hassy 50mm - C vs CF?

i am considering a 50mm lens for a hasselblad 500cm. the CF version

seems to be running about $800-900 on ebay, while you can pick up a

C version for much cheaper, maybe $300-400. the C version looks a

little funny with its flared out front end, but is there any opitcal

reason why i would want to go with the CF version instead of the

older C version? also, does the C version require the round, screw-

in type lens hood? or do they both use a bay 60 square lens hood?

thanks.

There are two versions of the CF 50 mm Distagon.<br><br>The first is the same lens as the C 50 mm Distagon, but in a new shutter and barrel. There will be very little or no difference in performance between the two.<br><br>The second CF version was the same as the current CFi 50 mm Distagon: a new design, using floating elements (FLE) to improve performance in the corners of the image, especially at short focussing distances. The difference in performance will be visible, mostly at large apertures.<br><br>The C lens has a threaded mount. It takes series 63 drop in filters, which are held in place either by a screw-in retaining ring, or by the round screw-in lens hood.<br>Only the CF lenses have bayonet 60 mounts (the CFi has bayonet 70 mount, taking larger filers so you can stack mre than one, or use thicker ones, without vignetting).

The main reason to go with the CF version, in my view, is that it's difficult to get shutter parts for the Compur shutters in the older C lenses. The CF series, the 50-80-150 that I have (and the 250 I'd like to get) all use Prontor shutters and have the same filter size, B60. I use a B60-67 ring which allows me to use standard 67mm filters with all the lenses. To be fair, I've never needed parts for any of my CF lenses.

 

For a photographer, eg one who makes images, as opposed to a technician, one who measures everything, the optical quality of the C lens is just fine. You would be hard presses to tell the difference, if there even is any.

 

Good luck with your decision.

thanks guys.

 

QG - how do you tell the difference between the two versions of the CF lens? do they look a bit different, or are they marked differntly?

The newer FLE version has the extra FLE focus ring located toward the front element of the barrel. If you go to a webaite such as keh.com, you can find pictures of both lenses. I have the FLE version and I have found it to be an exceptional lens. I have not used the non-FLE version. Check the archives to read comparisons of the two lenses.

The only Hasselbald lens that I have ever used that I did not like was a chrome 50 Distagon that I bought in 1988 or so. I soon sold it. The corners were very soft.

 

My current 50mm is the 50 f/2.8 F lens which is 100 times better than the 50 C Distagon. Get the FLE version.

I have owned all of the following Hasselblad 50mm lenses: Chrome C, Chrome C T* (same performance as Black C T*), CF non-FLE, & CFi FLE. The CFi FLE is wonderfully sharp from corner to corner. The non-T* Chrome C is also very sharp, though a bit more prone to flare since it is only single-coated. You have to be careful when buying older C & C T* lenses, as some of them have developed an internal hazing on the elements. This hazing can be readily observed if one holds the lens above a table lamp with both lens caps off. The hazing can reduce the sharpness of a lens & is possibly one reason many find the performance of the older lenses to be somewhat disappointing.

Jnorman,

 

You will have no trouble identifying the FLE version as it will be about $1,000 more than

the C version :)

 

I had a C Distagon that I didn't like. I think it was just not a great lens. I now have a C *T

Lens that I REALLY like. (The *T is Multi-Coated).

 

jmp

Hi,

I have used Hasselblad for the past 15 years and started with a Black 50mm c type lens which was pretty poor in comparison to the other Blad lenses i have used - i traded that for a 60mm CF which i thought fantastic until i got the latest 50mm CFI which blows any wideangle i have used away - it is an incredibly sharp lens - although not cheap the results make it worth every penny.

Iain

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/3107072

Hi,

I have used Hasselblad for the past 15 years and started with a Black 50mm c type lens which was pretty poor in comparison to the other Blad lenses i have used - i traded that for a 60mm CF which i thought fantastic until i got the latest 50mm CFI which blows any wideangle i have used away - it is an incredibly sharp lens - although not cheap the results make it worth every penny.

Iain

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/3107072

<p>Hi,</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>You have to be careful when buying older C & C T* lenses, as some of them have developed an internal hazing on the elements. This hazing can be readily observed if one holds the lens above a table lamp with both lens caps off. The hazing can reduce the sharpness of a lens & is possibly one reason many find the performance of the older lenses to be somewhat disappointing.</p>

</blockquote>

<p><br />I am interested in buying a 50 mm. C lens. It is not even the C T* lens. The price I am having it offered to me is $340. It may, (not sure yet), go down in price to $310-320. I don't know if it is a good price. With regard to the quote above, I am not sure how do you mean with the table lamp. You mean, the light of my desk lamp, pointing down on a piece of white paper. Then, I take the lens with the diafragm wide open and I look through it. If the lens looks a bit "milky" and not super clear, like any clean kitchen glass, then the lens is "hazed". Would I be right doing that kind of assertion? Would you have any other recommendation or way to go about it?</p>

<p>I don't live in the same city where the person selling it lives, so before I make my way some hundred miles or kilometers in his direction, I would like to ask him that. Among the pics he sent me, there were no "frontal pics" of the lens wide open against a white iluminated surface.<br>

Thank you in advance, kind regards,<br>

igmolinav : ) !!!</p>