Hi Martin, thanks for sharing your thoughts and the nice image. I guess your observations and Marc's post earlier on made me realize some important things about adapting lenses to an S. The leaf shutter option on the S (in combination with native CS or HC lenses) is a very nice option to have and C645 lenses constrain the user to 1/125 flash sync.
Another thing that I came to realize is that the adapter is the same price as the HC adapter, but gives less options, no CS and less lenses to choose from. Besides that the C645 are from a dead system, meaning it will be difficult to get them replaced/repaired if needed.
For someone like me, who doesn't already have lenses from another MF system and is considering to go the adapted lenses path, the HC adapter offers more possibilities, though the Hasselblad lenses are more expensive than the C645. Of course there is also the question of which lenses one likes. I suppose some of the Contax Zeiss designs are quite interesting and they draw different than the Hasselblads.
Regards, Peter
Yes, I'd say that "artistic rendering" comes into play when selecting adapted lenses. Probably one of the most generally adapted lenses is the Zeiss 110/2F-FE using a dumb adapter because of the way it renders.
In the Contax 645 lens system the 120/4 Macro was the star, and IMO unsurpassed for bokeh or character until the S 120/2.5. The CZ 80/2 probably has more artistic character than the S70/2.5, if not any other reason than it is slightly faster. The Zeiss 350/4 APO has no equal focal length in the S system, and the Hasselblad HC300/4.5 while good, isn't as good.
My favorite lenses in the Contax 645 system were the 45, 80 and 140 ... almost entirely for people work. Easy kit to carry, same filter size, nice character for shooting people.
In the Hasselblad H lens line up the "character king" is the 100/2.2 ... which is why it is the only HC lens I kept for my S2. I use it alone for both focal plane available light @ f/2.2, and leaf shutter sync to 1/750 ... plus mount it on the Hasselblad HTS/1.5 tilt-shift unit for 150mm T/S table top applications, or selective focus portrait work. The Hasselblad HCD 24/4.5 on the HTS/1.5 produces a 36mm FOV with T/S ability.
The other killer optic in the H line up is the new 50/3.5-II ... perfect fit between the S35 and S70 ... just like the 100/2.2 fits nicely between the S70 and S120.
All four of my S lenses are the CS versions that sync to 1/1000 ... which is why I am out of budget for some time.
- Marc