Macro Lens

[rashed]

<p>I am looking for a macro lens to fit my Hassel. 503CW and 500 C/M, I would prefer it if it is made by a third party manufacturer and at a cheaper price than the hassel. ones.<br>

Or if there is any other alternative to shoot macro by means of an extension tube or any other sort of fittings as long as it would give me a good result.</p>

<p>Thank you all and wishing you all of the best for the new year.</p>

<p>Rashed</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>The best closeup lens is undoubtedly a 120/4 Makro (or the discontinued 135 Makro, which must be used with a bellows attachment). AFIK, there are no third-party lenses compatible with Hasselblad, due to the unique mount, shutter and coupling. You could probably get creative with a bellows attachment, double cable release, a view camera lens (with shutter) and duct tape.</p>

<p>Extension tubes are relatively (for Hasselblad) inexpensive and produce excellent results with any lens 80mm or longer at modest magnification (< 1:2). My favorite combination for closeups in nature is a 180mm lens - the working distance is huge. I recommend you get a complete set for coverage at all distances - 8, 16, 32 and 56mm - which you can find for about $500 complete. You can find useage tables for download at Hasselbladusa.com or in the Wildi manual.</p>

<p>You can also use auxillary lenses, or closeup "filters". Hasselblad offered "Proxar" lenses in several strengths, but discontinued them, ostensibly because the image quality wasn't up to snuff. Canon makes achromatic closeup lenses in larger sizes, which you could probably adapt to fit an Hasselblad. The IQ is quite good.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>The best closeup lens is undoubtedly a 120/4 Makro (or the discontinued 135 Makro, which must be used with a bellows attachment). AFIK, there are no third-party lenses compatible with Hasselblad, due to the unique mount, shutter and coupling. You could probably get creative with a bellows attachment, double cable release, a view camera lens (with shutter) and duct tape.</p>

<p>Extension tubes are relatively (for Hasselblad) inexpensive and produce excellent results with any lens 80mm or longer at modest magnification (< 1:2). My favorite combination for closeups in nature is a 180mm lens - the working distance is huge. They are easy to carry and assemble in the field, and are very rigid. I recommend you get a complete set for coverage at all distances - 8, 16, 32 and 56mm - which you can find for about $500 complete. You can find useage tables for download at Hasselbladusa.com or in the Wildi manual.</p>

<p>You can also use auxillary lenses, or closeup "filters". Hasselblad offered "Proxar" lenses in several strengths, but discontinued them, ostensibly because the image quality wasn't up to snuff. Canon makes achromatic closeup lenses in larger sizes, which you could probably adapt to fit an Hasselblad. The IQ is quite good.</p>

[rashed]

<p>Thank you a lot my friend Edward, I will search for one extension tube , is there a specific one you would recommend my friend ?</p>

<p>Wishing you all of the best for the New Year.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>Which one? That depends, doesn't it. I suppose I get the most use out of a 16mm extension with 120-180 lenses. Look here for more ideas (<a href="http://www.hasselbladusa.com/media/b257f2b0-cd24-497b-b21f-47dcf6ee295a-Closeup.pdf">http://www.hasselbladusa.com/media/b257f2b0-cd24-497b-b21f-47dcf6ee295a-Closeup.pdf</a>).</p>

<p>Hasselblad organizes closeup data by the size of the field of view, instead of the typical (and useless) focusing distance. Decide what you want to shoot with which lens and choose an extension tube accordingly.</p>

<p>You can use up to three extension tubes in series, so the complete set gives you extensions in 8mm increments - less than the helix range of applicable lenses - hence complete coverage.</p>

[john_layton]

<p>IMHO, the best way to decide about which extension tube to buy is to measure the total focus travel of the lens in question, then buy the tube which most closely matches this length. A bit shorter than the total travel is ideal...so that there are no "focus gaps" between the lens' own minimum distance and the maximum distance with the tube.<br>

I had great luck with the 120 Makro plus a 32mm tube - although there was, as I remember, a very slight focus gap.</p>

[scott_murphy_photography]

<p>Although not really a macro setup, I use my 150mm Sonnar with the 0.5m Proxar closeup lens and it gets me pretty close-up. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, I can fill the frame with a person's face from their eyes to their upper lip with this setup.</p>

[kparratt]

<p>I have the 120mm S-Planar, as shown in the image here attached to the bellows. You can also use the bellows with other lenses, for example, I have used the 80mm f4 Rodagon enlarger lens together with the enlrager lens board, for a trial, held in place on the front of the bellows with masking tape.<br>

Because there is no shutter in the lens, I used lens cap on/off for exposure control and also for some shots with flash. Using slow film, adjust aperture to allow 1 to 2 seconds exposure outdoors. This is fully manageable with "lens cap lift-off" exposure. The procedure is no more laborious than typical large format camera methods.<br>

In stead of the improvised masking tape job, you can buy the "Leica Visoflex M39 Lens to Hasselblad Mount Adapter" from Fotodiox (Current eBay listing <strong><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Leica-Visoflex-M39-Lens-to-Hasselblad-Mount-Adapter_W0QQitemZ390087610955QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLens_Accessories?hash=item5ad308924b">here</a> </strong> )<br>

The older type non-auto bellows are sufficient. These are the ones that require a double cable release for normal lens operation. A good condition one should cost no more than $400 US, or complete with Double cable, $500.<br>

Alternatively, if you buy a complete bellows, auto or non-auto with cable, you can use many Hasselblad lenses for macro photography. At great extensions, the 80mm will be very close to the subject, and the 150mm will permit longer lens to subject distance. You should buy a Hasselblad Close-up calculator for handy exposure compensations.</p>

 

<h1 ><br /></h1><div></div>

[rashed]

<p>Thanks to all of you , all been so helpful.<br />My friend <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=836058">Kevin Parratt</a>, the Bellows Extension is a wonderful idea, is this connected direct to the camera and lens or do I need another piece to add to this system and would this work with any of my lenses, like the 150MM or the 250MM, please ?</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>The minimum extension of the bellows is 63mm - way too much unless you are making headshots of flies. With the bellows and a 135/5.6 Makro, you can focus from 1:1 to infinity. However, the 135 cannot be mounted directly on a camera.</p>

<p>The latest bellows attachment has an extension shaft so that the lens shutter can be tripped without a double cable, and recocked simply by winding the camera.</p>

[kparratt]

<p>Rashed, the Bellows shown in the photograph is a Hasselblad product and just as with an extension ring, simply fits between the body and lens without additional adapter.<br>

Which Hasselblad lenses do you already own? This will determine magnification range of the bellows extension. You may also use extension rings. These were made in a range of sizes, from 8mm up to 56 mm, which can be used individually or combined.<br>

Because actual <strong>macro photography</strong> may be defined as the production of images on film that are life-size or larger, the Hasselblad Bellows Extension is the ideal tool. It was in production through three versions from the earliest era until quite recently. As Edward mentions, the 135mm lens was made especially for use on the bellows (or variable extension tube) because it does not have a focus mount of it's own. The next is the Macro-Planar f/4 120mm, an upgrade of the 120 S-Planar f/5.6, which does have a focus mount and mounts directly to the camera for normal range work. Whilst the 120 and 135 S-Planar and later Macro Planar are especially corrected for close-up work, they will, at close scrutiny give the best result. But outside the most demanding scientific applications, other lenses will still produce excellent macro images.<br>

I frequently used the Bellows extension for making both inter-negatives and duplication of slides. The bellows mounted on a copy stand and over a light box can easily be set up for precisely aligned 1:1 images or crops.<br>

With adapters one can also mount 35mm SLR cameras on the bellows in place of the Hasselblad body, further extending it's usability. I made one to fit Minolta MD body in order to make 35mm internegs of a few slides. It worked a treat. I recently aquired a Nikon F100, so will order a Hasselblad to Nikon adapter as well as another to mount Leica M with Visoflex.</p>

 

[mark_farrell]

<p>It hasn't been mentioned and sooner or later you may ask.....<br>

Depending on how you're metering your exposures the link below may be of interest. Extension tubes or a bellows will affect the exposure and a compensation factor will need to be used to get the correct exposure.<br>

<a href="http://hasselbladhistorical.eu/HT/HTComp.aspx">http://hasselbladhistorical.eu/HT/HTComp.aspx</a><br>

If you're metering is TTL in the camera you won't need to use an exposure compensation.</p>

 

[q.g._de_bakker]

<p>You can also use <a href="http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/HT/HTCuC.aspx">this online calculator</a> to plug in numbers and see what the result would be.<br>

When you select a lens from the menus above the input fields, the calculator automatically fills in the values corresponding to using the full extension built into the focussing mount of that particular lens.<br>

You can then change any parameter you like, and press the "Calculate" button to see the result.</p>

<p>A few words of warning.<br>

The figures produced by the calculator are too precise. ;-)<br>

And, alas, the applet sometimes produces an error page. If that happens, surf away to another page and return to the page. The error will then be gone.<br>

The error may return, however. The thing that causes the error appears to be how long the page is left inactive after surfing to it. So just use it without too long pauses. ;-)<br>

Sorry for that!</p>

[rashed]

<p>Thank you my friends a lot.<br />I have the 50, 80, 150 and 250MM lenses.<br />I did find the rings with b&h but I could not find the auto bellows, I did use one long time back which my father is having for his canon F1n.<br />I may look go for the extension tubes but I am still confused which ones to buy, I need them for close up work.<br>

Thins like insacts or small metrials in the still life metal box.<br>

<br />Thank you my friends.</p>

[q.g._de_bakker]

<p>How long a tube you need depends on which lens you are going to use it with and what (how big the thing is that) you want to get in the frame.</p>

<p>Out of the lenses you mention, the first choice for close-up work would be the 80 mm Planar.<br />The 50 mm is not a good lens to use for close-up shots. The 80 mm then being the shortest, will be the one that needs the least extra extension.<br />The 80 mm also performs best out of that bunch in the close-up range.</p>

<p>The amount of extension you need for a given object size depends on the focal length used.<br />If, say, you want to frame an object 10 mm long inside the 56 mm Hasselblad frame, the magnification needed will then be about (you will want some room around that object, so i assume it will have to be not 56 mm, but only 50 mm on film), 50 / 10 = 5x.<br />To achieve a 5x magnification, you need to add extension (tubes and/or bellows) amounting in total to 5x the focal length of the lens.<br />So in this instance, if the 80 mm lens is used, you need 400 mm of extension.<br />Even allowing for the fact that the focussing mount of the 80 mm lens wil provide about 8 mm of extension already, you will need more than one bellows unit plus a full set of extension tubes to achieve that.</p>

<p>If you want an object meassuring 100 mm to fill the frame (again with some room around it, so assuming the thing will have to fit inside a 50 mm frame), the calculation is similar: 50 / 100 = 0.5x.<br />So you need to add 0.5 x 80 = 40 mm of extension to the 80 mm lens.<br />Again taking into account that the focusing mount of that lens provides about 8 mm itself, an additional tube would be needed to make up the difference, of 40 - 8 = 32 mm.<br />The 32 mm tube would then be perfect.<br />Should you want to use the 150 mm lens instead of the 80 mm for that shot, the amount of extension would leap up to 0.5 x 150 = 75 mm. Also still doable: the 150 mm lens comes with about 21 mm of extension in the focussing mount, so an extra 54 mm needs to be provided by a tube. So a 56 mm tube would do perfectly (you then even do not need all of the extension the focussing mount provides).</p>

<p>You see that it is not difficult to calculate what amount of extension you will need given an object of a certain size and lens of certain focal length.</p>

[rashed]

<p>Thank you a lot my friend <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=282122">Q.G. de Bakker</a>, I will get the extension tubes , I learnt a lot from your input here, I am just waiting to see why my shippment with b&h for the hassel. lens hood and the magnifier finder not been moving since 24, the fedex tracking is stack for these items, calling fedex this morning they informed me that they do not know why the shippment is not moving.<br>

Thank you my friend and wishing you yours all of the best for the new year.</p>