Hasselblad heartbreak

imyself

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Hi Everyone,
Ive have, since February of this year, the pleasure of owning and using the utterly fantastic Hasselblad 203 FE with 80 mm FE lens. Ive also got a Bronica SQ-Ai and Mamiya 6 (with all three lenses) and I can honestly say the 203 FE is simply, in my hands, in a league of its own. When I first got it, my initial thought was "I hate this camera!" but after getting the hang of the WLF and seeing for myself the world through "God's viewfinder", I quickly became a proselyte to the cult of Hasselblad! The deadly accuracy of the integral light meter and top shutter speed of 1/2000 means that I can take it anywhere and everywhere.
I took my 203 FE for a forest walk this morning and after taking one exposure the camera stopped working. Turns out the battery went flat without warning and after a swapped it for a fresh one and looked over my camera, I noticed, to my absolute horror, a rubber strip hanging from the shutter curtain (see attached photo). I bought, and have kept, the camera in peak condition, taking great care to steer clear of the shutter curtain so I guess its just wear and tear. I haven't finished the roll of film to see if this flap is scratching the film emulsion. Most, if not all, Hasselblad repair technicians will not touch the 203 FE and I can't tell if the factory will still repair them so I'm wondering if any 203FE users on APUG can help with suggestions. Funny thing is , I was planning on selling all my other 6x6 cameras because I had found the system that worked for me.
Adam
 

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Richard Man

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Yikes! I love my 203FE as well. Best of luck and I hope someone will come up with something. Hasselblad SE will fix them, I believe, but it will cost many hundreds at least, just to get them to look at it :-/
 

Alan9940

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I don't own a 203FE, but I do have a 500C/M and assortments of lenses. I would be heartbroken if my Hassy died!! You may want to scan this thread:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Good luck!!
 

Richard Man

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Unfortunately, AFAIK, no independent service people will touch the 200/2000 series.
 
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imyself

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David Odess, for one, won't service the 203 FE.

Adam
 

Slixtiesix

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You can also ask Douglas Fairbank. He is here on Apug as well. I don´t know if he works on the 203FE but even if he should´t, he may know somebody who does...

Dead Link Removed
 

cuthbert

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Other example the H camera is not the unbreakable mechanical jewel everybody raves about.
 

Ricardo Miranda

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Uhm, that looks like a piece of black tape on the curtain.
It seems to me someone had tried to repair the curtain.
Good luck!
 

mweintraub

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cuthbert said:
The 203 is not made by Hasselblad? Interesting info, are the customers aware of that?
Click to expand...

I think there's confusion. The newer Hasselblad system is called the "H system". The older is "V". I think they thought you were calling the 203 the newer "H System".
 

frank

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Can you lift the black plastic piece away from the curtain? It looks like a light baffle.
 

film_man

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cuthbert said:
The 203 is not made by Hasselblad? Interesting info, are the customers aware of that?
Click to expand...

Hasselblad customers are aware that Hasselblad currently makes 645 film/digital cameras that are the H system. They used to make the V system. The 203 is in the V system. They also made the X system, which is the XPan I and II.

Now you know
 

gone

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I think Ricardo nailed it. Loos like a piece of tape that was used to repair a hole or slit in the curtain, a fairly common fix. If it were me I would simply leave it alone and shoot it as it is. Maybe keep an eye on it now and then when you change film. I'd bet it's been there since you bought the camera, and if it's been working fine, just leave it be. I would not suggest trying to peel it off, as it may be attached w/ a bit of adhesive under the tape. I've owned cameras w/ a bit of tape on the curtains, and they never gave me a lick of trouble for the time I owned them, which in some cases was years.

If the tape appears to be not stuck too firmly down, then it may be the light baffle that Frank mentioned. I'm not familiar enough w/ your camera to know what one looks like on a 203. If you can, w/ your fingernail or a dull knife, carefully see if you can pry (very gently) up a corner on the leading edge. If it is a piece of the internal light baffle it should pop up. If it feels like it is glued down, leave it be, it's probably a shutter curtain repair.
 
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frank

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The question is: has it been there all along (then it may be a repair) or has it just appeared? (Then it's something from somewhere else in the camera.)
 

gone

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Right. If it suddenly appeared, it's possibly that light baffle that has come loose. If it's been there all along, it might be the shutter repair. It has been a looooong time since I owned a blad, and I never owned your model, but did you pull the back off before and not see this? I can't remember if you have to pull the backs off to load them w/ film. If you've had the back off, you certainly must have seen this before.

The more I study that pic, the less convinced I am it's tape to repair the shutter. Those curtains look perfect. But it could be. Might have been a poke w/ something though. The tape or baffle or whatever it is looks very thin, not like one would use to repair a shutter hole.
 

Lou Baleur

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it could be something that was accidentally "rolled" in a roll of film---when you wound the film through it got caught in the shutter during cocking and dragged in maybe?
 

Theo Sulphate

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cuthbert said:
Other example the H camera is not the unbreakable mechanical jewel everybody raves about.
Click to expand...

Hasselblads have a well-earned reputation as workhorses. Let the camera manufacturer who is without fault be the first to cast a stone at Hasselblad.
 
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imyself

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Thank you everyone for all your helpful suggestions.
Lou, your 'foreign body' theory might have some merit but I'm not sure where it could have come from. I'm not familiar with the inner workings of the camera body so I can't determine if it is a light baffle. I'm at work now so I don't have the camera at hand but I'll take another look when I get home. I've attached another picture of the flap when I first noticed it. In this picture, the flap is directed inwards but now It is hanging outside the curtains.
BTW, as was stated earlier, this is not a digital model but rather Hasselblad's attempt at adapting their 500 series camera for the big wide world outside of the studio. > 90% of my shots are handheld and outdoors. Hitherto, the 203 has worked flawlessly in this regard.
 

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