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Fun with the Hasselblad 907x

Godfrey

Well-known member
I took the 907x fitted with the 45P lens out on my late isolation exercise work last evening. The light was nice ... growing, evening overcast as the sun was setting, soft illumination with some direction.

An amusing difference between walking with the 45P vs the 21 lens is that in the latter case, the length and weight of the lens dominates the camera and it hangs nose-down as a result. The 45P lens is so short and so light that the heavy part of the camera is the CFVII 50c back, so it hangs tail down on the neck strap.

I had on bicycling gloves with touch-screen enabled fingertips ... While not quite a responsive as my actual fingertips, it worked well throughout the walk (about two and a half miles through the local neighborhood streets). The LCD was very visible and easy to see for framing and focus in the available light; I mostly used autofocus and pointed to specific points on the LCD for focusing. Pressing the X button re-centers the focus point instantly ... excellent design. The LCD is visible at quite a wide angle so I often don't need to flip out the screen even with a relatively low shot.

Given how young the firmware on this camera is, it comes up with only a few glitches. I've mentioned the "nose down on a copy stand with a lens adapter" issue before this. In last evening's walk, I found the control interface on the LCD became unresponsive just once ... Powering the camera off and on solved it. I've sent notes in to Hasselblad on both these issues, it'll be interesting to see what the next firmware revision does (as well as if it supports the video function which is as yet not working).

The other thing I'm looking to get a handle on is to see how many exposures per charge I can expect from the batteries. I now have the Hasselblad dual charger unit and three batteries, all numbered so I can use them in rotation as I usually do. Last evening's walk started with the battery showing about 70% capacity when I started and remaining capacity at the end was 38%; I made about 150-180 exposures with power down set for 5 minutes and screen power off in 1 minute. That says about 350-400 exposures on a charge is possible when you're just shooting and doing minimal review time and control manipulation, which is just fine by me.

The camera and this lens performs beautifully! Very few of the exposures I made are anything but perfectly focused with excellent exposure. I'm in progress picking out a few to finish render and post. :D

I've ordered a 62mm to Series VII (54mm) stepdown ring so I can play with fitting my Leica ELPRO VIIa/b close up lenses and see how nicely this configuration might perform for quick copy work. I've also done some preliminary testing of the 907x with Phocus Mobile 2 using my iPad Pro 11" ... seems to work well, but it doesn't give me a Live View on the iPad screen, which is a little disappointing. Presumably that's a matter of some firmware and app development yet to come, as is the iPhone compatible version of the app.

More photos soon...

G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
I thought I'd post this slightly wacky lens test. I was curious how well my ancient, much-disparaged Leica Hektor 135mm f/4.5 M-bayonet lens would perform on the 907x/CFVII 50c sensor, so I fitted the lens mount adapter, turned the 907x into electronic shutter mode, and set the camera up on a tripod aimed at my 1:43 scale model car display. The lens does vignette at the periphery of the frame, mostly due to its lens hood, but leaves enough usable space for a square-crop on the sensor.

The example photo is about a 24 Mpixel extraction from the center of the 50 Mpixel frame.

This 1960 generation lens is often disparaged for its quality and is indeed the least expensive Leica M lens I've ever bought (about $180 somewhere around 2009). What got me was how crisp and detailed the image it formed is ... and this despite shooting through the display cabinet's clear acrylic cover.


Click on the photo to see the full 24 Mpixel image rendering

I suspect that much of the criticism of this lens came out of inevitable focusing accuracy issues due to the native rangefinder focusing mechanism on the Leica cameras it is usually used with. It does flare a bit, the lens hood is certainly not optional if you want good results in normal daylight, but the basic quality of the lens imaging is evident in this test photo.

The Hektor is a very light and compact if not particularly fast 135mm lens on the 907x body. Great to have along in the bag if you only use a longish lens fairly infrequently when traveling. It obviously has many limitations but I'm more interested in what it can do rather than what it cannot... :)

enjoy!
G
 

jng

Well-known member
Love the two Saab Sonetts on the bottom row! Glad that you're enjoying your explorations with the new little Hasselblad!

John
 

pegelli

Well-known member
I thought I'd post this slightly wacky lens test. I was curious how well my ancient, much-disparaged Leica Hektor 135mm f/4.5 M-bayonet lens would perform on the 907x/CFVII 50c sensor.....
Nothing wacky about such a test Godfrey, you need to know what your lenses can and cannot do :cool:

What aperture did you use for this shot. I'm asking because I've used a similar Hektor (only M39, and also not mine) on my camera and found it quite "glowy" at f4.5 and even f5.6. At f8 it was fine and very usable.

I now have an Elmar 135/4 (M-mount) that I picked up at an auction late last year for less than 100 € while nobody else was looking :) and I find that pin sharp and nice contrast right from f4.0 onward. Weight/size between these lenses is almost identical.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Love the two Saab Sonetts on the bottom row! Glad that you're enjoying your explorations with the new little Hasselblad!

John
Thanks John. By the way, that's three SAAB Sonetts .. The right-most one is the SAAB Sonett I from, I think, 1957. :)

Nothing wacky about such a test Godfrey, you need to know what your lenses can and cannot do :cool:

What aperture did you use for this shot. I'm asking because I've used a similar Hektor (only M39, and also not mine) on my camera and found it quite "glowy" at f4.5 and even f5.6. At f8 it was fine and very usable.

I now have an Elmar 135/4 (M-mount) that I picked up at an auction late last year for less than 100 € while nobody else was looking :) and I find that pin sharp and nice contrast right from f4.0 onward. Weight/size between these lenses is almost identical.
Thanks! I agree: I want to know what my lenses can do—aside from the fact that it's fun to just play with the notion of "What will this do?" :D

I believe I used f/8 or f/11 for this photo in order to get enough depth of field at the shooting distance (about 4.5 feet). I usually stop down 2-3 stops with most lenses so that is about right. An in-depth test with different f/stops ... perhaps another play time exercise.

It's nice outdoors ... Time to get on the bicycle. I've tossed the Instant Pinhole camera into my backpack along with a tripod: Maybe I'll make a picture or two, I have four exposures left on the pack in it.

onwards! G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...
One thing that's become plain to me: My lovely old Planar 80/2.8 T* and Distagon 50/4 T* are simply not so stunningly sharp when wide open as the XCD 21mm lens is. After many experiments and focusing trials, I've come to realize that for the kind of sharpness I get out of the XCD 21mm at f/4, I need to stop down either of those two lenses about two stops at least (f/5.6 and f/8 respectively), at least in the near focusing range. The focus is right on the money, they're just not as sharp wide open.

I'm going to take a walk with the 500CM+CFVII 50c+Planar 80mm tomorrow ... :)
Returning to this notion, I observed that the photos I made on my walk, the ones where I had the Planar 80mm wide open, were occasionally razor sharp but most of the time slightly blurred. Hmm. So I did some more testing and comparison work, this time exercising the wide-open focus of all my lenses with all four of my focusing screens vs doing the same thing with the 500CM and CFVII 50c configured for electronic shutter and Live View focus. And then doing the focusing screen tests again with the magnifying hood rather than the waist level finder + magnifier. And I came to a new conclusion...

The problem isn't that my lovely old lenses aren't sharp wide open ... They may not be quite as sharp as the XCD 21 and 45 when wide open, but they're not that far off. The problem is that the SLR viewfinder without the magnifying stovepipe hood just isn't as consistently crisp and contrasty enough to focus critically with the same consistency as Live View: Live View simply presents a substantially better, more consistent viewfinder for critical focusing.

With care—and particularly with the magnifying hood fitted—with *any* of my focusing screens and lenses, I can get consistently perfect critical focus wide open with all four V system lenses. And the lenses all perform with more than satisfactory sharpness wide open. The limiting factors are the view provided by the waist level viewfinder and whatever screen, the performance of the lenses with respect to contrast in that context when wide open, and the quality of my vision/perception when focusing.

This says to me that if I want to keep using these lenses (and after all, why not since they cover the format perfectly and I have all of them already...?), the efficient way to get the most out of them is to buy the XV Adapter from Hasselblad and use them directly on the 907x body/CFVII 50c back when I don't want to also shoot film with the same setup in parallel. B&HPhoto has a few of the adapters available second hand at a good savings, I've ordered one of them. I guess they have them used because some number of folks bought the adapter to use the older V system lenses on their X1D and have since decided to reinvest in XCD series lenses for the additional benefits, don't need the adapter any more.

I still want to keep the 500CM system viable for film (and digital capture) work, so $180 is a small price to pay for a useful, additional range of lenses that I have proven work well to my satisfaction, when used in the proper way.

Fun fun fun...
G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
This photograph is a little more about the CFVII 50c back than it is about the 907x since I used the back on the Hasselblad 500CM and its 80mm lens to make this photograph. I'll post it in that thread too. :)


Service Door
Hasselblad 500CM/CFVII 50c + Planar 80mm f/2.8
ISO 100 @ f/5.6 @ 1/90 est.

From my walk the other day... I'm chugging my way through processing the many exposures I made this last week!

enjoy,
G
 

jng

Well-known member
Your experience with achieving consistent focus mirrors mine when I used an IQ160 mated to my 501CM. I actually did best with the late model flip-up waist level finder that gave a final 4.5x magnification (vs I think only 2.5x of my chimney hood and 3x of the early model waist level finders).

I find that the old V system lenses work quite nicely adapted to the X1D as long as you're OK with being limited to using the electronic shutter. Be sure, however, that the adapter locks in the lens with a distinct "click." I returned an otherwise pristine used adapter that failed to lock in the lens securely but had better luck with a new copy.

John
 

leejo

Member
I came to a new conclusion...

The problem isn't that my lovely old lenses aren't sharp wide open ... They may not be quite as sharp as the XCD 21 and 45 when wide open, but they're not that far off. The problem is that the SLR viewfinder without the magnifying stovepipe hood just isn't as consistently crisp and contrasty enough to focus critically with the same consistency as Live View: Live View simply presents a substantially better, more consistent viewfinder for critical focusing.

With care—and particularly with the magnifying hood fitted—with *any* of my focusing screens and lenses, I can get consistently perfect critical focus wide open with all four V system lenses. And the lenses all perform with more than satisfactory sharpness wide open. The limiting factors are the view provided by the waist level viewfinder and whatever screen, the performance of the lenses with respect to contrast in that context when wide open, and the quality of my vision/perception when focusing.
This isn't a new conclusion! It's what we've been saying all along: https://www.getdpi.com/forum/medium...s/66407-hasselblad-cfv-ll-50c.html#post813584

So I reiterate - Hasselblad are marketing the CFV II 50c as working with the bulk of their legacy V system cameras. They will, but as you now realise, with compromises.
 

phOtOny teXas

Well-known member
907X SE - CFV II 50C - XCD 45P in Zero G
The XCD 45P and 907X SE make for a great combination, fits in the palm of your hand truly making this a easy walk around camera that inspires shooting.





Zero G
by tOny endieveri, on Flickr
 
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Godfrey

Well-known member
Your experience with achieving consistent focus mirrors mine when I used an IQ160 mated to my 501CM. I actually did best with the late model flip-up waist level finder that gave a final 4.5x magnification (vs I think only 2.5x of my chimney hood and 3x of the early model waist level finders).

I find that the old V system lenses work quite nicely adapted to the X1D as long as you're OK with being limited to using the electronic shutter. Be sure, however, that the adapter locks in the lens with a distinct "click." I returned an otherwise pristine used adapter that failed to lock in the lens securely but had better luck with a new copy.

John
That magnification would be handy. My chimney finder is ancient and fair beat up, but the optics are perfect.. Perhaps one reason I find it very good is that it has a diopter correction so I can use it without my glasses on and focus it so I can see the focusing screen better than the flip-up magnifier in the WL finder. The progressive glasses I wear add their own weirdness to trying to focus on an SLR screen... :)

G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
907X SE - CFV II 50C - XCD 45P in Zero G
The XCD 45P and 907X SE make for a great combination, fits in the palm of your hand truly making this a easy walk around camera that inspires shooting. ...
Indeed! I tried a new configuration with it using a Peak Design camera plate, one of their anchors, and their wrist strap on my left hand. It's really nice, although for walking a distance, a neck strap is more comfortable.

Love the photo! :)

G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
On the same walk as my previous photo using the CFVII 50c back...


Window & Chimney - Santa Clara 2020


White Fence - Santa Clara 2020

both:
Hasselblad 500CM/CFVII 50c + Planar 80mm f/2.8 T*
ISO 100 @ f/5.6 @ 1/125 est

enjoy!
G
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...Be sure, however, that the adapter locks in the lens with a distinct "click." I returned an otherwise pristine used adapter that failed to lock in the lens securely but had better luck with a new copy.
The used XV Adapter I bought from BHPhoto arrived today. I've only done some tests, but it works flawlessly. I've tested it with three of my four V lenses and all work perfectly with it (ran out of time to test the Sonnar 150).

G
 

sog1927

Member
The used XV Adapter I bought from BHPhoto arrived today. I've only done some tests, but it works flawlessly. I've tested it with three of my four V lenses and all work perfectly with it (ran out of time to test the Sonnar 150).

G
In all fairness, it is (regrettably) just a "dumb tube". As long as it's well-machined, there's not a lot to go wrong with it.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
In all fairness, it is (regrettably) just a "dumb tube". As long as it's well-machined, there's not a lot to go wrong with it.
I agree. I was simply responding to the previous post wherein it was suggested I check that the lens' bayonet lock engaged properly with the adapter's engaging pin. A more complex adapter that allowed you to make exposures operating via the lens shutter might have been cool, but after all a Hasselblad 500CM body is probably the same price as what a new adapter of that type would cost, and if you want that kind of functionality, well, just use a 500CM body with the back. :)

I bought the adapter because for much of what I use these lenses for with the CFVII 50c back, the 500CM body becomes little more than a much bulkier, heavier, more complex "dumb tube", as you put it. It provides yet another level of options, and at the price I paid, it was a reasonable expenditure.

G
 

jng

Well-known member
Godfrey,

Happy that the adapter worked out for you! Yes it's dumb but if not machined within certain tolerances would be worse than merely dumb (for example if the flange to sensor distance is short, which would prevent focusing to infinity - don't ask me how I know about such things... :banghead:).

In any case I'm enjoying reading about your adventure with the new Hasselblad kit and glad that you're finding a creative ways to use it during the pandemic!

John
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
Godfrey,

Happy that the adapter worked out for you! Yes it's dumb but if not machined within certain tolerances would be worse than merely dumb (for example if the flange to sensor distance is short, which would prevent focusing to infinity - don't ask me how I know about such things... :banghead:).

In any case I'm enjoying reading about your adventure with the new Hasselblad kit and glad that you're finding a creative ways to use it during the pandemic!

John
Thank you, John!

(I suspect you meant "...if the flange to sensor distance is long, which would prevent focusing to infinity..." because a short mount register allows focus past infinity...)

For use with some heavy lenses and extension tubes, I wonder if there's a tripod mount that will engage the 907x camera's tripod screw mount point and also provide support for the lens at the middle to forward end of the adapter. That would place the center of balance forward and distribute the load a little more evenly.

G
 

anyone

Well-known member
You may look into the direction of the RRS long lens support which does exactly that, but it might be a little overdone for a 'regular heavy lens'. It's meant for long tele lenses, as the name suggests.
 
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