Hasselblad, cable releases and self timers...

[Bluetintedescapegoat]

Hello and thanks in advance for any advice.

I have been neck deep in photography for maybe a year now and have been shooting with my 500c/m for about 3 months.

I've pulled off a few low light self portraits using bulb and f/22 but I'd like to take the ideas further and into a different light.

I've been searching for self timers and longer cable releases but each description seems more confusing then the next.

Will a 500 c/m accept a self timer that claims for work with any medium format cable release..or does this hassey require something different?

Any other ideas would be most welcome as well..

 

[Q.G.]

You will need a selftimer that holds the release pressed for a while (long enough to allow the shutter to complete the exposure). And that could be tricky if you want to do 'bulb times'.

 

[Ian David]

An air-bulb cable release would probably do a lot of what you need. I have a 5-metre one made by Hama - very useful.

Ian

 

[Hikingman]

The camera uses a standard cable release that some of call 'universal'. Users have found an angle adapter helpful with the 80mm lens after attaching a hood, or filter system.

 

[John Koehrer]

The camera uses a standard cable release that some of call 'universal'. Users have found an angle adapter helpful with the 80mm lens after attaching a hood, or filter system.

QG correctly pointed out that the release has to be held in until the exposure is completed or the mirror will come down before the exposure is complete.

The camera does take a standard release though. There are three basic cable releases.
1)straight release in varying length.
2) " but with screw type lock.
3) " with locking collar. This one only takes one hand to lock.

Compur or Prontor made one with a timer built into it but they're a little uncommon.

 

[Bluetintedescapegoat]

Some great advice there. I think that Airbulb might be the way to go.

Let me ask this again another way though just to be sure I understand..

I inserted a picture above of what I know to a pretty standard self timer..

Lets say I want to do a self portrait at say 7pm at f/11 or so... outdoors with sun mostly down but still lingering. I set that timer to go off and go jump in the picture.. will i get a proper exposure so long as I meter correctly or will such a timer not keep the shutter depressed long enough?

I've done a lot of low light landscapes but never knew to hold my shutter in..

I know a lot of this is reachable through experiment and research but again, other then here I'm not sure where to go..

so thanks again

 

[Andrew K]

I don't hink any one has metioned it, but fire the mirror first (the lever on the right under the wind knob) first, not only to avoid vibrations, but because Hasselblads work better that way (an abservation form when I used to repair blasd for a living)..

if you are using the shutter speeds in the lens (1 sec to 1/500th) then the timer will work correctly.

if you want longet times than 1 sec and want to use B then you need a "timing" self timer - as mentioned above these were made by prontor/compur years ago - I was lucky enough to get 2 at the last flea market I went to - one screws into the shutter release directly (these are far more common) - the other has a 20 inch cable release permenantly attached. both can time from 3 to 32 seconds...

 

[Q.G.]

Lets say I want to do a self portrait at say 7pm at f/11 or so... outdoors with sun mostly down but still lingering. I set that timer to go off and go jump in the picture.. will i get a proper exposure so long as I meter correctly or will such a timer not keep the shutter depressed long enough?

That depends on the timer. It may, or it may not.
That's why it is something to pay attention to when picking one.

The 'problem' is not just (as Andrew's post may be read to suggest) that you don't have anything timing speeds longer than the ones the shutter in the lens will time for you.
And it will be something to keep in mind already when using speeds shorter than 1 second (speeds the shutter will still time for you).
The rear, auxilliary shutter in the Hasselblad is timed by shutter-release-button-pressure only. Let go of it too soon, and you can run into problems when using (timed) shutter speeds of about 1/8 and slower (hence the red/orange line, as a reminder, on the shutterspeed scale of Zeiss/Hasselblad lenses).

Andrews' suggested solution is, of course, a good one: find a timing device that will time exposures of as long as you may need.


So for the answer to your question above, you have to look at two things: how long does your particular self timer keep the plunger out (the release depressed), and what shutterspeed would you use in that particular situation.