Continued from part 1.

Remember: what constitutes ‘ultimate’ is actually highly subjective; some value smooth drawing quality and tonal transitions over outright resolution; others require zero distortion or high color accuracy or secondary color correction. If anything, my personal preferences tend to lean towards resolution and microcontrast; I can accept some vignetting, distortion, secondary lateral CA (but not longitudinal) – because these are easy to fix in post. Field curvature, smearing, coma etc. are not. Not all lenses on this list are here because of technical perfection or MTF chart performance, either. On top of that, there are two lenses that are not system options, but included anyway because they deserve honourable mentions. There are probably also better lenses I’ve not used yet (and so obviously can’t include them). I’ve tried to give justifications where possible. With that in mind, and in no particular order, here we go.

**Items denoted with two stars are lenses I currently own. *One star, lenses I’ve owned. Links are to reviews or affiliate suppliers. Images shot with the respective lenses mentioned.



HCD 28, H5D-50c

The Hasselblad HCD 28/4** (review B&H)

Though its sibling 24/4.8 is equally good – if not slightly better optically – I prefer the rendering of this lens, the angle of view, and the slight bit of extra speed you get. It’s crispy, transparent and has a very neutral personality with just enough everything to be transparent, but not overly dominating.



HC 50 II, H5D-50c

The Hasselblad HC 50/3.5 II** (review B&H)

In many ways, this is the ‘medium format Otus’ – no obvious weak points in the field or aperture, almost flat field, and excellent color correction and micro contrast. If I had to work with only one lens on the Hasselblad, I’d be torn between this and the next one…



HC 100, H5D-50c

The Hasselblad HC 100/2.2** (review B&H)

This lens continues to be a bit of a paradox to me. It’s both optically rather weak wide open, but oddly compelling: most of my favourite images (and those of the audience) shot on the H system were made with it; though I have to say my affinity towards it has increased since having my copy focus tuned so it locks on perfectly wide open. I think it’s because it has a very smooth rendering style and out of focus areas – both foreground and background. Microcontrast doesn’t come on song until about f4, and below that the lens is smooth rather than biting. At f4-8, it’s as sharp as you’d want – everywhere. I tend to think of it as a portrait or cinematic lens at f2.8 and below, or an excellent f4 lens with an f2.2 emergency speed. It also performs very well with the HTS and extension tubes for macro work. Another chameleon…



HC 150N, H5D-50c

The Hasselblad HC 150/3.2 N** (review B&H)

There’s something about the 150mm focal length on 44x33mm sensors; this is the second one on the list. It has a nicely compressed perspective that’s not too extreme, but at the same time more than enough to split a scene into planes. This lens has a high degree of secondary color correction and great bite at the focal plane, at all apertures. It’s one of my favourite documentary lenses especially when you can’t physically get any closer, but want to retain some intimacy in the scene. Originally, I borrowed this one for a job ‘just in case’, but landed up buying it because it landed up becoming one of the core lenses…



250 C Superachromat, H5D-50c

The Hasselblad Zeiss 5.6/250 Sonnar Superachromat**

Built in three versions, and all with the same optical formula. I have a very early first generation ‘C’ type; it’s one of the few lenses whose performance doesn’t appear to improve as you stop down, because it’s already so high at maximum aperture. It doesn’t have the macrocontrast of other Zeiss lenses, but microcontrast in abundance. Note there is no T* coating on any version of this lens, because it interfered with IR/UV transmission. Some care must be taken with flare. It’s tricky to use because of length and vibration and focus throw (very long, so transitions are slow) – but when everything lines up, the results are uniquely transparent – especially on the 50MP MF CMOS sensors. The medium format equivalent of the Voigtlander 180 APO-Lanthar.



CF150, 501CM, CFV-39

The Hasselblad Zeiss CF 4/150 Sonnar**

An underrated bargain. Best performance occurs stopped down so all secondary color has disappeared, but the transitions are so smooth, the layering so subtle and the price so low (typically $350-500 on the secondary market, depending on condition) that you can forgive it for effectively being a f5.6-11 lens. Yes, the 4/180 is better, but it’s also quite a lot more expensive, and significantly heavier. I carry the 150, but not the 180. And a lens not carried is a lens not used (and a picture left behind).



XCD 90, X1D-50c

The Hasselblad XCD 90/3.2 (B&H)

The MTF charts promised something spectacular, and boy did they deliver – the 90mm is the undoubted highlight of the native lenses for the X1D; it’s sharp, contrasty, detailed, and has very smooth foreground and background OOF areas. Performance is already outstanding wide open, and holds til you hit diffraction at f13 or so.



A150, 645Z

The Pentax 645 A 150/3.5*

A legacy lens from the manual focus days, but with some rudimentary electronics to log EXIF data. It’s another one of those truly tiny lenses – smaller than the Voigtlander 180 APO even – but a stellar performer when stopped down a little, and with truly smooth mechanics that make manual focus very easy. Again lacks the outright punch of the modern lenses, but is tonally smoother than Pentax’s later designs.



21 Loxia, A7RII

The Zeiss FE 2.8/21 Loxia* (review B&H)

This one surpasses even the ZF or ZE 21mm in performance, despite being a 52mm front thread lens, and overall tiny. It’s probably the best FF ultra wide out there, especially for its edge performance. The short flange distance of course helps. Too bad there’s no version of this lens in another mount – nor can there be.

The Zeiss FE 2/50 Loxia* (B&H Amazon)

There are now no fewer than three native FE mount Zeiss 50mm-e lenses; the 55/1.8 is a bit clinical and harsh, and suffers the typical Sony-made sample variation; the 50/1.4 is truly massive, but the 2/50 Loxia is a little gem and has a really pleasant rendering that seems to be very much at home with human subjects.



20 Art, D5500

The Sigma 20/1.4 Art** (review B&H Amazon)

Best bang for the buck wide angle, and there’s nothing faster. I think of this as a really excellent f2.8 lens, but with an f1.4 emergency speed that’s critical sharp over the middle third or so of the frame, even on the D810. It’s big and heavy and won’t take filters, but show me another lens that can do what it can…

The Sigma 18-35/1.8 Art* (B&H Amazon)

A real surprise because its performance is the equivalent of the Art primes in the same focal length range on DX (this is a DX only lens) – but it’s a zoom. In fact, I found it superior to the 35/1.4 Art. As a bonus, it covers 1.2x crop from ~20mm upwards with some correctable vignetting, and FX from ~28mm upwards. Once properly tuned with the USB dock, focus performance was fast, consistent and sharpness excellent. A bit large and the zoom ring was a bit stiff overall, but these are minor niggles for a lens of this performance (let alone this price and performance).



Leica Q

Honorable mention: The Leica 28/1.7 Summilux in the Q 116** (review B&H)

I throw this one in because it’s very much a modern lens in that central sharpness is always outstanding, with excellent edge performance – even wide open. Stopped down, it gets much better; however, it requires significant software correction to reach this level. We don’t normally notice it, so I’m prepared to give it a pass. The rendering style is very pleasant, and out of focus areas are surprisingly smooth and well-separated despite being a wide angle lens.



GR (V)

Honorable mention: The Ricoh 18/2.8 in the GR (V)* and GR II (VI) cameras (review B&H Amazon)

Yes, it’s a small format, yes, it’s a fixed prime – but for a lens of that size, that close to the sensor (the rear elements are actually larger than the front ones to spread out the rays for telecentricity and to avoid edge issues) – the performance needs no excuses. It resolves very highly at all apertures and in the corners, and surprisingly, distortion and secondary color are very minimal. Micro contrast is also excellent.

__________________

Visit the Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including workshop and Photoshop Workflow videos and the customized Email School of Photography. You can also support the site by purchasing from B&H and Amazon – thanks!

We are also on Facebook and there is a curated reader Flickr pool.

Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved