Hasselblad Lenses - Distagon and Planar

[fes_n]

So I have a Hasselblad 553ELX body for which I need to buy a lens.

 

I keep looking around for an 80mm and i keep running in to two words: Planar and

Distagon.

 

Can someone please tell me what are these two referring to when it comes to

Hasselblad lenses?

 

thanks in advance.

 

Fes

[johndc]

I've never heard of an 80mm Distagon for the Hasselblad. There was one made for the SL66 that was f/4 and had a leaf shutter, but the only Distagons I know of for the Hasselblad are wide-angles. All Hassy lenses have leaf shutters so there's no advantage there. The Distagon is Zeiss' "standard" retrofocal wide-angle design, and on the whole they perform very well.

 

The Planars are nice too though, and IMO have a nicer look for portraits than the Distagons.

 

You'll find that the wide-angle Distagons are going to be more expensive than the 80mm/2.8 Planars, which are a lot more common.

 

It really comes down to what subject matter you want to shoot.

[fes_n]

thanks for your answer, John. Much appreciated.

 

p.s. Thanks for the answer, John. There are 80mm Distagons. Here's one I found on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=330074285512&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=014

[jlineen]

This is a planar- the seller confirms this in answering a question at the ens of the link.

[johndc]

"There are 80mm Distagons."

 

Try again.

[ivan_muska]

Zeiss lenses made for Hasselblad:

Distagon - wide angle up to 60mm

Planar - normal from 80mm up to 120mm (old macro 135mm lens might be also Planar)

Sonnar - short tele from 150mm to 250mm

Tele-Tessar - long tele from 300mm to 500, but if you have enough money, they will make you whatever you want (e.g. 1700mm!)

There's also special wide-lens Biogon, that comes only as 38mm and needs special SWC body.

 

Another important thing in Hassie lenses is that if you have 500 series body you need lens with builtin shutter - C, CF, CB, CFi, CFE. Don't buy F or FE lenses - they are only for 2000 and 200 series bodies.

 

Ivan

[ivan_muska]

Sorry for previous post - end of lines desappeared.

 

Zeiss lenses made for Hasselblad:

 

Distagon - wide angle up to 60mm

 

Planar - normal from 80mm up to 120mm (old macro 135mm lens might be also Planar)

 

Sonnar - short tele from 150mm to 250mm

 

Tele-Tessar - long tele from 300mm to 500, but if you have enough money, they will make you whatever you want (e.g. 1700mm!)

 

There's also special wide-lens Biogon, that comes only as 38mm and needs special SWC body.

 

Ivan

[paul_neuthaler]

I just don't understand how someone can buy/own a Hasselblad body and not be aware of the most basic information regarding Hasselblad lenses -- unless they found the body somewhere, or they just found out from a relative's probated will that they have come into a photographic inheritance!

[leicaglow]

Paul, I think that's why Fes is asking<g>.

[fes_n]

Well, Paul, I was able to buy the 553ELX body cheap yet in excellent condition because the opportunity presented itself. It didn't come with any lenses. Sorry but my exposure to medium format has been limited to Holga. So I'd rather sound stupid and ignorant ask the question I asked than to look like a bigger fool for not knowing.

 

Plus this is my first real Medium Format camera because before that, as I mentioned earlier, the only camera I had capable of doing medium format was a Holga.

[stephen_w.]

We have a saying in the oil industry: "There is no such thing as a stupid question, just stupid answers."

[paul_neuthaler]

Uh huh!

[johndc]

Fes: I apologize if my answer sounded sarcastic. At first I thought it was obvious to anybody that the lens you posted was a Planar, given that it says "Planar" on the front. But then I realized that to someone who is wholly unacquainted with this sort of thing, it might not occur to them to even look there.

<P>

Anyway, the long story short and (I hope) the complete answer to your question is as follows:

<P>

The names "Planar" and "Distagon" do not refer to any one lens in particular. Both of these are the names given to the <i>design</i> of the lens, which can be made for various combinations of focal length and aperture. As I mentioned before (and Ivan reiterated) the Planar is the standard normal focal length lens design, while the Distagon is the standard wide-angle lens design.

<P>

In my opinion, the best lens for you is the 80mm Planar. It is considerably less expensive than the Distagon, and is more suited to general photography.

[fes_n]

Thank you so much for the reply, John. That makes perfect sense after reading both your comments and Ivan's. Specially since besides a 80mm, I am also thinking of getting 50mm for wide angle shots.

[brian_walton]

Fes get yourself a 80mm Planar standard lens. I also have a 553. I use many other lenses on the camera but the 80mm is short and light and ideal for you to learn upon. It is also quite cheap. Any others will be more expensive and place you either in the wide or tele camp. By the way the 553 is a hidden gem. Use good quality AA batteries and you will have fun.

 

Brian

[brian_walton]

Fes get yourself a 80mm Planar standard lens. I also have a 553. I use many other lenses on the camera but the 80mm is short and light and ideal for you to learn upon. It is also quite cheap. Any others will be more expensive and place you either in the wide or tele camp. By the way the 553 is a hidden gem. Use good quality AA batteries and you will have fun.

 

Brian

[johnathan_holmes]

A Planar design is a relatively simple lens design where 5-6 glass elements are arranged in

a near-symmetrical pattern for normal or short telephoto focal lengths. For 6x6, this is

the 80-120mm range, for 35mm format, this is the ~50mm range.

 

A Distagon design is an inverted telephoto, or retrofocus lens design that usually involves

more glass elements. This design is typical for short focal lengths - 60mm and less on the

Hasselblad. The reason for using a Distagon design for short focal lengths is that the focal

length of the lens is physically shorter than the actual flange focal depth of the camera.

This is primarily due to the size restrictions of the mirror in most SLR cameras (and motion

picture cameras). It would be impossible to have a wide-angle Planar design for an SLR

camera like the Hasselblad, as that would require the lens to be mounted so close to the

film plane that the mirror could not exist.

 

While both Zeiss lens designs are excellent, the Planar design is generally faster due to the

fewer glass elements, and also is better at eliminating aberrations due to its nearly

symmetrical design. Though with modern coatings and glass materials, Distagon and

Planar designs now typically only vary by 1 stop, or sometimes not at all.