Danny Burk , Sep 15, 2000; 11:11 a.m.
Hi, I've looked with interest at specs for the new 350mm Contax 645
lens. The weight (around 8.5 lbs/4kg) is something that would make me
hesitate hauling it on a hike, even for a short time.
With the reputation of Hasselblad's 350mm Superachromat, the idea of
using this on the Contax (with adapter, of course) has crossed my
mind. It's around half the weight. I've never used anything but
dedicated Contax lenses on my 645...apparently Hassy lenses work
fine, from what I've read.
The Contax is a stop faster - not that important since I'd use it
stopped down most of the time - and I don't care about autofocus.
Without regard to the admittedly horrifying price of either lens,
does anyone have an opinion as to which might be a better choice in
terms of image quality and usability? Thanks!
carl mondragon , Sep 15, 2000; 05:11 p.m.
Danny,
I own the Tele-SuperAchromat for the Hass and I have for some time now. The lens is excellent. The problem besides the cost, is the Hass
film holders are not up to f 5.6 depth of focus. It sounds like that is not a concern for you. Keep in mind if you stop that lens down the performance drops due to diffraction. So I am not sure what you would gain in either case. The vacuume back contax holder is superior to the
Hass by far but only means something at wider aperatures. If you want to acheive the performance of the optic you must shoot the highest resolution film, mount it on a very sturdy tripod, always lock the mirror, always use the cable release, and magnify the image during focus. I also use a one piece mounting plate that connects the body to the lens both in the same plane for a complete rigid optical path.
I see three benefits to the Contax. 1. Auto focus 2. 1 stop faster. 3. Vacuume film holder. The Hass wins because of weight, film size, Better MTF, matched 1.4x extender. I dont know what kind of shooting you intend to do with the optic but used properly either lens would deliver high performance imaging that would be without equal for that focal length. I would not hesitate to recommomend the Tele-SuperAchromat if your demands on imaging are extreme.
Good luck !
g. debord , Sep 16, 2000; 07:48 a.m.
Carl - if your Hasselblad fails to hold focus at 5.6 and under then you need to have it serviced. My guess would be that the mirror has lost position. I had service done on an inherited (30+ year old?) 500c camera...they replaced the mirror foam and reset infinity focus with a collimator. At f2.8 with the 80mm lens, depth of field is shallow but focus is spot on. Same goes for the 150mm with teleconverter.
Danny Burk , Sep 16, 2000; 09:29 p.m.
Thanks for the info so far...I still have a basic question re: using Hassy lenses on my Contax 645. I know very little about Hassy lenses, never having used one. I note that one line (FE lenses) is only compatible with the 200 series cameras. But what's compatible with the Contax adapter? Am I correct in assuming that ANY Hassy lens is OK, since Contax has a focal plane shutter, or are some Hassy lenses
unusable with Contax? Is Hassy's dedicated 1.4x teleconverter also usable with this lens at the same time as the Contax adapter?
Is this a feasible idea, before I spend more time considering it? Thanks in advance for any enlightenment :)
- - , Oct 09, 2000; 07:18 a.m.
I have some information on the telephoto lens, see whether they are helpful to you.
First, the Hasselblad Lens Mount Adapter for 645 only supports manual focusing. Actual iris light metering is employed, so the camera's central focus point average light meter can be used. (Spot light metering is not supported.)
The two lenses you are considering are different in many terms such as the greatest aperture. Hasselblad has F5,6 while Contax has F4. Contax is an Tele-Apotessar T* lens while Hasselblad is an Tele-Superachromat CFE (Central shutter, Focal plane shutter, Electronic function) lens. Currently only three Zeiss Superachromat lenses are available. They are Superachromat 5,6/250, Tele-Superachromat 5,6/350 and Tele-Superachromat 2,8/300. They are extremely good lenses, very demanding in manufacture. For the last lens, you can give it a serious consideration. It is faster, it is in the TPP (Telephoto Power Pack), when equipped with the teleconverter Apo-Mutar 1,7x T*, it offers 510mm focal length as compared to the 490mm in you planned combination (350mm with 1,4 Mutar). However, I still cannot get specification of this lens. All the TPP was bought by Hasselblad from Zeiss and they are limited in quantity.
