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Hasselblad V lenses on 645Z/D? Experience?

turtle

New member
Hi everyone, I am looking to close off some lens gaps in my new Pentax 645Z system and I am curious about adapted Hassy lenses (particularly the 60mm Distagon CF/CFE and 110mm f3.5 Planar CF/CFE.

I'm loving the 28-45 and 75mm and would like something in the middle. The 45-85 Zoom may be the best option, but a prime may be the better performer. The 55mm D-FA looks to have curvature issues that are not ideal for landscapes and its very expensive. I can adapt a 60mm Distagon CF or CB for less.

I also have an old 80-160mm A lens, which is good, but throws up some slight decentering here and there at the long end. I tend to use it a lot and wonder if a 110mm Planar and 150mm CF might be a good idea.

Can anyone comment on the optical performance of these or similar lenses when adapted for the 645Z?

Pentax can't release their new D-FA standard and long zooms soon enough, but it might be a while!
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
Hi everyone, I am looking to close off some lens gaps in my new Pentax 645Z system and I am curious about adapted Hassy lenses (particularly the 60mm Distagon CF/CFE and 110mm f3.5 Planar CF/CFE.

I'm loving the 28-45 and 75mm and would like something in the middle. The 45-85 Zoom may be the best option, but a prime may be the better performer. The 55mm D-FA looks to have curvature issues that are not ideal for landscapes and its very expensive. I can adapt a 60mm Distagon CF or CB for less.

I also have an old 80-160mm A lens, which is good, but throws up some slight decentering here and there at the long end. I tend to use it a lot and wonder if a 110mm Planar and 150mm CF might be a good idea.

Can anyone comment on the optical performance of these or similar lenses when adapted for the 645Z?

Pentax can't release their new D-FA standard and long zooms soon enough, but it might be a while!
I believe Ashwin Rao has the Hasselblad 110/2 which is for V-series focal plane shutter bodies (200 series) and the results are pretty damn good as a portrait lens. I wouldn't hesitate to add that one personally.
 

Jeffg53

Member
I started off with V lenses on an H3D. They are OK but not a patch on H lenses. It didn't take much time to realise that the H gear was the way to go.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
The Pentax D-FA 55mm does not have curvature of field "issues" and is great for landscape. My most used landscape lens. It is a lot cheaper than the 28–45mm Pentax zoom. Actually, I think the 55mm is the best value for money.

I would recommend the Pentax 645 A for FA 120mm macro if you are look for a focal length in the 100–150mm range. One of the sharpest lenses for the Pentax 645D/Z. Sharp wide open as well. There seem to be little difference if any between the manual and AF version.

As for adapted lenses, I sold the Pentax 67 105mm f/2.4 for the 645 120mm macro as you lose a few things--you only have center-weighted metering and the AWB did not work as well on my 645D. You will also only have stop down metering with a V series lens. I certainly would not bother adapting a 60mm and 110mm V series lens when the Pentax 55mm and 120mm macro will be better in so many ways.
 

turtle

New member
Shashin, I have downloaded plenty of 55mm files that show quite dramatic fall off in the outer field that are not fully rectified even by f11, when the lens is focused at long distances (i.e. a cityscape shot from a hill or building, where the point of focus may be 100m...500m). There are also many other people expressing the same concerns as me, including owners who have returned multiple copies only to find the next one is the same. While I respect your opinion, stating emphatically that the 55mm does not have a field curvature issue is perhaps more a reflection of personal application and subjective opinion, rather than absolute fact. My 55m FE Sonnar absolutely runs rings around the 55mm DFA files I have processed, at any aperture, when it comes to across field performance consistency. My 30 year old Canon 50mm FDn f1.4 does the same.

If you can show examples of the 55 DFA focused at long range, with subject matter around the image margins (also at distance), such as a cityscape or landscape taken from an elevated position, I would be very interested to see, because I have not seen a single sample of this lens performing well under such circumstances. I have seen plenty of impressive files from work closer in, however. If your copy can do distance very well, then I would be concerned about sample variation, because I've downloaded DNGs from two or three lenses, all of which are tack sharp on centre, but not at all impressive towards the edges (at long distance).

As for the 120mm Macro, I have one. It is very good, but it takes quite a bit of stopping down to perform really well at very long distances, as is typical of many macro lenses. Lenses such as the 100mm f3.5 planar are likely to perform very much better, as they are optimised for longer distances.

FWIW, a while back I found some full-rez samples of the 60mm Zeiss Distagon on the 645z and it looked far more impressive in the outer field than the 55mm DFA to my eyes. There are some write ups on Pentax forums where the owner/reviewer compared Pentax lenses and the Hassy equivalents and found that, overall, the Hassy lenses impressed him much more. Ming Thein said the same. At the same time, both picked out several P645 lenses as impressing greatly, such as the 120mm Macro. Even the legendary Hassy Zeiss 120mm Makro cannot keep up with the 100mm f3.5 Planar at infinity, as you might expect. One is a macro lens and the other was designed for perfection at infinity.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Ah yes, the macro at infinity myth. This is with the A 120mm macro through a hotel window at f/11:





If you have convinced yourself about the 55mm, that is fine with me. I have no real interest in preparing comparison images. I use the 55mm a lot for my work that usually gets printed at 30x40. If you are happier using something else, that is great. Apparently, the subject offends you.
 

turtle

New member
Shashin, I have formed my opinion based on the samples I have downloaded and looked at - nothing more and nothing less. While I respect that your opinion differs, suggesting that I have 'convinced myself' is rather patronising, considering that I have yet to find any samples that might change the conclusion I have formed and that you are not prepared to provide any actual images to support your dismissal of my existing conclusions. Are you suggesting that I should just take your word for it and ignore the only physical evidence I have seen? ... Then there is the fact that we might both look at the same image and come to completely different conclusions as to what is 'sharp enough' and what is not. That's fine - we all differ in our subjective opinions - but you seem to be struggling with the idea that I haven't just taken your word as gospel on the matter. Don't forget that I did ask if you could point me towards or share any 55mm DFA files that might reassure me about its peripheral performance at long distance and this met with you having 'no real interest'.... yet you suggest I am 'convinced' and not open to new information. Interesting.

As for the 120mm, there is no 'macro myth'. Instead, it is a fact that lenses are optimised for somewhere along the distance scale. Some macro lenses do pretty well to very well at long distances, but not all. Some are miserable. In fact some very good standard lenses are not that hot at infinity. Equally, some lenses that are great at infinity are not very good close in. Yes, the 120mm Macro can be very good at infinity, but f11 is fairly well stopped down for a long prime and I wonder if there are options that would give me another stop or two of light should I need it. My 120mm Macro is not good at all at f5.6 at infinity and f8 is still not impressive, whereas something like the 100mm Planar may be much better at these apertures. Dismissing this all as 'the macro myth' is not helpful and flies in the face of accepted wisdom, which does separate macro and non-macro lenses in terms of their observable near-far performance, with plenty of variations in between.

@ Jeff - thanks. I have seen comments suggesting the newer Fuji made H lenses are better technically than the V lenses, but H lenses cannot be adapted to the 645Z as far as I know. The V lenses may not be the best possible, but for filling a few gaps may be ideal. A used 60mm distagon costs half what a used Pentax 55mm DFA comes in at, so it also saves money. I'm prepared to sacrifice a bit of central performance for better evenness and the Zeiss V lenses look pretty darned good in this regard.
 
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Shashin

Well-known member
turtle, you come here asking opinion for lenses for landscape (I assumed you did not shot landscapes wide open, but apparently I was mistaken). I, like you, did research about these lenses. There are photographers that rank the 55mm highly, some do not. I, like you, saw samples. I, unlike you, have shot tens of thousands of images with this lens. You simply state, rather condescendingly I thought, that it was my "subjective opinion," implying I suppose that your opinion is simple objective fact.

Ironically, then you say your knowledge of macro lenses follows the "accepted wisdom." You then go on to explain that not all lenses, macro or not, are not good at infinity. Perhaps being a macro lenses is not the reason? Personally, I have never found a macro lens that is not good at infinity, mostly because macro lenses are corrected for field curvature to a greater extent than standard lenses. Unfortunately, the macro myth is just "accepted wisdom," a factoid repeated again and again without an actual basis in anything.

I don't care what you buy, but if you are asking for input, I suggest you can simply be grateful to those taking the time to give you information based on their experience without telling them they are wrong and have some kind of "subject opinion." Good luck.
 

tsjanik

Well-known member
Tom:

You might also try the Pentax 55mm A lens. You should be to find one for around $150. My copy is excellent. I have compared it to the highly regarded Pentax 67 55mm (3rd generation) and find the 645 lens better and much lighter. I have not used the D FA version.

I also find my copy of the 120mm to be very good at infinity. I lent this lens to Lloyd Chambers when he was reviewing the 645D and even he had nothing but praise and he makes his living by finding faults!

Attached: 120mm @f9.5 and crop without PP. In some areas tree branches are one pixel in width and very little purple fringing. (up-rez with nearest neighbor).

Tom



 
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