Hasselblad H2 Quick save, Roll film, Standard exposure, Main screen, Time out, Toggle function

As an example you might regularly take outdoor portraits of wed- ding couples with a long lens. You want a specific aperture to restrict depth-of-field and a fairly fast shutter speed to freeze any movement. You are concerned about the couple blinking during the exposure and so want to take several shots in succession, possibly with slight variations in exposure settings for safety’s sake so you might choose the bracketing option too. All these parameters can be preset and stored as a profile that is rapidly accessible.

Quick save

When altering settings, a half-press of the shutter release button will cause a return to the main screen and save the new setting at the same time.

Roll film

The H2 uses two sizes of roll film (120 and 220) that has different lengths. 120 film generally produces 16 exposures per film and 220 film produces 32 exposures per film. (‘Half-length 120’ film also exists that will produce 8 exposures per film. This though has a very limited availability).

120 film is supplied on a spool complete with a paper backing that runs the full length of the film and extends beyond both ends. 220 film, on the other hand, just has paper at each end. In both cases, the film is gradually transported in the magazine from its original spool onto another so called take-up spool. The spool left empty then acts as the next take-up spool for the following film, and so on.

Care should always be taken in loading, unloading, and general storage. Try to avoid direct light sources when handling film in any way, in particular strong sunlight. Exposed film should be stored in dry and preferably light-tight conditions, and developed as soon as possible. Also avoid any sharp objects pressing against the film, exposed or unexposed, as indelible marks can sometimes be caused. Please note any special conditions or restrictions regarding airport security x-ray devices or similar as they can potentially damage film (by fogging) in some cases.

Standard exposure

A ‘standard exposure’ in the manual refers to the concept of technically correct in accordance with internationally accepted photographic measurement standards (see section on Mid-grey / 18% grey). This does not imply, however, that it would automati- cally be the preferred choice or be ‘correct’ according to the desired result. See section on Bracketing.

Main screen

To simplify the descriptions, reference is often made to a ‘main’ screen regarding the menu. Apart from default settings, there is no standard setting in the normal sense and therefore you create your own ‘standard’, which of course can be changed at any time.

The ‘main’ screen is therefore the one you have currently created and is the one visible on the LCD when photographing (except where a particular mode is in actual operation, such as self-timer, for example).

TTL

Through The Lens - a literal description of the light measurement mechanics. The advantage is that only the essential parts of the subject in front of the camera are included. Accessories such as filters, bellows, close-up rings, converters, etc that could affect

exposure are also taken into account automatically with exposure evaluation (for general purposes).

Time out

This is the time interval that a temporary setting is maintained for before it automatically returns to the original setting (default or custom).

Toggle function

If a button has a ‘toggle function’, it has the ability to access two separate states simply by being pressed again. On the magazine, for example, if you want to change the data setting from ‘on’ to ‘off’, you would start by pressing the function selector twice to access the film length setting. Then, to change from ‘on’ you can press either the ‘change up’ or ‘change down’ button as both but- tons have a ‘toggle’ function. By pressing the same button again therefore, the setting will revert. This means you do not have to remember which button to press as they will both produce the same desired result in this case.

Zone (system)

The Zone System is a method of combined exposure calculation/ film development providing a great deal of tonal control. It was originally devised by Ansel Adams - the classic landscape photog- rapher and Hasselblad user - and now exists in various forms for both black & white and colour photography. An integral part of the method includes the classification and grouping of any given scene into a range of nine (or ten) so-called zones, hence the name. The method produces a great degree of result predictability and image tone control.

Concerning the H2, the word zone refers to the grouping and classification of various tones, where Zone V is the equivalent (whether in black & white or colour) to 18% mid-grey on a scale of Zone I (black) through Zone IX (white). See specific literature for a complete description of this method.

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