Hasselblad vs. Nikon Lens on a D2x

Today I just received an adapter made by Photodiox (purchased on

ebay) that allows me to mount my Hasselblad lenses on my Nikon

bodies. Below are 100% crops with only levels adjustments made in

Photoshop CS. No sharpening was done to either file. No other image

modifications were made. The first picture was taken using my Nikon

80-200mm f/2.8 ED AF-D Zoom Lens at 150mm at f/4. The second picture

was taken with my Hasselblad 150mm f/4 Sonnar C Lens (chrome) at

f/4. I'd say that the results are pretty much a wash, but remember

that the Hasselblad photo was shot wide-open whereas the Nikon lens

has a maximum aperture of f/2.8.

 

This test proves nothing except that Hasselblad lenses can be used

with good results on a Nikon camera body.

 

http://members.cox.net/leecw/Nikon_80-200mm@150mmCrop01a.jpg

 

http://members.cox.net/leecw/Hasselblad_150mmCrop01a.jpg

How do the corners compare? I'm wondering whether the larger image circle of the Sonnar is of any advantage.

To compare corner performance, here are another 2 images. Both crops were taken from the extreme lower right-hand corner of the frame. The first image was taken with my Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF-D Lens. The second was taken with my Hasselblad 50mm f/4 Distagon Lens (chrome). Again, remember that the Hasselbad lens was shot wide-open.

 

http://members.cox.net/leecw/Nikon_50mmCrop01a.jpg

 

http://members.cox.net/leecw/Hasselblad_50mmCrop01a.jpg

You have proven that good lenses produce good results.

If you do a series with another brand, perhaps you can post the results in yet another forum as well :-)

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00DVwm

If someone is willing to loan me a Canon DSLR & lens adapter, I would be more than happy to. Cheers.

They all look pretty good.

 

I'll let this double post slide because it's interesting and specific to Nikon, while only generally of interest to medium format users.

 

However, keep in mind that posting the same question or topic to multiple forums violates photo.net policy. It's not big on my list of pet peeves but I'm obligated to abide by the rules and acknowledge that it bugs the crap outta some folks. ;>

When the Sony digicam hits the market, it would be possible to compare the D2X (with the Sony sensor) with a Nikon zoom and its performance with a Zeiss Vario Sonnar.

 

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/sonydscr1/

Calvin, thanks for your post on PN and thanks for posting the images.

 

I am a fan of PC lenses and I have a 28mm f4 PC and a 35mm f2.8 PC. But the digital crop factor limits their usefulness for me.

 

So I wonder how well a wide angle medium format lens would work on a D2X using a shift adapter such as the Zork. Do you have any experiences or ideas about how well this would work?

 

Thanks

Charles, sorry to say that I don't have any such adapter. But, it definately sounds like an interesting idea. In fact, I'm guessing that it should work quite well. I have a bunch of Mamiya 645 lenses & would like to find an adapter that would allow me to use them on my D2x. If anyone knows of one, please let me know. Cheers.

I have the full Minolta Auto Bellows III outfit. The Auto Bellows III allows some movement of the front standard. The lens to film distance is too great for using this movement for architectural photography but it comes in handy for macro work. I have used an 80mm f/5.6 EL Nikkor, a 60mm f/4 Bogen Wide Angle enlarging lens and a 150mm Rodagon enlarging lens on the bellows. This allowed me to compose better and improve depth of field for some shots. For shots without movement the larger lens doesn't offer many advantages but the larger image circle is useful for macro work.

Why go for a Minolta Bellows to use with a Nikon body? The PB-4 is a better one (build quality wise and also in terms of movements).

Vivek Iyer wrote:

"When the Sony digicam hits the market, it would be possible to compare the D2X (with the Sony sensor) with a Nikon zoom and its performance with a Zeiss Vario Sonnar."

 

I wonder if Zeiss had anything at all to do with this lens except for licensing its name?

Calvin,

 

Did you compare the Bokeh? I bought the Hassy-Nikon adapter as well for my D2x, not that I am interested in sharpness, but I like the Bokeh and contrast of a Carl Zeiss. Of course, Nikon 80-200mm has beautiful Bokeh too.

 

An observation of what you said: "but remember that the Hasselblad photo was shot wide-open whereas the Nikon lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8." Good point, but also remember Hassy 150mm is a prime and Nikon 80-200mm is zoom with more glass elements. :D

 

Warm regards,

 

Ray