Serious Macro Photography with Hasselblad

I realize there are many benefits to doing serious macro work with

35mm but I would prefer to do it with medium format. There seems to be

the 120 Makro (which doesn't focus close enough for my tastes) and the

135. !35 seems quite useful on the auto-bellows but there is also a

vario tube out there, based on an old listing of available equipment

(from 1988).

 

Is anyone using the Hassey system for serious macro work (around 1:2

to 1:1)? If so, any hints on equipment and useage?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Mike

Hasselblad owners are extremely lucky that they have a book of the quality of Wildi's 'The Hasselblad Manual' which contains referenace data, the difinative answer on a number of Hassy application questions and is readable too. It's also around 1/100 the cost of a Hassy.

 

There's too much information to repeat here - closeup lens tables, macro lens comparisons, tube equations and tables. Buy it!

You can easily compute the extension/magnification tables yourself just like you would in 4x5: V=f(m+1), f=focal length, m=magnification, V=lens to film distance (total extension). Thus, for 1:1, you need a total of 270mm of extension (additional 135mm over what is required to focus at infinity), while for 1:2, you only need a total of 203mm extension (additional 68mm). One way to do it is to mark the point of infinity focus on the bellows rail (135mm). You then know that from this mark to the film is 135mm, and use it as the reference for any desired magnification. I'd recommend that you compute the DOF tables for whichever macro lens you buy (you can do this by first computing the hyperfocal distance (H=f*f/(A*C), A=aperture, C=CoC). Then for any subject to lens distance, D, you can compute the near and far boundaries of the DOF as Dnear=D*H/(H+D) and Dfar=D*H/(H-D) (when D>H, Dfar=infinity.)

 

In the field for LF, one typically sets the focus to (Vnear+Vfar)/2 and just stops down the lens until the DOF is sufficient (using a 3x-4x loupe on the ground glass). In addition, I look at the DOF tables as a reality check.

 

Don't forget about exposure compensation. For every doubling of extension, light drops off by the inverse of the square (ie, factor of 4), so that's 2 stops for 1:1. This issue,as well as what extension tube to use, has been a topic on the MFD before.

I suggest you acquire a 36-page publication called "EYE ON CLOSEUPS-A practical guide to the Hassleblad system". There you will find all the information, charts, accessories and useful information for all macro accessories (and combination with lenses, such as DOF, ratios, EV increasements etc.) made by Hasselblad. It costs $7.95. Try their web page or your local dealer.

Hi Mike, I have done quite a bit of macro with the Blad. "It's a job" to use this system and pretend you're having fun. I have a variety of tubes that I combine with my 80 and 180, I do not use the 120 macro although if I planned on "heavy duty" macro, this is the way to go. I have also shot some higher magnification stuff with the CF 50 fle but the working distance is "none". I have also experimented with a 62mm Nikon 6T diopter on an older Blad 80 and then added extension. I got very good results. The front on the older lenses is a 50 bayonet which you can get an adapter for 55mm threads and then to 62mm. I still prefer the 35 system for anything beyond 1.5x Good luck!

When I decide to do serious macro work with the Hasselblad instead of a 35 mm, then I want clearly superior image quality. In order to achieve this I, as a Zeiss employee with quite some background knowledge on lens performance, use specialized optics:

 

The Zeiss Makro-Planar 4/120 for anything from 1:10 to 1:2,

the Zeiss S-Planar 4/74 copy lens for everything around 1:1,

Zeiss Luminar lenses for everything larger than 1.5:1.

 

Hasselblad extension rings and the bellows provide the extension needed. The tiniy Luminar lenses (the size of a microscopic lens) and the small S-Planar 4/74 copy lens (the size of a 120 film roll) enable flexible lighting of the subjects (which may be coins, butterflies, small technical items, or natural subjects).

 

I strongly recommend a newer focal plane shutter Hasselblad body, because it features that new large mirror, which does not vignet the upper part of the viewfinder image. Also, the focal plane shutter concept makes it easier to adapt specialized optics like the S-Planar copy lens and the Luminar lenses.

 

The resulting images are of extremely impressing quality. Ernst Wildi, author of the above recommended book "The Hasselblad Manual", is also a very experienced user of Zeiss Luminar lenses on Hasselblad cameras.

Thanks for the info, Kornelius. Where do you get the Luminar lenses - they are not part of the "Hasselblad system", right!? Is there a reason you didn't mention the Hasselblad 135 lens, which is made specifically for macro photography?

Thank you for all your answers. The Wildi book sounds very worthwhile

and I appreciate hearing other's experiences. Like Andreas, I wondered

why the 135 Makro & auto-bellows wasn't mentioned. Then again, as I

consider it for outdoor insects and flora, the bellows may not be the

most convenient way of doing macro photography.

 

Also, I wondered why there were no experiences cited with the variable

extension tube and the 135. In the past I worked with such a tube on

the Pentax 67 system and it was very convenient. However, the Pentax

macro lens had a focusing ring, which might make a difference.

 

Another question is using the 1.4 extender with a tube - how is the

quality there?

 

It may help to know that any macro work I do is of nature. I have the

100mm as my normal lens and use it in close-up situations.

 

Again, thanks. I'd like to hear more.

 

Mike

I suggest, as an addition to Ernst Wildis Hasselblad manual, that

photographers working with, or interested in, Hasselblad subscribe

to Hasselblad Forum. Forum is produced by Hasselblad, 4 issues every

year, and is of very high quality, both content, pictures, technical

information and, not the least, the printing. The color prints in this

little (square!) magazine is the best I have ever seen.

 

In 1995 there was at least one issue totally dedicated towards macro

photography. Each photograph is listed with technical info in that

issue. Try to get that issue by sending an e-mail to Hasselblad Forum

(e-mail address at www.Hasselblad.se). I have all the issues from

1995 and later and macro pictures emerge now and then, even if the

issue isn't dedicated entirely to macro photography. After looking

at the pictures in the magazine I have come to a few conclusions

(since the printing quality of the magazine is so exceptional it is

one of the few where lens performance can be estimated in print):

 

*Even a CF80 with proxar lenses give quite good close ups with slide

film

 

* The 120 and the 135 are of course excellent for macro, with the

135 and automatic bellows looking ideal for dedicated macro and

the 120 as an excellent allround macro/portrait lens

 

* the cf 180 on bellows or extension rings give sharp macro pictures

with eye popping clarity and contrast, when flat field is not

necessary

Andreas, you are right: Carl Zeiss Luminar lenses are not part of the Hasselblad system (any more). They are not even manufactured any more. Today you can purchase them, used and new, from this photo dealer in Germany:

 

Foto Huppert,

Cronenburger Strasse 332 a,

D-42349 Wuppertal

 

phone: +49-202-401199

 

Mr. Huppert is specializing in Zeiss optics, mainly for Contax, and may be able to find and supply almost any Zeiss lens. This is what he told me yesterday, when I happened to meet him at the Zeiss factory in Oberkochen.

Proxars were only mentioned in passing, but they're working well for me so far.

 

Proxar filters cause your lenses to focus closer than they normally would. They come in 3 strengths -- 2m, 1m, and 0.5m (set your lens to its infinity setting and subjects at this range will be in focus.) Quality seems very good, and you don't need to mess with light loss due to extension (if, like me, you don't have a metered finder.)

 

They're cheap enough to play with -- I found 2 B57 Proxars on Ebay for $20 each in EX+ condition. Certainly cheaper than a bellows or 120 Makro.

Those planning to look for information on Zeiss Luminar macrophotography in Wildi's The

Hasselblad Manual should consider an earlier edition of the book. The second edition has

more detail vis-a-vis Luminars than either the fifth or sixth editions.

 

Taras