Hasselblad Extension Tubes

[Ara Ghajanian]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could give me advice on which extension tubes to purchase to give me the most amount of flexibility with an 80mm Planar. I will be photographing some religious artifacts of various sizes and unfortunately I can't afford a 120mm Makro Planar. I've used one before on rental and I loved it, but the local store doesn't carry rentals anymore. I figured tubes are the most cost effective way to go especially since I'm not getting paid for this project.

I have the Close Up Photography PDF from Hasselblad, but I'm looking more for personal experiences and advice.
Thanks in advance,
Ara

 

[rbarker]

I have only one Hassy extension tube - a relatively short one that I use with the 180 for portraits. Years ago when I looked at tubes for the type of close-up work that I do, Ara, I concluded that the bellows extension was better for me.

Thus, the only suggestion I'd have is to guess at the size of the objects you'll be photographing, so as to get an idea of the "subject area", and then use the chart to determine the most appropriate length of tube. That's probably going to be something relatively short - something in the 16-32mm range, perhaps. Note, too, that the lengths have changed over the years. There are sizes available on the used market that are no longer made.

You may also need more than one if the items you are photographing range widely in size. Each ring will give you a range of subject area, so the min/max chart in the PDF is probably the most useful.

 

[Jürgen]

I have a 21mm tube for my 500c with 80mm lens and it works great. It will give about a 1/4 life size image at infinity and a little closer as you focus the lens closer. The only problems I have encontered is that I sometimes trip the shutter when removing the lens and you are fairly close to your subject.

Jurgen

 

[NikoSperi]

I use a 16mm, mostly to get a tight crop for head/shoulder portraits with the 150mm Sonnar. I don't have the figures for that ring on the 80mm, which I do use occasionally, but you are quite "in your face" with the combination. Works fine if you're looking more for smallish object macro rather than more stand-offish larger subjects.

My latest photo here in the gallery is with the 80mm+16mm IIRC, and that was about mid-focus range.

 

[NikoSperi]

The only problems I have encontered is that I sometimes trip the shutter when removing the lens and you are fairly close to your subject.

I have found that I trip the shutter systematically if I try to remove the lens from the ring first. If I remove the ring from the body, and then the lens from the ring, I no longer to pull out the screwdriver to recock the shutter.

Oh, and that's only with the 80mm (CFE)... the 150mm and 50mm (both CF's), I can do anything I want.