Hasselblad SWC vs. Distagon 40 lens

I am the fortunate owner of both of these wide angle options from Hasselblad. I bought the 40mm CT* lens first a few years ago as a cheaper alternative to the SWC camera with its 38mm Biogon lens. Recently I was able to acquire an SWC through a trade.

Pros of the 40 (on my 500cm) are slightly wider aperture and precise framing. Cons are it's size and weight. (I understand that the newer versions of this lens are smaller and lighter.)

Pros of the SWC are its slightly wider lens and technical lens quality, and it is a smaller and lighter package. Cons of the SWC are its imprecise framing through an external viewfinder.

If I had to keep just one, it would be the SWC because it is most suited to the type of photography that I do most often. Having the luxury of owning both means that the SWC is my portable walking around outside camera. The 40 is used mainly indoors, very close to my house, or very close to my car due to its size and weight. (My hat is off to anyone my age hiking with the older 40mm lens.)

Hope this summary of my experience is helpful to anyone contemplating going wide with Hasselblad.

I took this photo with the 40 though I found it hard to focus for some reason.

dpurdy said:

I took this photo with the 40 though I found it hard to focus for some reason.View attachment 166970

Click to expand...

Was really had to focus the lens or hard to focus on taking the photograph??

The big advantage of the SWC over the 40mm lens is that it is rectilinearly correct. For example, take a look a the vertical lines especially near the edge and the horizontal line.

Download Zeiss datasheets from here. http://www.hasselbladhistorical.eu/HW/HWLds.aspx Yes indeed, the several 40 mm Distagons have worse distortion than the 38 Biogon. I'm not sure how much difference it will make in most situations. The world isn't all brick walls ...

There's a ground glass back for the SWC that allows focusing and composition through the lens. Tripod use only, though.

I haven't seen one on offer recently but 38/4.5 Biogons removed from aerial cameras sometimes find their way to eBay. I have one Steve Grimes put in a Copal #0 for me, sometimes use it on a humble Century Graphic. If one wants to use a 38/4.5 Biogon and can't afford an SWC, a remounted aerial camera 38 Biogon on a 2x3 Century or Crown Graphic is a much less expensive alternative. Since 2x3 Graphics accept 2x3 roll holders, 24 mm x ~ 80 mm pano shots are possible.

One somewhat hidden advantage of the 40mm on the Rolleiflex SLR cameras is the ability to hand-hold at slow shutter speeds. Due the mass effect of the lens counteracting axial rotation around the mirror pivot.