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The first HassIeblad I ever used was a 500C, which uses a leaf shutter. This was in the early sixties. The model 1600 had first been released over a decade before. It used a focal plane curtain shutter and as indicated by the model designation, had an upper speed of 1/1600. Although the fast shutter speed was desirable for news and action photographers, the slow flash synchronization speed is typical of focal plane shutters. It is the main reason the Hasselblad 500C using lenses with built in leaf shutters was born. These sync at any speed, unlike the curtain shutter, which was built into the camera body, independent of the lenses.
Both the 1600 and 1000 camera models used stop-down focusing, as it is sometimes called. This technique involves opening the diaphram wide enough, usually all the way to the largest aperture, in order to see clearly and focus the camera. Before the shutter is released it is then necessary to adjust the f/stop to the correct exposure setting. The lenses for these Hasselblads make this quite easy to do, with the mere anti-clockwise slide of an outer lens ring. Often, it can be helpful to take a look through the readjusted SLR finder in order to get a true picture of the depth of field. But often, there simply is not enough light to see clearly, once the lens has been stopped down.
The photographs shown here are of a Hasselblad 1000F, the only 50's era focal plane Hasselblad example that I have left. This partcular example of the first modular system includes a back, dark slide, and a prism finder without the eye-cup. This camera works very well. The Carl Zeiss 80mm Tessar 2.8 lens is in excellent operating order. I will post pictures taken with this set-up as soon as I can. The lens glass is excellent as is the mirror. The lens chrome shows some oxidation. As shown on the front left upper body, the black body covering is separated in one place. Once plentiful on the used market, these Hasselblad models are now becoming very hard to find even in this condition. Vintage camera restoration is becoming almost as popular as is camera collecting itself.
This was a secondary camera that was never prepared for display in the camera museum. It is a good candidate for restoration or for use. Included as shown in the photographs, is a beautiful brown Hasselblad Ever-Ready Case; the stitching has come undone as shown, and the strap is boken in one place, but is still a very fine specimen.
The camera back does not readily come off. It is stuck on the camera body. Therefore, the finder can not be removed either. I have restored several such cameras, and it just has to be carefully worked with to get it apart, but since I am short of time for this project, I am doing nothing else to this one.
This finder is without the eyecup, and it shows a lot moe cosmetic abuse than acurately reflects it good operating condition. This one was covered with velcro as was a common practice for holding accessories. I do have another lens with good glass and somewhat better cosmetics, but the stop-down feature is not as smooth as is this one. I also have a lot of vintage Hasselblad meomorabilia to help someone make an interesting display for this great old camera.
Also pictured is a tan Hasselblad case which is in very ragged-out condition, but it is an authentic example of the case styling none-the-less. As rugged as these cases are, this one had to have been heavily abused to get in this condition. Even so, the case still provides the hard-cover protection it was design for. This extraordinary construction is typical of Hasselblad accessories. One handle is loose in the case. As you can see, this case priveds a good foundation for a vintage display.
One of the last pictures shown here is of the Hasselblad full-length black strap, which is as new. For the purposes of this blog, you will be very impressed with the image quality produced with this camera. These will be added soon
For this reason, one began to learn Depth of Field tables and to use the DOF range indicators inscribed on the outside of the lenses. Where these are often a mysterious set of petroglyph's seen on modern cameras to be used exclusively by propeller heads, they were once an essential part of the photographic process, and can still be helpful today.
The mislabeled f model started a revolution when it was introduced in 1948. The System 1600f was a system camera, meaning that it was a modular design, which could be customized to meet various photographic needs. You could swap out different backs, interchangeable lenses, and viewfinders to configure the camera into the precise photographic instrument you needed for the task at hand. http://medfmt.8k.com/mf/hussy.html]
A slow sync speed, when used with flash at twilight, even while in sync often results in a double image--one from the flash, and one from extraneous light, the second generally blurring any movement. An electronic flash operates at speeds of 1/50,000 second or faster (or slower, depending upon the distance to the subject (If this sounds incredible, recall that the speed of light is accepted to be 186,000 miles per second.) So the speed-freezing capability of a modern flash is much faster than that of a mere 1/300 fraction of a second.
Effectively, two pictures are taken when enough ambient light exists to also make an exposure. In full daylight, the differing brightness between flash and available light is not enough to result in two exposures.
This was always a drawback of many otherwise fine cameras, including 35 mm SLR's. But for what was being billed as the finest camera in the world, it was simply unacceptable. The rapid speed of the large titanium shutter curtain also led to the silk shutter binding threads sometimes unraveling without much use. (continued below)
[Only around 50 units were produced in 1949, and perhaps 220 in 1950, of what collectors have come to designate the Series One camera. The Series Two versions of the 1600F, perhaps as many as 3300 made from 1950 to 1953, were more reliable but still subject to frequent repairs, with many units having been cannibalized or modified by the factory.]
[In 1953, a much-improved camera, the 1000F was released. In 1954, they took the 1000F design and mated it to the groundbreaking new 38mm Biogonlens designed by Dr. Bertele of Zeiss to produce the SWA (Supreme Wide Angle, later changed to Super Wide Angle). Though a specialty product not intended to sell in large numbers, the SWA was an impressive achievement, and derivatives were sold for decades. Hasselblad took their two products to the 1954 Photokinatrade show in Germany, and word began to spread.]
[* In December 1954, the 1000F camera received a rave review from the influential American photography magazine, Modern Photography. They put over 500 rolls of film through their test unit, and intentionally dropped it twice, and it continued to function
The 1600 gave way to the 1000, which as you might guess, had a upper speed of 1/1000. Although this did not help with the slow sync speed, it did help the silk threads that held the shutters together to wear better.
As a mentioned above, the lost speed of the shutter really didn't matter that much, because the Hasselblad had then been relegated primarily to the studio, where shutter and sync speed were less of a factor. Still Hasselblad was not to give up their ambitions. The ergonomic design and portability, the 6x6 format, and the superb optics were being heralded as a break-through. (continued below)
[*It should here be noted that Hasselblad was by no means finished with focal plane shutters. In the early seventies, the 2000 models, with a top shutter speed, true to the model designation, of 1/2000 second designed with a hew "space-age" fabric that wore better and with a modified design of the focal plane shutter was used.]
World War II from * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasselblad
[During World War II, the Swedish military captured a fully functioning German aerial surveillance camera from a downed German plane. This was probably a Handkammer HK 12.5 / 7x9, which bore the codename GXN.]
[The Swedish government realised the strategic advantage of developing an aerial camera for their own use, and in the spring of 1940 approached Victor Hasselblad to help create one. In April 1940, Victor Hasselblad established a camera workshop in Gothenburg called Ross AB in a shed at an automobile shop near a junkyard and working in the evenings in cooperation with an auto mechanic from the shop and his brother, began to design the HK7 camera.]
[By late 1941, the operation had over twenty employees and the Swedish Air Force asked for another camera, one which would have a larger negative and could be permanently mounted to an aircraft; this model was known as the SKa4. Between 1941 and 1945, Hasselblad delivered 342 cameras to the Swedish military.[1].]
The 500C fit the bill. It had all of the good features, along with a onboard shutter in each lensthat sync'd with electronic flash at speeds up to 1/500--plenty fast as it turned out, for many types of photography. The C designates the Compur shutter design. Retroactively, the 1600 and 1000 were designated as F models to differentiate their Focal Plane shutters.
Various lenses were used with the two early series of commercial cameras. At first, the Kodak Ektar lenses were used (Hasselblad had long been the most succesful dealer in Kodak products.) Carl Zeiss then began producing lenses for Hasselblad, which proved to be an enduring relationship.
Little else changed in the physical design of the Hasselblad for forty years. I'll get to these newer models in another post. But for now, let me not slight these early models-the 1000F and the 1600F, for they were indeed fine and revolutionary cameras. SLR's with a medium format negative had long been sought after. The friendly design was deemed so important that Porche, the excellent sports-car designers, had been contracted to help come up with a revolutionary user-friendly design, which is still evident today.
As a studio camera, as well as a light-duty field camera, these models are still excellent. The optics whether made by Kodak, with the earlier issued cameras, or the later models which sported Zeiss lenses, have always aimed at being the best.
There were fewer of the F model cameras made than the models to come (~3500 of the 1500, and ~10,500 1000's), consequently it is a pleasant and rare find ro encounter one for sale that is in functional shape. If you have any interest in owning one of these cameras either as a user or a collector, you'd better scarf the next functioning one you find. Even with a partially-functioning find, the modular design of the Hasselblad renders them easily to put together piece-mill. Replacing shutters or mirrors and other things that can go wrong are not too complex wither.
If you are reticent about undertaking a fix or restoration, any reputable camera repairman can do the job. Just be sure to get a quote ahead of time. Indeed, vintage camera restoration is becoming something of a hobby unto itself and I suspect the trend will only become stronger. Some shops specialize in restorations rather than mere repairs. It can be costly.
There were two other special edition Hasselblad cameras produced during this time as well, which were rare then and that much more rare now. There was an aerial camera and a picture is included in the link below. Actually, the HK-7 was designed first, during WWII, and used by the Royal SwedishAir-Force. This advanced Victor Hasselblad's plans closer to the proto-typical model of the 1600, which was subsequently released in short supply in 1948. Then in the mid-fifties, concurrent with the 1000F, the Supreme Wide Angle, camera, more of a wide-angle box camera, won acclaim for its unique archetectural applications.
I will soon place pix of my Hasselblad 1000 here. I ALSO HAVE A 1600, which I am restoring. Meanwhile, please submit any questions or posts of your own from the comments section below. I also will include a link to a Hasselblad site that shows. these models.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasselblad The founder's son, Arvid Viktor Hasselblad, was interested in photography and started the photographic division of the company. Hasselblad's corporate website [1] quotes him as saying I certainly don’t think that we will earn much money on this, but at least it will allow us to take pictures for free.