Hasselblad 500C/M

Hasselblad · Hasselblad V mount · 56×56mm nominal on 120; 6×4.5 via the A16/A16S magazines, 220 via the A24, 70mm via the Magazine 70 · 1970

Also known as: Hasselblad 500C/M · Hasselblad 500CM · Hasselblad 500 C/M · Hasselblad 500 CM · 500C/M · 500CM · 500 C/M · Hasselblad 500cm · Hasselblad 500C/M 25th Anniversary · Hasselblad 500C/M Gold Exclusive

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
500C/M, chrome	Hasselblad V	1970–1994	Two-letter year code + five or six digits: UV1xxxxx (1971) … RI (1984), RE (1989); with a third letter C in 1977 (UUC…); with a two-digit numeric product prefix from 1990	About 272,000 for all 500C/M models 1970–1994, per Jo Geier drawing on Nordin — one source, not a factory figure
500C/M, black	Hasselblad V	1973–1994	Same two-letter code as chrome; no separate black block is published — e.g. RS1243209 (1980), RU1409882 (1987) offered as black bodies by Blue Moon Camera	No split between finishes is published
500C/M 25 Years 1949–1974	Hasselblad V	1974–1974	UI-prefixed bodies (1974), e.g. UI152288 = edition no. 0503 (Leitz Auction), UI152077 (Blue Moon Camera); edition numbers seen 0274, 0503, 0780, 1276 of 1500	1,500 numbered cameras — 1 black and 1,499 chrome, per Jo Geier drawing on Nordin
500C/M Gold Exclusive (500C 30 Years)	Hasselblad V	1987–1987	RU-prefixed bodies (1987), e.g. RU1401862 = no. 0195/1400, RU1403713 (Camera West); matching gold CF Planar (e.g. 6953152) and gold A12 (RT33xxxxx, 1986)	1,400 sets (Jo Geier; Leitz Auction)
500C/M late standalone body (post-Classic)	Hasselblad V	1992–1994	Two-digit product prefix + two-letter year code, e.g. 10EH… / 10EP… (1992–93); the Classic kits of 1990–92 carry ES/EV/EH codes	—

Variant years for the black body begin at the first documented appearance (April 1973 U.S. price list), not at a launch that no source dates.

How to tell them apart (expand)

Removable focusing screen — hood and magazine off, retaining catches back, screen lifts out; a fixed screen under a screwed frame means a 500C, even if the plate says otherwise
Model name on the accessory-rail plate: 500C/M, except the earliest bodies, which kept the 500C plate
Signal window beside the wind knob showing white (cocked) or red (released); the 501C and 503CXi dropped it
T lock on the shutter release, absent on the 501C
No TTL flash contacts or SCA socket — that is the 503CX; no winder coupling — that is the CXi/CW

500C/M, chrome:

Satin chrome trim and leatherette-covered shell; the wind side carries a knob (or, on later bodies, a folding crank) with a signal window beside it
Focusing screen lifts out from above once the hood and magazine are off — four screen supports and retaining catches; the 500C's screen is fixed under a screwed frame
Earliest bodies still engraved 500C on the accessory rail (Hasselblad Historical; Jo Geier) — a changeable screen with a 500C plate is an early C/M, not a 500C
Late bodies: a single fork-shaped casting joins the tripod shoe to the lower magazine hooks, and the trim around the signal window is more angular (narkive medium-format thread)

500C/M, black:

Black-anodised trim, black hood and black knob/crank; magazines were sold in matching black under their own product numbers (30147 A12 etc.)
Product number 10170 (body only) on the box and in dealer listings; chrome is 10022

500C/M 25 Years 1949–1974:

Sterling-silver plate on the side of the body with Victor Hasselblad's signature and the edition number /1500 (Jo Geier; Leitz Auction)
Otherwise a stock chrome 500C/M of 1974; sold as a kit with 80mm Planar and A12 in a presentation box with papers

500C/M Gold Exclusive (500C 30 Years):

Gold-plated metal parts on body, CF Planar T* 2.8/80, A12 magazine, dark slide and strap fittings; edition number /1400 engraved; certificate and maker's box (Leitz Auction A00441)

500C/M late standalone body (post-Classic):

Acute-Matte screen as delivered (the plain 42165 type is dated to 1989 by Nordin), folding crank, and the later-style hood — the equipment of the 503CX without its flash electronics
Dealers write 'late' for these; the mechanical differences from an early-1970s body are the crank, the screen, the one-piece tripod-shoe casting and the signal-window trim

500C/M, chrome: The standard camera. The April 1973 U.S. suggested-retail list has it at $995.00 with the 80mm Planar f/2.8 and A12 (product 10014), $567.50 with A12 and no lens (10020), and $381.00 as a bare body (10022); by the dealer list effective 1 January 1980 the kit was $2,460.00 and the body $990.00 (Pacific Rim Camera reference library 03158 and 02203). The chrome body outlived the black one in the catalogue: the 501C that replaced it in 1994 came only in black (Hasselblad Historical).
500C/M, black: When the black body first appeared is not settled. It is on the April 1973 U.S. price list — body 10170 at $420.00, with A12 (10175) at $622.00, and as a kit (10178) at $1,337.00 with the black 100mm Planar f/3.5 rather than the 80mm, which at that date was still a chrome lens (Jo Geier dates the black 80mm Planar to 1973/74). So a black 500C/M existed by spring 1973; whether it was catalogued in 1970–72 no consulted source says. The first year given here is the earliest one documented, not a launch date — see `disputed`.
500C/M 25 Years 1949–1974: Issued for the 25th anniversary of the 1600F's introduction (1949–1974). The single black example is reported by Jo Geier only.
500C/M Gold Exclusive (500C 30 Years): Marks thirty years of the 500C (1957–1987). The lens is a CF, not a C — by 1987 the C Planar had been out of production for five years — so a Gold Exclusive with a C lens is a made-up set.
500C/M late standalone body (post-Classic): Hasselblad Historical has the 500C/M available only as the 500 Classic kit from 1990 to 1992 and "again available as a standalone body" from 1992 until the 501C of 1994. Jo Geier instead runs the Classic to 1994 and ends the plain 500C/M in 1988; the two accounts are reconciled in `disputed`. Whether these last bodies carried the 503CX's Palpas anti-reflection coating no consulted source states.

Serial-range notes

Two letters before the digits: Body and magazine serials carry the year in the first two letters via VHPICTURES (V=1 H=2 P=3 I=4 C=5 T=6 U=7 R=8 E=9 S=0): UV = 71, UI = 74, RS = 80, RU = 87, ER = 98. Years 50–99 read 19xx (Hasselblad Historical, Q.G. de Bakker).
Three letters, 1977 (…C): In 1977 a C was appended to the code on 500C/M cameras as a product-type letter; the year is still the first two letters (Hasselblad Historical).
Numeric prefix from 1990: From 1990 a two-digit product-type number precedes the letter code, so a 500 Classic or late body reads 10EV…, 10EH…, etc. The prefix is for factory records and says nothing further about the camera.
Body and magazine dates rarely match: Kits were assembled from stock, so a 1978 body with a 1983 A12 is normal and not evidence of a swap (Blue Moon Camera Codex).

Specifications

Format: 56×56mm nominal on 120; 6×4.5 via the A16/A16S magazines, 220 via the A24, 70mm via the Magazine 70 · 12 on 120 (A12); 16 at 6×4.5 (A16); 24 on 220 (A24) exposures
Finder: waist-level, interchangeable (prism and meter-prism finders available)
Shutter: none in body — auxiliary rear flaps; exposure by the lens leaf shutter · 1s–1/500, B on the Synchro-Compur (C) and Prontor CF lenses · flash sync all speeds (leaf shutter); X and M on C lenses, X only on CF · no self-timer
Film advance: knob with fold-out crank; the knob is removable and swaps for the winding crank or the exposure-meter knob
Back: interchangeable magazines — A12, A16, A16S, A24, Magazine 70, Polaroid 80/100; pre-1970 non-automatic 12/16/24 magazines also fit
Meter: none in body; optional meter knob replacing the winding knob, or the prism finder with light meter (52051)
Motor drive: Not compatible — No winder coupling — the motorised sibling is the 500EL/M; a winder connection arrived with the 503CXi in 1994
Country: Sweden
Original price: US$381.00 body only, US$567.50 with A12, US$995.00 with 80mm Planar f/2.8 and A12 (chrome; black body US$420.00) — U.S. suggested retail, April 1973 (today $2,690)
Accessories: Prism finders NC-2 (45°), HC-3/70 and HC-4 (90°), prism viewfinder with light meter (52051); later PM/PME series · Magnifying hood; sports and frame viewfinders · Winding crank and exposure-meter knob replacing the standard knob · Magazines A12, A16, A16S, A24, Magazine 70, Polaroid 80 and 100, sheet-film adapter · Extension tubes 10/16/21/32/55, bellows extension and automatic bellows, Proxar close-up lenses · Quick-coupling tripod plate, pistol grip, platform gunstock, flash-gun bracket · Automatic Diaphragm Control Unit (ADCU) for the 80/100/150/250 C lenses

Screen changeable by the user — the feature that defines the model. Standard screen 42161; split-image 42188, grid 42234, grid-and-checked 42250; Acute-Matte from 1989 per Nordin

Where sources disagree

Last

1994 — Hasselblad Historical's model table, English and German Wikipedia; the 501C replaces it that year
1988 — Jo Geier (from Nordin), Brooklyn Film Camera and Jeremy Mudd, who treat the 1990–94 Classic as a separate line
1989 — Sunrise Camera
1992 — German Wikipedia's prose, which ends the C/M with the Classic kit

Better supported: 1994

The disagreement is about naming, not hardware: from 1990 the same body was sold as the '500 Classic' kit, and from 1992 again as a plain 500C/M until the 501C of 1994.

First

By April 1973 — the U.S. suggested-retail list of that date carries black 500C/M bodies (10170) and kits
1973/74 — Jo Geier's date for the black 80mm Planar, the kit lens, often read as the date of the black camera

No consulted source gives a launch year for the black body. The black kit of April 1973 was sold with the black 100mm Planar f/3.5, which suggests the 80mm was not yet available in black.

500 Classic kit years

1990–1992 — Hasselblad Historical
1990–1994 — Jo Geier (from Nordin)

Jo Geier adds that Classics built March–December 1991 carry a 50th-anniversary plate for Hasselblad's fifty years as a camera maker.

What reviewers say

Tim Bergstrom, Emulsive (blog) — His favourite camera because it gets out of the way — mid-roll back swaps and the Zeiss glass are the case for it; 1/500 top speed, no meter without the rare meter knob, and the weight of a full kit after a few hours are the case against.
Ben Kepka, Cultured Kiwi (blog) — 4.5/5 — a brilliant piece of engineering that forces a slower pace; not for beginners, because the lens/body cocking interlock will jam the camera if the sequence is wrong.
James Baturin, Shoot It With Film (blog) — The C/M is worth the premium over a 500C for the user-changeable screen alone; reliable and precise, but expensive, heavy to carry as a system and built for composed rather than fast work.
Jo Geier (blog) — A model-by-model buyer's history drawn from Nordin: in 95% of cases a 500C/M with a changeable screen is all anyone needs, and every later V body is a refinement of it.
Jeremy Mudd (blog) — "Damn good" rather than the ultimate: compact for a 6×6 system, holds its value, the lenses are the point — and anyone over fifty should pay for the C/M's screen over a 500C's dim fixed one.
Benj Haisch (video) — A working wedding photographer's long-term view: the modular design is what earns it a place on trips and assignments year after year.
カメラのナニワ (Camera no Naniwa) (blog) — Shop review with many samples: the waist-level view and the interlocks that stop mistakes are the appeal; cracked Palpas foam inside older bodies is common and, in their view, barely affects the pictures. via machine translation — corrections welcome
サンライズカメラ (Sunrise Camera) (blog) — The 500C/M with the 80mm Planar is the "golden combination" for a first Hasselblad — better built than a 500C and still a working tool; the article's own dates (a 1971 model change, production to 1989) do not match Hasselblad Historical. via machine translation — corrections welcome

History

The 500C/M is the 500C with its focusing screen made removable, and very little else. Hasselblad Historical’s model table gives the whole difference in one line — ”+ Screen changeable by user” — and adds that some C/Ms were still labelled 500C, which is why a body with a 500C plate and a screen that lifts out is an early C/M and not a hybrid. Hasselblad’s own history page dates the launch to 1970 and ties it to the prism finder with built-in meter, the accessory whose usefulness depended on being able to match screens to finders; the motorised twin, the 500EL/M, followed with the same change (Hasselblad puts it in 1971). The M was read by the factory as “modified”. The German-language Wikipedia article notes that the camera became the emblem of the brand, and the plain fact behind that is duration: the 500C ran thirteen years, the C/M twenty-four.

The procedure the instruction book describes is the identification test. Magazine and hood off, the two retaining catches slid back, the camera turned over and the screen dropped into a cupped hand; the new screen sits on four supports and the catches lock it when a finder is attached. On a 500C the screen is held under a screwed frame and the job belongs to a technician. Everything else about the body carried over from 1957: no shutter in the camera beyond the auxiliary rear flaps, exposure by the Synchro-Compur (later Prontor CF) leaf shutter in the lens, 1s to 1/500 and flash at every speed, the mirror that stays up after exposure until the film is wound, the signal window that shows red when the body and lens are out of step. The interlock that the reviews complain about — a lens cannot come off a released body — is the same on both.

The price lists fix a few things the histories leave loose. The U.S. suggested-retail sheet of April 1973 (Pacific Rim Camera’s reference library) prices the chrome 500C/M at $381.00 as a bare body, $567.50 with an A12 and $995.00 with the 80mm Planar f/2.8 and A12; under CAMERAS – BLACK FINISH it lists a black body at $420.00 and a black kit at $1,337.00 with the 100mm Planar f/3.5, not the 80mm. That settles that black bodies were catalogued by spring 1973, and the choice of kit lens fits Jo Geier’s date of 1973/74 for the black 80mm Planar: the 100 was already black, the 80 was not. Whether black had been offered in 1970–72 no consulted source says. By the dealer list effective 1 January 1980 the chrome kit was $2,460.00 and the body $990.00, the black versions $30 and $15 more.

Two editions are well documented. In 1974, for twenty-five years since the 1600F, 1,500 numbered cameras received a sterling-silver plate on the body side carrying Victor Hasselblad’s signature; Jo Geier, following Nordin, has 1,499 chrome and a single black one. Leitz Auction’s no. 0503 carries body serial UI152288, the UI decoding to 1974 by Hasselblad Historical’s VHPICTURES key. In 1987, for thirty years of the 500C, 1,400 sets were gold-plated — body, CF Planar T* 2.8/80, A12, slide and strap fittings — and numbered /1400; Leitz’s no. 0195 is RU1401862, with a gold Planar 6953152 and a gold A12 dated RT (1986). The Gold Exclusive is therefore a CF-era camera, and a set offered with a C lens has been assembled later.

The running changes are less well dated than the editions. Paul Burrows (Digital Camera World) puts the fold-away crank in place of the knob from 1984; the manual shows both, the knob being removable in any case for the winding crank or meter knob. Nordin, as reported in a Photrio thread, dates the plain Acute-Matte screen (42165) to 1989, and photoethnography agrees on “the late 1980s”; Hasselblad’s page credits the 503CX of 1988 with the bright screen and the Palpas anti-reflection coating. Whether the last 500C/M bodies — sold as the 500 Classic kit from 1990 and again as a standalone body from 1992 — received Palpas as well as the screen is not stated anywhere consulted; Jo Geier describes the Classic as a 503CX without the flash electronics, which would imply it. Users on the medium-format newsgroup identify late bodies by a one-piece casting joining the tripod shoe to the lower magazine hooks and by more angular trim around the signal window, and add that the changes were not made at the same time.

Even the end date is a naming argument. Hasselblad Historical, Wikipedia and the 501C’s own 1994 introduction give 1994; Jo Geier, Brooklyn Film Camera and Jeremy Mudd give 1988, treating the Classic as a separate model; Sunrise Camera says 1989; German Wikipedia’s prose says 1992. The hardware is one camera throughout. What remains genuinely open: the first year of the black body; whether the Classic’s body received Palpas; and the production total, which stands at about 272,000 for all 500C/M models on Jo Geier’s reading of Nordin and nowhere else — no factory figure, and no split by finish or by year, has been published.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Photographs

Hasselblad 500C/M — Christopher Crouzet, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $2,900 across 9 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $2,100–$3,800). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $2,900.

By day

Date	Median	Middle half	Listings
2026-09-11	$2,900	$2,100–$3,800	9
2026-09-06	$2,900	$2,100–$3,800	9

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

[NEAR MINT] Hasselblad 500CM C/M Body Medium Format Camera From JAPAN — $1,085.99 · eBay
Hasselblad 500cm With Carl Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 Planar Lens And Pm 5 — $1,700.00 · eBay
Hasselblad 500CM chrome with 80mm Zeiss Planar T*, very clean !. from USA — $2,050.00 · eBay · likely 500CM-chrome
[CLA'd MINT] Hasselblad 500CM Film Camera Black C 80mm f2.8 Lens A12 II JAPAN — $2,899.99 · eBay
Hasselblad 500cm w/ 80mm f/2.8 Planar C T* A12 WLVF B#UE1223233 L#6126068 BOS — $2,899.99 · Retro Photo Reading
[MINT in Box] Hasselblad 500CM C/M Camera C T* 80mm f/2.8 Lens A12 II From JAPAN — $2,999.99 · eBay
[UNUSED in Box] Hasselblad 500CM C/M Planar C 80mm F/2.8 Lens A12 II Film Back — $3,799.99 · eBay
Hasselblad 500CM | 50MM F4 T* — $4,300.00 · Brooklyn Film Camera
Hasselblad 500CM C/M 30th Gold Edition 80mm F2.8 Lens — $5,224.99 · eBay
HASSELBLAD 500CM WLF A12 PLANAR CF 80MM F2.8 — £1,780.00 · eBay
[UNUSED in Box] Hasselblad 500CM C/M Planar C 80mm F/2.8 Lens A12 II Film Back — £2,990.88 · eBay
Rare!! 🎦[Top Mint] Hasselblad 500CM C/M 30th Gold Edition 80mm F2.8 Lens... — £4,196.81 · eBay
Hasselblad 500cm Polaroid Film Back + 5 Pola80 Shots Loaded — CA$69.99 · Coastal Film Lab
Hasselblad 500CM C/M Medium Format Film Camera A12 Refurbished — CA$2,000.00 · eBay
Hasselblad 500 CM w/m + 80mm Zeiss T* + Prism - Medium Format Excellent — €1,599.90 · eBay

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Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.