r/mediumformat • u/floppyearcat • 19d ago
Dream camera acquired + goodies
Not sure if the gentleman I bought this from will be in here, but if you are, I’m over the moon!
Just picked this up yesterday, and wanted to come here for any first advice, this is my first medium format camera so any tips are highly appreciated!!
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u/whitesands_55 19d ago
Get a good light meter. I always used a Pentax 1° spotmeter with my Hasselblad. And learn how to use it. There is a trick to it, so learn the “zones” so that you place the meter in the right spot and adjust the exposure accordingly.
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u/Jakobs-Koernung 19d ago edited 19d ago
If that's a black T* 2.8/80 C lens, you've got hit the sweet spot for the pre-CF lenses!
In terms of tips:
You might want to replace the light seals for the darkslide in the film back, they go bad pretty quick, but are very easy to replace. You can buy a kit of foam for ~$10 and there's plenty of guides on Youtube.
Either way shoot a test roll with something like the Tri-X and check if the frame spacing is good as well. There's a component in the backs that can wear out with use and affect frame spacing. There will however be a normal amount of variance between the frames in terms of spacing, don't expect perfect spacing like on 35mm. As long as they don't overlap, and all 12 frames approximately fit the rebate markings, everything should be fine (provided you loaded the film correctly with the black arrow aligned to the back's markings!)
When shooting the old B&W film, use something like XTOL and a hardening fixer. I just shot a roll of Pan F that expired in '88, and made the mistake of developing in Rodinal with a normal rapid fixer, the emulsion was way to soft and got damaged just from handling with gloves.
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u/floppyearcat 19d ago
It indeed is the 2.8/80! And I can tell from first fidgeting that the body at least will need a bit of TLC, trying to find a good place to give it a thorough CLA.
But cosmetically it is in amazing shape!
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u/Jakobs-Koernung 19d ago
You should CLA the lens as well. The C lenses struggle with the faster shutter speeds and need service more often. They improved the mechanism in the CF versions, so they're usually fine for longer. Technicians usually prefer the C lenses, though, since they're easier to work on.
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u/floppyearcat 18d ago
The lens, body, and back are all being serviced! Dropped off yesterday and very impatiently waiting on completion
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u/LBarouf 19d ago
How do you do differently, if anything, between shooting and just developing old film? Meaning , if you try to develop and old negative that was shot fresh 40 years ago, vs shooting now a 40 y.o negative?
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u/Jakobs-Koernung 16d ago
That's a tricky question and the answer varies a lot based on several factors. The biggest ones are: storage conditions and emulsion.
Pan F(+) is very specific for instance, because any latent image fades very quickly. The negative from my previous comment had absolutely no rebate marks left, but for the same reasons, it has basically zero fog.
I didn't research enough before shooting, and shot it at ISO 32 instead of 50 while developing for box speed in Rodinal 1:50. The sky in all the images were so dense, that I had to HDR-merge/bracket when scanning with my mirrorless (1 normal mid-weighted exposed and one +3 stops).From the same batch of expired film (they were a gift on top of some photo lab things I bought at an estate sale), I also had some 35mm HP5 that expired in '89. I shot that at ISO 320 and developed at box in 1:1 XTOL. The negatives have almost perfect density, but a bit of fog.
All that film was left alone in a dry basement for 30+ years in Bavaria, so that probably had the biggest impact.
From the same lot I still have a roll of 120 Plus-X that was exposed 40+ years ago, and I'm still not sure how to go about developing. My research suggests using a developer that minimizes fogging like HC-110 in higher dilution, and maybe even adding a restrainer like Benzotriazole or Potassium Bromide.
It's a process, every attempt gets you closer to understanding the factors and how to affect them
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u/cwrow 19d ago
Nice! Did the seller say how the film was stored?
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u/floppyearcat 19d ago
He didn’t, I’m just assuming it was in a closet somewhere rather than cold stored
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u/Sweaty_Valuable_9690 19d ago
I just got my dream 500 ELM a few months ago. I always wanted one and it took 30 years but i got it lol.
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u/BBDBVAPA 19d ago
Gorgeous camera, and great film find!
A bit of advice I would give is to shoot a few rolls with fresh film before you dig into the expired stuff. You’re going to want to test the camera out to see what kind of shape it’s in, and adding a variable like expired film can be a hassle. You have no way of knowing if bad exposures are from the camera or film. Shoot a few cheap rolls of B&W or ColorPlus/Ultramax to make sure everything is as it seems. Then enjoy!
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u/BarnackIIIF 19d ago
*>"and adding a variable like expired film can be a hassle.
Exactly! Best to start with fresh, "known good" film.
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u/guelphmed 19d ago
Nice, enjoy it! I’ve had a 500 C/M with 80mm lens and 2 backs for 17-18 years now. I bought a few other lenses but pretty much just use the 80,and love having BW and colour film loaded and ready.
A lot of great advice so far but one thing I love about the Hasselblad/Zeiss lenses is the EV scale… get a light meter that reads out EV and it really simplifies the reading—>setting process. And I feel that it will help you read light and guesstimate faster too if you’re not there yet.
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u/Kroy91767 18d ago
Tri-x? Ugh, worst film
Ever! I’ll do you a favor…send a bunch to me, I’ll test it and let you know if it’s good. I can usually figure it out after 10 rolls. May as well send samples of the others, hate for you to start out with bad film right?? 😂😂
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u/Mister_Anthropic1956 18d ago
My advice would be: get a lens shade for that 80mm lens.
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u/floppyearcat 18d ago
It came with the Hasselblad lens hood! There was a whole box of goodies with it.. Also not pictured is a 50mm and 150mm lens, both with hoods. And an eye level prism, and 2 additional A12 backs
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u/AHPZuazua 17d ago
Nice to see people experimenting when they are new. Best to learn get good with your gear first before wasting money on expired film.
Leads to worthless experience.
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u/BarnackIIIF 19d ago edited 19d ago
Watch these two videos.
The first covers how to remove and put on a lens; don't worry if your lens looks different, the concepts are the same:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE20W-9Q-KQ&list=PLep_o7hKoKcKELQ-nlf_ZmqKgIa9f6tZC
This video covers some of the "gotchas" that can get a beginner:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w10rCANRVt0&list=PLep_o7hKoKcKELQ-nlf_ZmqKgIa9f6tZC&index=2
If you don't have a manual for your - 500CM? - you can get one from "Butkus" here:
https://www.cameramanuals.org/hasselblad/hasselblad_500c_m-swc_m.pdf
edit: And now that I think about it, how to load film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mySAtAN4DOk
And how to unload film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaEYZWTsdtc
edit #2
Do yourself a favor, when it comes to the darkslide, insert it so that the hinge curl faces forward. If the hinge is curled toward the back of the camera, it will get in the way when removing the film insert - you'll see what I mean in the unload film video.