Zeiss Planar CF 80mm f/2.8

NormalMount: Hasselblad V80mmf/2.8 – f/22
Introduced: 1982
Zeiss Planar CF 80mm f/2.8
Image: 嘟嘟嘟 — CC BY 2.0

Carl Zeiss Planar CF 80mm f/2.8 is the iconic Hasselblad V normal lens — equivalent to a 50mm field of view in 35mm terms on 6×6 cm format. The lens that ships in most "kit" Hasselblad V purchases and the lens that defines the visual identity of the system. The Planar 80/2.8 is among the most-photographed-with lenses in the history of medium format.

Key features

  • Hasselblad V bayonet — fits all V-series bodies
  • Compur leaf shutter built into lens — 1s to 1/500, X-sync at all speeds
  • CF designation (1982+); pre-CF "C" lenses also exist with the same optical formula
  • Bay 60 filter mount
  • 7-element/5-group double-Gauss Planar formula with T* multi-coating
  • Floating element design for close-focus correction
  • Manual aperture + manual focus

Use case + rendering

The 80mm Planar CF is the studio-portrait + travel + general Hasselblad lens. Wide-open sharpness is excellent by Carl Zeiss double-Gauss standards; stopped to f/5.6-f/8 it is exceptional across the field. The Planar's signature is the smooth highlight rendering and clean separation of in-focus from out-of-focus — the "Hasselblad look" in editorial portraiture.

The leaf-shutter flash sync at all speeds is the practical reason many studio photographers chose Hasselblad V over focal-plane medium-format cameras like Pentax 67 or Mamiya 645.

Compatible bodies

Related lenses