Those are completely lovely. Without that intense sharpness of modern digital lenses, there seems to be more emphasis on light instead of form. I get a similar effect on my same Blad with the Leica 135 f/4 Mandler.You piqued my curiosity as I have the Leica M and R adapters for my 907x/CFVII 50c. Pulled out the ancient Hektor 135mm f/4.5, set it wide open, and snapped a couple of still lifes with it.
Orchids On Table - Santa Clara 2024
Potted Plant - Santa Clara 2024
Not the sharpest they can be, but hand-held at 1/20 and 1/45 sec with the E-shutter, ISO 400. I think they look nice, regardless.
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What third party “dreamy” lens to complement XCD lenses?
- Thread starter peterm1
- Start date
Godfrey
Well-known member
Yes, it is useful if you have some interesting V system lenses. I mostly use it with the Makro-Planar 120mm f/4, Sonnar 150mm f/4, and Sonnar 180mm f/4 ... of them, the Sonnar 150/4 is the most likely to produce a "dreamy" look as mine is a very old example, pre T*. Of course, I've used all these lenses, and the 50 and 80 as well, with the CFVII 50c back fitted to the 500CM body, but I wasn't looking for how "dreamy" the results might look. They just look like the excellent Hasselblad imaging that I'm used to...
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At the other extreme, the V lenses that are sharpest on an X Blad are the Superachromats 250 and 350 and the 40mm CF IF (internal focusing), the last of which was designed specifically for digital. It has, I am told, at least some uncorrectable distortion, however. Maybe better for very wide is to shoot with the SWC, even if it requires a separate body. I have a 250 SA that is positively stunning on the 907x 50c, even with the 2x Mutar. I've seen lots of photos of the SWC with a Blad back and it also renders beautifully. But if one has the X 30mm (and I do), it's hard to rationalize the cost and inconvenience of the SWC, as cool as it is.
Godfrey
Well-known member
I had my last SWC when I was considering purchase of the 907x/CFVII 50c. I decided, after seeing some other folks work with the CFV 50c on the SWC, that it really wasn't worth it to fit the digital back: the 33x44 format cuts the FoV down so that it's no longer a 'super wide', there's resolution falloff in the corners and edges due to the extreme lens design siting the rear of the lens so very very close to the sensor, etc. Yes, Hasselblad's corrections for the SWC mollify the corner and edge issues by quite a bit, but it's honestly not all that much wider than the XCD 45P (and not as wide as the 30mm) ... So I sold the SWC kit and added the funds raised that way to my 907x bank which allowed me to afford the XCD 21mm f/4 ... When when cropped square (33x33mm, ~39 Mpixel), allows the same FoV (or a little more) as the SWC has on its native 6x6 film format with very comparable quality.
Light at Three AM - Santa Clara 2020
Hasselblad 907x + XCD 21mm f/4
ISO 400 @ f/4.8 @ 32 sec
I've not regretted selling the SWC for the 907x/XCD 21mm ... The Biogon 38mm is a marvelous lens, but I feel strongly that it does its best imaging on the native 6x6 film format.
Hasselblad 500 SWC
Ilford Delta 3200
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Light at Three AM - Santa Clara 2020
Hasselblad 907x + XCD 21mm f/4
ISO 400 @ f/4.8 @ 32 sec
I've not regretted selling the SWC for the 907x/XCD 21mm ... The Biogon 38mm is a marvelous lens, but I feel strongly that it does its best imaging on the native 6x6 film format.
Hasselblad 500 SWC
Ilford Delta 3200
G
OMG! That is one amazing photo!I had my last SWC when I was considering purchase of the 907x/CFVII 50c. I decided, after seeing some other folks work with the CFV 50c on the SWC, that it really wasn't worth it to fit the digital back: the 33x44 format cuts the FoV down so that it's no longer a 'super wide', there's resolution falloff in the corners and edges due to the extreme lens design siting the rear of the lens so very very close to the sensor, etc. Yes, Hasselblad's corrections for the SWC mollify the corner and edge issues by quite a bit, but it's honestly not all that much wider than the XCD 45P (and not as wide as the 30mm) ... So I sold the SWC kit and added the funds raised that way to my 907x bank which allowed me to afford the XCD 21mm f/4 ... When when cropped square (33x33mm, ~39 Mpixel), allows the same FoV (or a little more) as the SWC has on its native 6x6 film format with very comparable quality.
Light at Three AM - Santa Clara 2020
Hasselblad 907x + XCD 21mm f/4
ISO 400 @ f/4.8 @ 32 sec
I've not regretted selling the SWC for the 907x/XCD 21mm ... The Biogon 38mm is a marvelous lens, but I feel strongly that it does its best imaging on the native 6x6 film format.
Hasselblad 500 SWC
Ilford Delta 3200
G
Since I still shoot mainly film, I admit to being tempted by the SWC as a "simpler" travel companion than either my Blad 500 c/m or Mamiya 7. Although the 43mm Mamiya lens is one of the great wides ever made, the Mamiya, for me, lacks the soul of the Blad.
FloatingLens
Well-known member
SWC + CFV is a great travel combination in terms of compactness and quality! I had it on my last trip to Ireland. Be mindful, however, that the SWC is a scale focussing camera. In digital land this either means: being very good at estimating distances, stopping down a lot while shooting handheld, or switching the lens between B and your intended shutter speed constantly (because the shutter of the lens is closed by default).
MGrayson
Subscriber and Workshop Member
Indeed! Can you imagine the MTF chart for that lens? Sagittal curve (solid line) drops to zero and meridional line (dashed) stays high. <shudder>I vote "hallucinogenic" for that one ...
G