OK OK, I know the answer to this may just scream CLA, but I’ll ask it anyway!

[Ira Rush]

I have gotten into the habit of “exercising” my Hasselblad lens, especially if they have not been used for more than a few weeks. I do this to prevent any lubricants from dying up, and in general to keep gears and aperture blades moving. I store them cocked, at a middle aperture value, and at a middle shutter speed value. Some are even in plastic lens bubbles. Silica gel is used to prevent humidity (I’m certainly not in the Amazon rain forest, but even in south central New Jersey, the humidity can be high especially in the summer). My lenses are the old C type, some not even T*, so repairs may be virtually nil. I see this happening as I “exercise” my lenses by firing the shutter, changing shutter speed/apertures combinations with the back removed while aiming the body at a light source. I switch bodies (I have two 500 C/M’s) so the camera body is also excersized, and every combination of lens body factor is being used.

A funny thing is happening (and it is an intermittent occurrence, to complicate the problem) to my 80mm f/2.8 C T* Hasselblad lens. At the “B” shutter speed setting and at f/22, the aperture closes down, but the shutter doesn’t open, or it opens after a delay. Fire it off 5 or 6 more times, and then no problem, like the problem never existed. My finger is firmly on the shutter release button, so I am not releasing it prematurely. Change shutter speed to any other speed and still use f/22 absolutely no problem. Switch now to any other aperture but go back to “B” absolutely no problem. Sometimes, again on an intermittent basis I get the same exact scenario with my 150mm lens. Also intermittent is the winding, some times it feels like a little resistance is felt when winding. It can’t be film drag, because remember, the film back has been removed.

So, is it the lens(es)?
If it is the lens(es), is the gear train for the shutter, or the aperture blades, or both? Remember any different combo of shutter speed / aperture works. Is it the coupling shaft on the back of the lens?

Is it the camera body?
Could it be the lens-coupling shaft on the body, the film advance winding mechanism?

Confusing … I’ll say.

Like I said, this is probably screaming CLA (which was done about 2 years ago)

so… if anyone out there has had a similar problem, please let me know.


Thanks in advance

 

[Q.G.]

It's the lens. Or rather, it's the shutter inside the lens.

Exercising the mechanism is a good idea. But it will not rejuvenate the lubricants.
So you are right: it will need a CLA to fix permanently (makes you wonder though what they did to the thing 2 years ago...).

Or just remember to exercise the thing until it works before using B at f/22.

 

[Robert Budding]

CLA 2 years ago? Send it to someone else this time. David Odess has a good reputation.

 

[John Koehrer]

The shutter needs a good CLA as mentioned above.
The shutter is tripped by a pin next to the cocking shaft. You can check the lens off the body by depressing the release lever in the metal semi-circle next to the cocking shaft. Just re-cock the lens with a coin.
The most likely culprit is old lube on the shutter blades or the housing. It may not be visible since it only has to be on the very edge of the blade/housing assembly