Hasselblad HC 210mm vs 300mm For Portraits & Headshots?

[David Schneider]

With a 300mm for portraits, make sure you have camera support and plenty of room.  If you have a fairly modest studio, you may not have enough room to get the subject off the background and still have room to get behind the camera. 

[Gel]

I recommend the 100mm 2.2 and a 1.7x TC wholeheartedly.

3/4 to headshot in an instant.

[FredBGG]

I recommend the 100mm 2.2 and a 1.7x TC wholeheartedly.

3/4 to headshot in an instant.

Why not just get a longer lens?
The 150m would be a better choice... not to mention less expensive ($ 1,500 LESS), half as many contacts to go wrong and better optical quality... less flare
and sharper as well as better bokeh...
Unusual choice and recommendation.... shooting medium format for a slight quality gain and then recommending to shoot with a teleconverter on a short focal length lens?
The 1.7 TC adds 6 more elements. Is not specifically designed or optimized for the 100mm 2.2 weighs an extra 465 grams and costs $ 1500.
Not to mention the f-stop factor that has to be calculated on every light meter reading.

[Gel]

Why not just get a longer lens?
The 150m would be a better choice... not to mention less expensive ($ 1,500 LESS), half as many contacts to go wrong and better optical quality... less flare
and sharper as well as better bokeh...
Unusual choice and recommendation.... shooting medium format for a slight quality gain and then recommending to shoot with a teleconverter on a short focal length lens?
The 1.7 TC adds 6 more elements. Is not specifically designed or optimized for the 100mm 2.2 weighs an extra 465 grams and costs $ 1500.
Not to mention the f-stop factor that has to be calculated on every light meter reading.

Heh, I'll tell you why.

1. With a 2.2 and a 1.7x TC I get F3.5 wide open. Versus the 3.2 of the 150mm. A negligible difference.
2. The optics of the Hassy TC are superb, this isn't a Canon Extender of which I used the MkIII's and sold them. Unless I invest in the 150mm 'N' which is hard to find used I can't perceive any performance difference or savings.
3. 150mm is a little short for me, even on the 1DX the 85mm feels a little short as I mainly use it for headshots. I like something a bit longer.
4. I now have not just a 80 and 100mm HC lens. I also have a 136mm and a 170mm so if I travel and do landscapes I have everything covered and relatively lightweight.

Or I could have the 150mm which is a tiny bit faster and that's about it. For me this is smart money.

With regards the other points, I have not noticed any issues with flare, I shoot wide open and can't see / notice any difference in Bokeh,
The 100mm lens is considered 'the' lens for Hasselblad, a used TC 1.7x can be had on ebay for roughly $600-$700.

The following image shot on the H3DII-39, handheld, at 1/125sec, with the 80mm and 1.7x TC (135mm) is rubbish isn't it? Look at that terrible bokeh and flare.

[vampire]

I completely agree. I use the 100 2.2 90% of the time. Both with and without the 1.7x. It's just a great combination. I add ext tubes when I need to get close. I use this instead of the bulky 120 macro. I did tests last year comparing this to the macro(version 1) and this was sharper than the macro.

[RVB]

I have the 120mk2 and its razor sharp but it's sometimes tricky to use for portraits due to slow focus.. the 150N or 100 2.2 focus very fast..

[Neil Williams]

Here are a few examples from my HC300mm



And this beauty


Neil

[douglevy]

I have the 80 and 120, I use the 120 for headshots and food (the macro is a nice touch). 100mm is a little short for me for headshots, and I considered the 150, but I shoot my Nikons with the 85, so the 120 is perfect. Slow to focus, but amazingly sharp.

[Neil Williams]

My above shots were with my Hc300....my favorite portrait lens is my HC150n, very easy st shoot hand held and super sharp with great falloff
Neil

[BernardLanguillier]

I own both 210mm and 300mm and end up using the 210mm a lot more.

Typically either on tripod or monopod.

Both as excellent optically though, truly world class lenses.

Cheers,
Bernard

[BAB]

Well the fast AF of the three 150n 210 300 would be the 150n and I sure if you rent and test your findings will be the same as mostly everyone the 150n is the dream lens for portraits.


for me the 210 w/o tripod is a non starter


the 300mm would be my choice over the 210 if you want compression.