testing my "new" hassy








Thanks to a friend and colleague who was visiting the US, I was able to acquire a Hasselblad 500C recently. This model was produced during the late 50's and early 60's. My newly acquired camera was supposed to be made in 1961. With the exception of the fact that the lens lever could not be set on M, the camera is actually in quite a good condition. I had it cla's in Bangkok. Prior to that I thought I damaged the lens because I took it out without setting back the mirror. After this I could not put the lens back onto the camera. At the shop all it took was a coin to turn the screw at the back of the lens to correct the situation. Two weeks later I got my camera back. The shop showed me how to load a 120 film onto the camera back. Up to now all I know is how to load a 35mm film which is straightforward enough being contained in a canister. On the other hand the 120 film is wrapped in paper in a spool. I do not have any idea how this works out. So I got introduced to the inner workings of the A12 back and finally realized that the peephole at the back of the a12 actually has a purpose. You are supposed to turn the knob until you see the number 1 (guys, this does not have anything to do with toilet training) and then set the number in the film counter. Today, I got the film back from the lab and was happy to note that the pictures I took came out. However the test frames that I took did not come out. I figured that it could have something to do with the shutter speed I was using. When I took the pictures, the slowest I got was 1/60sec. However when I was doing the zone test, I was going as slow as 1/4 sec. I must have done something wrong for this to happen. On the good side, I have a lot of film+fog samples. Too many of them. So while watching Desperate Housewives on tv, I tinkered with my hassy without the back on. I know that these types of cameras have shutters behind the lens. But there is another shutter at the back for the camera body. The lens shutter seems to be opening and closing according to the correct shutter speed. The other shutter opens and closes at the same time I press and release the shutter lever. So I successfully took the photos because the lens shutter was opening and closing faster than my hands release the shutter. On the other hand when I used the slower shutter speeds I am releasing the back shutter too soon. Unfortunately the manuals I can find in the internet on the Hasselblad 500c are in French. But I am quite happy with the results because the pictures in the Hua Lumpong train station was hand held at a using f/5.6 with shutter speed getting as low as 1/60 sec. I am definitely taking this camera with me on my vacation trip to Ilocos in Northern Philippines because this is a good landscape and portrait camera. So looking forward to this trip. All photos © 2005 daddywasabi