Marriage of HV Planar 80mm and Leica S
A review and sample photos using the HASSELBLAD V PLANAR 80mm 6-element lens with a LEICA S Typ007.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The example photos were taken with a Leica S typ007.
Review
1．Overview
The Planar 80mm 6-element lens is an old Hasselblad V-mount lens.
The Leica S series has a 45mm x 30mm medium format digital sensor, so a factor of 0.8 is applied, which is equivalent to 64mm in 35mm format.
The aperture is almost evenly spaced from F2.8 to F22 without half stops. It is a C-type lens with no electrical contacts. It has a rotation angle of about 250 degrees from infinity to the shortest distance of 3 feet (0.914m). The one I own is a silver non-T* type with a preview button, and the serial number indicates that it was manufactured in 1956. The mount surface is engraved with “MADE IN GERMANY WEST FOR HASSELBLAD”.
2．Usability
The feel of the Planar 80mm 6-element lens is the same as that of metal-barreled V lenses, with its cool feel and the jagged focus ring that can damage your fingers if used for a long time. The focus ring is located at the base of the lens, but when used with a mount adapter, it is in a position that is easy to use.
I don’t know about other Planar 80mm lenses, but I like the soft depiction of this old lens.
The lens itself covers 6×6, so there are no complaints about the peripheral areas even on medium-format digital sensors. Since the focal length of 80mm is a little long, distortion is not an issue.
Rather, it is wonderful that a lens that is 67 years old as of 2023 can still be used to this extent. There is no doubt that lenses are an asset.
When used with the LEICA S typ007, the mount adapter used is the genuine Leica 16024 Leica S Adapter V adapter. This adapter is a tube that connects the camera and lens and does not have a mechanism to drive the lens shutter, so the shutter on the camera is used. Metabones also sells a Hassel V adapter for Leica S that works in a similar way. It is cheaper than the genuine Leica version.
In the comments, we have been advised that “The preview button on old Hassel lenses such as 6-element lenses will break if it is not operated while attached to a Hassel V system body.” Please be careful when operating the preview button with the mount adapter. We cannot guarantee that your valuable lens will not be damaged.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the Planar 80mm 6-element lens, although it is an old lens, it has the large image circle of a medium format lens, and when used with a medium format digital sensor or a 35mm full-frame sensor, you can use the good parts of the center of the lens, making it difficult to see the roughness.
There are many inexpensive 80mm lenses, so if you like medium telephoto lenses, this is a lens worth using.
Specification
For the chrome-colored lenses of the HASSELBLAD V-mount C-series PLANAR, the nonT* from 1956 to 1961 had six elements, the nonT* from 1960 to 1973 had seven elements, the T* from 1971 to 1972 had seven elements, the black C and CF lenses had seven elements, and the CB lenses went back to the orthodox planar six-element format.
Looking at the difference between the early six-element and the next seven-element lenses, we can see that the curvature of the front lens is indeed different. The early six-element lens was a typical double Gauss type, and since Hasselblad changed to a new seven-element lens every few years, it is assumed that the early six-element lens was not satisfactory for use in the 6×6 format due to the image quality of the peripheral areas. The V-mount Planar 80mm has undergone repeated model changes since then, and the lens configuration has changed each time. It is a lens that makes you understand the desire of various people to compare the photos with each other.
The lens construction diagram below is a trace of a diagram published in Large Format Photography Forum.
| Item | P80 | C-P80 |
| focal length(mm) | 80 | 80 |
| Maximum aperture | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Minimum aperture | 22 | 22 |
| Lens configuration | 6 elements in 4 groups | 7 elements in 5 groups |
| Leaf blade | 5 | 5 |
| Minimum distance(m) | 0.914 | 0.9 |
| Lens length(mm) | 52 | 51.7 |
| Lens max diameter(mm) | 76 | 78 |
| Filter type | B50 | B50 |
| Weight(g) | 458 | 465 |
| Hood | B50 | B50 |
| Lens mount | HASSELBLAD-V | HASSELBLAD-V |
| Release date | 1956 | 1960 |
Reference links
- ZEISS製造終了レンズ・データシート
- HASSELBLAD C PLANAR 80mm F2.8（7枚玉）
- HASSELBLAD CF PLANAR 80mm F2.8（7枚玉）
- HASSELBLAD CB PLANAR 80mm F2.8（6枚玉）
- Planar 80mm F2 仕様書
- HC 2.8/80 公式サイト
- 三葉堂写真機店の6枚玉ページ
- Photo Yodobashi 6枚玉ページ
- ハッセルブラッド製造年を調べる方法について記述されたページ
Update history
- 2025.5.19
- 2024.03.07：改稿
- 2023.04.29：初稿
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