Hasselblad lens PC Flash Socket

mitrajoon · Jun 20, 2021

The PC flash socket on 3 of my Hasselblad lenses has fallen off. Surface area is very small to try and glue them. Is there a "right" way to re-attach them. If someone has dealt successfully with this issue, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Maybe it's best to just leave them off?

AgX · Jun 20, 2021

mitrajoon said:
Maybe it's best to just leave them off?

But then you would have to take somehow any tension off the PC cable, as the wire(s) coming from the lens barrel should not be stressed. I would try either refasten the original socket or mounting a substitute socket that could be fixed more easily.

mitrajoon · Jun 20, 2021

The only way to refasten would be to glue them back on but there is such a tiny surface area to do that I don't think it would hold. I've never seen or heard of a substitute socket and Hasselblad does not carry these parts. I've read that it's OK to use them w/o the plastic fastener but if there is a way to re-attach, I'd rather do that.

AgX · Jun 20, 2021

On the net you find spare PC sockets with a thread and a retaining ring.

mitrajoon · Jun 21, 2021

I'm always ready to learn, but in my search I saw nothing on the net that had anything to do with the little plastic piece that is found on Hasselblad lenses. Would appreciate a link.

AgX · Jun 21, 2021

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152779682025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263339334834

version w. flanges (unavailable):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/447416-REG/Copal_CO_SYNS_PC_Sync_Socket_for.html

mitrajoon · Jun 21, 2021

Thanks, I guess I wasn't clear. The link you gave is for the socket itself. What I need is the little plastic piece that sits on the Hasselblad lenses and surrounds the socket. It has a sliding mechanism that locks the sync cord in. Actually I have the piece but can not figure out a secure way of reattaching it to the lens. I can actually use a flash as it is, but the cord is not locked firmly into the lens and could come out.

Thanks again for your time on this.

AgX · Jun 21, 2021

Now its on you to show some photos...

BrianShaw · Jun 21, 2021

Part 6...

mitrajoon · Jun 21, 2021

AgX said:
Now its on you to show some photos...

The first image is with the piece attached. The second is w/o the piece and the third is the piece itself.
BrianShaw (thank you) has added a diagram that shows the piece I am referring to in relation to the lens. See numbers 11 and 12. I have 11 but there is no sign of the attachment screws or even the part they would attach to. However my lenses are CFE and CFi so they may be slightly different in that regard. In any case I don't have the expertise to disassemble a lens. I was hoping there was a simpler work around like a touch of glue. At this point I think I will just protect the open socket and live with it as is.

BrianShaw · Jun 21, 2021

Looking only at the diagram in the repair manual, it appears to be held by a screw, part 9. What is on the back side of the part???? I don't see a hole for a screw in the ring, part 3, though. Is that screw holding the spring mechanism together????

mitrajoon · Jun 21, 2021

Brian there is no hole for attachment. The two photos show the underside and side view. You can see the spring that locks the flash cable into the pc socket. I first assumed that I could just snap this piece back into place, but that doesn't work. There must have been some mechanism that held it in but I can find no reference to that, other than the diagram you showed. I have 5 lenses and this piece has broken off of 3 of them. At the end of the day the lenses work fine w/o this lock, but I would love to have my lenses restored to original condition

BrianShaw · Jun 21, 2021

Yup... looks like it once snapped in place and the "snap part" near the locking lever is gone. What a shame... That seems a part that could be subjected to lots of stress (if PC is pulled without releasing the locking tension first). I had no idea it was that 'cheap" in construction. And, yes, you certainly can use it without the part but I completely understand why you'd want it.

I don't want to encourage it (I probably wouldn't)... but JB Weld is one heck of an epoxy.

Good luck.

mitrajoon · Jun 21, 2021

Thxs, I'll live with it for now. At some point I'll test the epoxy on a lesser used lens.

John Koehrer · Jun 21, 2021

I'd suggest JB weld. It's a "flexible" epoxy I've used it with similar small piece where I wouldn't want visible
squeeze out. I wouldn't be too sure about permanent if it's pulled too hard.
I guess that's already happened though

A couple of things to be aware of though.
>It's going to be easier to use a tweezers to handle the part
>Both the loose part and edge of the hole need to be cleaned typically with alcohol.
>Using a toothpick and a TINY bit of JB put it on the loose part Easy if there's just a tiny bit of an edge or
snap on tabs remaining.
>If there's a bit of squeeze out, it can actually be trimmed off with a hobby knife or scalpel, that's a big advantage
to JB weld it can be trimmed with a sharp blade.

mitrajoon · Jun 21, 2021

Thxs for the detailed instruction!

AgX · Jun 22, 2021

In any case that missing part would not affect using your PC connector. It is just a lock to prevent a proprietary PC connector with a flange to be torn off that lens.

Such lock is a rather rare feature. I got no camera that got such lock, but remember vividly buying used my very first extension PC cord. At home I realized that on one end it got a weird flange that I meticulously filed off to be able to mount that cord at my cameras...

BrianShaw · Jun 22, 2021

AgX said:
It is just a lock to prevent a proprietary PC connector with a flange to be torn off that lens.

Minor correction… Hasselblad locking is for STANDARD PC, not proprietary. You may be thinking of Rollei and their proprietary locking system.

AgX · Jun 22, 2021

The photos by the OP show a casing around the standard female connector that inside shows a (seemingly metal) crescent part against the stem of the connector. Furthermore at the opposite side of that crescent a kind of button is protruding. To me this all looks like a spring loaded crescent locking collar, deactivated by that button.
To make this lock work a proprietary male PC-connector with a flange would be needed. Of course a standard male PC-connector could be used too, but then the locking feature would not work.

In case, based on those photos, I got it wrong, please enlight me.

BrianShaw · Jun 22, 2021

AgX said:
In case, based on those photos, I got it wrong, please enlight me.

I have to ask… Do you own or use a Hasselblad CF lens or are you just hypothesizing from the pictures? Post 18 enlightened you from a Hasselblad owner/user.

The spring-loaded locking mechanism simply puts pressure against the side of the standard PC tip to hold it from pulling off. The spring pressure is moderately tight and does a fantastic job at holding in a standard PC. In fact, to remove a standard PC it is generally necessary to intentionally release the spring pressure rather than just pulling on the PC.

http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/PDF/HasManuals/CFi_CFE_Lenses.pdf

AgX · Jun 22, 2021

I already stated that I based my assumptions on these photos.
I have not come across any of these lenses at my camera stores, actually no Hasselblad MF gear at all there.
But I look at such photos with the eye of an engineer (the opening in the casing seemed a bit small to take a flange, but a connector with a groove could have been applied).

Thank you for correcting me that the lock is not a force-fit coupling. (And thus to my view not actually a "lock", but seemingly it employs sufficient friction on the connector of the cable.)

Hasselblad lens PC Flash Socket

Attachments

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency