Hasselblad 55mm extension tube + Rollei Retro 400S

Gear:
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss 120mm Makro Planar
55mm extension tube

Recipe:
Rollei Retro 400S
Ilford ID 11
1+1
13 min

One thing is me coming in here are share my thoughts about something in the most amateur way and another totally different thing is reading and learning from someone who knows what he’s talking about.

Mr. Martin Zimelka has an amazing database on Rollei films with his own recipes.
Please do take a look and bookmark it.
www.martinzimelka.com

My thoughts at this point are… damn and double damn. The Rollei Retro 400s is a hard film. Contrasted, sharp and harsh. It may sound stupid but it reminds me of an HP5+ gone to the Dark Side. These are very early thoughts but the Retro 400s demands extra attention to exposure and correct light reading.

I’ve used the 55mm extension tube (without any exposure compensation) with TriX or Delta 400 and I always managed to get pretty good results. The Rollei gives very little room for mistakes and it’s not a very forgiving film.

I’m looking forward to use it again. It will slow me down and make me think more about the right way to approach a certain scene. I think Mr. Ansel Adams will be on my mind for the summer.

As for the 55mm extension tube, I don’t know how to say it in English but it is “bent” and that’s the cause for the light leak.

No exposure compension. Lens set to minimum focus distance.

1 stop exposure compensation.

1 stop exposure compensation.

The Hasselblad 21mm and 55mm extension tubes

Gear:
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss 120mm Makro Planar
21mm extension tube
55mm extension tube

Recipe:
Rollei Retro 400S
Ilford ID-11
1+1
11 min.

This post is intended to be a simple answer to a friends question.
When using an extension tube does it matter if the lens is set to it’s minimum focus distance or set to infinity?

Yes it does, very much so.
The lens will lose the ability of focusing at the infinity but it does not lose the ability to focus at different distances depending on the distance set on the lens, changing the “magnification” given by the tube.

These are very simple examples and I will write another post about the Rollei Retro 400s.

This first shot was taken with the Zeiss 120mm Makro Planar at the miminum focusing distance which is 0.8m. The height of that little statue is 20cm. (Sorry for the light leak, I will get back to it on another post)

 

 

This one was taken with the 21mm extension tube and the lens set to infinity. In fact I’ve “only” added 21mm more to the 120mm focal distance of the lens.

 

 

This one was taken with the 21mm extension tube and the lens set to the minimum focusing distance.
No compensation, exposed as indicated by the light meter.

 

 

This one was taken with the 55mm extension tube and the lens set to infinity.

 

 

Taken with the 55mm extension tube and the lens set to the minimum focusing distance.
Again, no exposure compensation. All shots were taken at 1/250 f5.6.

Hasselblad 500 CM + 55 mm extension tube

Gear:
Hasselblad 500 CM
Zeiss 80mm lens
55mm extension tube.

Recipe:
Kodak TriX 400
D76
1:1
11 min.
20 C

I’m not a macro photographer and I only use the extensions tubes for personal pleasure. That being said no serious conclusion can be taken from what I write. The 21mm extension tube is a lot more usable, the 55mm one is a truly macro tube. It focus real close and the magnification reaches a dangerous level of “abstraction”.

What I mean is, depending on the subject, and since we must get real close it’s very easy to go beyond the recognizable shape and ending up with just an abstract fraction of the subject.

Anyway, it’s a pretty much fun exercise to watch things real close. I could carry the 55mm extension tube all day just for the fun of looking at things in a different way.

It’s very hard to focus with the 55mm tube and I always use the camera hand held and even the slightest movement can change focus ruining the shot. However I was lucky enough to get a couple of examples of a successful situation.

These were shot one right after the other and the only thing that changed was the focus point. A few centimeters closer reveals a totally different shape making it hard to believe it is the same flower.

Please forgive my poor English.

Hasselblad 55mm extension tube + Kodak Trix 400@3200

Gear:
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss Planar CT* 80mm
55mm extension tube

Recipe:
Kodak Trix 400 @ 3200
D76
1:1
18 min.
20 C
Agitation: first 10 seconds of each minute.

The Hasselblad 55mm extension tube allows me to get really close. Right at the edge of visual abstraction. I wanted that, I wanted to get all the organic feel of film magnified by the extension tube. I didn’t make any kind of exposure compensation by using the tube. I’ve measured the light, the shadow and came up with a value in between.
Please notice the first shot and how shallow the DOF is.

Please forgive my poor English.
Thank you

Hasselblad 500 cm, Zeiss Planar 80mm, 55mm extension tube

Gear:
Hasselblad 500CM
Zeiss Planar CT* 80mm
55mm extension tube

Recipe:
Kodak Trix 400
Microphen 1:1
11 min.
20 C
Agitation: 10 seconds each minute.