7D Using old Hassleblad Zeiss Planar lenses on a 7D for filming..

[AshD_UK]

I've been passed some old Zeiss Planar lenses. An 80mm 2.8 and 110mm f2. Doe's anyone have any experience using these type of lenses on Canon EOS bodies? (7D in my case) or have any idea to whether they'll be good for filming with?

I've been told I need a CF-EFS adapter, there are some on eBay with various price ranges but they all look pretty similar to me. Can anyone search CF-EFS adapter on eBay and see what they thing, I don't have much experience with adapters.

Any help or advice you guys can give would be great!

 

[thisisapocalypse]

They should be very nice for filming given the nice long focus throw that Medium Format Zeiss lenses offer. They are probably not as high resolution as 35mm format Zeiss lenses, but they will resolve far more detail than any of the Canon's will be able to resolve in video mode and they'll almost certainly have a gorgeous look to them.

 

[Samuel H]

I have used several Carl Zeiss Jena medium format lenses on my 550D (T2i): a Biometar 80mm f/2.8, a Sonnar 180mm f/2.8, and a Sonnar 300mm f/4.0

in terms of sharpness, none of them was stellar, and I'd actually say they were all noticeably softer than their 35mm siblings (Pancolar 50mm f/1.8, Sonnar 135mm f/4.0)
I would say they are better in terms of bokeh: the Biometar was good, and although my two Sonnars were mediocre, that's probably because I got a damage copy, at least for the 180mm (I've seen other bokeh tests with that lens, and they were quite good)

here you can see some sharpness and bokeh tests with the Sonnars:
http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/lenstestsa.html
http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/bokehtests.html

from the Biometar, all I have left are the night shots from this video: http://vimeo.com/13082728 it's one of the first things I ever shot on a DSLR: a T1i that only shot 720p and had no manual control for ISO/shutter, so look basically only at bokeh (the final shot is a nice example)

my conclusion is that vintage medium format glass doesn't make a lot of sense unless you need its huge image circle

 

[rossfinnie]

I have used several Carl Zeiss Jena medium format lenses on my 550D (T2i): ...

my conclusion is that vintage medium format glass doesn't make a lot of sense unless you need its huge image circle

Zeiss Jena lenses were never even close to being as good as the "real deal" Zeiss (Oberkochen) lenses that went on the Hasselblad system. That 110mm f/2 is a really really incredible lens too - I've never tried it for video, but it looks absolutely beautiful shooting medium format stills.

That said, my favourite thing about the Zeiss Hasselblad lenses isn't the sharpness, it's more the way they render everything so smoothly - I can't quite describe it. I've got a 60/3.5 CF and a 150/4 CF and quite fancy getting an adapter to my 600D once I get a bit of spare cash.

 

[ROCKMORE]

http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/lenstestsa.html
http://www.similaar.com/foto/lenstests/bokehtests.html

Great test. I have a variety of Arri Zeiss Sonnar and Distagon and Schneider Cine Xenon 35mm lenses and often wondered how well they would compare to modern designed lenses. It's interesting that the Canon 18-50 kit lens seem a bit sharper than the Tamron 17-50 non vc. I replaced my Canon with the Tamron for constant aperture but always thought the canon was quite sharp.
I'm curious about the Panasonic lens which looks sharp. What exactly is it ?

 

[Samuel H]

it's my pocketable photo solution: the pancake 20mm f/1.7 for micro-four-thirds, on the Olympus EPL-1; so totally different lens and camera, but I was curious (it's a great lens, but I absolutely hate the focusing ring, it's electronic-driven and has a mind of its own) - and yes: the canon kit lens is slow and feels like crap in your hands, but it's a great performer (I use it as a 18mm f/3.5 prime, and I'm very happy with it; not that it's better than the Tamron, but the Tamron is not mine, I can borrow it for a couple of days but not much more)