135C macro lens favored topics?

[eli griggs]

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

 

[Alexander6x6]

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]

You bought a lens and you now are trying to figure out what to do with it?

 

[John Wiegerink]

You bought a lens and you now are trying to figure out what to do with it?

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]

I think we probably all occasionally make purchases that way, but it's still odd if you stop to think about it.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I think we probably all occasionally make purchases that way, but it's still odd if you stop to think about it.

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.

 

[eli griggs]

Not

You bought a lens and you now are trying to figure out what to do with it?

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?

 

[MattKing]

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

 

[eli griggs]

Not


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

Sure.

 

[MattKing]

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:

 

[eli griggs]

Not


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?

Nice work.
Does this lens require an extension like a Bellows or extension tube to be mounted, like the Hasselblad?


It's funny but I was just looking at some orchards in the kitchen, for macro photography with my 135c lens, that includes a velvet purple like you show here.

Cheers

 

[loccdor]

The 85mm equivalent is good for all sorts of subject-background-separation photography. Portraits, isolating leaves in the woods, all sorts of details on buildings. You can use it for landscape/architecture too when what you want to emphasize is a bit far away. I personally like the 100mm or 135mm equivalents more for all that stuff, but that's just my preference.

Here are a handful of photos I took with the 85mm equivalent focal length, other than portraits, to get a taste of what it can do.

 

[Alexander6x6]

Nice work.
Does this lens require an extension like a Bellows or extension tube to be mounted, like the Hasselblad?


It's funny but I was just looking at some orchards in the kitchen, for macro photography with my 135c lens, that includes a velvet purple like you show here.

Cheers

The M 140mm L/A is extremely good lens. I have used it digitally and it is just a perfect performer with zero chromatic aberrations and tack sharp. Moreover, one can easily adjust the sharpness in the corners with with the floating system using focus peaking. I am also using Makro Planar as a tilt-shift lens on digital sensor.

 

[eli griggs]

This thread has got me thinking of using the Nikon FG and adapter, for the fun of it, on the Hasselblad Bellows, 135c combo and see how i like it for flowering schrubs.

 

[Alexander6x6]

A friend of mine who is a jeweller has used Nikon Micro Lenses with his Leica cameras (they are digital now). After comparing them with my Makro Planar, he now only uses the Makro Planar to photograph his creations. He told me that the Makro Planar is sharper (could be also so called "microcontrast") and reproduces colors more accurately (naturally).

 

[ghostslice]

The 135C gets underestimated as a general shooter precisely because people buy it for macro and then leave it on the shelf between close-up sessions. At portrait distances it's genuinely excellent -- the longer working distance compared to the 100mm gives you a more relaxed shooting dynamic with people, and the rendering at f/4 to f/5.6 is smooth without being characterless. It sits in an interesting spot in the Hasselblad lineup where it's slightly too long for most environmental work but very comfortable for anything where you want subject isolation and some compression.
Do you tend to handle basic maintenance yourself, or do you send everything out? Curious how people approach it with older gear like this.

 

[eli griggs]

I’m lucky in that when I first got my first bellows and 135c, I used it for macro and general work. I was too ‘inexperienced’ to use it only for macro and though I had a good range of lenses, I would use it based on its focal length, like I did with 35mm kit.

All those films were lost/destroyed over the year between then and now, but I look forwards to enjoying this combo again.