hasselblad D Flash

Just bought a d flash 40 without doing any research on them.
I have a 503cw, did I make a good choice or should I have gone the Metz route?

What raises your concern? Is it just that you did no research and now second-thinking an "impulse buy"? For 503 CW that is the "intended" flash... how could it be bad (unless the specific one you bought has a problem)? If I had a 503cw I'd get the d-flash.

BrianShaw said:

What raises your concern? Is it just that you did no research and now second-thinking an "impulse buy"? For 503 CW that is the "intended" flash... how could it be bad (unless the specific one you bought has a problem)? If I had a 503cw I'd get the d-flash.

Click to expand...

In truth, after I paid for it, I realised it's not that useable without a prism or bracket.
I have neither.

Yes, that would be a concern. But more money can cure that!

I have a 501 CM so the D-flash isn't very useful to me. But a Vivitar 285 with a handle (aftermarket but can't recall the brand name right now) and prism is really nice for on-camera flash applications. The handle and prism were two of my better investments in that system.

I have the winder cw and don't really want anything else handing off the side of the camera.
I have a feeling I'll be getting a PME soon.

The mounting choices are more or less the same, no matter what flash you pick. That is, either a bracket to the side with a "potato masher" style unit, like a Metz 45, or a shoe mount bracket, or adding a shoe to the camera and the choices for that are a PM series prism, or an accessory rail mounting shoe, or there is a flash show that clips to a metal lens hood.

That particular flash looks to be a good choice for the camera. If it came to you at a good price, then it seems like an excellent choice.

Well I've found a pme 90 that should do the job.
I just hope it's possible to get replacement bulbs.

Fordmondeo said:

Just bought a d flash 40 without doing any research on them.
I have a 503cw, did I make a good choice or should I have gone the Metz route?

Click to expand...

As you can do TTL you will be fine, the limitation of the D40 in manual is it is full power or nothing. It was made for Hasselblad by Sunpak, and is based on Sunpak's 120J TTL model (battery packs are different and maybe other parts). For commercial use it was not popular as heavy use caused it to overheat and close down until cool, not wedding friendly, as you hint the Metz hammerheads were most popular being very versatile in power and operation but not as compact.
These days the bare bulb is back in favour in the "strobist" fraternity I understand.

Do run some TTL tests first remembering the measurement is what is reflected off the film and as films vary results can do as well, Portra 400 usually "looses" a stop ie set at 200iso as the surface is very reflective and can underexpose.

Forgot to add on bulbs:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/52912-REG/Sunpak_1070_Lamp_for_120J.html

Which is easily found on-line so presumably a UK stockist will be able to source I would try Dale or The Flash Centre for example.

The Hasselblad TTL cut off the power when enough light has been reflected off the negative. I do not have the D40. Instead I use the Nikon SB 800 flash that I use with the 35mm cameras. I use flash bulbs for the Pacemaker Speed Graphic.