Like a small child knowing where mom and dad hid the Christmas presents, the temptation was too great. I did NOT want to try the Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar on the Mamiya 645AFD II & Phase One P25 because I knew it would lead to no good. And then I would not want to sell the P25, etc, etc... Now that the Canon 1Ds Mark III is here, there are some hard decisions ahead.

Thursday’s images (the March 12th blog entry) were with the Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar on a Canon 1Ds Mark III. The Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar pictures looked good, but I suspect the original Contax 100mm F2 Planar can match the Hasselblad in almost every regard. There are differences and after some very informal A/B testing -

1. •The Hasselblad 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 Hassleblad 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.
   

3. •The Hasselblad 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. For landscapes the diffraction is a non-issue. The diffraction is only appreciable on close-up product shots.
   

4. •The Hasselblad 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 new Zeiss 100mm F2 Makro-Planar ZF would also be an option.
   

5. May 18, 2008 Update - I recently purchased the new Zeiss 50mm F2 Makro-Planar ZF and so far it has been impressive on the Canon 1Ds Mark III. The above mentioned Zeiss 100mm ZF might be a good option for dSLR shooters. Click here for the newly added 50mm ZF review.
   

6. •The Hasselblad is a 110mm lens and the added 10mm (compared to the Contax 100mm Planar) is very 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’s really surprising is how little fall-off it has on the P25 too. I do not mind light fall-off and sometimes ADD it back into images, but I know other photographers feel the opposite.
   

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. It certainly has me re-thinking whether or not I should exit the medium format scene...

For dSLR shooters - the Hasselblad 110mm F2 Planar is a nice lens, but it can be very expensive (around $3,500 for the 5th generation Hasselbald). The original Contax 100mm F2 Planar is a great alternative for about $800-$1000 (depending on condition). And now Zeiss has added the new ZF (and ZS & ZK) line-up. They 100mm ZF is expensive too - but it cost less than the Hasselblad.

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 P25.