Hasselblad 500 C/M Ilford PanF+ - a photo on Flickriver

Hasselblad 500C/M

I remember that around the second half of the years 90’s, I considered to buy a Hasselblad camera. I gave up because I had no more access to a darkroom and I found too complicated to recreate one or to delegate the processing to a service lab. Afterward, some years later, I started digital photography that distracted me to operate again with films. It is only when I could manage in 2022 a reliable and quality way to exploit my negatives in a reasonable time, that I really could enjoy again of analog photography.

On July 17, 2024, I decided to buy "my" Hasselblad in a very traditional way, almost as I could in the 90’s, in a local real photographic store, Lyon, France. The store « Carré Couleur » of Jacques Larger, rue Servient, Lyon, France, is a long-time specialist of professional medium-format camera’s including Hasselblad ones. They had on display several revised and 6-month guaranteed camera’s and a large choice of lenses and accessories.`

I choose a 500 C/M year 1978 and a Carl Zeiss lens Planar T* 1:2.8 f=80mm of the CF series year 1986, plus a small set of little Hasselblad goodies. The 500 C/M is totally mechanical without any electrical nor electronic circuitry. The 500 C/M's were produced in Göteborg, Sweden, from year 1970 to 1994. They followed the production of the 500C camera’s (1957-1970). The latest V-series camera (503 CX, CW, CWI etc) ceased in 2006 and Hasselblad then produced only digital camera’s but also digital camera backs that could fit to the V-series including this 500 C/M (www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/HS/HSTable.aspx)

This CF lens series has central shutter Prontor (Synchro-Compur for the earlier Zeiss series). They are more cylindrical than earlier series and equipped of the proprietary bayonet filter mount B60. The delayed shutter realease was also abandoned. The focusing screen is the « Bright » series with the Dodin stigmometer in the screen centrer and the squared cross-ruling lines. Later 501 and 503 were basically equipped with an even more brighter screen called « Acute-mat ». The camera back could dated from year 1977 is an « A-12 » back « A » standing for « Automatic ». The film advance automatically stops at view 1 with view counter on the right camera side.

After a complete demo by Jacques Larger, I studied the camera manipulation at home with the user manual in hand (an original edition of 1980) before doing the decisive « film d’essai » (test film) on a sunny morning of July 20, 2024. I choose the closest outdoor quiet place at Parc de la Tête d’Or, Lyon, France and the magics of the botany garden and the tropical green houses. It is familiar to me place ideal for testing a camera without external stress.

For the test, I loaded an Ilford PanF+ 50 ISO that I exposed for the nominal sensitivity using my trusted Minolta Autometer III either in the incident light mode or the selective rejected light using a 10° viewer. The lens has an Hasselblad B60 UV-SKY 1A multi-coated filter but no shade hood since they were out-of-stock in the store.

Just out of the store, July 17, 2024
Rue Servient
69003 Lyon
France

After the view #12 exposed, the film was fully rolled to the taking spool and was developed in a Paterson tank with a spiral adapted to the 70mm large film. 500 mL of Adox Adonal (Agfa Rodinal) developer were prepared at the dilution 1+50 and the film processed for 11min30 at 20°C.

Digitizing was made using a Sony A7 camera (ILCE-7, 24MP) held on a Minolta vertical macro stative device and adapted to a Minolta MD Macro lens 1:3.5 f=50mm. The light source was a LED panel (approx. 4x5') CineStill Cine-lite fitted with film holder "Lobster" to maintain flat the 70mm films.

The RAW files obtained were inverted within LR and edited to the final jpeg pictures without intermediate file. They are presented either as printed files with frame or the full size JPEG together with some documentary smartphone color pictures.

The results show very high-quality, highly-contrasted negative views, perfectly exposed and spaced proving the good technical state of the camera, film magazine, and the lens/shutter.

Taken on: July 22, 2024

Tags:

Lyon

France

Hasselbald

500

C/M

SLR

médium

format

camera

Made

Sweten

Göteborg

Year

1978

Carl

Zeiss

Planar

normal

lens

1:2.8

f=80mm

Ilford

Pan

F+

film

photography

PANF+

Adox

Adonal

1+50

Parc

Tête

d'Or

Tropical

green

houses

botanical

garden

Sony

digitization

Minolta

Macro

50mm

Sweden « less

Sets appears in: • Hasselblad 500 C/M Ilford PanF+

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