Hasselblad lenses H vs. V

[henrikfoto]

I would like to know about any tests that compare the H and V lenses. Does anybody know of any such test?

Personal experiences are more than welcome too.

Henrik

[samuel_js]

I would like to know about any tests that compare the H and V lenses. Does anybody know of any such test?

Personal experiences are more than welcome too.

Henrik
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192049\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I think the H series are too sharp. Yes, too sharp! They are ok for landscapes but too harsh for people.
I personally prefer Zeiss lenses for the V system. More natural colors and definitely much nicer bokeh.
I also like the size and price of the V series lenses over the H series of course.

Just a personal opinion...

[Dustbak]

There aren't that many lens reviews for H lenses. I have not found that many. Most lenses I bought because people recommended them to me and I just took the plunge.

I agree with Samuel, HC lenses are sharp. Very sharp.

I like my lenses to be sharp, the HC lenses fit that description perfectly. If I need more softness I can always fall back on gaussian blur.

I use the 35 often as well as the zoom. The zoom is very heavy and wears you out when using handheld but it makes for really sharp images with convincing colors. I recently got a 100 which I now prefer for some portrait work over the 80 which I used before. The 100 is a lot better.

I use the 150 often with extention rings to do macro or smaller table top stuff. Very nice lens, can be bought fairly cheap and probably has the fastest AF of the bunch.

Best results can be gotten on tripod with Mup, in which case images turn out stunningly sharp & crisp.

The V lenses are much softer indeed, I found some V lenses disappointing with my digital backs. I liked the 100 & 180. I disliked the 150 & 60. Others I have not used, many people point out the 40IF is stellar.

I find myself being able to get more reliable results with the H, even on off-days so to speak.

[Dinarius]

So far I've only used the 80mm and 120mm macro C lenses. The 80mm leaves a lot to be desired!

The 120mm macro is dynamite. As a result, I've cancelled the order for the 80mm and I'm paying the balance to buy a 120mm.

On numerous recommendations, and with the opportunity to buy one for peanuts (relatively speaking) I bought a 100mm f3.5 Zeiss Planar, along with the adapter to connect it to the H3Dll. It's absolutely stunning. Only drawback is that I can't use it in multi-shot mode. But, it will replace my 80mm (or the lack of) most of the time.

A world-class 80mm-90mm macro would be the ideal addition to the range from my point of view.

D.

[henrikfoto]

Has anybody done a side by side comparison of the H and the V lenses?
I think the best V lenses for digital backs are the 100 cfi, 180 cfe, 250 superachromat,
300 superachromat and the 350 superachromat. All these lenses are very very good for digital.

I have never tried the H lenses and would be very interested if somebody could compare.

Anybody have both, or talked to someone who has done this kind of testing?

Henrik

[Dustbak]

Denis, the zoom with extention rings makes for a very nice macro solution. It is definitely the zoom that delivers the best quality I have ever used. The only drawback is its weight, I also use it upside down quite often which isn't recommended either (but hey, if you got to you got to).

[AndrewDyer]

The CFE 120 Macro for the V series is also fantastic for Digital.
It is a fantastically sharp lens, which I have used with massive amounts of extension on
the auto-bellows and the glass still holds up.
Actually I sold mine a while back and regret it... now looking for another one soon.
A

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Hasselblad has MTF-curves for all lenses on their website. Don't know about the lenses but the MTF curves are significantly better for the H-series than for the V-series.


http://www.hasselblad.com/downloads/datash...-macro-120.aspx

Oh, no! It seems they have removed the info on the V-series lenses!


Best regards
Erik

I would like to know about any tests that compare the H and V lenses. Does anybody know of any such test?

Personal experiences are more than welcome too.

Henrik
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[TechTalk]

Hi,

Hasselblad has MTF-curves for all lenses on their website. Don't know about the lenses but the MTF curves are significantly better for the H-series than for the V-series.
http://www.hasselblad.com/downloads/datash...-macro-120.aspx

Oh, no! It seems they have removed the info on the V-series lenses!
Best regards
Erik
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hasselblad has not removed "V" series lens data. The web-site navigation is downloads>data sheets>V-system. Here's a direct link for you.
[a href=\"http://www.hasselblad.com/downloads/datasheets/v-system.aspx]V-system Data Link[/url]

[henrikfoto]

But how much does the curves really say about how a lens perform?

Is a lens with a better MTF-curve always a better lens?

Henrik

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

MTF is essentially the way lenses are characterized. A lens is calculated to have a certain MTF. There are, however, parameters which are not described by MTF.

MTF essentially measures sharpness. A lens with a higher MTF is simply sharper. It is possible to conceive cases where a lens with lower MTF is sharper than a lens with high MTF but I would suggest that this is not very common.

MTF does not measure a lot of things:

1) Distorsion
2) Flare and ghosting, which is notoriously difficult to measure
3) Bokeh, although there are some suggestions that lenses that have a small difference between sagittal and tangential graphs would have good bokeh.

The MTF curves published by Hasselblad are measured at the factory using the same methods and equipment, so they should be comparable.

By the way, I'm not a expert on optics. Just an interested amateur!

As a side note: Bill Atkinson says in one of the the interviews with Michael Reichmann that the HC 120/4 macro is probably the best lens he used. (Or something like that) Michael Reichmann is very satisfied with his HC 50-110 (now that it is no longer falling apart).

Best regards
Erik

But how much does the curves really say about how a lens perform?

Is a lens with a better MTF-curve always a better lens?

Henrik
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192151\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[MarkKay]

I do not believe a lens can be too sharp.. However, there can be other parameters that are sacrificed during lens design. In other words in a specific design the formula for a very sharp lens may be at the expense of bokeh, some level of distortion or some other important parameter.  

I have been very pleased with the HC lenses.  The 50-110 is an incredible optic and most of the hasselblad HC lenses are extremely sharp wide open. I did try a CF to H adapter and the only lens I test was one of the 40mm Zeiss CFE (not the latest CFi formulation).  I used with an H2 and leaf aptus 65.  Now i am using the H3DII-31. When i used the 40mm lens, I  was not that impressed with the color accuracy, sharpness or overall image quality compared to the 35mm HC lens.  It was not worth the extra hassle in my mind.  I know there are some who do not like the HC lenses but I have no real complaints other than the lack of any TSE options.

The 120mm HC macro is one of favorite lenses.  When i am hiking, I now take the 28mm, 50-110, 210mm  1.7x, extension tubes and a lee ND, polarizer filter system.  If it is wildflower season, i might take the 120mm macro but it is a big an heavy lens.  Sometimes in a pinch, I place an extension tube set on the zoom and use that for close ups. During my landscape shootin, I say that the 50-110 is on the camera 90% of the time.  I wish this lens was lighter though.

Hi,

MTF is essentially the way lenses are characterized. A lens is calculated to have a certain MTF. There are, however, parameters which are not described by MTF.

MTF essentially measures sharpness. A lens with a higher MTF is simply sharper. It is possible to conceive cases where a lens with lower MTF is sharper than a lens with high MTF but I would suggest that this is not very common.

MTF does not measure a lot of things:

1) Distorsion
2) Flare and ghosting, which is notoriously difficult to measure
3) Bokeh, although there are some suggestions that lenses that have a small difference between sagittal and tangential graphs would have good bokeh.

The MTF curves published by Hasselblad are measured at the factory using the same methods and equipment, so they should be comparable.

By the way, I'm not a expert on optics. Just an interested amateur!

As a side note: Bill Atkinson says in one of the the interviews with Michael Reichmann that the HC 120/4 macro is probably the best lens he used. (Or something like that) Michael Reichmann is very satisfied with his HC 50-110 (now that it is no longer falling apart).

Best regards
Erik
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[samuel_js]

I do not believe a lens can be too sharp.. However, there can be other parameters that are sacrificed during lens design. In other words in a specific design the formula for a very sharp lens may be at the expense of bokeh, some level of distortion or some other important parameter. 

I have been very pleased with the HC lenses.  The 50-110 is an incredible optic and most of the hasselblad HC lenses are extremely sharp wide open. I did try a CF to H adapter and the only lens I test was one of the 40mm Zeiss CFE (not the latest CFi formulation).  I used with an H2 and leaf aptus 65.  Now i am using the H3DII-31. When i used the 40mm lens, I  was not that impressed with the color accuracy, sharpness or overall image quality compared to the 35mm HC lens.  It was not worth the extra hassle in my mind.  I know there are some who do not like the HC lenses but I have no real complaints other than the lack of any TSE options.

The 120mm HC macro is one of favorite lenses.  When i am hiking, I now take the 28mm, 50-110, 210mm  1.7x, extension tubes and a lee ND, polarizer filter system.  If it is wildflower season, i might take the 120mm macro but it is a big an heavy lens.  Sometimes in a pinch, I place an extension tube set on the zoom and use that for close ups. During my landscape shootin, I say that the 50-110 is on the camera 90% of the time.  I wish this lens was lighter though.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192158\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The HC 35mm is very nice indeed but the distortion is terrible!
One advantage of the HC lenses is that they are almost 100% CA free. The CF series suffer a little of CA. For me the perfect balance are the CFi or CFE series. Very good with digital and very good colors and bokeh. Also very well CA corrected.
The HC lenses show better color and contrast OOTB but it's only a few tweeks. I think the best HC I've used is the 210mm. Wonderful but big...

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

Distorsion and chromatic aberration can be fixed in software "after the fact". Hasselblads own software does that or "PTLens" could be used.

Best regards
Erik

The HC 35mm is very nice indeed but the distortion is terrible!
One advantage of the HC lenses is that they are almost 100% CA free. The CF series suffer a little of CA. For me the perfect balance are the CFi or CFE series. Very good with digital and very good colors and bokeh. Also very well CA corrected.
The HC lenses show better color and contrast OOTB but it's only a few tweeks. I think the best HC I've used is the 210mm. Wonderful but big...
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192160\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[Conner999]

MTF data for C - F/FE lenses as well as 645, C/Y, etc can also be found on the Zeiss site.

http://www.zeiss.com/c12567a8003b58b9/Cont...12570f80033cada

[henrikfoto]

Thanks to everybody!

Has anybody heard that the H-system can be bought under a different name from Japan?
Anybody knows if it is the complete same lenses and housing?

Can it be used together?

Henrik

[Jason F]

Thanks to everybody!

Has anybody heard that the H-system can be bought under a different name from Japan?
Anybody knows if it is the complete same lenses and housing?

Can it be used together?

Henrik
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=192378\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Ah yes, the Fuji-blad.

Yes, the system is completely interchangeable (as far as I'm aware). I've used a Fujiblad once (rented it from Capture Integration, they picked it up used somewhere).

It works exactly like the H system, it just says Fuji on it instead of Hasselblad.

I don't think you can buy the Fujiblad gear new in the US, but you can outside of the States from what I understand.

[Dinarius]

You can't buy it on this side of the pond either, as far as I'm aware.

In any case, having spent that much money, which label would you prefer to have on the body?  

Thanks for the link to the Zeiss lens specs. Been using my 100mm Planar 3.5 with my 39Mp and it's phenomenal.

D.

[SeanFS]

You can't buy it on this side of the pond either, as far as I'm aware.

In any case, having spent that much money, which label would you prefer to have on the body?   

Thanks for the link to the Zeiss lens specs. Been using my 100mm Planar 3.5 with my 39Mp and it's phenomenal.

D.
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I have happily been using my 22mp back with V series glass. It took a little bit of calibration with the spacers on my Imacon 132c to zero the focus in , and a new brightscreen to make sure I got the focus spot on, but I really have no complaints at all . Maybe it would be different with a 39mp back but with a 22mp it is more than fine, it there is any more detail to be had I'm not sure I could use it, whats more , there seems to be more detail than I ever saw on film with the same lenses . I have the 40mm cf, 80mm cf, 100mm cf, 150mm cfi and 180mm cf.
The 180 is definitely the pick of the bunch - the 150 might be sharper but I can't tell and the 100  is excellent too. The 40 and 80 too are excellent although the 40 sometimes shows a little CA in the corners - nothing like a 35mm Canon wide angle though. Lack of depth of focus is probably the biggest factor I face in not getting sharp images . With digital it is wafer thin much of the time.
As I usually shoot on a tripod with the mirror locked up any advance with mirror dampening in  an H series might well be lost on me - I was about to go there but then the H2 was dropped . I'll save my pennies for the H3D or similar somewhere down the line , with a 1ds3 to take care of the more adventurous and high asa stuff I  am pretty happy where I am at the moment.