Originally posted by nickthetasmaniac Sooooooooo, bit of an update.
I found a 80mm Planar, it just came with a few accessories...
Turns out a local retired photog was offloading his kit.
500cm
SWC/M
500ELM
80mm Planar C T*
150mm Sonnar CF T*
A12 backs x3
Polaroid back
Ground-glass screen adapter for the SWC/M
WLF
Chimney finder
Vivitar 2x tele converter
And I still have the original 500cm + A12 on it's way
Congrats on your new gear.
Some thoughts from my experience with my 500C/M. Firstly, you most likely want to replace the focus screen in the 500C/M if it's stock. If you find yourself focus hunting then it's time for a new one. An Acute Matte D works way better. Things snap into focus nicely and mine has the split focus option.
Secondly, if you get all Bay 60 lenses you will find filters and lens hoods a sweet deal. CF T* lenses are mostly Bay 60. I have a 50, 60, 80, 100, 120 and 150mm lenses all Bay 60 and I only need a few lens hoods and one set of colored filters for BW work. You can get a Bay 60 to 67mm adapter for screw-on threaded filters. My Pentax 67, 67mm bayonet filters fit my Zeiss Bay 60 lenses.
And what a laugh. The mirror not returning is a feature not a problem. I can't imagine why someone would find it a problem and complain. That's the internet and the overly hypersensitive crowd. You want to advance the frame after each shot! Why? Because if you take the lens off without advancing the frame you can't get it back on without taking a screw driver and rotating a slot through the barn doors from the back. With the mirror not returning until you advance the frame forces you to get into that habit.
The 500C/M is a mechanical camera. No batteries. That is a sweet deal, IMHO. And the hot swapping backs is a killer feature that out weights a lot!. While square frames offer some unique compositions, I found myself not always wanting to shoot square so I needed another camera just an FYI.