Hasselblad 503CW

Hasselblad · Hasselblad V mount · 6×6cm on 120 (12 exposures with the A12; 220 via the A24). 6×4.5 by A16 magazine or by the 6×4.5 format mask; a 6×3cm panoramic mask is also listed in the 503CW instruction manual, each mask paired with a matching viewfinder mask. · 1996

Also known as: Hasselblad 503CW · Hasselblad 503 CW · 503CW · 503 CW · Hasselblad 503-CW · ハッセルブラッド 503CW · Hasselblad 503CW kit · Hasselblad 503CW 80mm CFE · Hasselblad 503CW 80mm CF · Hasselblad 503CW body

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
503CW chrome Hasselblad V 1996–2013
503CW black Hasselblad V 1996–2013
503CW coloured leather (yellow, red, green, blue) Hasselblad V 2001–2005 No figures published; sold as catalogue options rather than a numbered edition
503CW Gold Supreme (50 Years, 1948–1998) Hasselblad V 1997–1998 19EU… — the Leitz Auction example (set no. 056) reads 19EU13482, i.e. a 1997 date code on a 1998 edition 500 numbered sets — Jo Geier; Leitz Auction lot description ('only 500 cameras issued')
503CW Millennium Edition Hasselblad V 2000–2000 No figure given by any source consulted
503CWD (Victor Hasselblad centenary kit with CFV digital back) Hasselblad V 2006–2006 500 numbered kits — Hasselblad Historical, English Wikipedia
503CW 60 Years Carl Zeiss / Hasselblad — Red Edition Hasselblad V 2008–2008 60 sets — Jo Geier
503CW 60 Years Victor Hasselblad AB 1948–2008 — Blue Edition Hasselblad V 2008–2008 60 sets — Jo Geier
  1. Years from Hasselblad Historical's V-system model table ('1996-'), camera-wiki (1996–2013) and the 29 April 2013 discontinuation reported by PetaPixel and both English and German Wikipedia. Jo Geier gives 1996–2010; see disputed.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • '503CW' engraved on the front plate; the 503CXi before it says '503CXi' and has the older, shorter mirror
  • Winder coupling bayonet under the detachable crank on the right side, with a red locating dot — the 501CM, which shares the manual, has neither
  • TTL flash socket with a plug-in cap and an ISO selector (top mark 1000 before June 1998, 4000 after) on the left side — absent on 500C/M, 501C and 501CM
  • Wide, flat shutter-release button with cable socket, as on the 503CXi and 501C; no shutter-lock lever
  • Gliding Mirror System inside: with a 150mm or longer lens the top of the screen image is not cut off, as it is on a 500C/M, 503CX or 503CXi
  • Acute-Matte D screen (42204) as standard; format masks for 6×4.5 and 6×3 fit a machined recess in the body
  • Chrome or black bodies are otherwise identical; the black kit ships with hood 42323

503CW chrome:

  • Satin-chrome trim with black leatherette; '503CW' on the front nameplate
  • Hasselblad product number 10243 in the instruction manual's parts list; supplied with the chrome folding hood 42315, Winding Crank E 44086, Acute-Matte D screen 42204, strap 59110, front cover 51438 and Rear cover MultiControl 51070
  • Winder coupling and crank locating mark (red dot) on the right side; TTL flash socket with plug-in cap and ISO selector on the left

503CW black:

  • Black-finished body; '503CW' on the front nameplate
  • Hasselblad product number 10246 in the instruction manual's parts list, 'supplied as 10243 above, but equipped with black Focusing hood 42323'

503CW coloured leather (yellow, red, green, blue):

  • Standard chrome-trim body with the leatherette replaced by a coloured covering — yellow, red, green or blue
  • Not to be confused with the 2008 sixty-year editions, which are red or blue with a silver commemorative plaque

503CW Gold Supreme (50 Years, 1948–1998):

  • Gold-plated body with burgundy/brown leather covering; matching gold-plated A12 magazine and a Planar CF T* 2.8/80 in the same finish
  • Individual set number engraved (000–500 series); brown leather presentation box

503CW Millennium Edition:

  • Small 'Millennium' emblem on the body and a special dark slide; otherwise a standard chrome 503CW — Jo Geier

503CWD (Victor Hasselblad centenary kit with CFV digital back):

  • '503CWD' nameplate; silver winding crank; focusing screen etched with the digital sensor's border
  • Match-numbered CFV-16 digital back (16 megapixel, 36.7 × 36.7 mm, 1.5× crop) — English Wikipedia, Hasselblad Historical
  • Standard lens Planar 2.8/80 — CFE per Hasselblad Historical, CFi per German Wikipedia

503CW 60 Years Carl Zeiss / Hasselblad — Red Edition:

  • Red leather covering with a silver commemorative plaque
  • Supplied with a chrome Carl Zeiss ZV Classic Distagon T* 4/50 rather than the 80mm Planar — Jo Geier

503CW 60 Years Victor Hasselblad AB 1948–2008 — Blue Edition:

  • Blue leather covering with a silver commemorative plaque — Jo Geier

Serial-range notes

19TT… (1996) to 19VP… (2013) — two-letter date code with product prefix 19
Hasselblad bodies carry a two-letter year code read with VHPICTURES (V=1 H=2 P=3 I=4 C=5 T=6 U=7 R=8 E=9 S=0), as Q.G. de Bakker explains on Hasselblad Historical, so TT = 1996, EU = 1997, ER = 1998, SS = 2000, SC = 2005, SR = 2008 and VP = 2013; the century has to be inferred. From 1990 a numeric product prefix precedes the letters — for the 503CW it is 19, as in the service manual's changeover serial 19ER18271 and the Gold Supreme lot 19EU13482. Jo Geier says the latest serials he has seen date to 2008, so bodies coded later than SR would be worth recording.
19ER18271 onward
Service Info 12/98: from this serial the TTL flash ISO plate (part 40417) and circuit board (22882) changed and the film-speed range became 64–4000 instead of 16–1000. Bodies before it can be recognised by the 1000 top mark on the ISO dial.

Specifications

Format
6×6cm on 120 (12 exposures with the A12; 220 via the A24). 6×4.5 by A16 magazine or by the 6×4.5 format mask; a 6×3cm panoramic mask is also listed in the 503CW instruction manual, each mask paired with a matching viewfinder mask.
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, set on the lens (Prontor CF/CFi/CFE/CB or Synchro-Compur C); the manual warns that a CF lens left on its green F setting stays open and over-exposes · flash sync all speeds (leaf shutter) · no self-timer
Film advance
Detachable Winding Crank E on the body right side, cocking shutter and mirror and advancing the film in the magazine; the crank comes off (push the lock, turn anticlockwise) to expose the bayonet for the Winder CW
Back
interchangeable magazines — A12, A16, A24, A16S, 70mm, Polaroid; format masks for 6×4.5 and 6×3 panoramic; CFV digital backs from 2006
Meter
None for ambient light; TTL/OTF flash metering only (ISO 16–1000, changed to ISO 64–4000 from serial 19ER18271 in June 1998) via the SCA390/SCA590 adaptors or the D-Flash 40; ambient metering only via a PME prism
Motor drive
Winder CW — The Winder CW (product 44105) was "specifically designed for the 503CW" per the instruction manual and introduced with it in 1996 per Jo Geier — the 503CXi had carried the coupling since 1994 but, as Japanese Wikipedia notes, the winder itself was not yet sold. Winding time 1.05 s, about 0.8 frames/s continuous; single, continuous and multi-exposure modes; release by cord or the coded IR Remote; the SAI (Self Adjusting Interface) senses the body's mechanical state. Forum users report it also fits the 503CXi but not the 503CX.
Weight
610 g
Dimensions
91 × 114 × 110 body only (service manual); 180 × 114 × 110 with Planar CFE 80, A12 and folding hood (instruction manual) mm
Country
Sweden
Accessories
Winder CW (44105) with IR Remote control; Winding Crank E (44086) is the standard fitting · A12, A16, A24, A16S and 70mm magazines; Polaroid backs; CFV-16, CFV-39 and later CFV digital backs · Format masks for 6×4.5 and 6×3 panoramic frames with matching viewfinder masks · Acute-Matte D focusing screens (42204 standard; 42207 metering circle, 42215 microprism/split-image, 42217 grid/split-image) · PM45, PME45, PM90 and PME90 prism finders; the PME types carry the only ambient metering available · D-Flash 40 dedicated flash; SCA390 and SCA590 flash adaptors for the TTL/OTF socket · Rear cover MultiControl 51070; front protective cover 51438 · Teleconverter 1.4XE and 2XE; PC-Mutar 1.4× shift converter

Folding focusing hood over a user-changeable Acute-Matte D screen (42204 standard; the manual credits the screen design to Minolta). The Gliding Mirror System — a longer mirror that slides as it rises — gives a full finder image with long lenses: the 503CW manual says "with virtually all Hasselblad CF lenses", Hasselblad Historical says no vignetting above 100mm, German Wikipedia above 150mm.

Where sources disagree

Last
  • 2013 — Hasselblad's discontinuation announcement of 29 April 2013 as reported by PetaPixel; camera-wiki, English and German Wikipedia
  • 2010, with the latest serials indicating 2008 production — Jo Geier's V-system guide

Better supported: 2013 as the date the model was withdrawn

Both can be true: the last bodies may have been assembled years before the announcement. No production figure or last serial has been published.

Meter (TTL flash ISO range)
  • ISO 16–1000, changed to 64–4000 from serial 19ER18271 — Hasselblad 503CW service manual, Service Info 12/98 (June 1998)
  • ISO up to 800, later 3200 — forum members on mediumformatforum.com

Better supported: The service manual's figures

Finders (Gliding Mirror System threshold)
  • No finder vignetting with focal lengths over 100mm — Hasselblad Historical model table
  • No finder vignetting with focal lengths over 150mm — German Wikipedia
  • 'A full viewfinder image with virtually all Hasselblad CF lenses' — 503CW instruction manual

All describe the same mechanism; they differ on where the older mirror began to cut off.

503cwd-2006 (kit lens and back)
  • Planar 2.8/80 CFE with CFV 16MP back — Hasselblad Historical model table
  • Planar 2.8/80 CFi with CFV 16.6MP back, ISO 50–400 — German Wikipedia
  • CFV 16 or CFV 39 back — Jo Geier

Better supported: CFE lens, CFV-16 back, as Hasselblad Historical and English Wikipedia have it

Weight (grams)
  • 610 g body only — Hasselblad 503CW service manual (1998 revision)
  • 0.6 kg body only; 1.5 kg with Planar CFE 80 and A12 — 503CW instruction manual
  • 600 g — Fstoppers

Better supported: 610 g

Years
  • 2001 to ~2005 — Hasselblad Historical model table
  • from late 2001 — Jo Geier
  • from 2001 — German Wikipedia

No source gives an end year other than Hasselblad Historical's approximation.

What reviewers say

History

The 503CW closes a line that opened with the 500C in 1957, and it is best understood as the sum of three additions made to that camera over eight years. The 503CX of 1988 put TTL/OTF flash metering into a manual body, reading light off the film through a sensor in the mirror box, and lined the interior with Palpas anti-reflection coating (Hasselblad Historical’s model table). The 503CXi of 1994 added a coupling for a motor winder — before the winder existed: Japanese Wikipedia notes that the winder itself was not sold in the 503CXi’s time, and Jo Geier’s guide describes the CXi’s Winding Crank E as fitted “in anticipation for the Winder CW”. The 503CW of 1996 supplied the missing winder and changed the mirror. Hasselblad’s own history page reduces it to one clause — “In 1996 came the 503CW, which received a specially made electric winder” — and the factory service manual’s first revision is dated October 1996.

The mirror is the change that mattered inside the finder. Every 500-series body since 1957 had a mirror short enough that lenses of 150mm and longer cut off the top of the screen image. The 503CW’s Gliding Mirror System uses a longer mirror that slides on a cam as it rises rather than swinging about a fixed pivot; the instruction manual promises “a full viewfinder image with virtually all Hasselblad CF lenses”, Hasselblad Historical puts the old cut-off threshold above 100mm and German Wikipedia above 150mm, and Japanese Wikipedia describes the new mirror as “a little longer” and moving “in a scooping motion”. The same mechanism went into the 501CM a year later. With it came the Acute-Matte D screen — the manual credits the design to Minolta — and the format masks for 6×4.5 and 6×3cm panoramic frames, each with a matching viewfinder mask.

The Winder CW is what the CW in the name refers to. The English manual calls it “specifically designed for the 503CW”: the Winding Crank E is pushed, turned and lifted off to expose a bayonet, and the winder hooks on in its place, winding in 1.05 seconds for about 0.8 frames a second, with single, continuous and multi-exposure modes and release by cord or by a coded infra-red remote. Its SAI (Self Adjusting Interface) senses the body’s mechanical state to reduce wear. The 501CM/503CW manual marks the crank, the winder, the TTL socket and the ISO selector “503CW seulement”, which is the whole difference between the two bodies that share it. The TTL circuit itself changed once: Service Info 12/98 of June 1998 moved the film-speed range from ISO 16–1000 to 64–4000 from serial 19ER18271, with a new ISO plate and circuit board — the one dated internal revision in seventeen years of production.

The catalogue bodies were chrome (product 10243) and black (10246, with black hood 42323), each supplied with crank, hood, Acute-Matte D screen 42204, strap, front cover and the Rear cover MultiControl. From late 2001, per Jo Geier, and to about 2005, per Hasselblad Historical, the leatherette could be had in yellow, red, green or blue. Around these ran the numbered editions: the Gold Supreme of 1997–98, 500 gold-plated sets with burgundy leather, a CF Planar 80 and a gold A12 for the firm’s fiftieth anniversary (Jo Geier; a Leitz Auction lot numbered 056 carries body serial 19EU13482); a Millennium edition of 2000 distinguished by “a small emblem… and special dark slide” (Jo Geier), for which no production figure has been found; the 503CWD of 2006, 500 kits pairing a 503CW with a match-numbered 16-megapixel CFV back, silver crank and sensor-marked screen for Victor Hasselblad’s centenary (Hasselblad Historical, English Wikipedia); and two editions of sixty for 2008, red with a chrome ZV Classic Distagon 4/50 for sixty years of Zeiss and Hasselblad, blue with a silver plaque for sixty years of the company (Jo Geier alone). A “60 Years PRC” edition for China appears in one dealer database and nowhere else, and is not listed here.

Dating a body is straightforward: the two-letter code read with VHPICTURES (Q.G. de Bakker, Hasselblad Historical) gives TT for 1996 through SR for 2008, preceded on the 503CW by the product prefix 19, as in the service manual’s 19ER18271 and the Gold Supreme’s 19EU13482. Where the run ended is less clear. Hasselblad announced on 29 April 2013 that, with demand “plummeting over the past half decade”, it would “reluctantly consign the V System to history” (PetaPixel), and camera-wiki and both Wikipedias take 2013 as the last year; Jo Geier gives 1996–2010 and says the latest serials he has seen point to 2008 production. Both may be true of a camera that was withdrawn long after the last one left Gothenburg.

What remains open: how many 503CWs were built, in total or by finish, for which no source gives a figure; the last date code actually stamped on a production body; a Hasselblad list price in any currency — reviewers quote only the used market, and no dated price list has been located; whether the Millennium edition was numbered; and whether the blue and red 2008 editions rest on more than one dealer’s account. Nordin’s Compendium presumably settles some of this and has not been consulted here.

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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 503CW
Hasselblad 503CW Millennium set, boxed — chia ying Yang (Flickr), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

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