So if you take the slide out of the back and it's bent, chances are you'll need traps sooner rather than later........

Also both insert & shell should be matched serial numbers....

This from a former system owner with 4 A-12 & 4 A-24 backs & almost every lens from 30mm fisheye to 250 tele.

 

[ray*j*gun]

Thanks guys exactly what I was looking for!

 

[sevo]

Also both insert & shell should be matched serial numbers....

I never paid attention to that, and never had any issues. But then, all my magazines were C/M age ones whichI bought new. The differences might add up beyond permissible tolerances if you start to mix them across generations.

 

[21-135 Apo All Good]

I never paid attention to that, and never had any issues. But then, all my magazines were C/M age ones whichI bought new. The differences might add up beyond permissible tolerances if you start to mix them across generations.

Magazine insert compatibility with matching serial numbers is vastly more important with the 220 rollfim backs. Superior flatness of the film plane over the entire image area is harder to maintain without the paper backing on the 120 size roll. My friend Ernst Wildi wrote about this fact in his published works and showed examples.

Years ago, when the value of these things on the open market was a lot higher, mis-matched magazines were notated and were always priced less.

Hope that I've been helpful!

Dave

 

[Nokton48]

Interestingly I has some mismatched magazines, that were carefully inspected by a Hasselblad Factory Technician, who was visiting our local Camera Expo. He meticulously inspected and tested the mismatched backs, and after all that he told me that they were within tolerances. He wrote down the serial numbers of my magazines, and my address. Within a week, I had magazine stickers from the factory, so now, all my magazines are marked as matching. That is truely exceptional Customer Service.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I'd budget for a cLA of the back too. Every used Hassy back I have bought has had problems with either light leaking or frames overlapping or being way too close together on part of the roll.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

I use all kinds of mismatched A12 backs on my Hassy C/M, been lucky to have everyone work for me!

Todd

 

[nighstar]

re: CLA (no comment on mismatched backs as i have never had one)

i think i would just see how the back goes and decide from there. i got an old A12 back with my 500C and it seemed to work fine apart from light leaks. i bought a trap seal kit to replace the light seals/trap seals myself and ended up stripping one of the screws on the back..... :'( luckily i found a Hasselblad repairer near me and was able to get him to CLA the back (as well as the camera body & lens). turns out it was a good thing i did and (according to him, who is a pro btw) the trap seals that i had bought were utter crap that may have caused more problems than they would have solved. opps. :x

anyway, i'm all for not touching something that doesnt appear to be broken, but if you do touch something that appears to not be broken you may find a million things that are actually wrong with it....

.....as was the case with my 500C body. just picked up my good-as-new kit yesterday. *hugs it*

 

[21-135 Apo All Good]

All good posts here! And all of the posts appear to be about A-12 backs.

Spacing issues are from gears wearing from winding the back too fast. Less wear & tear if you slow down a little and take the time to do it right instead of rushing the job.

Having an expert check the camera & backs is always the best way to keep trouble from even happening. Throwing-out a bent dark slide is the best insurance against trap failures. That's why I always kept a couple brand-new slides, still in the plastic shrink wrap, in my camera bag!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

All good posts here! And all of the posts appear to be about A-12 backs.

Spacing issues are from gears wearing from winding the back too fast. Less wear & tear if you slow down a little and take the time to do it right instead of rushing the job.

Having an expert check the camera & backs is always the best way to keep trouble from even happening. Throwing-out a bent dark slide is the best insurance against trap failures. That's why I always kept a couple brand-new slides, still in the plastic shrink wrap, in my camera bag!

Probably true about winding fast. Many of these backs were used by pros who wound fast, or who used motor drives or the motorized hasselblad body. I wind mine slow with a manual knob, but every back I've bought used needed service, probably because the last owner or one in the past wasn't so nice to them.

 

[Nokton48]

Right in my opinion the weakest point as far as Hasselblad is concerned, are the filmbacks. Bodies seem to just go on, and on, and on (unless dropped or otherwise abused). Same with the lenses.

I have a number of 12 Backs (the early one) but have never used them, or had them serviced, so I can't offer much. But if proiperly serviced, they should work as well as any other Hasselblad back. The 12 backs are alot less $$$ than the A12's.

 

[21-135 Apo All Good]

Probably true about winding fast. Many of these backs were used by pros who wound fast, or who used motor drives or the motorized hasselblad body. I wind mine slow with a manual knob, but every back I've bought used needed service, probably because the last owner or one in the past wasn't so nice to them.

Chris,

I had (4) bodies in my system including the 503CW with the winder as well as the 553ELX. Using the motordrive didn't put any additional wear on the backs since they only fired at around 1-1.5FPS on the fast setting (I used mine on "single", not "continuous") and I never noticed any wear in the teeth of the huge gear that extends out of the body during each advance cycle. Instead, I believe the most wear on the back occurred when slamming the insert into the shell and not seating the insert 100%, and then cranking the winding crank on the automatic back as fast as one could to get to frame #1 to continue the hectic pace of a "Pro Shoot"!

I made a conscious effort to avoid doing this at all cost, and my backs went in for service a lot less than other Photogs with "Type-A" film winding tendencies. I also found that CHEAP PHOTOGS with only a couple of backs tended to have a lot more trouble in this area as they changed film and wound to shot #1 as if the bride was walking down the isle with Daddy! Converesly, when I did weddings with my system, (4) A-12's and (4) A-24's were pre-loaded (nice & easy) the night prior to the wedding giving me 144 exposures.

We did HP-5 in 220 as well as Ilford 3200 (rated at 1600) in 120. That in addition to Portra 400NC rated @320. I miss those times. I actually made more money in photography when I was buying film by the case! Oh well, that's another story for a different thread I guess!

Dave