Hasselblad Jamnation Blues

I got the blues

Yeah, I got them blues

I got them Hasselblad jamnation blues

Ohhhh yeah, I do, I got them jamnation blues…

Yesterday I received the bad news on the cost of fixing my 500 C/M body that was all jammed up as I earlier reported. After California taxes this will probably cost me about $200 bucks. About 1/3 the cost of a used but slightly newer 501 or 503 body. sigh.

Of course in the process of trying to do the initial fix of the camera myself I end up finding all of the on-line articles about how tricky it is to use the Hasselblad extension tubes, especially with the older lens, like mine. And the older 150mm C f/4 Sonnar (again, mine) are especially tricky and there even appears to be a secret handshake on how to mount and unmount this lens with the extension tubes. So I am not going back to this lens set up again and I will probably sell the two extension tubes I have. Snake-oil.

Update: I did sell the two 21mm extension tubes and then had later regrets (the 120 Makro lens does not focus as close as I needed), which doing some calculations, I was better served purchasing a 32mm extension tube for the Hasselblad, as I post here.

So now I am thinking that if I want to have macro images for at least one of my on-going project, Memory Pods, I am going to need to consider purchasing a used 120mm CF f/4 Makro-Planar lens for the Hasselblad. I have read enough to understand that the older 120mm C lens are not very good in comparison to the CF model and the newer CFi is not that much of an improvement for what I want to photograph over the CF model (and save a few bucks in the process over the cost of a 120mm CFi). Also thinking that I might be able to use this Makro lens for two other projects as well, so potentially not a one-off project purchase.

Always something, eh?

Featured Photograph: 150mm C with two extension tubes, Hasselblad 500 C/M, 2017 copyright Douglas Stockdale

PS did I mention I still have two to three weeks to get the body back from the repair shop? sigh. So I am still using the Canon 5DMk3 with the 50mm f/1.4 in the mean time. Not a bad digital back-up option.

Update: I have since learned that there is a very specific process for using extension tubes with the Hasselblad that will help you avoid the Jamnation Blues, which I explain in detail here.

Second Update: I did purchase as 120mm CF f/4 Makro-Planar lens as posted here.