USING THE HASSELBLAD 110MM ON THE PHASE ONE P25

The pictures in the last post (the March 12th blog entry) were taken with the Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar on a Canon 1Ds Mark III (via a third party adapter). The Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar pictures looked good, but I suspect the Contax 100mm F2 Planar can match the Hasselblad in almost every regard. And the upside of the Contax 100mm Planar is that its smaller, lighter - and cheaper. But of course, it cannot be used on medium format. Assuming both lenses are being used on a dSLR, there are differences and after some very informal A/B testing -

1. •The Hasselblad 110mm Planar appears to out-resolve the Contax 100mm F2 Planar starting ~F5.6. I do not have any “proper” testing equipment to substantiate this claim either way. Call it a gut feeling.
   

2. •The Contax 100mm F2 Planar’s aperture steps in full 1-stop increments whereas the Hasselblad steps in 1/2 stop increments. Given a choice I prefer 1/2 stop increments, but 1-stop increments do make for quicker stop-down metering - and easy to count-off when looking through the viewfinder and stopping down. On the other hand, the Hasselblad has the nifty aperture preset button.
   

3. •The Hasselblad 110mm Planar seems to hold up better at F8 and F11; the Contax 100mm Planar begins to suffer from diffraction after F5.6 when shooting close-ups. The Contax 100mm Planar loses its “umph” after F5.6. For landscapes the diffraction is less of an issue if stopping down for added depth of field. The diffraction is more noticeable if shooting product shots and other semi-macro type applications.
   

4. •The Hasselblad 110mm Planar has a closer minimum focus distance, so if really tight close-ups suit your style - either get a 12mm tube for the Contax, or buy the Hasselblad. The newly announced  Zeiss 100mm F2 Makro-Planar ZE would also be an option with its 1:2 magnification.
   

5. Update - In the years since this entry was posted. I have use many of the Zeiss ZE lenses. Click here for a listing of the reviewed lenses.
   

6. •The Hasselblad is a 110mm lens and the added 10mm (compared to the Contax 100mm Planar) is noticeable. I think the Hasselblad 110mm feels more like a 135mm lens, at least at close distances.
   

7. •Due to the large medium format image circle, there is essentially zero light fall-off in the corners with the Hasselblad on the Canon 1Ds Mark III. What is really surprising is how little fall-off it has on the P25 too.
   

The Hasselblad 110/2 has tremendous potential on medium format. If you shoot medium format have been considering the Hasselblad 110/2, I encourage you to keep researching the lens. For dSLR shooters - the Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar is a nice lens, but it can be very expensive ($2000-$3,000 for the 5th generation Hasselblad). The original Contax 100mm F2 Planar is a great alternative for about $800-$1000 (depending on condition). And now Zeiss has added the new Zeiss ZE lenses as well. The following images fall under the heading of “nothing special”. The light was fading quick and I wanted to grab a couple shots with the Phase One P25 to show the Hasselblad’s bokeh and depth of field transition.