Hasselblad C T* vs CF or CFI

abhishek@1985 · Feb 23, 2016

Hi friends,

I have been shooting with old beaten up 50mm C T* and 150 mm C T* lenses with my Hasselblad 500 cm. Needless to say I simply enjoy the whole process of shooting medium format film and has opposed moving to digital ever since I held a Hasselblad in my hands.
However, am thinking of upgrading my lenses to Cf or CFI . Mainly looking at 50 mm CF , 120 mm CFI and 180 mm CF ..
However, before I take any decisions I wanted to know what you experienced Hasselblad shooters think about the advantage of CF or CFI over C T * lenses .. Is it worth the expense of 2k by selling the existing C T * lenses ?

Theo Sulphate · Feb 23, 2016

I would choose CF over C T* for two reasons:

1- Ergonomics. I prefer the shutter and aperture rings be independent by default and interlocked only by pressing the button. On C and C T* lenses, the interlock is the default, which I find mildly annoying.

2. The C T* lenses are older and likely in need of a CLA. If your C T* lenses are in good shape, I wouldn't upgrade.

I haven't kept up to date on the CFi and later lenses. You might find some useful information here:

http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/HW/HWLds.aspx

bdial · Feb 23, 2016

The CF's and their variants are somewhat easier to use, the shutter speeds and f/stops aren't locked together by default, and the focus rings are a little more comfortable. For the most part the optics are the same, however. If your C shutters are in good shape, I don't think you'd gain much by making a switch, especially if you have T* lenses already.

BrianShaw · Feb 23, 2016

In equally good condition I see no difference. I find it useful to have attachments all of the same size, so there is one good reason to not mix-n-match. The shutters are different, C offering EV lock and CF not. That's a personal preference. Some will say the C shutter parts are hard to find but that's not much of an issue if he shutter is properly maintained - the don't often need new parts when serviced.

BrianShaw · Feb 23, 2016

"trading up" would likely be a completely unnecessary expense and not worth doing, unless it would make you feel better... In which case you should do it.

Luis-F-S · Feb 23, 2016

abhishek@1985 said:
Is it worth the expense of 2k by selling the existing C T * lenses ?

Probably not. Although I like the CF lenses and have 3 80's, most of my lenses are C's. As long as the C's are repairable, I'd keep them. L

abhishek@1985 · Feb 23, 2016

Thanks for all the insights .
The 2 reasons I wanted to go for the CF lenses are :-

1. I wanted to use 120 and 180 which comes in CF . Since I want to buy these lenses , makes sense to go for the 50 in CF too as the filter size will be uniformly B60.
2. It is really difficult to maintain different filters for 50mm C T* and B50 and bring everything to B60 for easier use.

Sirius Glass · Feb 24, 2016

I have only CF lenses except for the f/8 C 500mm lens because I got a good price. Almost all the CF and later lenses use the B60 filters which means that one set of filters takes care of almost all the lenses. The CF and later lenses have multicoating and the ergonomics are much better than the C lenses. If CFi or CFE lenses become available, I might consider upgrading.

I find that the 60mm lens is too close to the 80mm lens, there for I have and like the 38mm [SWC], 50mm, 80mm, 150mm, 250mm and 500mm lenses or the 38mm [SWC], 50mm, 100mm, 150mm, 250mm and 500mm lenses. My least used lens is the 150mm lens because I do not take portraits. YMMV

etn · Feb 24, 2016

As other members already mentioned, the main reasons to go for CF/CFi over C T* would be ergonomics,
same filter size, and perhaps durability / availability of spare parts. I doubt you would really see a difference
on your pictures.

There are not that many differences between CF and CFi lenses, the most notable (apart from the looks) being:

shutter springs have a new, different material supposed to be more durable
different interior coatings to reduce reflections
improved flash socket
improved helicoids, CFi are "easier to turn" (less resistance)

(there are more, if you google the topic you will find several websites listing them all).
Optics are identical between CF and CFi, so if you upgrade you can go for the less expensive CF over CFi.

There is one exception and it concerns one lens of interest to you: the 50mm CFi.
The CF has a B60 whereas the CFi has a B70 diameter. I never could find much information about the 50 CF vs CFi
(hence please take the following with a grain of salt) but I had been told once that the larger diameter reduces vignetting.
So if you go for a mix of CF and CFi, in my opinion this is where you should put the money towards a CFi.
But on the other hand it invalidates the unified filter size point. B70 filters are rare (it took me one year to find one).

I have a 50 CFi, 120 CF and 180 CF, all terrific lenses. The 50CFi is a beast.

Hope this helps,

Etienne

rdihughes · Feb 24, 2016

I prefer the older C T* lenses because they offer a self timer mechanism which I use a lot - in order to reduce camera shake/vibration etc.

Best wishes,

RalphLambrecht · Feb 24, 2016

abhishek@1985 said:
Hi friends,

I have been shooting with old beaten up 50mm C T* and 150 mm C T* lenses with my Hasselblad 500 cm. Needless to say I simply enjoy the whole process of shooting medium format film and has opposed moving to digital ever since I held a Hasselblad in my hands.
However, am thinking of upgrading my lenses to Cf or CFI . Mainly looking at 50 mm CF , 120 mm CFI and 180 mm CF ..
However, before I take any decisions I wanted to know what you experienced Hasselblad shooters think about the advantage of CF or CFI over C T * lenses .. Is it worth the expense of 2k by selling the existing C T * lenses ?

Probably not.They are all great lenses and any differences will be small and hard to detect.Having said that,I standardized my Hassy kits to CF lenses just because it's simpler to always deal with the same type of lens,same handling,same filters etc

Ai Print · Feb 24, 2016

With a couple of exceptions, I have all CF lenses partly because that is what I grew up with and what I believe represents the best bang for the buck when one considers ergonomics, the cost of occasional CLA & being almost all Bay60 is nice too.

The two lenses I have that are not CF are my 100mm CFi because I got a great deal on it and my 120mm 5.6 S Planar because I gained a stop of DOF for macro work. And like the post above, it has a built in self timer which is great because even with using the mirror pre-release, I can still get blurred shots due to vibration induced by the action of tripping the shutter via a cable release.

There is no law against mixing lens types but it does get more interesting when mixing Bay50 and Bay60. But that 180mm CF....sir, that lens is simply spectacular so if you are leaning towards it, then punt the C lenses and pull the trigger on all CF, you won't be disappointed.

Sirius Glass · Feb 24, 2016

rdihughes said:
I prefer the older C T* lenses because they offer a self timer mechanism which I use a lot - in order to reduce camera shake/vibration etc.

Best wishes,

Welcome to APUG

I have been warned away by Hasselblad repair men from using the self timer because of potential failures. Use a cable shutter release instead.

Ai Print · Feb 24, 2016

Sirius Glass said:
Welcome to APUG

I have been warned away by Hasselblad repair men from using the self timer because of potential failures. Use a cable shutter release instead.

I had been too but when I had David Odess do a complete ( and expensive ) overhaul to my 120 S-Planar, he said it should be good to go.

brbeck · Feb 24, 2016

I have to agree with Ralph. I have all CF lenses because I wanted to standardize the feel and operation of the lens and have all the same filter sizes.

yashima · Feb 24, 2016

CFi lenses are slightly lighter, if that matters to you.

Also I find if you find a really good copy, CFi/CFE helicoid can be extremely smooth and easy to turn, with just the right impedance. For a long day shooting it does make a difference.

Sirius Glass · Feb 24, 2016

"impedance"? Not "reactance"? The real part or the imaginary part or both?

yashima · Feb 24, 2016

you know, enough "resistance", I use it interchangeably with "impedance", but I'm no wordsmith ;-)

Sirius Glass · Feb 25, 2016

That is ok, but impedance is a term used in electronics and electrical engineering to include both the real and imaginary reactance.

Sirius Glass · Jan 11, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Figured I'll revive the old thread instead of creating a new one. I am a recent Hasselblad convert, shooting only CF lenses. As I am learning, they are significantly more prone to flare and contrast loss than my modern glass (contemporary lenses from Leica, Fuji, Canon and Voigtlander). Here's a typical example taken with 150mm CF f/4 with a lens hood on. This sun is not in the frame, and actually not that close, yet I couldn't get rid of that internal reflection. I like backlit subjects so I bump into this a lot.

I read somewhere that CFi/CFE lenses have improved internal anti-reflective coatings, but they are also significantly more expensive. Did anyone upgrade a CF lens to a CFI and how noticeable is the improvement?

I have not ever had any problem with flares nor contrast loss with CF lenses. I have not felt the need for CFi or CFE lenses. While improved optics and floating element would be nice to have. I have two C lenses [30mm Fisheye and 500mm lenses] that I bought because the price that they were offered I could not pass up. That said when I go to use them, the lack or ergonomics is annoying and slightly slows me down.

BrianShaw · Jan 11, 2021

Old Gregg said:
but they all do not like the light source to be near the frame,

I don’t think I’ve ever owned or used a camera that did.

Sirius Glass · Jan 11, 2021

Old Gregg said:
Actually in terms of sharpness or distortion or vignetting I do not see much (any?) room for improvement, I am absolutely satisfied with my CF glass (60-100-150mm triplet), but they all do not like the light source to be near the frame, I am surprised by you "never noticing" this...

I use lens hoods when I take photographs. I never aim any lens directly into the light, near the light source but not at the source. My C lenses are T* lenses.

bdial · Jan 11, 2021

I have a 150 CF, I’ve never had any flare problems with it, I don’t use it consistently with a hood.

Alex Varas · Jan 11, 2021

I'm far to be an expert but recently I did this with a Distagon 60 CFi (even with two small chips in rear glass) and I see no flare, again I might be wrong.
Happy you have lenses that you like, I guess I don't need any upgarde.

https://flic.kr/p/2kpHRcC

Alex Varas · Jan 12, 2021

Old Gregg said:
@alexvaras thank you! I do not think that my 60mm CF Distagon is capable of the photo you posted. Perhaps CFi is a significant upgrade indeed!

Other users with these lenses could say more about this, I just found this in the official site:
http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/PDF/HasManuals/CFi_CFE_Lenses.pdf

First improvement is "new internal design and new anti-reflection materials reducing stray light and enhancing the image contrast"
Most likely if I continue shooting the sun with that lens I will get flare at some point, maybe it depends of the angle.

Hasselblad C T* vs CF or CFI

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