HELP! Jammed Hasselblad and I fly tomorrow!

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Mark
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I could use a little help as my Hassleblad has jammed and I am off on honeymoon tomorrow.

I cannot wind on and cannot remove lens.

Googled and found the text and the bottom and tried that but the lens still will not come off. Any ideas?

TIA

Mark


"My camera jammed. What should I do?

Even though I think the Hasselblad is the most dependable camera in the world, (ok, I'll admit it, I'm prejudiced), it is possible for it to jam. When a Hasselblad jams, it is usually due to a broken spring. If this happens to you, there is a way to unjam it.

The most likely time a Hasselblad will jam is when you fire the camera. (Naturally!) The blades in the lens will close, the mirror will flip up and the auxiliary shutters will open. So far, so good. But the shutter in the lens doesn't open for the exposure. You know something is wrong, but don't know what to do. Your first reaction is to try to wind the body. That's ok. So you try to wind the body, but it won't wind. Your second reaction would probably be to try to remove the lens. So you try to get the lens off the body, but it won't come off. So here you are with a jammed camera that you can't wind and the lens won't come off.

Here's what you should do:

Remove the magazine from the camera and place the camera on a firm, flat surface. If the back flaps are not open, gently push them open. If you look into the body from the back, you will see two screw heads towards the bottom of the front plate. The larger screw on the right is the screw that holds the front key cover in place. The smaller screw to the left of that one is actually not a screw at all; it is the slotted end of the front key shaft.
Hold the camera body firmly with one hand, and, with the other hand, insert a screwdriver into the slot of the front key shaft (the smaller one on the left). While you are holding the body with the other hand, turn the screwdriver clockwise. As you do this, the mirror should start to move down and the rear flaps should start to close. That's ok. Continue turning the screwdriver clockwise until it won't turn anymore. (Don't worry, you can't over wind the shaft.) At this point, have an assistant press the lens release button and try to remove the lens from the body."
 
Not wishing to come across facetious, in your shoes, just going on honeymoon, I'd buy a point and shoot at the airport. It sounds too risky just relying on the Hasselblad. Sounds more like a Hassle-blad!!
 
Not wishing to come across facetious, in your shoes, just going on honeymoon, I'd buy a point and shoot at the airport. It sounds too risky just relying on the Hasselblad. Sounds more like a Hassle-blad!!

I can't agree with this at all I'm afraid. It would definitely be worth the hassle to me, as a point and shoot just doesn't compare, so I hope you get it sorted, Mark.

-RJ
 
Sorry to hear this news, and you can't take a camera on holiday if you can't trust it...as it could happen again.
 
Whilst not exactly facetious a point and shoot is a bit of a last resort and I am not quite there yet as I have a number of 35mm alternatives here but as I had planned to take the Hasselblad and bought a shedload of film (and a new polarising filter!) in anticipation I thought I would ask in case this was a well known / easily fixed problem but it doesn’t seem to be.

I was also taking a backup of a Dynax 9, a 50/1.4 and a 200/2.8 so all is not lost!
 
Whilst not exactly facetious a point and shoot is a bit of a last resort and I am not quite there yet as I have a number of 35mm alternatives here but as I had planned to take the Hasselblad and bought a shedload of film (and a new polarising filter!) in anticipation I thought I would ask in case this was a well known / easily fixed problem but it doesn’t seem to be.

I was also taking a backup of a Dynax 9, a 50/1.4 and a 200/2.8 so all is not lost!

On a strangely positive note, at least the problem popped up before you left rather than after.

I was in Slovenia last week and my Fuji GA645 camera developed a malfunction somewhere between leaving the UK and arriving in Slovenia. So, I didn't even get to use it at all, I had to carry it around the whole time (admittedly it isn't really that big as MF cameras go though), and I didn't have any backup besides my iPhone...

I probably learned a lesson though travelling with an electronics-laden camera and no backup option.

However, I guess any camera, film or digital, mechanical or electronic, can develop a fault at any time, unfortunately :crying:.
 
Shame you are not closer Mark...could have borrowed my Hassy for the honeymoon.

Don't have any solution I'm afraid, but good luck in trying to get it fixed and hope you have a lovely time.
 
I'm a bit late coming to this, but most problems with Hassys locking up are caused by removing the lens without the shutter and camera body both being cocked, which you should never ever do. If the lens was off the camera you could see by looking at the back of the lens that there's a slot into which you can insert a flat headed screwdriver and by turning the screw to align with an adjacent red dot you now cock the lens and provided the camera body is also wound on and cocked you will be able to fit the lens as usual.

For some reason your camera has lost sync with the lens which is almost certainly due to the lens being uncocked. If you remove the magazine and carefully lift one of the blinds on the back you can gain access to this screw on the back of the lens which you can see quite clearly looking through the back. Use a longish screwdriver and carefully turn the screw to the red dot to cock the lens shutter. You can buy a specialist screwdriver for this job which fits over the head of the screw so there's no danger of slipping off.

Once that's done and as long as the body is wound on and cocked the camera should operate as normal.
 
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I realise it is late, but, if you are flying out late today and wish to come to the Medway towns you can take my EL body and if you have the one lens which is stuck on the body I can sort you out a 80mm planer.
 
Richard and Steve, many thanks both! And brave bearing in mind I have stuffed one Hasselblad already!

The mirror was still up and the screw rotation from the back didn't resolve things so I gave up, packed Minolta and booked a service for the Hasselblad for when I get back

So, at least I have my excuse lined up for some ropey shots from down here!

Thanks again chaps for the loan offers

Regards

Mark
 
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