Yesterday, I fitted the CFVII 50c to the Hasselblad 500CM and spent time working with the 120, 80, and 50 mm lenses, practicing focus and testing exposure settings using the camera in its standard mode (that is, not using the Live View and eShutter). The ISO calibration of the sensor is close to spot on: My tri-tone target images the expected three peaks on the histogram spaced as expected to within 0.3 EV of the settings suggested by my incident light meter.
I practiced focusing with both the matte fresnel screen and with the 45° split image screen. The latter makes focusing 50mm lens much more reliable, is a toss up with the 50mm lens, and the former works better with the 120mm lens. I completely forgot to pull out the Sonnar 150mm and test that too, but I suspect it will be the same as with the 120mm. With a little practice, I could hit critical focus wide open with all three lenses pretty consistently using the split-image, so I'll leave that in the camera and go for a walk with the 80mm soon.
Lamp - 120mm
Hasselblad 500CM + CFVII 50c + Makro-Planar 120mm f/4
ISO 200 @ f/4 @ EV 6
Lamp - 80mm
Hasselblad 500CM + CFVII 50c + Planar 80mm f/2.8
ISO 200 @ f/2.8 @ EV 6
Swapping to the magnifying chimney hood makes critical focus a snap with either screen and all three lenses. Putting the camera on a tripod with close-range subject also makes critical focus much more consistent and reliable with all three lenses...
🙂
I played with the self timer on the 80mm lens to nab a photo of myself as part of my focusing test. I used the bicycle seat to get an accurate focusing target, then released the shutter with self-timer, and positioned myself in the frame. This was the first time I'd ever used the mechanical self timer on the Hasselblad 500CM! LOL! I learned that I had to use a locking cable release to hold the body shutter open until the lens shutter completed its cycle, and then release the lock for the body shutter to close and the digital back to complete the capture. It took a few tries to get a sharp picture, mostly because I found it hard to stand still for the required half-second exposure at ISO 200. I upped the ISO to 1600 and obtained a satisfactory result...
Self-Portrait - 80mm + self timer
Hasselblad 500CM + CFVII 50c + Planar 80mm f/2.8
ISO 1600 @ f/2.8 @ EV 9
Fun stuff! I learned a lot that will be useful to using the 500CM with the CFVII 50c. It really is easy to use this setup, and a lot easier to nab a sharp capture if you stop down two stops too!
😀
enjoy,
G
