October 2000 issue of Photographic Trader. Issue No. 87.

It all started with a request from a local commercial photographer Bryan Chester who said "I’ve bought a new Hasselblad FlexBody, can you put a hacksaw through it and re-design it for me?"

Bryan got his first look at the FlexBody in ’95 and was sufficiently impressed with the potential and flexibility of it, to take a major step and trade in his much-used large format view cameras. Up to that point he had always been a keen 10 x 8 and 5 x 4 camera user and requiring the full range of movements for his architectural assignments.

He then went on to explain how much movement would be required on both shift and swing.

After testing the lenses for their coverage of the image circle, we decided that it would be feasible as the image circle would be sufficient with either shift and/or swing engaged.

However, there is one drawback with the FlexBody compared to the large format view camera. To obtain a horizontal swing at the film plane, it’s necessary to tilt the camera on its side which then prevents you making use of the rise and fall movements critical for most architectural assignments. A conventional view camera has displacements in both the horizontal and vertical planes as well as allowing perspective and distortion to be controlled in both planes.

To make the FlexBody truly useful, it was necessary to give it the movements on the lens plane.

"You must be capable of correcting both the vertical and horizontal planes at the same time, because buildings do disappear to infinity along the horizontal and they do climb to great heights on the vertical. I saw the camera had further potential as, in standard form, it only corrects on one plane at any given time, instead of the two planes that are really necessary. The FlexBody only does this at the film plane and not at the lens plane!" explained Bryan

After viewing the camera for the 1st time, it was quite evident to us that there wasn’t much space to work in. We borrowed Bryans camera for the weekend to dismantle it and measure all the relevant components to see exactly how much space we really had.

It soon became evident that the only way that this could be practical would be to replace the lens mount block in its entirety.

We then set about working out a practical way of fitting 2 completely different movements into the space available, which incidentally was 17mm x 15mm, and keeping in mind that with various lenses there would only be certain places that we could fit the controls.

We manufactured a dummy rail system to match Hasselblads original parts so we could work on the project with out having the camera here.

At the time we couldn’t purchase a dovetail milling cutter in Brisbane in the size we required, so we tooled up and manufactured our own.

The gear for the swing movement had to be designed to fit the project, as no stock item was suitable for the job, and so once again we had to manufacture the tooling to generate our own gears.

The alloy we use for the construction of the housing section is 6000 series aircraft alloy similar to that used by Hasselblad for their body parts.

The original lens slide block had to be discarded and replaced with an entirely new block with the dovetail slide built in. The slide which gives the shift movement then houses the gear assembly which gives the swing movement. The parts are then anodised to match the finish of the original Hasselblad equipment.

Once all these parts were completed, we then had to dismantle Bryan's camera and install the new components.

With the modified lens mount, turning the camera on its side is no longer necessary and the rise and fall movement can now be used at all times.

He picked his camera up on the way to the Photo and Imaging Trade Show in Sydney and it was shown to the managers of the Hasselblad importers. One of them commented that they didn’t realise that engineering of this standard could be done in Australia.

To all those who have seen the camera we explained that ¾ was built by Hasselblad in downtown Sweden and the other ¼ is build in downtown Capalaba!!

We asked them to have a good look and show us the parts we made and nobody could pick the non original parts.

Bryan Chester's comment was that "The engineering standard, the new parts and the finish are equal to Hasselblad's own quality"

After Bryan came back from the Trade show in Sydney, he then tested the camera for the 1st time. The difference in depth of field at only 1.f stop from full aperture was "very impressive".

We then had a write up in the Pro Photo Magazine, Nov 98 and the 1st call we had regarding the article was from a renowned landscape photographer from Adelaide - Mr Stavros Pippos.

Stavros already having a Hasselblad System showed extreme interest in buying a FlexBody and having it modified as he felt that this would be the ideal camera for his fieldwork, as carrying a 5 x 4 system in the outback where he was hiking for long distances was formidable.

He conferred many times with Bryan Chester and finally decided that the FlexBody was the way to go. He purchased it and immediately shipped it to us to "get the chop".

On receiving his modified camera body back, he stated "I hope I can reciprocate by matching your fine engineering with some fine photography ....", or words to that effect.

Having spoken to Stavros recently, he has been on many field trips since the modification including Lake Eyre and the Flinders Rangers just to name a couple.

He said that he now uses the FlexBody for about 60% of his work. The balance being done by a Linhof Panoramic camera.