300mm/645MFD

[Dick Roadnight]

I have a 240mm for my film Hasselblads, and I often find that my 50-110 zoom is not long enough, so the nice man from Hasselblad (Hi, David) is bringing a 300mm for me to try...

... the question is, what would I use it for?

Landscapes have always inspired wide-angle mania in most photographers, but I prefer tele landscapes, and I would use the 300 for landscapes and townscapes, with or without a pano-head.

300mm is long for portraiture, but, I think ideal for (wedding) speeches, if you want a "bust" or half-length shot from a distance, and also for candids etc.

With a good hide, or remote control you could use a 300mm for wildlife... (at Port Isaac there is a wall between the path and the cliff, so you can get very close to nesting seagulls).

Would the digital 300 be an order of magnitude better than the film 240?

With the adaptor you have to manually cock the shutter, which would not be ideal, and would not work for remote pano head work on my 10m tripod.

Outside my hose there is a scene where you can see brickwork at various ranges up to 500m, and this would be a good test shot.

I will be testing it on the H3D11-50, but I looking ahead to having the H4d-60.

I had an open cholecystectomy (gall bladder) on 27/6/2010, and I hope that this will, in a few weeks, make me well enough to get out and use my camera.

[Jack Flesher]

This is such an individual decision, it probably doesn't matter what anybody else tells you   In my case, I use a 300 for long landscapes on my Phase, but for me it's a rarely used focal.  My spread is probably the 75-150 zoom covers me for 45%, my 45 prime for 20%, my 80 prime for another 20%, the 28 for maybe 5%, 120 macro maybe 6% and the 300 for the remaining 4%...  

Since my usage is so low, I use an older manual version of the 300. I've had the 300 AF APO and it is a stellar lens, but the older manual version is still very good and a lot cheaper.  I would do the same for the 28 but there isn't an old one, and I use it so rarely I've considered selling it -- but when I need to go really wide, I need wide, so I keep it around.  The 120 is another lens I could make do without using tubes on the zoom or other primes, but even though I don't use it a lot it's excellent and just plain fun to use when I do.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[Guy Mancuso]

I like the 300mm for landscapes and other work also but don't tell anyone as I am trying to buy one used . LOL

[Dustbak]

I have owned the HC300. A great lens but I rarely used it so I sold it (I made less than 2000 clicks with it in 4 years!). I still have the HC210 which I use more. I don't do landscapes though.

Not sure which 240mm Hasselblad lens you are referring to? The only ones I know of are 250mm's. I cannot tell how the HC300 compares to for instance the 250 Super Achromat. Kind of hard to believe it would be better let alone by much considering how much TLC and  effort have gone into that particular 250mm. It is one of those lenses that makes the CF adapter appealling to me.

Take care, I hope you do feel better and healthy soon.