Hasselblad 101

[Ai Print]

Going back to 101 level stuff, I got an acute matte screen today. It's so much brighter than the screens that came on my (now gone) 500c and the split image (pre-acute matte) in the 500c/m. Easier to focus too, but I still need glasses to do it. I'm going to get a chimney with a diopter adjustment and go without the glasses - I only have a -0.5 diopter prescription for distance, and generally prefer not to wear them.

I have two of the latest chimney finders with the diopters and they are great, one is with me at the moment for use with the Flexbody. I also stocked up on diopters for my waist level finders and PM finder back when they were plentiful and cheap. The PME-90 I use with the CFV II 50C back has one built in, a darn nice finder.

 

[Pieter12]

That is not true, I shoot both and know at least three local weddings photogs who do part of the offering on medium format color neg film.

Yeah, but they're not shooting and processing on the spot, like post #75 suggests.

 

[Mike Lopez]

…Also, you might as well be shooting LF with all the steps you want this poor fellow to follow.

Indeed; those instructions are excessive to the point that I wonder if perhaps the OP should summon the spirit of Carleton Watkins and coat their own glass plates in the field with a team of mules hauling all of that stuff!

 

[drmoss_ca]

I have two of the latest chimney finders with the diopters and they are great, one is with me at the moment for use with the Flexbody. I also stocked up on diopters for my waist level finders and PM finder back when they were plentiful and cheap. The PME-90 I use with the CFV II 50C back has one built in, a darn nice finder.

I've looked hard, but can't find any diopter lenses for the waist level finder, never mind the one I need (-0.5).

 

[bdial]

I've looked hard, but can't find any diopter lenses for the waist level finder, never mind the one I need (-0.5).

It might be possible to get an eyeglass shop to make one.

 

[BrianShaw]

I've looked hard, but can't find any diopter lenses for the waist level finder, never mind the one I need (-0.5).

I've seen them on ebay recently and think they were only offered in whole diopters, so something as "mild" as -0.5 may never have been made.

 

[drmoss_ca]

Currently just Mamiya diopters listed (they don't happen to fit, do they?), but I have set up a search with e-mail notification and could try a -1.0. The chimney finder might turn up today, and I hope that will solve my problem. If not, I'll just have to wear my glasses when using the camera, which probably isn't the end of the world!

 

[Ai Print]

Currently just Mamiya diopters listed (they don't happen to fit, do they?), but I have set up a search with e-mail notification and could try a -1.0. The chimney finder might turn up today, and I hope that will solve my problem. If not, I'll just have to wear my glasses when using the camera, which probably isn't the end of the world!

The diopter is worth holding out for because the magnification is a bit better on the waist level and PM45 prism but the adjustable chimney finder is a can’t live without in my opinion for those who wear glasses.

 

[BrianShaw]

Trust me, wearing glasses and photographing with a Hasselblad ain’t that tough.

I gave up on diopter corrections when I realized that I didn’t really like the scene clearly through the camera and blurry through the eyes. The constant fiddling with glasses, on and off, made life worse. Contact lenses worked much better as a solution.

 

[drmoss_ca]

My search was "Hasselblad waist level diopter". Thanks for the link.

Now I need to find instructions on swapping the old one out.

Edit: no I don't, just figured it out on the old one!

 

[drmoss_ca]

The -1 diopter magnifier came today and I find it works great without glasses! The chimney finder does too, but the magnifcation is less with it and so it isn't so precise.
Thanks again for pointing me at the right place on eBay.

 

[drmoss_ca]

May I ask a stupid tyro question? The 250mm/f5.6 is currently very cheap, so I bought one. All my other lenses are chrome and work as they ought to, but someone at Hasselblad thought they knew better than all the users when they came out with this CF T* version. I can see I have to press a little button to lock the aperture and shutter settings together so they match the EV setting. I can cope with that, even if it detracts from the simplicity of previous generations.
The problem is the button for DoF preview. If I set the lens to something less than maximum aperture, then slide that button to close the aperture, how do I get it to return to normal function? I can fire the shutter, rotate the aperture ring, and nothing changes. I assume that one ought to be able to set an exposure setting in terms of aperture and shutter speed, yet still be able to focus at maximum aperture? I'm missing something, and the manual I downloaded isn't explaining it. As things stand, this is like an old manual lens. Change the f-stop and that's what you see and get through the lens. It doesn't let me set a less-than-maximum aperture, while still being able to focus and compose at maximum aperture. Am I being stupid or is this requiring some little fiddle not explained in the manual?

Help!

 

[BrianShaw]

You're not stupid... you just didn't understand the instructions or fiddle with it enough to figure it out.

See page 2, illustrations A and B. Slide the lever to lock; press the lever front to unlock
https://www.cameramanuals.org/hasselblad/hasselblad_cfi_cfe_lenses.pdf

Or this one, illustrations 5 and 6
http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/PDF/HasManuals/CFi_CFE_Lenses.pdf

Regarding the EV interlock... I think enough people complained about it that they made EV-unlocked the default with the option to lock. It's not that hard to use, really.

 

[drmoss_ca]

I'll try again. Currently the aperture ring closes the aperture as expected, not later on at the point where the shutter is released.

 

[drmoss_ca]

That was a struggle but I got there. My DoF button doesn't look like the one in the illustrations. It has neither the guard rails on each side and is just a ribbed metal oblong with sloped ends. It's not thicker at one end than the other. Turns out after much fiddling, that a fingernail inserted under the end of the button nearest the PC sync socket can lift the button slightly and then it slides back into it's original place. Pushing down on the other end does nothing.