Rolleiflex, Contax & Hasselbad planars, some questions....

As an owner of Planars using Rolleiflex TLRs (3.5 and 2.8), Hassys, Rollei SL66, and with Contax SLRs (RX), they are ALL good. I think it's much more important the handling of the camera and your personal preferences around that, and the condition of any camera you might be considering. People argue ad nauseum over the Xenotar vs. Planar with the Rolleiflexes but again (and I own both of those too) the condition of the camera has FAR more to do with the results than the minor differences you'd see between the lenses even if you could measure such completely objectively.

lambis said:

I am searching for my new MF camera and i am between Contax 645, Rolleiflex 2.8 and Hasselblad 501CM. Now all those cameras use Planar lenses, my question is are the characteristics of those lenses the same? Form what i see i love the results for the Contax 80mm 2.0 but i have not a chance to test by myself. Are the hasselblad
or rolleiflex 80 Planars the same or are there differences.

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Years ago, I had an opportunity to acquire a Hasselblad camera and 80mm lens. I really liked the results I got with it and, not too long after, was able to add the 50mm and 150mm lenses, as well. Eventually, as I used the Hasselblad more and more, I was impressed with the consistency of the Zeiss lenses and being able to select a focal length I needed without having to worry about a change in color or contrast. In order to be able to get the same qualities in a 35mm camera, I switched to a Contax SLR and began acquiring lenses for that.

There is a difference between the lenses made for the 35mm Contax and you can see that reflected in the prices. The difference, I think, is in resolution, not color or contrast and it is not as noticeable in the Hasselblad because of the larger format and less need for enlargement with that size negative as compared to the 35mm negative. I believe this is the basis for my dislike of the 6x4.5 format as well as the two slide formats I used to use the Hasselblad for. They simply are not large enough to represent a significant improvement over a 35mm camera. I, also, tried the 6x4.5 version of the Mamiya and was not happy with it at all. I, certainly, did not find it to be an improvement over that format in the Hasselblad.

On the other hand, if I were to pick my favorite MF lenses, they would be the ones for the Mamiya 7 rangefinder cameras. To me, they are the equal of the Zeiss lenses in color and contrast and better in terms of resolution and clarity or sharpness, even handheld. Now, for medium format slides, I usually use the 6x7 Mamiyas and hardly ever use the Hasselblad 500 cameras for slides, anymore.