Hasselblad FLE for a dummy (Cf50)

[stephane_park]

First, thanks to all of you who have provided invaluable advice to

this Hasselblad novice. I am now armed with a Sekonic 508 meter, I

have studied - with the kind explanation of our members here -

metering principles and techniques, and have taken some correctly

exposed portraits and scenery shots (correctly exposed does not mean

they were good).

 

Now, after much hesitation I have (to no surprised to those around

me - Koreans call it equipment addiction/disease) decided to purchase

a second lens.

 

From recommendations and prior discussions on the board, I have

elected to go wide rather than long. As such, I am looking at a CF

50 FLE which is being offered to me at a good price.

Question - is the new CFE/CFI version much improved from the CF/FLE

version so that I should purchase it instead (other than the exterior

esthetics (a la Rollei 6008) which I find uglier somewhat than the

older version..,.)?

 

Also, if I buy this particular lens, I will not have access to the

manual - I know (I think) how to use a lens, but I have never used a

FLE version - how do I set the FLE ring (and do I have to?) I assume

I set it to match the focus point of my point of interest but say I

am taking a shot of a person against a backdrop closed all the way

down - do I set it at infinity or at the spot where the person is?

Also, is the FLE setting meant to be placed at the click points or is

it preferable (and more accurate) to set them, even between click

points, at the actual (estimated I guess) point of interest?

 

Rather simplistic questions I realize but (again) your kind

assistance would be MUCH appreciated.

 

Many many thanks all!

[fotografz]

Stephane, I think you will find a fairly large price difference

between the CFi and CF versions of this lens. What is important

is the FLE, which means "Floating Lens Elements", an optical

improvement over the non-FLE version that preceeded it. There

is a seperate control ring on the lens with distance markings.

Once you set the focus, you read the distance and set that ring

to match. It provides maximum correction, especially at closer

focusing distances.

[rick_campbell]

Stephane,

 

Yes, you use the click stops, not in-between. It's a three step process.

 

1. Focus.

2. Set the click stop of the FLE ring to match the distance focused in step 1.

3. Touch up the focus if needed.

 

It does make a difference for close ups. For your example of a person against a backdrop, use the distance you set on the lens to set the FLE.

 

Good luck

[charles barcellona www.bl]

I think you'll find in practice, you can preset the ?FLE? ring and just focus within the range for that FLE setting. Its really not the pita one might think it is unless you go from very close to infinity back and forth over and over.

 

Also, when in doubt, as in a fast paced situation (crazy wedding reception for instance) its best to use the infinity setting on the FLE ring. Your image will suffer less if you focus close and the lens is set for FLE=infinity, rather than focus far with FLE set at close distance.

[beauh44]

Hi Stephanie,

 

According to Ernst Wildi's "The Hasselblad Manual" (WWW.FOCALPRESS.COM) you should ALWAYS set the FLE click knob *FIRST*, THEN focus... NOT the other way around. If you focus first, chances are the image won't BE in focus.

 

The guy who sold me my 50mm FLE said he never even worried about the FLE click. He just took the pics. But *I* can tell... If I have the FLE set wrong, or focus and then set it, the image is definitely out of focus in my PME-45 viewfinder.

 

With regards to your subject/backdrop question, I'd set my FLE distance to the subject and with it stopped down that far, you'll get plenty of DOF to include the background. You might also want to read up on "Hyperfocal" focusing technique - also in Wildi's manual. (In a nutshell you focus *between* the near and far elements you want in focus in the photograph - an oversimplification! Zeiss lenses have an indicator on the lens to quickly determine the hyperfocal distance for best DOF)

 

Some say "The Hasselblad Manual" is just a fancy sales manual for Hasselblad, and I suppose there's some truth to that. Wildi works for Hasselblad. But I can't find another resource that goes into most every piece of equipment for Hassie, feature by feature, like T.H.B. Best wishes!

 

beau :)