Is The Hasselblad 100mm f/3.5 Worth Owning?

chuckroast · Mar 20, 2025

I own the Hassy 40, 60, 80, 120, 180, and 250 lenses, all CF or CFi , for use on my V bodies - the 60mm being my most used lens.

Everyone raves about the 100mm f/3.5. So my question is this: Will it be different enough than the lenses above to justify the expense? I don't want something that just going to be a longer 80mm or a shorter 120mm. I only want it if it is somehow provides distinctive results.

Thoughts?

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
I own the Hassy 40, 60, 80, 120, 180, and 250 lenses, all CF or CFi , for use on my V bodies - the 60mm being my most used lens.

Everyone raves about the 100mm f/3.5. So my question is this: Will it be different enough than the lenses above to justify the expense? I don't want something that just going to be a longer 80mm or a shorter 120mm. I only want it if it is somehow provides distinctive results.

Thoughts?

Depending on the price yes. I have 30mm Fisheye C, 38mm Hasselblad 903 SWC, 50mm CF, 80mm CF, 100mm CF, 150mm CF, 250mm CF, 500mm C and the 2XE. The 100mm is a little longer than the 80mm but much sharper. Sometimes I find the 100mm for some compositions. If you can try one in a store or rental shop to help answer you questions.

Arthurwg · Mar 20, 2025

I didn't think so, so I sold mine. Now I want it back!

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

The reason I have the 30mm Fisheye C 500mm C lenses is that they were offered a price I could not walk away from. Otherwise I would have bought the CF versions.

RalphLambrecht · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
I own the Hassy 40, 60, 80, 120, 180, and 250 lenses, all CF or CFi , for use on my V bodies - the 60mm being my most used lens.

Everyone raves about the 100mm f/3.5. So my question is this: Will it be different enough than the lenses above to justify the expense? I don't want something that just going to be a longer 80mm or a shorter 120mm. I only want it if it is somehow provides distinctive results.

Thoughts?

every Hasselblad lens is worth owning! How come you don't have the 50mm?

chuckroast · Mar 20, 2025

RalphLambrecht said:
every Hasselblad lens is worth owning! How come you don't have the 50mm?

Maaaaaaam, make Ralph stop teasing me....

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

RalphLambrecht said:
every Hasselblad lens is worth owning! How come you don't have the 50mm?

chuckroast said:
Maaaaaaam, make Ralph stop teasing me....

I found the 60mm lens was too close to the 80mm lens, so I bought the 50mm lens and have been happy with it ever since. It is one of most used Hasselblad lenses.

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
Maaaaaaam, make Ralph stop teasing me....

This is a website dedicated to GAS. You may be visiting the wrong websites.

loccdor · Mar 20, 2025

If the only consideration here was focal length, not things like max aperture, resolution, size, etc, from your list I'd only own:

40, 80, 180

In fact, that's just about what I ended up settling on for a different medium format kit, discarding the intermediates.

RalphLambrecht · Mar 20, 2025

Sirius Glass said:
I found the 60mm lens was too close to the 80mm lens, so I bought the 50mm lens and have been happy with it ever since. It is one of most used Hasselblad lenses.

there is a reason the 50, 80, 150 combination was called the holy trinity: a very versatile choice!

RalphLambrecht · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
Maaaaaaam, make Ralph stop teasing me....

Considering that you have the 40 and the 60, there is little reason for you to get the 50, but it is a beautiful and standard wide-angle for the Hasselblad V system.

chuckroast · Mar 20, 2025

Sirius Glass said:
This is a website dedicated to GAS. You may be visiting the wrong websites.

I know. I just bought that 100mm. <Hanging head down>

Don_ih · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
I just bought that 100mm

Gee, that only took 3 hours.

chuckroast · Mar 20, 2025

Don_ih said:
Gee, that only took 3 hours.

What can I say? I'm weak. Also, I can return it. So ...

(In fairness, I have been pondering this for several months. It was not an impulse buy and I got a just CLAed CF edition at a quite reasonable price.)

Don_ih · Mar 20, 2025

Well, nothing wrong with wanting a complete set.

I have SWC and a 500C with 50, 80, 150, and 250. I doubt I'll get more. Well, maybe that macro planar...

chuckroast · Mar 20, 2025

Don_ih said:
Well, nothing wrong with wanting a complete set.

I have SWC and a 500C with 50, 80, 150, and 250. I doubt I'll get more. Well, maybe that macro planar...

I don't like to buy glass to just to own it. So I try to make use of these lenses in some annual rotation.

The 120mm Makro-Planar is my next fav lens after the 60mm. It is excruciatingly sharp and let's you get right up on a subject. Here's a scan of print I am 99% sure I shot with that lens:

https://www.tundraware.com/Photogra.../large/20230811-1-12-Symphony_In_Mud_Flat.jpg

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

RalphLambrecht said:
there is a reason the 50, 80, 150 combination was called the holy trinity: a very versatile choice!

I prefer the 50, 80 and 250. My 150 is my least use lens.

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
I know. I just bought that 100mm. <Hanging head down>

Don_ih said:
Gee, that only took 3 hours.

You may have qualified for a record or at least close to one.

chuckroast · Mar 20, 2025

Sirius Glass said:
You may have qualified for a record or at least close to one.

Naw, I've actually thinking about this for months. Photrio was my last stop in this particular descent. I was kind of hoping for, "You're wasting your money."

Sirius Glass · Mar 20, 2025

chuckroast said:
Naw, I've actually thinking about this for months. Photrio was my last stop in this particular descent. I was kind of hoping for, "You're wasting your money."

Almost no one here would say that.

RalphLambrecht · Mar 21, 2025

chuckroast said:
I know. I just bought that 100mm. <Hanging head down>

Congrats!

Don_ih · Mar 21, 2025

chuckroast said:
The 120mm Makro-Planar is my next fav lens after the 60mm. It is excruciatingly sharp and let's you get right up on a subject.

I like close ups, so I may eventually get one.

JerseyDoug · Mar 21, 2025

A number of years ago I was talking with Gil Ghitelman about buying a 150 Sonnar to go with my 80 Planar. He suggested buying a 120 Makro-Planar instead as being more versatile, and only adding a 150 (or longer) lens if I found I really needed more reach. Years later I still haven't added a longer lens. I did add a 50 Distagon, but at least three quarters of my shots are taken with the 120.

dokko · Mar 21, 2025

In terms of resolution, the 80mm and 100mm are quite similar in the center.
The 100mm is way ahead in term of corner resolution and distortion though.

The 120mm is not a terribly high resolution lens, but it has lovely rendering and focuses much closer.

For me the difference between 80mm and 100mm in terms of field of view/perspective is quite significant (same with 50mm vs 60mm etc), so I find it very useful (although costly) to own lenses with similar focal length.

NortheastPhotographic · Mar 21, 2025

My ideal Hassy combo would be the 100/3.5 and the excellent 60/3.5. The 80mm is good but I was never blown away by it.

Is The Hasselblad 100mm f/3.5 Worth Owning?

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