Hasselblad FlexBody questions

[AlexGard]

Hi all,

I know this isn'y technically Large Format camera but thought I would ask as I'm sure some of you are at least familiar with this camera
I am looking at the Hasselblad FlexBody. Initially I thought the ArcBody looked awesome but I really don't want to fork out that much money for a whole new rig especially if I can't already use the lenses I have

I have been browsing over a lot of photos taken with the FlexBody and am really impressed by a lot of the results I am seeing, if it is something I can purchase and sell later down the track I would be incredibly interested in purchasing this rig.

A couple of questions:

The lenses I have are:

80mm 2.8 C T
50mm 4 CF T FLE
150mm 4 C T

Would these lenses fit on the FlexBody? I saw some people saying certain types of lenses will fit although might suffer greater light falloff due to lens element position (like potentially the 50mm CF T FLE)

what are your thoughts and would this rig be worth purchasing with my current lenses?

[Steven Tribe]

Although many people here do MF as well - with movements - you will undoubtly be moved to another thread by early rising Moderators when the cock starts crowing in the Eastern USA.

[Daniel Stone]

the 80 will most likely have the biggest IC, since the rear element isn't as recessed as the 150. The 50's IC won't cover much more than 6x6, without vignetting occurring(might not even "show" in the VF, or the focusing screen)

I've owned a few Hasselblads, and have used the lenses all the way down to f/22 or so. Still wickedly sharp, is what you're shooting really in NEED of movements, or are you looking to do intentional de-focus techniques?

-Dan

[AlexGard]

Yeah I was i kind of looking to do the weird focal effect. And in cases the infinite dof which some claim is doable with the 50...

[BarryS]

All three of those lenses work fine on the Flexbody, but none of them have a lot of coverage. That's the price you pay for the Flex compared to the Arc. I mostly used the 50mm and 80mm with the Flex and it's a big help with landscape shots and a lot of fun for narrow focus images. Because the screen is so small, the RMfx finder is a must with the Flex.

102631

[AlexGard]

by coverage are you referring to that chart that says the 80mm will have better 'coverage'?
I'm a bit new to this tilt/shift thing and doing some research.
At the end of the day will it be a worthwhile toy to get for a while?
I'm by no means a professional and don't really do much architecture just mostly landscapes.

[AlexGard]

by coverage are you referring to that chart that says the 80mm will have better 'coverage'?
I'm a bit new to this tilt/shift thing and doing some research.
At the end of the day will it be a worthwhile toy to get for a while?
I'm by no means a professional and don't really do much architecture just mostly landscapes.

[BarryS]

Coverage refers to the size of the image circle at the film plane. The bigger the circle, the more movements possible without vignetting the image. It was fun to use, but for the cost, you can buy a top quality complete 4x5 kit. Ultimately, I felt it was too limiting considering the cost and it's not any faster or easier to use than a 4x5.

[AlexGard]

Thanks for all the replies.
Ok, so how about using a filter system such as the LEE (wideangle) filter system, which I have. I think I saw somewhere the flexbody was no good with filters. Would this be the case with something like the LEE wideangle system, which is engineered to reduce vignetting considerably?

[eliat]

I have used the Flexbody extensively. Among your lenses, the 50mm has the least image circle and affords the least movement. The other two work fine. How useful the lenses are with the Flexbody can be measured in terms of the maximum rise allowed without causing vignette: 5mm, 10mm and 15mm for the 50mm, 80mm and 150mm lens respectively. Note that the maximum rise is limited by the construction of the camera to be 15mm (no doubt designed after the lenses), which represents 27% of the height of the frame. The same applies to fall. It isn't a lot compared to LF, but still quite useful for architecture.

As to filtration, each additional filter will reduce the extent of movement by a mm or two. That includes the use of a Lee adapter ring. So, there is no issue (such as no mechanical vignette) with using the Lee system as long as you figure the reduced image circles into account.