Two Broken Medium Formats- Any Suggestions?

390123 · Oct 19, 2016

I have sat next to me a broken RZ67 and a broken Hasselblad 503CW.

Starting with the 'blad- it stopped working whilst shooting a while back, from what I remember I had a lot of trouble getting the lens off after it refused to shoot. At the moment, with the lens off, the mirror is stuck up as is the curtain. It will not fire nor will the shutter button budge. The parts to wind the lens inside the camera is in sort of the one o'clock position whilst the opposite part on the lens is perfectly horizontal. I seem to remember taking a picture with the mirror up before hand but it was a very long time ago.

The RZ67 is currently sat as a bare box, the winder moves freely, moving the part that interacts with the back, which then allows the shutter button to be pressed- which will then make a click and then you can wind again but nothing happens (this is all in the emergency /125 mode so battery is not the issue). I've tried swapping in a friends' back and lens but the problem persisted.

Does anybody have any ideas? Can post pictures and answer any questions!

Thanks for any help!

Leigh B · Oct 19, 2016

I know nothing about the RZ. You might want to put that in a different thread since intertwining two unrelated potentially lengthy troubleshooting discussions can be extremely confusing.

Regarding the 503CW...
It sounds like the body has been pre-released (the little black knob below the wind knob was pushed up).
If that's true, pressing the regular shutter release would allow the camera to complete its cycle.

I'm worried that you should not have been able to remove the lens with the body pre-released.
Doing so may have jammed or damaged some of the body's internal linkage.
There are several parts involved, none of which are particularly robust.

- Leigh

Stephen Weston · Oct 19, 2016

I'm not an Hasselblad expert but it sounds like the lens and the body mechanism have somehow got out of sync. The fact that you had trouble removing the lens, as I understand it, you have to cock the shutter on a blad before the lens can be removed. I have the 501CM and just checking the mechanism both body and lens interconnects are panting to a red dot which is virtually horizontal. Im sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong.
Your RZ I have no experience with at all so can't help you there I'm afraid.

Leigh B · Oct 19, 2016

Stephen Weston said:
The fact that you had trouble removing the lens, as I understand it, you have to cock the shutter on a blad before the lens can be removed. I have the 501CM and just checking the mechanism both body and lens interconnects are panting to a red dot which is virtually horizontal.

That's correct.

That's why I'm worried that the mechanism may have been damaged.

I used to repair 500-series Hasselblads before I retired last Century.

- Leigh

bdial · Oct 19, 2016

+ on Leigh and Stephen's comments regarding the Hasselblad. There are few "don't ever do this" rules for Hasselblads, but removing or mounting a lens when the shutter and body are not in-sync (shutter cocked, body fully wound) is one of them. If the body doesn't have internal damage you should be able to wind it. It's probably worth a try, I'd remove the film back, just in case it's the cause of the jam. The wind knob should either turn freely with the curtains closing and the mirror dropping, or not. Don't try to force it.
Otherwise, your best option would be to take it to a repair shop. Even at the current pricing it should be more than worth it, and at the end you get a fully working, currently serviced camera which is not something that can be said for the random ebay or whatever replacement.
FWIW, instruction manuals are available on this site; http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu

flavio81 · Oct 19, 2016

390123 said:
The RZ67 is currently sat as a bare box, the winder moves freely, moving the part that interacts with the back, which then allows the shutter button to be pressed- which will then make a click and then you can wind again but nothing happens (this is all in the emergency /125 mode so battery is not the issue).

Please describe more your problem with the RZ. Does the shutter open and close? Have you tried other lens?
Does the mirror go up?

Also, please test it with a battery.

The RZ is a rather simple machine on the inside, it will not be hard to repair. The hassy has more "density" (more tightly packed parts)

390123 · Oct 19, 2016

Thanks for all the replies, will work on getting back to everyone!

flavio81 said:
Please describe more your problem with the RZ. Does the shutter open and close? Have you tried other lens?
Does the mirror go up?

Also, please test it with a battery.

The RZ is a rather simple machine on the inside, it will not be hard to repair. The hassy has more "density" (more tightly packed parts)

Funnily enough I have a silver oxide battery lying around. I get no lights on the RZ67, will double check the battery is good when I find my 645.
The lens is open, the mirror is in the correct place- when I click the button I get a metallic sound and nothing else. Will try with a Polaroid back I have here somewhere.

Thanks

EDIT: battery was expired and confirmed dead by the 645. I had another 6V in the drawer, 645 confirmed it was working. Now in my RZ67 and I get an orange light (with or without darkslide)

flavio81 · Oct 19, 2016

390123 said:
Thanks for all the replies, will work on getting back to everyone!

Funnily enough I have a silver oxide battery lying around. I get no lights on the RZ67, will double check the battery is good when I find my 645.
The lens is open, the mirror is in the correct place- when I click the button I get a metallic sound and nothing else. Will try with a Polaroid back I have here somewhere.

Thanks

It must be gummed up /dried up lubricants on the main mechanism... nothing difficult to solve.

390123 · Oct 19, 2016

flavio81 said:
It must be gummed up /dried up lubricants on the main mechanism... nothing difficult to solve.

The film advance lever moves, makes a bit of a grinding sound whilst nothing happens. The film advance on top of the holder remains locked. (Tried it with rotating the back as well and whilst set to M)

Polaroid back makes no difference.

EdSawyer · Oct 19, 2016

I have RZ67 repair manuals posted here:

http://www.edsawyer.com/lenstests/

390123 · Oct 20, 2016

bdial said:
+ on Leigh and Stephen's comments regarding the Hasselblad. There are few "don't ever do this" rules for Hasselblads, but removing or mounting a lens when the shutter and body are not in-sync (shutter cocked, body fully wound) is one of them. If the body doesn't have internal damage you should be able to wind it. It's probably worth a try, I'd remove the film back, just in case it's the cause of the jam. The wind knob should either turn freely with the curtains closing and the mirror dropping, or not. Don't try to force it.
Otherwise, your best option would be to take it to a repair shop. Even at the current pricing it should be more than worth it, and at the end you get a fully working, currently serviced camera which is not something that can be said for the random ebay or whatever replacement.
FWIW, instruction manuals are available on this site; http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu

Nothing to try at home first? I'm worried a repair won't be affordable to me for quite a while and as much as I ove the Hassleblad I have a Rollei for 6x6 at the moment!

EdSawyer said:
I have RZ67 repair manuals posted here:

http://www.edsawyer.com/lenstests/

Wow, they're amazing! Don't think I would risk it myself though!

Leigh B · Oct 20, 2016

390123 said:
Nothing to try at home first? I'm worried a repair won't be affordable to me for quite a while...

I do not recommend disassembling a Hasselblad unless you've received full competent instruction.

I suggest using the camera.
Make sure the body and lens are both cocked before mating / de-mating them.
Never force anything. A properly-working Hasselblad is very smooth and easy to operate.

The body (sans lens) can always be cocked by simply turning the wind knob until it stops.
Any lens is cocked if its drive slot lines up with the red dot painted next to it. If not, turn it with a coin.

- Leigh

Theo Sulphate · Oct 20, 2016

As mentioned by someone above, remove the film back from the Hasselblad to simplify things.

Two Broken Medium Formats- Any Suggestions?

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