Pete Askew
Admin
I don't really own any display cameras but thought I'd give this camera product shot business a quick go. So, here is a 503CW stripped down to its component parts (obviously without a lens!) and shot with a Hassleblad 503CW + 50mm f/4 CF Zeiss Distagon onto a PhaseOne P20 (1/2 s f/8.0).
Top left is the back housing sitting on its darkslide and in front is the magazine insert (120 film shooting 6x6). In front of that is the manual wind-on crank (can be exchanged for a motor unit). In the middle is the main body housing the mirror and secondary shutter curtain. In front is the focusing screen (in this case an Acute Matt). To the right is a waist-level finder. These can be exchanged for reflex prisms (either with or without a meter), as well as a magnifying hood. The whole system is pretty well interchangeable with cameras dating back to the 1950's. It is, like all of the V systems, fully mechanical and incredibly robust. For example, when the shutter is released (button in the centre of the picture (ie bottom left as you look at the front of the body - the button the other side is the lens release), the shutter in the lens is closed (it is a leaf shutter and so is open either fully or stopped down - you can choose, while composing), the rear safety curtain in the body is raised, then the mirror flips up and the shutter opens to the aperture you have set for the duration of the exposure and then closes. Winding on after the shot, closes the blind, raises the mirror, re-cocks the shutter and advances the film one frame. If you forget to remove the darkslide it won't shoot and if you try to remove the back without the darkslide, you can't: it's locked on until the slide is back in. Once you have shot all of the frames on the roll, you remove the back, wind the film through with the crank on the side of the back, remove the magazine, tape the film down, switch the empty spool to the other side and wind a new film on to the stop arrows. You then insert the magazine into the back and wind the crank until it stops. It's now ready to go again.
You can pre-raise the mirror / close the shutter and raise the rear curtain before taking a shot to minimise shake for long exposures. Aperture and shutter speed are set on the lens. There's a large range of lenses and accessories for these cameras and it's a hugely enjoyable and reliable system to use.
Think it might look better less desaturated so there's more contrast with the monochrome of the mechanics.
Top left is the back housing sitting on its darkslide and in front is the magazine insert (120 film shooting 6x6). In front of that is the manual wind-on crank (can be exchanged for a motor unit). In the middle is the main body housing the mirror and secondary shutter curtain. In front is the focusing screen (in this case an Acute Matt). To the right is a waist-level finder. These can be exchanged for reflex prisms (either with or without a meter), as well as a magnifying hood. The whole system is pretty well interchangeable with cameras dating back to the 1950's. It is, like all of the V systems, fully mechanical and incredibly robust. For example, when the shutter is released (button in the centre of the picture (ie bottom left as you look at the front of the body - the button the other side is the lens release), the shutter in the lens is closed (it is a leaf shutter and so is open either fully or stopped down - you can choose, while composing), the rear safety curtain in the body is raised, then the mirror flips up and the shutter opens to the aperture you have set for the duration of the exposure and then closes. Winding on after the shot, closes the blind, raises the mirror, re-cocks the shutter and advances the film one frame. If you forget to remove the darkslide it won't shoot and if you try to remove the back without the darkslide, you can't: it's locked on until the slide is back in. Once you have shot all of the frames on the roll, you remove the back, wind the film through with the crank on the side of the back, remove the magazine, tape the film down, switch the empty spool to the other side and wind a new film on to the stop arrows. You then insert the magazine into the back and wind the crank until it stops. It's now ready to go again.
You can pre-raise the mirror / close the shutter and raise the rear curtain before taking a shot to minimise shake for long exposures. Aperture and shutter speed are set on the lens. There's a large range of lenses and accessories for these cameras and it's a hugely enjoyable and reliable system to use.
Think it might look better less desaturated so there's more contrast with the monochrome of the mechanics.
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Some people use things like P25's on the V's but, for me, the great thing about the cameras is the square format so using a non-square back (or even a 6x4.5 film back) on them makes no sense. The H's are 645 native of course and for those I use a P45 (and on the Cambo as it is 4x5 ratio) and, rarely, a 645 film back.
