Jammed (but not quite) Hasselblad 500 C/M

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Stannerman

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Hello everyone.
I recently acquired an old but working 500 C/M body, without magazine or lenses. I tried to shoot some times just to test the auxiliary shutter and everything seemed fine. Out of the blue, the shutter release is stuck. It doesn't fire. However, it fires just fine if I use the mirror lock-up button first. I tried googling for an answer, but the vast majority of threads involve the lens getting jammed, but that's not my case. Thanks to everyone who will give me an answer.
Cheers.
 

Sirius Glass

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Welcome to APUG Photrio!

It sound like it needs a Clean, Lubrication, and Adjust [CLA]. Find a Hasselblad repairman that you can take it to. It will be worth it to getting everything working properly.
 

campy51

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Can you push the mirror up lever and hold it there and try the shutter. I had one where the lever was preventing the linkage to operate. It's pretty easy to take the shell off and see if the camera fires consistently out of the shell. Taking it out is easy but re-inserting it can be a little tricky making sure everything is lined up. Not hard just tricky. You can google the process and see some videos.
 

mshchem

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I have a A12 back from mid 70's . I bought it from a fellow who was cleaning out a old studio. I paid 10 dollars, I figured the darkslide was worth that. It was stuck, the frame counter didn’t work. I have a bottle of Kodak movie film cleaner, chloronated solvents, no longer available, it also contains heptane. Just about 1/2 of a mL onto the exposed gears and I could hear the clicking sound of the counter. I used this same solvent to free up a Copal shutter. If you want to try something that doesn't cost you anything you might try a couple drops of a solvent like this.
If you value the camera I would have it cleaned and lubricated properly. Don't get sprays, I would be extremely careful as you could damage something. The internet shows how to do just about anything. I'm not that brave. If I took apart something like a Hassleblad, I would never get it back together.
 

campy51

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They look complicated when you see it for the first time but I personally don't think they are, even so I would only do minor repairs on mine. I know people say they are a finely tuned machine but when I read in the service manual to bend the lever to adjust it they lost me.
 

Theo Sulphate

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As Sirius wrote, it's worth having a CLA performed on the camera - that way you will know it's working properly and it will continue to do so for a long time.
 

mshchem

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I remember the American humor magazine "Mad Magazine" cartoon drawing sound effects "SPROiNG" as gears and springs fly out. :happy:
 

Theo Sulphate

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I remember the American humor magazine "Mad Magazine" cartoon drawing sound effects "SPROiNG" as gears and springs fly out. :happy:

On the mechanical watch website, TimeZone, many years ago, a few of the members who were watchmakers had classes on making your own watch or performing a CLA on a watch. The suggestion was to dedicate an entire room for the process, with a table, lamp, chair, and little else. Ensure the floor has no carpet or rugs - preferably it is tile or light wood. Then, remove all your clothes and work on the watch while naked.
 

jim10219

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They look complicated when you see it for the first time but I personally don't think they are, even so I would only do minor repairs on mine. I know people say they are a finely tuned machine but when I read in the service manual to bend the lever to adjust it they lost me.
They're the most complicated cameras I've worked on. You have to remember, the shutters and timing mechanisms are located in the lenses. Even then, the bodies are quite complex because they have to sync shutter in the lens to the mirror to the rear shutter to the film back. And the gears need the proper type and amount of lubrication to keep everything in time, as they operate on mix of spring torque against drag. Too much torque, and the rear shutters bounce back to close. Not enough, and they don't open fully. They're not like 35mm SLR's were all of the mechanics are housed in the same body.

They're finely crafted machines for sure. But they're not like an Argus C3 that you can bury in the mud and pull out ten years later and still have it work (only slightly kidding). It's easy to ruin something and hard to find replacement parts for cheap.

Anyway, I'd suggest having it professionally CLA'd. These cameras tend to need regular maintenance (once every ten years or so) and many have seen heavy use in a past life(many were owned by professionals who took hundreds of pictures a week with them). So consider the occasional CLA the price of ownership. It's like I say, they're like classic sports cars. They're very well made and complex pieces of precision engineering. They're not like the old Nikons or Pentax's which are more like Hondas and Toyotas. Those cameras can often run for 40 years and need nothing more than some new foam.

Still, there's a screw on the front of the camera behind were the lens mounts on the bottom. You have to access it through the rear shutter. You can try turning that to unjam it. They sell a special tool to access that screw for when it came in the field. You can use a small Jewelers screwdriver though.
 

Sirius Glass

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They're the most complicated cameras I've worked on. You have to remember, the shutters and timing mechanisms are located in the lenses. Even then, the bodies are quite complex because they have to sync shutter in the lens to the mirror to the rear shutter to the film back. And the gears need the proper type and amount of lubrication to keep everything in time, as they operate on mix of spring torque against drag. Too much torque, and the rear shutters bounce back to close. Not enough, and they don't open fully. They're not like 35mm SLR's were all of the mechanics are housed in the same body.

They're finely crafted machines for sure. But they're not like an Argus C3 that you can bury in the mud and pull out ten years later and still have it work (only slightly kidding). It's easy to ruin something and hard to find replacement parts for cheap.

Anyway, I'd suggest having it professionally CLA'd. These cameras tend to need regular maintenance (once every ten years or so) and many have seen heavy use in a past life(many were owned by professionals who took hundreds of pictures a week with them). So consider the occasional CLA the price of ownership. It's like I say, they're like classic sports cars. They're very well made and complex pieces of precision engineering. They're not like the old Nikons or Pentax's which are more like Hondas and Toyotas. Those cameras can often run for 40 years and need nothing more than some new foam.

Still, there's a screw on the front of the camera behind were the lens mounts on the bottom. You have to access it through the rear shutter. You can try turning that to unjam it. They sell a special tool to access that screw for when it came in the field. You can use a small Jewelers screwdriver though.

Not only that, while the adjustment are being made, the body is placed in a jig and the body parts must be aligned. Do not try that at home without the proper jig.
 
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