ericlitke

<p>I have shot several night scenes that include streetlights/parking lot lights with my Hasselblad lenses (the only medium format lenses I've used) and notice the tendency for long-pointed "star" reflections to occur at lights. I've never had this to such an extent with my 35mm lenses. Any recommendations on filter techniques, etc. to eliminate/reduce this? (It's a fine "Saturday Night Fever" look for some things, but I'm interested in a realistic rendition, as our eyes see it...)</p>

Handholding a Hasselblad may be aided by using one of the flash bracket handles they make...let's face it, the body's a

box - it wasn't made with ergonomics in mind exactly.

(sorry I've had to add my pictures this way...) I believe I had a Heliopan 67 UV0 protective filter on a 67-60 step-down ring on

the lens. The hood is a Hassy-made B60 hood and says... " 38-60mm " on it. Aha! Is that the problem? But I'm sure this is

the only hood they make...it's supposed to work on a 50mm w/o problems..right?<div></div>

here's the next frame...<div></div>

here's example #2<div></div>

the examples:<div></div>

I have a Hasselblad 50mm CF lens (my guess is an early one judging by the style of the 'Prontor' logo on it), and I always use a

Hasselblad-made dedicated 50mm lens shade/hood. When using the lens (always outdoors) I have an INTERMITTENT "vignetting" issue. I

have included some scans of sequential frames from one particular shooting situation. This vignetting, when it has occurred, seems to

generally be while pointed at a scene lit by brilliantly bright late afternoon sun. The vignetting is irregular and obviously not a simple case of

having the wrong (too long) hood. Is this simply a case of having the bright sun too close to my angle of view? Complicated by the shade?

In the single image of the bare tree (shot within minutes of the other sequence) the vignetting is less dramatic but totally consistent in each

corner...very unlike an irregular "lenses flare" situation. Is this some sort of inherent optical light fall-off? It's strange to me...has anyone

encountered anything like this?

Thanks for your responses. I think I'm going to try making a laser print overlay, and then stop fussing and start shooting.

For the benefit of future readers of this thread: (according to Ernst Wildi's Sixth Edition of "The Hasselblad Manual") : All

the PMEs through PME5 have their metering pattern affected by the lens' focal length. The book provides some guide

diagrams for this. PME51 (the last version, produced in 1994-95 only) has a consistent meter pattern (supposedly!) ..an

oval which sits just below the horizontal 'crosshair' line on many Hassy screens and extends just above the top vertical

line.

To effectively compose 645 images in the field with my Hasselblad (500C/M body + PME 51 meter prism + A16 back) I want to use a

completely opaque (black) viewfinder mask (I'll either make one or paint out a Hassy-made one) to define a nice crisp 645 viewing

rectangle. BUT, of course, this will affect the reading given by my PME 51 meter prism (or any older PME) which meters 50% from a

26mm centered circle and 50% from the remaining area on the older focusing screens, BUT when using the Acute-Matte D screen (what I

have) that centered circle changes to different oval patterns determined by the focal length of the lens. (All that comes from Ernst Wildi's

"Hasselblad Manual" - did I even get that right?) That's the murky situation my research has presented to me so far. So, before I start

doing a lot of (possibly fruitless) tests to determine a system of meter compensations, does anyone have any practical insights into this?

Josh: I believe the best, brightest screen made by Hasselblad to date is the Acute-Matte D. It came in 7 different

variations (w + w/o grid, microprism, split-image rangefinder, etc.) I use the 42215 which has the standard four short

"cross-hair" lines PLUS two inner circles: the small center circle (with a line through it) is the split image rangefinder ("for

accurate focusing when lines in the image cross both halves of the rangefinder"...just match 'em up..) and the next ring

around that is the microprism ("offers fast focusing when split image rangefinder is not suitable") The microprism is

supposed to be a bit brighter (inaccurately bright, technically?) than the rest of the image in order to aid focusing. Both

things come in handy and help reassure you that you're focused, particularly in low light, etc. (The versions with the

overall grid pattern are annoying for most use but helpful if you're really concerned about having lines absolutely horiz.

and vert. for architectural applications, copyshooting, etc.)