C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Hasselblad 555ELD (1998) is the direct successor to the 553ELX and the last electric V-system 6x6 body Hasselblad produced. Its defining addition over the 553ELX is the Electronic Data Link (ELD) interface — a wiring standard that allows compatible digital scanning backs and early area-array backs to communicate shutter-timing, exposure, and sequencing data with the camera body. This made the 555ELD the preferred V-system platform for the earliest generation of professional digital capture, when photographers were transitioning from film backs to Imacon, Phase One, and Hasselblad digital backs on the same V-system body.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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Kodak Ektar 100 is a fine-grain C-41 color negative film with saturated color and high sharpness.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
The V-system electric body built for digital backs — AA batteries, Databus wiring, and a motor that answered to a computer.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 / 220 film (6x6 cm, 12/24 frames) |
| Mount | Hasselblad V bayonet |
| Years | 1998–~2006 |
| Shutter | Leaf shutter in lens: 1s – 1/500s + B |
| Flash sync | All speeds (leaf shutter) |
| Meter | None built-in; TTL OTF flash metering |
| Modes | Manual |
| Motor | Built-in electric; ~1.3 fps |
| Digital interface | Electronic Data Link (ELD / Databus) |
| Finder | Waist-level (standard); metered prism optional |
| Battery | 6x AA (alkaline or NiMH), removable grip |
The V-system electric line ran from the 500EL (1965) through the 500EL/M (1970), 500ELX (1984), and 553ELX (1988). By the late 1990s, professional studios were beginning to test digital capture on medium-format bodies, initially with trilinear scanning backs that required the camera to hold the shutter open for extended multi-pass exposures. The ELD interface on the 555ELD allowed a digital back to signal the camera body and coordinate exposures programmatically — an important capability when a single mis-timed exposure wasted significant capture time.
Hasselblad introduced the 555ELD in 1998 to address this market directly. It was produced alongside the film-only 503CW and 501CM, positioning itself as the studio-digital transition body within the V system. Production continued until approximately 2006, by which point Hasselblad had shifted its professional digital platform to the H-system. The 555ELD remained available as an accessory platform for legacy V digital backs long after film production dominated.
The 555ELD occupies an unusual position in camera history: it is a film camera designed to accommodate the first wave of professional digital capture. Studios that invested in V-system glass and digital scanning backs in the early 2000s used the 555ELD as their transition body, running both film and digital backs interchangeably on the same body with the same lenses. The ELD wiring gave those studios a degree of digital integration — automated sequencing, back communication — without abandoning the optical quality and modular flexibility of the V system.
For contemporary film photographers, the 555ELD is functionally identical to the 553ELX in analogue use. The ELD interface is inert when using film backs. Used prices are comparable to the 553ELX, making the 555ELD a marginally more capable electric V body at similar cost.
Hasselblad V bayonet mount. Full V-system lens compatibility: CF, CFi, CFE, CB, CT*, and C-series lenses. Key lenses: Zeiss Planar CFi 80/2.8 T*, Distagon CF 40/4, Sonnar CF 150/4, Sonnar CFi 180/4. Accessories: A12, A16, A24, A220 film backs; Imacon and Phase One V-system digital backs; waist-level finder; PME-series metered prism; AA battery grip unit. The ELD interface is exposed via a proprietary connector on the body rear and is activated only by compatible digital backs.
BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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