joe_casey5 Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 <p>I'm relatively new the world of medium and large format cameras. I love taking landscape shots and have in the past used a Nikon D50 with a 28-80mm wide angle lens for some great shots of Hawaii and Australia. My favorite scenes are sunset or afternoon shots of mountains or water (beach, ocean, mammoth lakes, grand canyon). This last year I got the itch to try my hand at a medium format film camera (after crossing to the dark-side years ago) and just recently I acquired a Hasselblad H2 with an 80mm fixed lens and Velbon El Carmagne 530 carbon fiber tripod. I'm really into nature photography and after seeing the difference in color and clarity the Fuji Velvia 120 has over most any digital format, I took the plunge. Now the question is, what are my best choices for lenses. I'm eyeing a 50-110 zoom lens I can pickup in great shape for $1500. I can get a 28mm wide-angle fixed for around $1200 or I can go all-in and buy a 35-90 wide angle zoom for around $6000.. CHA-CHING!<br> I paid $2500 for the camera with 80mm lens and another $140 for the tripod so I don't think I can justify another $6000 on this new venture just yet, but I really want to get the most of my landscape panorama experience, while being able to get in some great travel shots. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help.<br> -J.C.</p><div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
q.g._de_bakker Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 <p>You are shooting film in the H2, and are looking for a wide lens for that H2?<br />If so, the 28 mm is not an option: it was made for the smaller digital sensors and does not cover 6x4.5 film format.<br />It also depends on software to correct the lens faults - distortion mostly - that were intentionally left uncorrected, because they could be corrected later in software. So a true 'digital age' lens.<br> And as such it also only works properly with H3D and H4D cameras.</p> <p>(Having said that, $1200 for a 28 mm H-series lens is not much to pay at all.)</p> <p>But why a zoom?<br />How about the 35 mm lens? Half the price of that 35-90 zoom.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_Ingold Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 <p>Your choice of a 28-80 lens for landscapes with a D50 indicates you prefer normal to medium long focal lengths. This reflects my own preference. The corresponding lenses for a 645 format would be (very roughly) 80 to 150. Just these two lenses would be relatively inexpensive (for Hasselblad), due to their popularity and availability used. A 120 Makro would split the difference, and is itself a versatile lens for all purposes.</p> <p>A 50mm lens would be roughly equivalent to 24mm on the D50, and is a good wide angle choice for a third (or second) lens after the 80mm.</p> <p>Whether you cover this range with several primes or one zoom is a matter of personal preference (and budget).</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever_max Posted May 22, 2010 Share Posted May 22, 2010 <p>Skip the zoom lenses for Hasselblad. Stick to the prime lenses, you will get more bang for the buck without the downside to zooms.</p> <p>Steve</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff.grant Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 <p>The 35-90 won't work on an H2 either. Like the 28, it is a digital only lense. The only disadvantage of the 50-110 is weight. It is a superb lense, and is on my H3D most of the time. It seems to be well regarded generally.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_casey5 Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 <p>I didn't realize two of the lenses I was looking at were digital lenses, they weren't specified that way, but that's good to know. Unfortunately I have a bigger problem at this point, my H2 needs repairs that cannot be done in LA and will need to go to New Jersey at a cost of about $500 and three weeks time. I'm contemplating sending it back for a full refund vs. a partial refund for repairs from the previous owner.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff.grant Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 <p>That's bad news. Hasselblad repairs are never cheap. It's the unfortunate downside of the superb image quality.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_casey5 Posted May 26, 2010 Author Share Posted May 26, 2010 <p>So what should I do, take the partial refund and just deal with the repair?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff.grant Posted May 26, 2010 Share Posted May 26, 2010 <p>Impossible to say from this distance, and without knowing the problem. I have not owned an H2, only H3Ds. They are pretty rugged so I would be concerned if it needed repairs.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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