Hasselblad 500 EL/M jammed *fix*

btaylor

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I was recently on a trip and brought along my Hasselblad 500 EL/M and a few lenses hoping to make some nice photos along the coast of Northern California. After 6 shots the camera jammed. I had not brought any tools with me so I was stuck- replacing the 9v battery didn’t help (tried 3, because I’ve had bad “new” batteries more than once).
Back home I measured the battery voltage, the integrity of the 9v adapter, the fuse, everything checks out.
The camera was jammed with the mirror up, barn doors open, and shutter uncocked. I used the special tool to cock the shutter through the back of the camera, still no joy. I jimmied the lens release and lens a couple of times, twisting- and the lens came off and the camera completed the wind cycle, mirror dropped, barn doors closed. The lens shutter at this point was not cocked, so I cocked the lens, put it on the body and all is well now.
I wanted to post this because I was searching for “500 EL jammed” and this solution did not pop up.
So I learned a couple of things- always bring at least a minimum of tools with you and don’t be afraid to *gently* move things around and always have a backup!
 

RalphLambrecht

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the one rule to learn and never forget when using any Hasselblad is always to keep the lens and camera cocked and never to take the lens off when they are not but I'm glad you were able to fix your problem!
 

Sirius Glass

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the one rule to learn and never forget when using any Hasselblad is always to keep the lens and camera cocked and never to take the lens off when they are not but I'm glad you were able to fix your problem!

That is the one rule of Hasselblad that everyone needs to learn. Keep the camera and lenses cocked at all time. Hence, store lenses cocked always. The lens springs are designed to be stored cocked.
 

Philippe-Georges

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That is the one rule of Hasselblad that everyone needs to learn. Keep the camera and lenses cocked at all time. Hence, store lenses cocked always. The lens springs are designed to be stored cocked.

A certified Hasselblad technician once told me that at Hasselblad no spring is ever more tensioned than 80% of their possibilities.
The same goes for the Synchro-Compur and Prontor made shutters.
 
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btaylor

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the one rule to learn and never forget when using any Hasselblad is always to keep the lens and camera cocked and never to take the lens off when they are not but I'm glad you were able to fix your problem!
Yes. I am aware of this Hasselblad mantra- in this case the lens and body apparently went out of sync and jammed without any input from me!
 
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