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Examples—80/2.8
All images from the Nikon D3x unless noted. Most images were handheld.
Large versions of the examples are shown for the first image only; subscribe to DAP to access the review with all large image examples.
Processing
Processing was fast and basic: no special tweaks, little or no toying with white balance, and nominal time spent on each image; you’re looking at what the lens delivers.
Color rendition
Color rendition in some of these images is best seen on a wide gamut monitor; colors lose some of their richness and go “dead” on an average monitor (like the Apple 30" Cinema Display).
Bird of Paradise
Like the Hartblei 40/4, the background blur for this image is really lovely, and color are gorgeous. Probably the color could be further improved with a white balance adjustment here; this image was right out of the camera except for a 1.5 stop “push”.
Shifted
At full shift. Results are excellent at f/11 right out to the extreme corners.
Without and with tilt
Click to see the larger images. Both at ~f/8, one without tilt and one with tilt.
The potential is there— no amount of stopping down can produce the depth of field and crisp rendition possible using lens tilt. The Hartblei 80/2.8 and all the SuperRotators allow the plane of focus to be placed just about anywhere.
Thistle
Under moderately harsh lighting and with well-defined edges (thorns, etc), the bokeh of the Hartblei 80/2.8 is pleasingly smooth, along with a very nice three-dimensional look.
Mid-day haze
The lighting looked awful here, but I was curious about how the optics would handle it. The color rendition and subtle distinctions between tones is remarkably good, especially in the greens. The image comes across as highly believable, in spite of the very challenging lighting and atmospheric haze.
Succulents
The blur qualities of the Hartblei 80/2.8 are velvety smooth, extremely pleasing, wow! Be sure to view the larger image to see what’s going on here.
Seed husks
Velvety smooth, yet lively.
Flowers close-up
Delicate tones and color, pleasing background rendition, this handheld shot shows that close-ups can be rewarding, even though the 80/2.8 is not designed as a macro lens.
Trail signs
Not so great lighting, but pleasing color rendition and 3D separation of foreground from background. Really, the photo looks better than what I expected when seeing it at the time.
Thistles
Converting to grayscale removes the distraction of color, and lets us see how the background renders. It is both smooth and lively at the same time, an effect sure to please many viewers, and transitions are very smooth, with no harsh edges. Such scenes can be fairly unattractive with some lenses.
Grasses
The ultra-smooth background rendition lends itself well to “layering” the subject. Here the seed heads were waving about in the wind, and I tried several shots until I got an arrangement that seemed to “work”.
Chives
Even at very close range, image quality is very high. I popped the contrast here (crudely) in this shot at dusk. This shot is at the closest possible focus.
Seed head
Here I tweaked the color for something inaccurate but interesting. I really like the “motion” of the background, it’s at play, yet smooth.
Hummingbird feeder
Be sure to view the larger image here. The background blur quality in the face of very strong backlighting remains extremely pleasing, a very painterly effect. The difference in rendition between the Hartblei 80mm and an older Hasselblad/Zeiss 80/2.8 I once shot is just tremendous, the latter having really ugly bokeh, but the Hartblei 80/2.8 offering just stunning results.
Wagon
Sharpness and blur work together very well in this image.
Compost heap
A hopeful squash plant grows in last year’s compost heap.
Strawberry
The finest detail is recorded here, showing the outstanding resolving power, along with the lovely bokeh in other areas.
Note: this image is in the AdobeRGB color space, and won’t display properly on “stupid” browsers. Use Apple’s Safari or Firefox with color management.
Green
The usual sharpness and its complement work nicely together here. Displayed in AdobeRGB.
Flowering buckeye
This image is really rich, at least on a wide gamut display.
Puff
Just a puff on these guys is fun to watch the seeds float away. I used Auto Levels to pop the contrast, more care could be taken here.
The way in which the “noisy” background blurs but remains lively is extremely appealing.
Conclusions
Used with shift or tilt, the Hartblei 80/2.8 offers outstanding technical options.
Used normally (without shift or tilt), the Hartblei 80/2.8 offers gorgeous results, including exceptionally transparent color rendition, velvety-smooth bokeh and very “dimensional” separation of the background from in-focus areas. There is something very special about its image rendition, and it maintains high contrast and beautiful color throughout.
While it’s not a macro (close-up) lens, results at close range are terrific with resolving power outstanding even at the closest focusing range.
