Hasselblad 80mm with 2x teleconverter, decent quality?

Dear APUG Members,

Dear Friend of mine has older Hasselblad 500c camera with standard 80 planar....Razor Sharp.

She recently got at a flea market a Vivitar 2x for Hasselblad Tele Converter...

a) Since this shall be now a 160mm lens, is this a good portrait alternative?
b) How many stops are lost from 2.8 on original lens?
c) Looks like TC is very good condition and coated glass elements?
d) It is not a Mutar, but will it get fuzzy at the edges? Does depth of field diminish as well?
e) Will this combo lose the contrast of the original optic?
f) I have given her 2 rolls of tri-x to try it out, will post in future

Thanks for any feedback or experience with this setup, I can understand that if someone wanted to
save $$ and space in camera bag, one could use the 80mm planar for most shots but when had to do
closeup or portrait, would simply mount 2x converter and have a 160mm lens...I told her to save up as the
Hasse glass that used to be over 1k can now be had for 200-250$....

Thanks!

Harlequin

Some answers:
a) 160mm is a nice focal length for portraits on 6x6;
b) a 2X teleconverter means a two stop loss of light. So f/2.8 ends up as f/5.6. Still usable, even if a bit more dim in the finder;
c) the teleconverter elements will be glass and most likely coated;
d) the teleconverter is essentially a magnifier. So any distortions or aberrations coming from the 80mm lens at the corners will be magnified as well. For portraits, most likely it will not be a problem. For high detail reproduction work, it may not be suitable. Depth of field will be the same as for a 160mm f/5.6 lens. Which means that depth of field will be reduced if you work at the same effective aperture and working distance, but if you move back to get the same magnification/image size and same effective aperture, the depth of field will be the same;
e) there will be less contrast - you will have added extra air/glass surfaces and the Vivitar teleconverter isn't quite as well made as the original lens, but you may find that you are very happy with the results - particularly for portraits. Most likely the resulting contrast and resolution will be better than if you 50% cropped a negative in the darkroom (which would give you the same effect). The result won't be as good as a 160mm Hasselblad lens (except with respect the weight of both your camera bag and, more importantly, your wallet.
One advantage of teleconverters is that they don't affect the minimum working distance of a lens. This means that while you may be unable to get close enough with the 80mm lens alone to get as tightly cropped a portrait as you might want, you may be able to do so with the lens plus teleconverter combo. You need to be careful though about being too close - the perspective may be unflattering.
I have a Vivitar 2X teleconverter for my Mamiya RB67 which I use very rarely. When I do, it performs reasonably well. It is actually most fun when I use it with the 180mm lens. The resulting package - RB67 body, teleconverter and short telephoto is big enough to truly intimidate!

Matt covered it well enough.

I had that Vivitiar 2x converter for my Hasselblad. I never used it with the 80mm lens, since I owned the Hasselblad 150mm Sonnar. I did use it many times with the Sommar to make a 300mm lens. There was a significant contrast loss with the 2x converter, and some sharpness loss too. It was acceptable, but a real 300mm lens would have been better. I couldn't afford one, and didn't need the focal length often, so the 2x was ok.


Fullframe shot done with the 150mm Zeiss Sonnar and the Vivitar 2x Converter. Shot on Fuji Acros 100, developed in Rodinal 1+50, and scanned with a Nikon 8000ED scanner with glass carrier.

Below are two 100% crops of the scan, showing detail.

Well that ain't too bad! I have a 150mm Sonnar and I find it a bit too short for portraits or I'm to shy to get closer. 180 is about right on both fronts for 6x6. Not sure I could hold a 300mm MF lens still enough for that.

My recommendation would be to use the teleconverter as an intermediate solution, and only if it can be had at a good price. You (or she) should go with a longer lens eventually. The 150 is nowadays cheap as dirt, probably the cheapest of all Hasselblad lenses. Like Chris, I also personally prefer the 180mm. Not because of the quality (both are good), but I prefer the somewhat narrower field of view. It is generally about twice as expensive, though. Hope this helps!

I do not do portraits so I rarely use the 150mm lens. I recommend that you skip directly to the 250mm lens for a little more money. Besides with your extender you could have an effective 500mm lens.

chriscrawfordphoto said:

I had that Vivitiar 2x converter for my Hasselblad. I never used it with the 80mm lens, since I owned the Hasselblad 150mm Sonnar. I did use it many times with the Sommar to make a 300mm lens. There was a significant contrast loss with the 2x converter, and some sharpness loss too. It was acceptable, but a real 300mm lens would have been better. I couldn't afford one, and didn't need the focal length often, so the 2x was ok.

Fullframe shot done with the 150mm Zeiss Sonnar and the Vivitar 2x Converter. Shot on Fuji Acros 100, developed in Rodinal 1+50, and scanned with a Nikon 8000ED scanner with glass carrier.

Below are two 100% crops of the scan, showing detail.

Click to expand...

comparison with 250mm or superachromat would be nice or comparison with rz 250 apo and Mamiya RB67/70 vaccumback or p67 300 with hutech vacuum back. all shot with technical pan.NB: there is a workaround for the Mamiya back to convert from 70mm donor only to 70/120/220 or whatever lenght 61.5mm film. will show when time is ripe incl. instruction how to use. idea from vermeercameras,. have a 40mm-pinholecam from him with this vaccum back sitting there forever-not removable only transport-mechanisme with counter can be removed. counterless version has an advantage. can use the one which is working on it.

Use the extender for now with the 80mm, and then when you can buy a longer lenses, use the extender to double it. You will lose two stops and gain some corner softness.