Help with Hasselblad 135mm lens with bellows

ManojRC · Jul 16, 2023

Dear All,

I really don't know how to mount/unmount this wonderful lens !! Two times I mounted the lens & had to call emergency ( Means, sent to service center for expensive repair ).
I know there are certain steps/order to follow to mount & unmount this bellows with lens. Here's the steps I'm planning to follow:

To mount:
1) Mount the bellows to the body
2) Then mount the lens to the bellows

To unmount:
1) Unmount the lens from bellows
2) Then unmount the bellows

Are these correct order?

Thanks -
-M

RalphLambrecht · Jul 16, 2023

ManojRC said:
Dear All,

I really don't know how to mount/unmount this wonderful lens !! Two times I mounted the lens & had to call emergency ( Means, sent to service center for expensive repair ).
I know there are certain steps/order to follow to mount & unmount this bellow with lens. Here's the steps I'm planning to follow:

To mount:
1) Mount the bellows to the body
2) Then mount the lens to the bellows

To unmount:
1) Unmount the lens from bellows
2) Then unmount the bellows

Are these correct order?

Thanks -
-M

I think that's right but wait for Sirius Glas to answer; he is our most knowledgeable Hassy expert.

Sirius Glass · Jul 16, 2023

Possibly that the lens, bellows or body is out of synch.
These might help:

ManojRC · Jul 16, 2023

Sirius Glass said:
Possibly that the lens, bellows or body is out of synch.
These might help:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/6325347

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/6325347

http://www.dmin-dmax.fr/photoe2b.htm

Thank you. My question is what's the correct order to mount 135 bellows lens. Should I mount the lens to bellow first and then mount the bellows ( with lens ) to body or mount the belllows to body first, then mount the lens to bellows?

Sirius Glass · Jul 16, 2023

ManojRC said:
Thank you. My question is what's the correct order to mount 135 bellows lens. Should I mount the lens to bellow first and then mount the bellows ( with lens ) to body or mount the belllows to body first, then mount the lens to bellows?

Always from the camera out and then the reverse order.

Focomatter · Jul 16, 2023

It is VERY important to make sure that the Hasselblad is cocked before taking it apart and that components are cocked (film wound on in the case of a back) before putting back together. This is the first law of Hasselblad; been using them now > half a century.

Sirius Glass · Jul 16, 2023

Focomatter said:
It is VERY important to make sure that the Hasselblad is cocked before taking it apart and that components are cocked (film wound on in the case of a back) before putting back together. This is the first law of Hasselblad; been using them now > half a century.

YES!

etn · Jul 16, 2023

Focomatter said:
It is VERY important to make sure that the Hasselblad is cocked before taking it apart and that components are cocked (film wound on in the case of a back) before putting back together. This is the first law of Hasselblad; been using them now > half a century.

This!! ^^
The First Law of Hasselblad actually reads "A human being may not injure a Hasselblad or, through wrong action, allow a Hasselblad to come to harm."

Note that the bellows and many extension rings that I have seen, tend to "uncock" (*) on its own. Therefore you need to be double careful with those.

(*) Is there a better word for this?

Focomatter · Jul 16, 2023

trigger might be better then uncock; but uncock makes the point

Sirius Glass · Jul 16, 2023

Uncock or prematurely fire will describe it.

ManojRC · Jul 16, 2023

Thanks everyone for your comments. Here's the update:

I ensured that body, bellows and lens are in cocked position, then succesfully mounted/dismounted the lens to bellows just to ensure that this combination works. Then I mounted the bellows to the body with no lens attached to bellows. So far so good. But when I try to mount the lens to the bellows, it doesn't turn to get locked !! I didn't want to use anyforce. Later I dsmounted the bellows from the body.

Now what could be the reason I failed to mount the lens to the bellows while bellows is attached to the body?!!!

Focomatter · Jul 16, 2023

It is possible that your bellows is not working properly. First, is it the automatic bellows and not the earlier model that has a knob for cocking the lens end of the bellows?

Sirius Glass · Jul 16, 2023

Are you sure that the bellows is locked into place.

ManojRC · Jul 17, 2023

Please see the pics.

Focomatter · Jul 17, 2023

Yup this is the automatic bellows. The drive shaft is in the correct position to be cocked so looks OK. What happens when you fire the camera with the bellows on the camera but not the lens? Observe the shaft rotate....

ManojRC · Jul 17, 2023

Focomatter said:
What happens when you fire the camera with the bellows on the camera but not the lens? Observe the shaft rotate....

Yes the shaft rotates when fires. & till this point, everything works fine. So not sure, why I'm unable to mount the lens..

Focomatter · Jul 17, 2023

The back of your lens looks OK too. Is that your only lens?

ManojRC · Jul 17, 2023

Focomatter said:
The back of your lens looks OK too. Is that your only lens?

Well, interestingly I mounted my 150mm C lens to bellows ( bellows is not attached to camera body ). When I unmount the lens, it gets in a un-cocked state!!! I have to use a screw driver to put it back in cocked position. That's not the case with 135mm lens. When I unmount the 135mm lens from bellows, it still remains in cocked state.

Focomatter · Jul 17, 2023

You need to have the bellows attached to the camera to avoid triggering the lens. The camera keeps the shaft from rotating but the other components (bellows, etc.) do not. Your 135 should have been similarly triggered. Looks like your 135 may need a visit to a repair tech.

etn · Jul 17, 2023

ManojRC said:
Well, interestingly I mounted my 150mm C lens to bellows ( bellows is not attached to camera body ). When I unmount the lens, it gets in a un-cocked state!!! I have to use a screw driver to put it back in cocked position. That's not the case with 135mm lens. When I unmount the 135mm lens from bellows, it still remains in cocked state.

That's funny. The same happens to me, but with my 135mm lens and not with any other lens:
when I unmount it from the bellows, it trips the shutter. (Usually not a biggie, as it is unmounted, so all I have to do is re-cock it. A word of warning: due to the construction of this lens with a protruding element, a coin is not usable and you have to use a screwdriver. Be VERY careful not to damage any lens surface with the screwdriver!)

Have others here observed a tendency to trip a lens' shutter when removing it from the auto bellows?

ManojRC · Jul 17, 2023

etn said:
That's funny. The same happens to me, but with my 135mm lens and not with any other lens:
when I unmount it from the bellows, it trips the shutter. (Usually not a biggie, as it is unmounted, so all I have to do is re-cock it. A word of warning: due to the construction of this lens with a protruding element, a coin is not usable and you have to use a screwdriver. Be VERY careful not to damage any lens surface with the screwdriver!)

Have others here observed a tendency to trip a lens' shutter when removing it from the auto bellows?

Looks like we need to get more inout from experts to see wherther this is an issue of 135mm lens. Since I can safely mount/unmount 150mm lens to/from bellows while it is attached to the camera body, which is not possible with 135mm, I assume that my 135mm may need some TLC.

Philippe-Georges · Jul 17, 2023

In the fourth picture, showing the back of your lens, I see that the aperture looks te be closed, but this could be an optical illusion...
Anyway, what I might suggest is to manually fire the 135 mm lens by pushing the little rod sidewards and then span (cock) the shutter manually with a coin.
Check if then the aperture opens, as perhaps that could be a cause of the problem.

Then, try to mount the lens (gently) on the all ready on the camera attached bellows which are spanned to fire (thus 'cocked').

BTW, mounting a lens on a bellows (or a close-up ring) that is not already attached on a body (and cocked ofcourse) seems somewhat awkward to me, but I never had a 135mm lens (a S-Planar instead) and that one could be working differently...

PS: I am not an expert, just an avid Hasselblad user...

Help with Hasselblad 135mm lens with bellows

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