Hasselblad 500C/M or 503CW

campy51 · Oct 14, 2020

I have the 503CW and winder now and it's in excellent condition but today I had a chance to buy a 500 C/M body with WLF in almost mint condition. I know the 503CW is newer and worth more and wonder if I should sell the 503CW and buy the 500C/M and pocket the difference. Any opinions?

jerrybro · Oct 14, 2020

Will you still be happy without a winder?

wiltw · Oct 14, 2020

The 503C has support for TTL flash metering automation when connected via a Metz SCA 390 adapter to any SCA 300 system flash unit, such as the Metz 45CL4. That is lacking in the 500C

the 503 CW also has the "Gliding Mirror" system, which means that the image on the groundglass is equally bright across the entire viewfinder, even with long telephoto lenses, if you expect to use longer than 250mm lenses. The top of the frame will be cut of in the mirror on older models like the 500.

BradS · Oct 14, 2020

...and the correct answer is.....

No! You should buy the 500C/M to keep the 503CW company.

edit: but seriously, it depends...how much money? is that much money gonna matter in six months or a year? I get the feeling we're talking about a couple of hundred dollars or so...no? I'd say, if you're happy with the one you have, just be happy and use it. trading the camera you have and know for something unknown may not be worth the hassle and whatever money you might get along the way.

itsdoable · Oct 14, 2020

Only you can answer that questions. But I would keep the CW.

...and keep the C/M as a backup.

Sirius Glass · Oct 14, 2020

BradS said:
...and the correct answer is.....

No! You should buy the 500C/M to keep the 503CW company.

edit: but seriously, it depends...how much money? is that much money gonna matter in six months or a year? I get the feeling we're talking about a couple of hundred dollars or so...no? I'd say, if you're happy with the one you have, just be happy and use it. trading the camera you have and know for something unknown may not be worth the hassle and whatever money you might get along the way.

I agree. You need a spare. One for color and one for black & white. Why didn't I think of that?

campy51 · Oct 14, 2020

I do have Metz 45-CL3 TTL. I really don't use the winder. From what I see the 503CW sells for a lot more on ebay than the 500. I probably will never get the long lenses. I also only shoot a roll every couple of months.

BrianShaw · Oct 14, 2020

Let the flash make your decision... are you going to use it in TTL mode or not.

wiltw · Oct 14, 2020

TTL flash metering is tremendously valuable...wedding pros using the Hasselblad 503C for wedding work relied heavily on it. That might not matter to you, but you already own a suitable flash unit...you merely need to get the SCA 590 adapter that plugs into the TTL port on the body and then connect the other end to the port on the Metz flash.

campy51 · Oct 14, 2020

wiltw said:
TTL flash metering is tremendously valuable...wedding pros using the Hasselblad 503C for wedding work relied heavily on it. That might not matter to you, but you already own a suitable flash unit...you merely need to get the SCA 590 adapter that plugs into the TTL port on the body and then connect the other end to the port on the Metz flash.

I have the SCA for the flash and have used it with good results.

BrianShaw · Oct 14, 2020

Keep the 503.

bdial · Oct 15, 2020

Does the 500 C/M have a known service history?
If not you may want to factor in the cost of getting it a CLA, the 500 C/M’s are a bit old now, and if it hasn’t been serviced it probably could use being serviced, though they will soldier on for a long time.

If I were making the decision for myself, I’d probably just keep the 503. Or else buy the 500 as a backup.

guangong · Oct 15, 2020

The known is better than the unknown. You know the camera, what you buy may have unknown flaws. I haven’t used flash for 40 yrs, but that’s my style, still if I had your current camera I wouldn’t sell it for a different one.
Because I know the history of my cameras, I am usually willing to go for repairs, even when a replacement on eBay would be cheaper.

RalphLambrecht · Oct 15, 2020

campy51 said:
I have the 503CW and winder now and it's in excellent condition but today I had a chance to buy a 500 C/M body with WLF in almost mint condition. I know the 503CW is newer and worth more and wonder if I should sell the 503CW and buy the 500C/M and pocket the difference. Any opinions?

the 500-series Hasselblad are all excellent cameras and work without batteries,which is a plus in my eyes.

campy51 · Oct 15, 2020

I didn't know the history of the 503 when I bought it other than it was from a professional and looks like it was never abused and I haven't had any problem so far. It's only used as a hobby and I also have been building a small collection of medium format and I rotate through them so none are used daily like some of you might use them. The 500 c/m body and WLF is $400 and with the condition it appears to be in I hate walking away from what I think is a good deal.

bdial · Oct 15, 2020

That's the problem with good deals, they can be very difficult to ignore. I have several cameras that I acquired because they were good deals including some Hasselblads, I have no regrets of buying them, but I also have more cameras now than I know what to do with.

If the money is easy, buy it and then figure out whether you like it enough to replace the 503, you can probably sell it off (or the 503) and come out at least even. If the money isn't easy, pass on it, and use a bit of the money for more film or whatever. More good deals will come your way, that's been my experience, anyway.

BrianShaw · Oct 15, 2020

From a fortune cookie: What you never have, you’ll never miss.

Arthurwg · Oct 15, 2020

Keep the 503 cw and wait for a 501 cm for back-up.

jerrybro · Oct 15, 2020

Sell the winder, KEH gets $250 for a bargain unit, then see where you want to "reinvest" the proceeds.

campy51 · Oct 15, 2020

BrianShaw said:
From a fortune cookie: What you never have, you’ll never miss.

Is the flip side to that. What you'll never miss, you'll never have?

campy51 · Oct 15, 2020

I bought it and have a 30 day return on it. I checked the date and it's 8 years older than my 503 CW. I ran a test roll and it advances with no problems but that was just 1 roll. I'm trying to figure out what screen it has. It has a grid with a prism in the middle and my 503 has a split prism, I weighed the 503 with a PM 45, winder, 80mm and back and it's 5.2 pounds. The 500 C/M with same except with the left hand flash grip is 4.8 pounds. Focusing the 503 has to be with your left hand and the 500 is with the right which is my dominant hand anyway and the focus on these 80mm is stiff so it might be a little easier to focus the 500 C/M. Am I starting to get analysis paralysis?

Sirius Glass · Oct 15, 2020

campy51 said:
I bought it and have a 30 day return on it. I checked the date and it's 8 years older than my 503 CW. I ran a test roll and it advances with no problems but that was just 1 roll. I'm trying to figure out what screen it has. It has a grid with a prism in the middle and my 503 has a split prism, I weighed the 503 with a PM 45, winder, 80mm and back and it's 5.2 pounds. The 500 C/M with same except with the left hand flash grip is 4.8 pounds. Focusing the 503 has to be with your left hand and the 500 is with the right which is my dominant hand anyway and the focus on these 80mm is stiff so it might be a little easier to focus the 500 C/M. Am I starting to get analysis paralysis?

Well if you had the 503 CX you would hold the camera in the left hand, fire the camera with the left index finger, use the right hand to focus and wind the camera. So why did you buy the CW in the first place? It is not like you are going to use 70mm film and shoot hundreds of photographs a day. Sell the CW and keep the 500 C/M. I chose the CX over the CW for just those reasons.

Вormental_old · Oct 15, 2020

Sirius Glass said:
I chose the CX over the CW for just those reasons.

But you didn't list any reasons. I too was thinking CX vs CW and bought the CX due to just one reason: it was the only Hasselblad availble on KEH

Sirius Glass · Oct 15, 2020

Вormental said:
But you didn't list any reasons. I too was thinking CX vs CW and bought the CX due to just one reason: it was the only Hasselblad availble on KEH

The CX does not have a power winder while the CW does. The power winder means that the film is advanced, the mirror is raised and the lens is cocked automatically so that the camera can be fired more quickly. Most people, certainly me included, do not need that feature. I referred to that in my post.

wiltw · Oct 15, 2020

Some folks, after rapid gunning with 135 format, need to slow themselves down via use of Medium Format.

Some folks, covering events or shooting portraits for a living, can use more speed to their advantage...

auto wind allows another shot to be taken virtually instantaneously...in portraiture, the client often gets MORE RELAXED after hearing the shutter fire, and they get a better expression on their face...being ready to capture that relaxed expression is the benefit of an autowinder
trying to cover a wedding and shooting the processional at the beginning of the ceremony, the manual advance/cock can be longer than you have time for until the next bridesmaid comes up the aisle, when everone is not walking so slowly up the aisle...the autowinder gets you ready faster.

Different strokes for different folks.

Hasselblad 500C/M or 503CW

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency