LEICA S with HC120mm Macro II

Review of using the HASSELBLAD HC120mm MacroII with the LEICA S typ 007.

I have used the above combination at Hakone Wetland Garden in Sengokuhara, Hakone, and will write down examples and my impressions of the results.

The details of the HASSELBLAD HC120mm Macro II (hereinafter referred to as “HC120II”) are described in the link below. LEICA S adapter H can be used with this lens with auto focus as well as the HASSELBLAD H camera.
My impression of using the HC120II with autofocus is that the focusing speed is slow, but the focusing accuracy is satisfactory as long as you use the LEICA S’s single, neat focus point at the center of the subject. Except for subjects with little contrast, the camera will focus on the subject properly. The focus position changes when the lens is moved from the in-focus position to change the composition, so the photographer needs to compensate for this while looking through the viewfinder. It is not expected that the camera will be dexterous enough to focus on a desired location on its own, as is the case with the latest multi-point focus system.
The focus surface is very thin when the aperture is released at F4, and it takes a certain amount of practice to focus on the desired location.

The camera weighs 1.3 kg, the lens 1.4 kg, and the LEICA H adapter C 0.3 kg, for a total weight of 3 kg, making it a fairly heavy piece of equipment.

The lens construction differs from that of the APO MAKRO PLANAR 120mm (AMP120). The HC120II uses the front element to determine the focus position, and in order to drive it with the AF motor, the number of lens elements is reduced to reduce the weight. In contrast, the AMP120 is not designed to be driven by an AF motor, so it uses the classic Planar format with two additional lenses to improve performance. In 2023, if the price is ignored, the lens barrel could be made of engineering plastic to reduce weight, a thin lens could be used, and an ultrasonic motor could be used to drive the lens. If we ignore the price in 2023, it may be possible to achieve AF by using an engineering plastic lens barrel to make it lightweight, a thin lens, and an ultrasonic motor drive.