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135C macro lens favored topics?

eli griggs

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I just took delivery of a 135C macro lens from KEH and am very happy with it but a couple of questions of you of greater practical experience.

Besides the typical macro photography, toy soliders, flowers, stamps, coins, jewelry, what non macro subjects do you use this lens for?

A possible portrait lens, people, pets, or other uses that the 150 or 100mm might be called upon to use?

Let us know what kind of milage you're getting from these great lenses and share pics, of any topic you've shot with the 135C.

Cheers
 
You can use your macro lens to shoot anything. Just keep in mind that a macro lens is designed/calculated/optimized to produce a flat image (i.e., without field curvature issues) at a ratio of 1:1 or greater. A macro lens is usually not ideal for landscape photography unless it is stopped down to f/11 or more.
 
koraks said:
You bought a lens and you now are trying to figure out what to do with it?
Click to expand...

Duh, that sounds like me on occasion. My problem is I know what to do with it, but never get around to doing it. I had thought about a 135mm Macro for my Hasselblad outfit, but decided I would use the 120mm Macro much more. Plus, the 120mm was just handier and easier to use. Almost all of my real closeup work is done better on a smaller format.
 
koraks said:
I think we probably all occasionally make purchases that way, but it's still odd if you stop to think about it.
Click to expand...

Odd and expensive more times than not. At least with good camera gear anyway. That reminds me, I've got to start cleaning houseon "stuff"I haven't used in years.
 
Not
koraks said:
You bought a lens and you now are trying to figure out what to do with it?
Click to expand...

Not hardly, I had this lens (generic "had") many years ago but used it only for macro shots.

I've bought a new to me new copy, just recived it and before a much greater field of users, for conversations sake, ask others what they use theirs for, outside the macro world.

There are lenses and cameras in the line which I may never have used, and there are the six lenses in the "V" series that I have, again, all of which I am curious to know how others are surely going to be useing differently than I, as well as for the same topics I shoot.

For example, does anyone put Bellows and 135mm into a waterproof case and skin dive in kelp fields!

What have you photographed outside of macro photography with your 135mm and Bellows or extension tubes?
 
If you will accept input from non-Hasselblad users, I could chime in with my experiences with the 140mm macro lens for the Mamiya RB67
 

MattKing said:
If you will accept input from non-Hasselblad users, I could chime in with my experiences with the 140mm macro lens for the Mamiya RB67
Click to expand...

Sure.
 
So with respect to that Mamiya lens and 6x7 film, the focal length works well with a lot of portraiture - the type that has a bit of context.
IIRC, I used it for this one:


The flat field performance extends well to non-macro distances, so if you like to take pictures of walls or murals, you will be happy.
I found the working distance it encouraged suited my needs. It may be important to know that I tend to gravitate to shorter focal lengths for a lot of my photography, so for me 140mm was moderately long. Just as with 35mm equipment, I look to 85mm as a longer lens.
And of course for close work, it is much more comfortable to use in many situations than shorter macro options. Particularly with studio lighting. A trditional example:
 
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