Hasselblad 500c and Phase One P45 Back - long exposure not working?

[kristyansen]

Dear all

I have a newly acquired P45 (non plus) back for my Hasselblad 500c which I use tethered and is actually quite fun.

All works nice, including with Capture One integration for exposures less or equal to 1 second, but I have issues with exposures longer than 1 second in B / Bulb mode.
I am setting the camera to B, and using a remote trigger, I press the shutter, keep it pressed, and let is go after 3-4 seconds, but the back already beeps and sends the picture to Capture One.
The resulting image has some strange green color casts, and vertical darker frames left and right from the middle.
I am not quite sure what I am doing wrong, or if the camera has an issue.

How do you do long exposures with this set-up?

Thanks in advance for your experience and / or ideas,
Cristian

 

[darr]

Is your back set to short latency or long latency?
Do you have a wake-up cable?

Could you post some images of your setup?

 

[kristyansen]

Sure, here is my set-up (I show it without the Firewire cable, since the same happens if I use battery and a CF card)

• Yes, camera is set on Short latency as per manual. If I attempt to do Long latency, when I trigger the shutter there is an error on the digital back that "short latency" is required
• I connect the shutter sync of the lens (Zeiss Planar 2.8 80 chrome) to the digital back - to the 2.5mm connector (as per manual)
• (not relevant for this issue but I connect the flash from the sync connector of the digital back to the flash trigger - but this is not relevant, when the trigger is off, the back still takes the picture after 1 second independent of how long the shutter is maintained on B)
• I have a remote trigger, but the same happens if I trigger the camera shutter manually, also just writing on CF card, without any connection to the laptop
• Is an additional "wake-up" cable needed too?

Thanks for any thoughts...

 

[hasselblad 503cw]

Try using Phase one 8 pin sync cable connect pc mount of lens with back
then connect flash or remote with the pc mount of the back
using normal latency
My back is P65+, just have normal latency or zero latency which used for SWC or Flexbody. don't know what is setting for P45.
I have used this setup 12 years all good.

 

[algrove]

I have one of those "Phase one 8 pin sync cable connect pc mount" laying around just like the image shown above and no longer used since I no longer have my P45.

After looking at my old PO stuff I also have 2 other cables, but for the life of me I do not remember what they were used for. One has an 8 pin end but the other end is split into two connectors-a pc connector AND another connector with LEMO FFA.00 stamped on it. The second one is labeled as an Alpa Sync Cord Mark II which also splits into two cords where one end has an adapter at the end which has an 8 pin connector on it and the other has a similar connector just like the aforementioned cable with LEMO FFA.00 stamped on it. With a magnifier both of these unknown chrome colored ends have the same thing stamped on them-LEMO FFA.00.

Anyone know what that with LEMO FFA.00 stamped on it connects to? Thanks.

 

[darr]

A wake-up cable allows Phase One digital backs to be used on cameras with mechanical shutters. It has a button that, when pushed, wakes up the digital back.
Here is a graphic from my site of the type I use (there are less expensive cables available):

--

It sounds like a timing (latency) issue.
You may need to use a wake-up cable in long latency mode.
I know what the manual says about short latency, but that is not working!

Try this, as this is how I do long exposures with my tech cameras and the P45:

1. Attach wake-up cable to the P45 back
2. PC flash sync to the lens
3. Put the camera in B mode
4. Press the wake-up cable,
5. Then do your long exposure in B mode with the mirror locked up

Let us know how it goes.
Best of luck!

 

[algrove]

Guess the OP disappeared.

 

[darr]

Guess the OP disappeared.

Hopefully, he got it working and doesn't need us anymore.

 

[algrove]

Hopefully, he got it working and doesn't need us anymore.

Just out of courtesy a small word would be nice, especially for a new member.

 

[kristyansen]

Hi All

thanks for all the replies. Just to mention: I have quite a busy professional life (this week we organized a conference with 300 people besides my usual daily business) so trying solutions for photography which is still not my main profession got quite a low priority… besides this, I never get email notifications from the forum despite activating the option, even for my registration I had never gotten the email link to validate my email despite tens of ‘resends’ so I had to personally write to the forum admins to manually activate my mail - which they kindly and thankfully did.

Now back to the subject:
- I used the time to order the ‘simple’ 8pin cable mentioned above by @hasselblad 503cw and @algrove - received it yesterday and tried it - it does not work - I get the same wrong picture. Also setting to long exposure returns the same sync error that I should switch to short exposure.
- So I am considering the Alpa cable with the wake up feature; can it be however that it costs around USD 400? This is half the price of my camera. Looking at the Alpa website: https://www.alpa.swiss/product-group/alpa-releases I do not find however the same product number mentioned by you, Darlene. Any ideas / confirmation here would be good.

I still wonder whether another 500 / 500cm
Or newer 500 series body would perform better with the set-up, but this is another story.

(also in the process I got my 500c body and lens jammed, with the camera’s shutter barn doors at the back of the camera open and mirror up so this is the first I must fix )

Kind regards,
Cristian

 

[FloatingLens]

To me the symptoms more sound like a problem with the PC sync port of the lens rather than the cable. I believe I had similar (intermittent) problems with one of my lenses. The flash contacts, as far as I know, need regular maintenance - especially for the older shutter types. Do you have another lens to try out?

 

[darr]

I would NOT purchase another cable. What FloatingLens suggests would be my next troubleshooting step.
Have you tried using another lens to see if the PC sync port is the problem?
If you have and you are receiving the same error, then the back or body may need to be looked at.

@itsdoable stated in a previous thread: "the 500c has a body x-sync (for photomicrography) which you can use to trigger the back - which means you don't have to reconnect the sync cord when you change lenses. Just check that yours is still wired, a lot of service tech's removed the internal wires to make assembly easier, as they were often not used."

I would look into this further, as the body may be wired differently than we know.
Do you have another 500 body you can test the back on with your lens, cables, etc?

 

[algrove]

Cristian
Do not know where you live but I could send you my wakeup cable that I no longer use and if it works make me an offer so that you do not have to ship it back. I offer this only if you are a CONUS resident. Keep it in mind.

 

[kristyansen]

Hi everybody

Thank you all for your advice and thoughts. I am always impressed.

I had a breakthrough: I was able to try the set-up with my camera and another C lens and the P45 back. I was able to make it work including in B mode!
So it seems there is something with the sync contact of the initial Zeiss Planar 80cm lens.

Are there any ways to fix this sync connector? Any cleaning to try myself before going to a specialist? I remember I had to tighten slightly the sync cable until it even worked on the lens at all (even before I came to the B mode problems).

@algrove: thank you so much for your answer which is highly appreciated - I live however in Europe in Switzerland, so I do no qualify.

Best regards,
Cristian

 

[FloatingLens]

I would send it in. These are components internal to the lens. Cleaning of the sync contacts is standard procedure by my repair shop of choice. With old lenses, there is also sometimes corrosion of the port which can also create trouble.

 

[kristyansen]

To add to this, I have tried the additional sync port on the 500c body too - it does not work, unfortunately. If I connect the flash, the flash does not trigger. If I connect the digital back, it shows a sync error when finishing the exposure.

Maybe a specialist will be able to fix this too, depending on the price - not yet sure how much a lens CLA costs to fix the lens sync port, and in addition this.

I am also considering having the matte screen upgraded by a specialist to a brighter one, which I would prioritize vs fixing the secondary sync port on the body.

 

[itsdoable]

<snip> I have tried the additional sync port on the 500c body too - it does not work, unfortunately. If I connect the flash, the flash does not trigger. If I connect the digital back, it shows a sync error when finishing the exposure.

That means the wiring harness has been removed or cut during a previous service. They are not hard to install. I know someone that has some spare wiring harnesses because he use to ... umm.. remove them during service when the user didn't need them - this was pretty common practice. At least he removed the complete harness, a lot of techs just cut them and left the ends in there. But you don't need the harness, a new wire can just be soldered in.

 

[kristyansen]

Dear All,

I have a dilemma - after going to a camera shop where the owner is an avid user of Hasselblad 500 cameras, he also tested the P45 back with his Zeiss Planar C 80 lenses - same result like mine - the B exposure starts, but ends long before I take the finger from the shutter, and the strange lines appear in the picture. At the same time, with other lenses of his, as well as my second lens, the P45 back worked well also on B mode.

We were both a bit puzzled - and I want to ask whether this is just a coincidence, or does any of you knows for sure that the old silver Zeiss Planar 80 C really works with this P45 in B mode? Otherwise I will indeed try to get on offer for getting the lens checked / repaired (also do not know what to expect as a price range for such a service).

Thanks for your thoughts,
Cristian

 

[FloatingLens]

A proper lens CLA should be between 50-100,- EUR.

 

[FloatingLens]

Could it be that you both have the C lens shutter on X mode? (Just a thought if these are not frequently used for electronic flash photography…)