For a general overview, ‘The Hasselblad
Manual’ by Ernst Wildi is recommended.
Here you will find detailed descriptions of
accessories as well as their practical appli-
cation so you can easily make a judgement
about suitability for your type of work.
Accessory rail
Both cameras have an accessory rail on the left
hand side for the spirit level and the adjustable
flash shoe (for small flash units).
Flash
Any flash unit can be connected to the 500 se-
ries cameras via the PC flash terminal on the
lens for manually controlled flash exposure,
see ‘Flash synchronization’ above - illustration
41. The shutter and flash sync speeds are up to
1/500 s.
Automatic flash control, or dedicated flash, is
possible with the 503CW and is provided by
the camera’s built-in flash sensor and electron-
ics (TTL/OTF) that measure the light reflected
from the central portion of the film; a circle
with a diameter of 40 mm. The metering sys-
tem is connected to a selector for setting film
speed.
When a Hasselblad D-Flash 40 is attached - or
an SCA 300 compatible flash unit is connected
through an SCA390 flash adaptor - the system
controls the flash unit and cuts off the flash
when the exposure is correct. Under the left
hand edge of the focusing screen an indicator
light shows when the flash is ready to be oper-
ated and also confirms if the flash output was
sufficient to give a correct exposure. The flash
unit powers the camera’s electronics and also
the flash adaptor, when that is used.
D-Flash 40 (503CW only) 49
The D-Flash 40 utilises the TTL/OTF features
of the 503CW for dedicated operation. It is very
simple to operate, with adjustable positioning
and a guide number of 40/137 (m/ft) and 33/110
(m/ft) in the wide-angle position.
Attaching a Hasselblad flash
adaptor SCA 390 - (503CW only) 50
For hand-held flash units, the adaptor is at-
tached as in the illustration:
the 6-pole contact from the spiral cord is con-
nected to the camera’s dedicated flash con-
nector.
the sync cord is connected from the adaptor
to the PC flash terminal of the lens.
the connecting cord is attached to the hand-
held unit
Setting the film speed - (503CW only) 51
The film speed is set via the ISO selector. This
is marked in ISO/ASA settings from 64 - 4000
(see fig 58 for ISO/ASA - DIN equivalent table ).
Certain films require compensation for differ-
ences in reflection. In these instances, the com-
pensation is made by changing the film speed
17