Stuck within a 5km radius of my home during Sydney’s 2021 Covid lockdown, I committed to making the most of the 1-hour daily exercise allowance and ritual gear maintenance. It’s time to return to a classic… the Hasselblad 503CX.

I endeavour to use each part of my kit at least once a year, partly to justify keeping it (hence my mantra: “Lose it if you don’t use it”). This also has the added bonus of staving off GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and checking that everything is functioning correctly… vital when it comes to older mechanical film cameras.

I had suspected that one of my A12 film backs was out of tolerance, due to the frame counter not resetting properly. There was only one way to properly test it, loading it with an old expendable roll of Ilford FP4. At the same time, I shot only with my workhorse Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 CF, carefully working through the shutter speed and aperture range (and also noting my settings) to test for sticky shutter issues.

Let’s take a look at some results:

If you know, you know. The local newsagent hasn’t updated its weathered signage in decades.
Ironically located on a quiet street corner.
Despite shooting on B/W film, somehow still managed to capture some hazy winter rays.
Some photos are of literal accidents…
… and happy accidents where the scans from the lab still ended up reasonably well-framed despite spacing issues.

Upon return of my dev’d and scanned film, my suspicions proved to be correct… with only 9 shots being recorded as the spacing got worse through the roll. Nevertheless, I was still pleasantly surprised at the recorded subjects, even if a little pedestrian (pardon the pun).

In hindsight, I’m glad for the change of pace, checking over the functionality of my favourite cameras. With one misbehaving film back off for service, a potential mishap on future shoots has most certainly been avoided.

If anyone has any habits, rituals or gear maintenance tips, please share!