HASSELBLAD 50MM F/4 C T* LENS Filter Question. Need Help...

I recently bought a Hasselblad 50mm Distagon f4 C T* Lens and I would like to use filters. I think it uses Series 63 filters, from what I've read ??? Not sure. Is there an adapter where I can use regular filters - 67mm perhaps?

I can't find any definitive information. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Steve

Hasselblad refers to them as 63, but really they're just ordinary Series VIII unthreaded drop-in filters. These are held in place by either a knurled retaining ring that came with the lens, or the round metal original hood.

You can also use ordinary 67mm threaded filters, CAREFULLY. The thread pitch doesn't match exactly, but you can gently screw on a 67mm about halfway (stop the moment you feel resistance). This works fine if your lens is missing the retaining ring, or you just prefer 67mm filters.

Echoing orsetto, the retainer ring for a Series-8 filter (used on the Distagon-C 50mm f/4) is 67mm at 32 thread per inch - which works out to a pitch of 0.8mm. A standard 67mm filter has a thread pitch of 0.75mm. Close enough that most 67mm filters will thread partly onto a series-8 threaded lens.

Before I sold my 50mm Distagon C, I mostly used 67mm filters. I found that certain brands would thread all the way on without binding - mostly the higher end ones with brass threads (B&W, Helioplan) but I has some aliuminium Hoya's that worked fine. Cheap aluminium filters often bind after 1/2 thread. I also rubbed some candle wax on the threads for lubrication/anti-seize.

Just for future reference, this is what the filter setup for the 50mm and 60mm "Series 63" size Distagons looks like. Top pic shows the 50mm with unthreaded drop-in Series VIII (aka 63) filter and retaining ring that comes with the lens. Bottom pic shows the filter in place on a 50mm lens with the retaining ring screwed over it (you can also use the round black screw in hood instead of the retaining ring). Alternatively, standard 67mm threaded filters can be partially screwed directly onto the lens front threads (remove the retaining ring first, it isn't used with 67mm filters).

Just for future reference, this is what the filter setup for the 50mm and 60mm "Series 63" size Distagons looks like. Top pic shows the 50mm with unthreaded drop-in Series VIII (aka 63) filter and retaining ring that comes with the lens. Bottom pic shows the filter in place on a 50mm lens with the retaining ring screwed over it (you can also use the round black screw in hood instead of the retaining ring). Alternatively, standard 67mm threaded filters can be partially screwed directly onto the lens front threads (remove the retaining ring first, it isn't used with 67mm filters).

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Thanks for the information and the photos. Much appreciated.

Hasselblad refers to them as 63, but really they're just ordinary Series VIII unthreaded drop-in filters. These are held in place by either a knurled retaining ring that came with the lens, or the round metal original hood.

 

You can also use ordinary 67mm threaded filters, CAREFULLY. The thread pitch doesn't match exactly, but you can gently screw on a 67mm about halfway (stop the moment you feel resistance). This works fine if your lens is missing the retaining ring, or you just prefer 67mm filters.

I tried normal 67mm B+W and Kenko filters on my Distagon 50mm C T* and this works well, but I do get some vignetting when mounting the standard 50mm shade on top of these filters. Vignetting is also apparent when using the shade directly on the lens partly unscrewed. Apparently this is a zero tolerance shade;-).

I tried normal 67mm B+W and Kenko filters on my Distagon 50mm C T* and this works well, but I do get some vignetting when mounting the standard 50mm shade on top of these filters. Vignetting is also apparent when using the shade directly on the lens partly unscrewed. Apparently this is a zero tolerance shade;-).

Excellent point! Yes, the Hasselblad 50mm Distagons can be finicky about filter use and hoods, even the later CF and CF-FLE versions. Hasselblad eventually acknowledged this with the final CFi 50mm Distagon barrel revision, which enlarged the filter/hood fitting from B60 (roughly 67mm) to B70. Of course, then everybody complained about losing the uniformity of B60 filter sizes in all lenses from 50mm thru 250mm.

The older Distagon C 50mm lens with 63 /Series 8 fitting has very close vignetting tolerances for accessories. While it is possible to use standard 67mm filters and hoods, they may not be suitable for subjects that would suffer from any trace of vignetting. The lens was designed for a drop-in unthreaded filter to be held nearly touching the front element surface, with the retaining ring or dedicated hood sitting flush over it (since their matching threads are recessed all the way in, surrounding the filter rim).

By comparison, a standard 67mm threaded filter or hood sits a couple mm in front of the lens barrel, with its rim projecting forward of the lens rather than being recessed within it. This added rim in front of the barrel is sufficient to cause noticeable vignetting with some subjects in some lighting. To a somewhat lesser extent, the same can occur with the later CF and CF-FLE 50mm Distagons: their B60 bayonet filters also seat externally in front of the barrel instead of recessing within it.

I will point out that the B&W 67mm standard thickness filter did not vignette on my 50mm C Distagon, which I verified on an optical bench (I'm picky about these things). The 67mm B&H filter (and most others) have a slightly larger optical opening than a Series 63/VIII due to the fact that the latter must sit inside the threads.

The 50mm C Distagon lens hood is a replacement retaining ring for the series 63/VIII filter, and when used with these filters, does not add any thickness to the hoodless stack. If you add this on top of a 67mm filter, the added stack plus the fact that the hood is a retainer with a narrowed opening (to hold the filter) will definitely vignette.

If you want to use this hood, then use the series 63/VIII filters.

You can alternatively use a hood that clamps-on the outside of the 67mm filter.

I did have a low profile generic threaded metal hood that, as far as I can remember (as I don't have the 50mm C anymore) did not vignette with the 67mm B&H filter.