Picked up a nice Hasselblad 500C/M

Maximus Brutus · Feb 13, 2016

... on eBay. 1990 model and never been used. A rare find indeed. I'm not experienced at all with medium format and so far the laterally inverted viewfinder image is rather strange, but in time I hope to master it.

frank · Feb 13, 2016

Congrats on this classic. It's all you really need. If this is your first MF camera, prepare yourself for the technically superb results. The artistic merit of your results will still be up to you. Try doing a portrait with your first roll to really see the difference to 135.

bdial · Feb 13, 2016

Congratulations.
Here is a good source of information including a downloadable manual;
http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu

HiHoSilver · Feb 13, 2016

Never used?! Goodness. If you posted a selfie, it would be a pic of a happy man.
Its my first MF also. 'Had a rocky start, but that's 'cause mine had seen more than a little use. Like most of my gear, its way more capable than I am. 'Hope it puts smiles on your face for decades.

rowghani · Feb 13, 2016

Congrats . Thing of beauty.

Theo Sulphate · Feb 13, 2016

Welcome to APUG! You are off to a very good start in medium format.

Sirius Glass · Feb 13, 2016

Welcome to APUG

Enjoy your new camera. You have made a wise decision!

cb1 · Feb 14, 2016

Excellent! great find!

Maximus Brutus · Feb 14, 2016

Thank you for the kind comments

It is a gorgeous thing and something I have lusted after all my life. I remember as a young man that they cost as much as a new car. Even now they are hardly a bargain but I have no doubt it will outlive me!

The focussing screen is a little dark and I believe the Acute Matte screen improves matters although I don't think they are available new any longer. I guess it's back to eBay again.

Theo Sulphate · Feb 15, 2016

APUGuser19 said:
...

Be sure to set your camera up at 4 feet and test for focus against a negative. You may find as much as a 6 inch error, which points to the pads behind the mirror as having deteriorated. I did not know they were still making the CM in 1990. Perhaps by then they had shifted to a better pad material than the earlier foam, and a focus error might not exist.

Ah - the pads are *behind* the mirror?

I'm glad you've returned - a few months ago, a new Hasselblad owner posted some images he believed were soft and there were many questions about where the problem might be. Several of us looked at our own Hasselblads, ranging from 500C/M, 501C, and 553ELX, and noted the tabs upon which the mirror rests, but none of us saw any foam on the tabs. I didn't think of looking behind the mirror!

In the case of that owner, I believe it turned out to be a scanning issue and the camera was fine.

Maximus Brutus · Feb 15, 2016

This is the screen fitted to my camera. Can anyone identify what type it is? The central circle seems to be of the micro-prism type.

Maximus Brutus · Feb 15, 2016

APUGuser19 said:
That is the center microprism screen. The most accurate of all.

You mean the most accurate for focussing? So this is definitely not an Acute Matte screen?

Maximus Brutus · Feb 16, 2016

Thank you APUGuser19.

Could anyone else comment on what type of screen this is please?

crumpet8 · Feb 16, 2016

It looks like my micro prism circle screen. I had about three different 500cm screens before and chose this as it was easiest to focus with.

Edit: Photo added

I dont know if its a kiev or not, but its lighter than the original crosshair screen, but it focuses better.

Maximus Brutus · Feb 16, 2016

Here is the top and bottom of my screen.

Darko Pozar · Feb 16, 2016

I've had mine second hand and it's sibling spare since 1985. My prime Hasselblad is like another appendage to me tapped straight into my thoughts when taking images. I guess I have shot over 1000 weddings with it. I would feel every function and could identify any malfunction within a click. DSLRs are fantastic, however I will never part from my Hassy 500C/M.

I added my Acumate screen when they first came out in 1988 after a few of my associates abandoned their Hassleblads because they were too hard to focus.
To my recollection, there were others who used a split focus screen, but those screens too were dark.

Maximus Brutus · Feb 16, 2016

Thanks again, but is it an Acute Matte or not?

outwest · Feb 16, 2016

We know for sure that it is not an Acute Matte D because it does not have the 2 notches in the frame. Based on the age and condition of the camera it is probably the original Acute Matte. I have the D in my Hassie but I modified the original Acute Matte equivalent screen from a Mamiya RZ to use in my Rollei. It was one piece, not 2, as I recall. Use it. No screen is going to look bright enough without the hood erected and the magnifier in place and your face over it. If you still aren't satisfied get the focusing chimney. As for the lateral inversion just start thinking about moving the subject instead of the camera. Subject going out the left side, just pull it back in by moving the camera to the right. You have a beautiful and highly effective camera - use it.

Theo Sulphate · Feb 16, 2016

APUGuser19 said:
... Although I never did bother to determine the last year of the CM. ...

The 500C/M went from 1970 to 1994.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hasselblad_timeline_-vectorS.svg

Sirius Glass · Feb 16, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
The 500C/M went from 1970 to 1994.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hasselblad_timeline_-vectorS.svg

That is the production years, the cameras are still going.

Theo Sulphate · Feb 16, 2016

Sirius Glass said:
That is the production years, the cameras are still going.

Well, that's true of almost all film cameras since very few are in production today. That prompts this question: do we know of any commercially produced camera that is now extinct? By "extinct", I mean we know it was made but we don't know of one being used or in a collection.

itsdoable · Feb 16, 2016

Just for the record (it's been answered over the course of the thread), that screen is a Hasselblad 42250 screen (center micro-prism with grid), pre-acute matte (first acute matte was 1989, they never made a microprism only acute-matte). It is probably my second favourite screen, and one I use regularly. Although the ground glass field is on the dim side (but perfectly fine in bright light), the micro-prism spot is bright and easy to focus as long as your lens is f/4 or faster.

My favourite screen is the microprism/split image acute matte (42215), it's brighter, still has a easy to focus microprism area, but alas, cost way too much.

"Kiev" screens only work in the older "C" models, and are fine if properly calibrated. But the Microprism is coarser and not that good with f/4 or slower lenses. The Russian and Chinese replacement screens for the C/M also work fine, but you have to be aware of their calibration, and I find them coarser grained and inferior to the Hasselblad screens.

The 500cm was produced from 1970-1994

Maximus Brutus · Feb 17, 2016

itsdoable said:
Just for the record (it's been answered over the course of the thread), that screen is a Hasselblad 42250 screen (center micro-prism with grid), pre-acute matte (first acute matte was 1989, they never made a microprism only acute-matte). It is probably my second favourite screen, and one I use regularly. Although the ground glass field is on the dim side (but perfectly fine in bright light), the micro-prism spot is bright and easy to focus as long as your lens is f/4 or faster.

My favourite screen is the microprism/split image acute matte (42215), it's brighter, still has a easy to focus microprism area, but alas, cost way too much.

Thank you. That's all very clear

Picked up a nice Hasselblad 500C/M

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