Hasselblad A12 Back Issues

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Carl Hall

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Can anyone with an A12 Hasselblad back please tell me if the winding handle on the back should be able to be turned once the film has been loaded and started to be used (i.e. after the first frame)?

I think my back needs some repair. Yesterday I was using the 500c/m in Bristol and got to frame 9 and noticed that the window on the side of the film back appeared to be somewhere between 8 and 9. I tried turning the handle out of curiosity and found that I was able to wind the film on to frame 9, then 10 and 11, and then on to the end of the roll. I always thought that the handle would only let you wind on to the first frame, and after the last frame, but not in between?

I definitely think I’ve got some sort of frame spacing issue, but if the handle shouldn’t wind on in mid roll, then I think I’ve got that problem too!

Is this something that a service would sort out?
 
Hey Carl. Yeah once you wind on until the start of the roll, that's as far as it goes. My body/lens needs a service too as its now jammed which is annoying.
Hopefully a service should also sort your problem out.
 
Carl Hall said:
Can anyone with an A12 Hasselblad back please tell me if the winding handle on the back should be able to be turned once the film has been loaded and started to be used (i.e. after the first frame).
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gazmorton2000 said:
Hey Carl. Yeah once you wind on until the start of the roll, that's as far as it goes.
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As far as I'm aware, unless some backs are different, the Hasselblad back only stops at the first frame, after which it will wind on continuously to the end.
 
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Sorry RJ, do you mean that the winder stops at the first frame, but after the first frame has been taken, you can then wind it on manually to the end of the roll?
 
Carl Hall said:
Sorry RJ, do you mean that the winder stops at the first frame, but after the first frame has been taken, you can then wind it on manually to the end of the roll?
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To be fair, if that's what it does mean I have never tried it so haven't discovered it! Be curious to find out.
 
skysh4rk said:
Yes, exactly.
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Ok that's interesting, that's one less problem with my back :D Just the frame spacing that's off a bit now. I can sort of cope with that in the short term though, as after each shot I was just winding the back on a click or two until the number was in the center of the window.

Thanks RJ
 
Carl Hall said:
Ok that's interesting, that's one less problem with my back :D Just the frame spacing that's off a bit now. I can sort of cope with that in the short term though, as after each shot I was just winding the back on a click or two until the number was in the center of the window.
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What's the spacing issue that you're having? In my experience, even when functioning properly, frame spacing in Hasselblad backs is far from amazing. It seems to vary from film to film, more so than with any other cameras I've owned.

Unfortunately, Hasselblads have quite a few quirks—too many in my opinion—that were never properly ironed out over the 50 years of the V-series cameras. The free-winding backs, frame spacing, and poor focusing screens being just a few.
 
skysh4rk said:
What's the spacing issue that you're having? In my experience, even when functioning properly, frame spacing in Hasselblad backs is far from amazing. It seems to vary from film to film, more so than with any other cameras I've owned.

Unfortunately, Hasselblads have quite a few quirks—too many in my opinion—that were never properly ironed out over the 50 years of the V-series cameras. The free-winding backs, frame spacing, and poor focusing screens being just a few.
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I believe that it's not moving the film on the full amount with each frame, when I got to the ninth frame the window on the back indicated that it was half way between 8 and 9. I'll have to wait and see what comes out when I develop the rolls to say for sure though (tonight hopefeully, if I can get out of work at 4).

From everything I've read on here and other sites the film backs seem to be the weak point of the V series, although there seem to be a lot of niggles for a camera system that demands such a premium.
 
Carl Hall said:
I believe that it's not moving the film on the full amount with each frame, when I got to the ninth frame the window on the back indicated that it was half way between 8 and 9. I'll have to wait and see what comes out when I develop the rolls to say for sure though (tonight hopefeully, if I can get out of work at 4).
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Gotcha. Let us know what turns out.

I know that I get really tight spacing when I use Acros, for instance, but the images, fortunately, don't overlap. I think the backs might be overly sensitive to differences in thickness between films.
 
skysh4rk said:
Gotcha. Let us know what turns out.

I know that I get really tight spacing when I use Acros, for instance, but the images, fortunately, don't overlap. I think the backs might be overly sensitive to differences in thickness between films.
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Ok, so this in interesting... The first roll where the numbers in the window weren't lining up properly and I didn't wind it on a bit each time are spaced pretty well. The roll after that when I noticed, and where I wound it on a click or two each time to keep the number in the window has spacing which is all over the place. Some of them are slightly overlapped by a couple of mm and others have a 10-12mm gap.

I guess the spacing is fine but the numbers just don't line up in the window properly. Pretty sure it wasn't always like this, but at least the frames line up ok!
 
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