Hasselblad 500ELX
Hasselblad · Hasselblad V mount · 6×6cm nominal on 120 with the A12 magazine; 6×4.5 with the A16, 4×4 superslide with the A16S, 220 film via the A24, and 70mm perforated film in the 70 magazine. The body has no format of its own — the magazine decides. · 1984
via machine translation — corrections welcomeAlso known as: Hasselblad 500 ELX · Hasselblad 500ELX · 500ELX · 500 ELX · 500 EL/X · 500 EL-X · Hasselblad ELX · ハッセルブラッド 500ELX
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500ELX, chrome | Hasselblad V | 1984–1988 | — | — |
| 500ELX, black | Hasselblad V | 1984–1988 | — | — |
- Date codes from Hasselblad Historical's dating page (Q.G. de Bakker). No serial table for the 500ELX has been published; Nordin's compendia are the place to look and were not consulted directly.
How to tell them apart
- '500ELX' nameplate on the left side of the body shell; 'HASSELBLAD' across the front of the finder surround
- Film speed selector dial with a flash symbol on the left side of the body, and a 6-pole OTF socket with screw-on cover beside it — the two controls a 500EL/M lacks
- Signal diode visible under the left edge of the focusing screen
- Battery cover on the left of the motor housing sized for the DEAC 5/600DKZ NiCd cells; a 553ELX has a longer compartment for five AA cells
- 3/8in tripod socket in the centre of the quick-coupling plate (the 553ELX changed to 1/4in)
- 5-pole DIN side socket with protective plug at the rear right of the motor housing; two release sockets on the front of the motor housing
- Painted interior without the Palpas lining of the 553ELX — the auxiliary blinds show plain black, not the matte rubbery coating that cracks with age
- Product no. 10220 for the black body (Kamerastore); the chrome number has not been found
500ELX, chrome:
- Satin-chrome trim on body shell and motor housing, black leatherette; '500ELX' nameplate on the left side of the body above the motor housing
- ISO selector dial (15/16–1000) on the left side of the body and a covered 6-pole OTF socket beside it — neither exists on a 500EL/M
- Battery compartment cover on the left of the motor housing takes the DEAC 5/600DKZ NiCd cells, not AA cells
500ELX, black:
- Product no. 10220 (Kamerastore's listing)
- Black-finished trim on body and motor housing in place of satin chrome; otherwise identical to the chrome body
- The instruction manual's photographs show a black body throughout
- 500ELX, chrome: No product number for the chrome body has been found in a document consulted here; Kamerastore lists the black body as 10220 and the black 500EL/M as 10219, and the 553ELX manual gives its own chrome body as 10067, so the chrome ELX number is probably adjacent but is not stated anywhere seen.
- 500ELX, black: A catalogued alternative finish rather than a special run. The manual's power supply unit (46302/46310) came with a replacement motor-housing panel in black or chrome, so both finishes were current together. No chrome-versus-black split of production is published.
Serial-range notes
- RI…, RC…, RT…, RU…, RR… (1984–1988)
- Two-letter year code before the serial, read with VHPICTURES (V=1 H=2 P=3 I=4 C=5 T=6 U=7 R=8 E=9 S=0): RI = 1984, RC = 1985, RT = 1986, RU = 1987, RR = 1988. The third letter "E" that Hasselblad Historical records on EL and EL/M bodies was dropped after 1978, so an ELX carries two letters only; the numeric product prefix did not arrive until 1990, after the model had ended. The year list is projected from the scheme, not from a published serial table.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×6cm nominal on 120 with the A12 magazine; 6×4.5 with the A16, 4×4 superslide with the A16S, 220 film via the A24, and 70mm perforated film in the 70 magazine. The body has no format of its own — the magazine decides.
- 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 and B on the Synchro-Compur (C) and Prontor CF lenses · flash sync all speeds (leaf shutter); PC terminal on the lens, TTL/OTF quench signal via the body's 6-pole side socket and SCA 390 adapter · no self-timer
- Film advance
- Motorised: the built-in motor advances the film, cocks the lens shutter and auxiliary blinds and returns the mirror after each exposure. Mode selector with five positions — O (normal), S (pre-release), RS (repeated pre-release), A (continuous, about 1 frame/s per the manual; 1.2 frames/s in dealer listings and in the 553ELX manual) and AS (continuous with pre-release). A separate T/L/O lever locks the release, holds the shutter open for time exposures and switches the side socket to charging.
- Back
- interchangeable magazines — A12, A24, A16, A16S, 70mm cassette; Polaroid backs
- Meter
- None for ambient light. TTL/OTF flash metering only: a sensor in the body floor reads a 40mm-diameter circle in the centre of the film during exposure and, through the SCA 390 adapter, sends the quench signal to any flash conforming to the SCA 300 system; the film speed selector on the left side runs ISO 15 to 1000 in the manual's text (16–1000 in Kamerastore's listing and in the 553ELX manual). The flash unit powers the metering electronics and the adapter, not the camera's NiCd cells. The manual states that "for the present" the system works only with the SCA 390 and SCA 300-system units; the SCA 590 adapter for SCA 500 units appears in the 553ELX manual.
- Motor drive
- built-in — Integral motor in the lower housing, powered by one or two DEAC 5/600DKZ nickel-cadmium cells at 6V — about 1,000 exposures per charged cell, two cells doubling it (manual). Recharge unit 1 was standard equipment (about 14 hours for one cell, 28 for two); a 1.6A medium slow-blow 5×20mm fuse sits in the compartment. Remote release through two front sockets (FK cords) or the 5-pole DIN side socket (SK, LK and DK cords, radio control, intervalometer, and the charger). External resistance across pins 1 and 3 must not exceed 6 ohms; cords over 100 ft need amplifier 46124. A power supply unit (46302 for 110V, 46310 for 220V) replaces the battery cover for studio use.
- Dimensions
- 137 × 119 × 100 (Kamerastore's listing, body only) mm
- Country
- Sweden
- Accessories
- Flash adapter SCA 390 (51681) for SCA 300-system flash units; SCA 300A and SCA 307A connecting cords · Hasselblad Macro flash unit (51678) and Macro flash bracket (51657) · Recharge unit 1 (standard equipment); accessory battery holder 46337 for external charging · Power supply unit 46302 (110V) / 46310 (220V), replacing the battery cover for studio use · Release cords SK, LK, DK (5-pole side socket) and FK (front sockets); amplifier 46124 for cords over 100 ft; intervalometer and radio release · Prism finders PM, PME and PME3 (metered), RM-2 magnifying hood, sports viewfinder · Magazines A12, A24, A16, A16S, 70mm; Polaroid backs · Extension tubes 8, 16, 32 and 56; bellows extension 64–85; Mutar 2× converter · Tripod quick-coupling plate with 3/8in socket; a 1/4in adapter was available on request
Folding focusing hood with a flip-up magnifier; correction magnifiers from +3 to −4 dioptres interchange without tools (instruction manual). The focusing screen lifts out after the magazine and finder are removed, as on the 500EL/M. Whether the ELX shipped with the Minolta-made Acute-Matte screen is not stated in its manual; the 553ELX manual lists Acute-Matte as standard equipment, and Japanese Wikipedia says late 500EL/M bodies already had it. A signal diode under the left edge of the screen shows flash ready (steady red) and correct exposure (blinking red for about a second). The body must be detached from the magazine before the hood or a prism is changed.
Figures we worked out rather than found: serial_notes — the RI…RR year codes for 1984–1988 are projected from Hasselblad Historical's VHPICTURES scheme, not from observed bodies or a published table
Where sources disagree
- First
- 1984 — Hasselblad Historical's model table, Hasselblad's history page, English and German Wikipedia, Japanese Wikipedia, camera-wiki (Bronica GS-1 page), Blue Moon Camera
- 1985 — Kamerastore's listing; the German-language booklet is copyrighted 1985
Better supported: 1984
1985 reads as the first full year on sale; the 1985 booklet is a flash-system supplement, not proof of launch.
- Last
- 1988 — Hasselblad Historical's model table, English and German Wikipedia, Blue Moon Camera
- 1989 — CollectiBlend's price guide
Better supported: 1988
All agree the 553ELX arrived in 1988 (Kamerastore says 1989 for that too); the question is only whether the ELX was still listed alongside it.
- Weight (grams)
- 1,104 g body only — Kamerastore's listing
- 988 g — a Catawiki auction description
- no factory figure found — the 500ELX manual gives none; the 553ELX manual gives 1,240 g for its own body with batteries
Dealer weights probably omit the NiCd cells, which is why they sit well below the successor's factory figure. weight_g is left unset.
- Meter (ISO range)
- ISO 15–1000 — the 500ELX instruction manual's text and DIN conversion table
- ISO 16–1000 — Kamerastore's listing and the 553ELX manual
Better supported: 15–1000 as engraved is what the ELX manual says; 16 is the later rounding
- Film advance (frame rate)
- about 1 frame/s — the 500ELX manual (mode A)
- 1.2 frames/s — Kamerastore's listing; the 553ELX manual gives approx. 1.2 frames/s for the successor
- Mirror mechanism name
- 'entirely new mirror retraction system', 'larger viewfinder mirror' — the 500ELX manual; 'larger, non-vignetting mirror' — Hasselblad Historical
- 'Gliding Mirror System' — German Wikipedia, which applies the name Hasselblad later used for the 503CW
Japanese Wikipedia describes it only as a mirror that scoops upward, reducing cut-off; the English manual does not name it.
What reviewers say
- Câmera Velha (YouTube) (video) — A 25-minute walk-through of what the presenter calls one of his favourite cameras — a motorised medium-format film SLR whose controls, magazines and modes are shown in use rather than compared against the hand-wound bodies. via machine translation — corrections welcome
- GPV Photography (YouTube) (video) — Short demonstration that a dead 500ELX comes back to life with battery converters that replace the discontinued DEAC NiCd cells with modern batteries — the fix that makes an ELX usable today.
- カメラ修理屋の気まぐれBLOG (camera repairer's blog) (blog) — Teardown of a 500ELX that died at a camera fair when its flash-control IC failed: the repairer found almost no parts in common with a 500C/M despite the resemblance, and concludes that once the factory's electronic spares are gone such a body is unrepairable and worth only its screws. via machine translation — corrections welcome
History
The 500ELX is the third motorised Hasselblad and the first with any electronics beyond a motor. Hasselblad Historical’s model table dates it 1984–1988 and gives the whole difference from the 500EL/M in one line — ”+ TTL-OTF flash system, larger, non-vignetting mirror” — and Hasselblad’s history page places it in the same sequence: “the 500ELX in 1984, the 553ELX in 1988, and 555ELD in 1998”. Japanese Wikipedia calls it the first Hasselblad to build in TTL flash control; English Wikipedia says the same from the other side, noting that the 503CX of 1988 inherited a system “first introduced in the 500ELX”. Camera-wiki’s Bronica GS-1 page supplies the context, crediting the Bronica with the first medium-format TTL flash in 1983, “before the Hasselblad 500 ELX and Rolleiflex 6006 came to market in 1984”. No source names a launch venue or month; the earliest dated factory paper found is a German flash-system booklet copyrighted 1985, and Kamerastore’s 1985 release date reads as first full-year availability.
The instruction manual describes the flash system exactly. A sensor in the body floor reads light reflected from a 40mm circle in the centre of the film during exposure; a film-speed selector on the left side — ISO 15 to 1000 in the manual’s text — sets the target, and through the SCA 390 adapter the body quenches any flash conforming to the European SCA 300 system. A signal diode under the left edge of the screen glows steadily when the flash is charged and blinks for about a second after a correctly exposed frame. The flash unit powers the metering electronics, not the camera’s cells. The manual concedes that “for the present” the system worked only with the SCA 390 and SCA 300 units; the SCA 590 adapter for SCA 500 units and Hasselblad’s own Proflash 4504 appear in the 553ELX manual of 1992. Nothing in the body meters ambient light.
The second change matters without a flash. The manual says the ELX “has a larger viewfinder mirror thanks to an entirely new mirror retraction system” that “always yields a completely uninhibited viewfinder image” with extremely long telephoto lenses or a long bellows — the top-of-frame cut-off familiar to every 500C/M user with a 250 or 500mm lens. Japanese Wikipedia describes a mirror that scoops upward rather than simply hinging. German Wikipedia attaches the name “Gliding Mirror System”, which Hasselblad used for the 503CW in 1996; the ELX manual names nothing, and whether the two mechanisms are one design is not settled by any source here. A Japanese repairer who stripped a dead ELX in 2017 found “almost no parts in common” with a 500C/M despite the resemblance.
The motor and its power were carried over from the 500EL/M, and they date the camera. The manual specifies one or two DEAC 5/600DKZ nickel-cadmium cells at 6V, about 1,000 exposures per charged cell, a 1.6A fuse, and Recharge unit 1 as standard equipment — 14 hours for one cell, 28 for two, through the 5-pole DIN socket that also takes the SK, LK and DK release cords, an intervalometer or a radio release. The mode selector offers O, S (pre-release), RS, A (about one frame a second) and AS; a T/L/O lever locks the release, opens the shutter for time exposures and switches the socket to charging. A power supply unit (46302 for 110V, 46310 for 220V) replaced the battery cover for studio use. The 553ELX of 1988 replaced all this with five AA cells, added the Palpas lining and Acute-Matte screen and changed the tripod thread from 3/8in to 1/4in (553ELX manual; Hasselblad Historical; Japanese Wikipedia). The DEAC cells are long out of production, so an ELX today is either converted — GPV Photography’s video shows the 9V-type converters — or, as a photo.net post mentions in passing, was retrofitted by Hasselblad with the 553’s five-AA chamber; how many were is not recorded. Photrio’s summary is fair: besides the battery, the differences from a 553ELX are all minor.
Identification is straightforward. The nameplate reads 500ELX; the left flank carries the ISO dial and covered 6-pole socket that no EL/M has; the battery cover is short, sized for the DEAC cells; the interior is plain black paint rather than the 553’s cracking Palpas. Kamerastore lists the black body as product 10220 (the black 500EL/M is 10219 in the same catalogue); the chrome number has not been found; the 553ELX manual gives 10067 and 10221 for its own finishes. Bodies carry a two-letter year code under Hasselblad Historical’s VHPICTURES key — RI for 1984 through RR for 1988 — without the “E” suffix EL bodies carried until 1978 and without the numeric prefix that began in 1990. NASA’s Shuttle-era cameras were, per English Wikipedia, based on the 500EL/M, 553ELX, 205TCC and 203FE; no source puts an ELX derivative in orbit.
Several things remain open. No factory weight has been found — the ELX manual has no specification page, and dealer figures of 1,104g (Kamerastore) and 988g (Catawiki) sit well below the 1,240g the 553ELX manual gives for its successor with cells — so weight is left unset. No list price has been found in any currency, and no production total in either finish. The end of production is 1988 in the primary sources and 1989 in CollectiBlend’s guide. Whether the ELX shipped with the Acute-Matte screen, whether its mirror is the design later sold as the Gliding Mirror System, and what the factory AA retrofit involved are unanswered by the sources consulted. Nordin’s compendia, which Hasselblad Historical treats as the reference for serials and dates, were not available for this draft.
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
More sample photos elsewhere
- Flickr — photos tagged 'hasselblad500elx'
- Flickr — search 'hasselblad 500elx'
- Flickr group — Hasselblad 500 Series, film only
These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.
Live listings
Asking price, USD: a median of $340 across 7 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $320–$370). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $340.
By day
| Date | Median | Middle half | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 | $340 | $320–$370 | 7 |
| 2026-09-06 | $340 | $320–$370 | 7 |
Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.
- HASSELBLAD: FRONTKAPPE FÜR GEHÄUSE 500 ELX - IN GUTEM ZUSTAND
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Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.