Lens adapter

[flashbulbman]

I have a chance to buy an adapter that allows me to put my Hasselblad lens on my 35mm camera. If I use it and put my 150mm Sonnar on my 35mm camera body, is it still equal to a 150mm, or is it a different 35mm equivalent focal length? Would it still be an f4 or different equivalent? How about the 50mm Distagon? Will it still be a 50 on 35mm bodies. I like the idea of using Hasselblad lenses on my 35mm body.

 

[Victorh]

The focal length of a lens does not change after fitting that lens to a different body.
In fact the lens has no idea what the medium is that is used to record the images.
The lens also keeps the same maximum aperture.

The confusion starts when people say the 150 is in fact a 300 mm because the mediums diameter is only half of the medium the lens was designed for in the first place.
In fact we are discussing an enlargement factor here.


80 mm is considered a standard lens for MF because it is about the same size as the diagonal of the 6x6 film frame.

The same goes for 35 mm cameras.
The diagonal of that film frame is about 43 mm for which the 50mm has been accepted as the standard lens.

What is the advantage of using Hasselblad lenses with a smaller medium?
With a smaller medium only the center part of the image circle is used.
Any lens faults occuring mostly at the outside of the image circle have no effect on the recorded image.

Besides that as an average Zeiss lenses for MF are better lenses than most lenses used for 35 mm cameras.
Of course some extravagant Leica aspherical lenses are the exception to the rule.
Those tiny bits of glass cost about the same as a proper sized Hasselblad lens!


Vic.

 

[flashbulbman]

Vic, Thanks again for your input. I thought the lens would be the same equivalent in any format. I use a 4x5 reducing back on my 8x10 camera with a 14" Ektar lens.The image is the same size on the film, no matter which back is used. Therefore, my 150 Sonnar F4 would be great on my 35mm body and it would probably be tack sharp wide open since it is using the "sweet spot" center of the glass to create the image. It would also look awesome on the camera. It would be a great sports lens. It probably will focus closer as well.

 

[stever]

I have a chance to buy an adapter that allows me to put my Hasselblad lens on my 35mm camera.

But WHY???

Do you need the weight for ballast so that you can balance the camera? Please explain why one would take a good Zeiss MF lens and place it on a 35mm camera.

Please interested readers want to know!

 

[flashbulbman]

Stever says: But WHY???

Do you need the weight for ballast so that you can balance the camera? Please explain why one would take a good Zeiss MF lens and place it on a 35mm camera.

Please interested readers want to know!

My response: First, Hasselblad made the adapter so it is something they made us aware of, that is, you can put Hassleblad lenses on a 35mm bodie.
Why? Because I have a Contax RTS III with motor drive. I do model portfolios and actor head shots, as well as fashion. I also do weddings and formal portraiture. My work is posted on this forum. I own only one lens for my Contax, which is a Zeiss Planar L F1.4. Lenses for my 35mm Contax are very expensive. With the Hasselblad 150mm CF, I can use it wide open and do 36 headshots or 36 fashion shots on inexpensive 35mm film. I can also use the Hasselblad lens for action shots on the motor driven Contax body. I will not have to buy any other lens for the Contax, since the fantastic Hasselblad lenses are much better and use the center of the glass "sweet spot" to make the image. The weight of the 150 Sonnar CF is nice and keeps the camera much steadier in my hand. It is still a very light combination to me since I have done weddings for almost 40 years in the past on a Speed Graphic with a 7" reflector and a 3 cell handle.

 

[Victorh]

There is a negative side as well.
You loose lightmetering and focusing with open lens.

Any stop down has to be done manually because there is no control from the camera to the lens.

As far as I know Hasselblad did not make any adapters for 24 mm cameras.
Most are Chinese made ones.
A small amount are the more expensive Novoflex German made adapters.


Vic.

 

[flashbulbman]

Vic,
Hasselbad did make an adapter to use their lenses on 35mm cameras. Here is a photo of one.

 

[Victorh]

Only the front section of the adapter is a Hasselblad part.
It is a lens flange originally intended to mount Hasselblad lenses on an enlarger.

The rest of the adapter is a Chinese made part.


Vic.

 

[flashbulbman]

Vic, Are you guessing, or are you positive the adapter is China made? Is it worth the $160 asking price? There are several others at Adorama for $59 and $80 without the tripod attachment. Is the fact that at least one section is made by Hasselblad a plus ? Thanks again.

 

[Victorh]

The Hasselblad part number for the flange is 40177 or TIMKC.
Thanks to Rick Nordins excellent compendium on Hasselblad V series cameras I could find that information fast and easy.

I would go for the cheapest adapter because probably all of them come from the same Chinese source.
I have an adapter to go with my Pentax digital camera. Results are very good.
Bought one for my camera tech for his Nikon digital camera.
He is very happy with that one too.

BTW all who are interested in Hasselblad gear and like to be fully documented better put some money aside for the New Compendium.
I hear Rick is close to finishing the new Hasselblad bible.
As soon as the new volume becomes available I will break the news here.



Vic.

 

[tazzr]

Hasselblad lens adapter to EOS

I plan to try the Fotodiox adapter. I like the idea of quality Hasse lenses with good edge to edge sharpness and since I am a landscape shooter, I don't mind the manual approach.

Has anyone tried this setup?

Any issues other than "going manual"?

THX

Ron

 

[Ed Bray]

I have the Mirex tilt/shift adapter which allows me to use my Zeiss lenses on my Canon.

Quality is great and the advatage of being able to have a range of lenses with tilt and shift is also very nice. I have a 50mm, 80mm, 150mm & 250mm I've not tried it with the 250mm yet.

Metering is stop down, not really a problem if you can do a little maths and of course the focusing is manual. It wasn't that long ago that that was actually the norm.

Grandson Lucus shot on 50mm Distagon on Canon 1DsMk3 via Mirex.

 

[kds321]

I have used such an adaptor to use my UV-Sonnar 105mm on Nikon and other DSLRs for UV photography. Works pretty well!

Klaus
uvir.eu

 

[tazzr]

I got mine through Adorama -- could be more snug but ok. I've been testing the 350mm and finding the sharpness very impressive on the long end especially up to f/22.

 

[jotloob]

An other adapter



Focusing is done by holding the lens and turning the camera .

 

[polypal]

Focusing is done by holding the lens and turning the camera .

Well done!

 

[GuidoGR]

I use this one.
I use it with my Nikon D90.
The only bad thing is I'm not able to close the diaphragm of the lens manually, so I use it only for portraits .

I bought it on ebay, the seller is Lolliadriano (He makes a lot of other interesting things...)

 

[terrydent]

GuidoGR. Is the lens damaged? You show be able to use the stop down lever to close the aperture.

Terry

 

[polypal]

The only bad thing is I'm not able to close the diaphragm of the lens manually, so I use it only for portraits .

On some C lenses the stop down lever is difficult to depress.
It may take quite some force to close the aperture.

The aperture of CF and later lenses is easier to close.
Please note the correct way to open the aperture is by pressing the LH side of the lever towards the lens.

Do not shift the control knob to the left because this will result in damage to the controls.

 

[GuidoGR]

I must confess one thing, I received the ring adapter just yesterday and I have not done all the tests.
I have to try the old 50 and the most recent 80.
They are working well on my 500CM so they must work also with the adapter.
I will make some tests on the weekend.
Thank you for your kind reply!