Planar 80mm f/2.8

Carl Zeiss · Hasselblad V · 1957 · Planar

Also known as: Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 · Carl Zeiss Planar T* 80mm f/2.8 · Planar 2.8/80 · Planar 80/2.8 · Hasselblad 80mm Planar · Hasselblad 80mm f/2.8 · Hasselblad Zeiss 80mm · Planar T* 2.8/80 CFE · Zeiss Planar CF 80mm f/2.8 · Planar 80/2.8 CF · Planar C 80mm · Planar 80mm f2.8 C T* · Planar FE 80mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Planar C 2.8/80, chrome (1957 baseline) · Synchro-Compur, 1s–1/500 and B Hasselblad V 1957–1973
Planar C 2.8/80, black (non-T*) · Synchro-Compur, 1s–1/500 and B Hasselblad V 1973
Planar C T* 2.8/80 · Synchro-Compur, 1s–1/500 and B Hasselblad V 1973–1982
Planar F T* 2.8/80 (shutterless, 2000-series) · none — exposes through the body's focal-plane shutter Hasselblad V (F — focal-plane bodies only) 1977–1991
Planar CF T* 2.8/80 · Prontor CF, 1s–1/500 and B Hasselblad V 1982–1998
Planar FE T* 2.8/80 (F/TCC 1991–94, FE from 1994) · none — exposes through the body's focal-plane shutter Hasselblad V (FE — focal-plane bodies only) 1991–2004
Planar C 2.8/80 T* 'new C' (501C kit lens) · leaf shutter 1s–1/500 and B, without the F setting Hasselblad V 1994–1997
Planar CB T* 2.8/80 (6-element) · Planar, new computation — 6 elements in 5 groups (Zeiss data sheet CB80) · Prontor CB, 1s–1/500 and B Hasselblad V 1997–2000
Planar CFE T* 2.8/80 · Prontor CFE, 1s–1/500 and B Hasselblad V 1998–2013
  1. Element and group counts, weights, closest focus and filter series are from the Zeiss data sheets hosted by Hasselblad Historical (C80, CF80, CB80, CFE80, F80, FE80).
  2. Generation start years follow the barrel/shutter families as a whole (C 1957, F 1977, CF 1982, F/TCC 1991, CB 1997, CFE 1998); no source gives a month for the 80mm's own changeover, and old stock overlapped the new.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • The letter after the focal length is the generation: none or C (Synchro-Compur, 1957–82), F (no shutter, 1977–), CF (Prontor CF, 1982–), F/TCC then FE (no shutter, databus contacts, 1991–), CB (six-element budget lens, 1997–), CFE (Prontor CFE with contacts, 1998–)
  • Filter mount is the quickest sort: bayonet-50 on every C, F and FE lens; bayonet-60 on CF, CB, CFE and the 1994 'new C'
  • Red T* on the name ring from ~1973 (Geier: 1971/72); chrome barrels are always pre-T*, but early black C lenses without T* exist
  • Leaf-shutter lenses that work open-shutter on a 2000/200-series body have a green F on the speed ring (CF, CFE); the 1994 'new C' and, per Zeiss's wording, the CB do not
  • Only the F and FE focus to 0.6 m; every leaf-shutter version stops at 0.9 m

Planar C 2.8/80, chrome (1957 baseline):

  • Satin-chrome barrel, engraved Carl Zeiss / Planar 1:2.8 f=80mm; no T* mark
  • Synchro-Compur with the EV interlock — aperture and shutter-speed rings move together and separate only with the cross-coupling lever pressed
  • Bayonet-50 filter mount (Zeiss data sheet: 'bayonet for Hasselblad series 50'); 0.9 m closest focus
  • Red-ink Zeiss date code inside the rear mount — pre-1980 the last two digits are the month and the leading digit(s) plus 1957 the year

Planar C 2.8/80, black (non-T*):

  • Black-anodised barrel with the same C-type engraving, EV interlock lever and bayonet-50 filter mount as the chrome lens
  • No red T* after the Planar name — black examples without T* exist but are the minority; most black C Planars are T*

Planar C T* 2.8/80:

  • Red T* on the name ring; black barrel; bayonet-50 filter mount; EV interlock lever
  • Zeiss data sheet: cat. no. 102076, 7 elements in 5 groups, 465 g, 0.9 m closest focus, exact focal length 80.5 mm, Compur size 0 with automatic diaphragm

Planar F T* 2.8/80 (shutterless, 2000-series):

  • No shutter-speed ring and no Synchro-Compur lever; the F designation is not engraved on the lens (2000FC instruction book)
  • Bayonet-50 filter mount; helical focusing to 0.6 m (1:5.5), against 0.9 m on the C — the longer focusing throw is the point of the design (Zeiss data sheet, cat. no. 10 21 09)
  • 410 g per the data sheet, the lightest of the family

Planar CF T* 2.8/80:

  • Prontor CF shutter in a black barrel with rubber focusing grip; bayonet-60 filter mount (series 60 replaces the C lenses' series 50)
  • Green F on the shutter-speed ring — the setting that leaves the leaf shutter open for a 2000- or 200-series body's focal-plane shutter
  • EV interlock now a push-button on the aperture ring rather than the C lens's lever
  • Zeiss data sheet: cat. no. 10 21 65, 7 elements in 5 groups, exact focal length 81.2 mm, 510 g, 0.9 m, reproduction ratio to 1:9

Planar FE T* 2.8/80 (F/TCC 1991–94, FE from 1994):

  • Four databus contacts on the bayonet plate and two parallel blue lines on the barrel — the mark of every databus item (205TCC manual)
  • Early examples marked F/TCC for the 205TCC of 1991; the lenses were renamed FE in 1994 when the 203FE arrived
  • No EV interlock button (205TCC parts list); bayonet-50 filter mount; 0.6 m closest focus, 1:5.5, 410 g (Zeiss data sheet, drawing 10 2178)

Planar C 2.8/80 T* 'new C' (501C kit lens):

  • Black CF-style barrel with rubber focusing grip and bayonet-60 filter mount, but no EV interlock button and no F setting on the speed ring (Jo Geier; KEH catalogues it as 'C T* Late')
  • Cannot be used open-shutter on the 2000- or 200-series focal-plane bodies because the F setting is missing (Jo Geier)
  • Japanese dealers list it as the 'Planar 80mm New'

Planar CB T* 2.8/80 (6-element):

  • CB engraved after the focal length; the only 80mm Planar whose data sheet gives 6 elements — exact focal length 81.5 mm, 550 g, the heaviest of the family
  • Bayonet-60 filter mount; rounded, glove-operable controls, a grippier shutter-speed ring and larger scale lettering than the CF; matte-black front bayonet (Zeiss data sheet, cat. no. 10 22 12)
  • Zeiss's sheet names 'Hasselblad cameras of the 200 and 500 type' — the 2000-series is not listed

Planar CFE T* 2.8/80:

  • CFE after the focal length; four databus contacts on the bayonet plate (the E) for the 200-series meters; F setting retained
  • Bayonet-60 filter mount; 510 g; exact focal length 81.2 mm; reproduction ratio 1:9 at 0.9 m (Zeiss data sheet, cat. no. 10 22 11)
  • Zeiss's sheet lists 'digital photography' among preferred uses — the only 80mm sheet to do so

Serial-range notes

red-ink code inside the rear mount, pre-1980
Zeiss stamped a date code inside the rear of every generation: before 1980 the last two digits are the month and the leading digit(s) plus 1957 the year, so 805 = May 1965 and 1611 = November 1973. Lens serials themselves are Zeiss's running numbers and no published block-to-year table for the 80mm was found.
red-ink code inside the rear mount, 1980 onward
From 1980 the code is two reversed year digits and a month letter, A = January — so a CF 80 reading 48C was made in March 1984, and the 501C kit lenses should read 49x–79x.

Specifications

Formula
Planar
Construction
7 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Shutter
In the lens on the C, CF, CB and CFE versions — Synchro-Compur (C) or Prontor (CF, CB, CFE), 1s–1/500 and B, flash sync at every speed; the F and FE versions have no shutter and expose only on the 2000/200-series focal-plane bodies
Min. focus
0.9 m
Weight
465 g
Years manufactured
1957–2013
Country
West Germany
Coating
Single-coated until T* multicoating on the C lens (~1973; Jo Geier says 1971/72); every later generation is T*
Original price
No standalone launch price found: the 500C sold for $480 with the 80mm Planar in the American market in 1957 (Mike Eckman), and Victor Hasselblad Inc.'s April 1973 list has the 500C/M at $995.00 with 80mm and A12 against $567.50 with A12 alone. The earliest list price for the lens by itself is US$1,050.00 for the shutterless Planar F 2.8/80 T*, dealer list effective 1 January 1980. No Swedish or Japanese price found. (today $4,000)

What reviewers say

Optical formula — Planar
Schematic cross-section drawn for this site from the Zeiss data sheet (C80) — 7 elements in 5 groups; curvatures and spacing stylized.
Schematic cross-section drawn for this site from the Zeiss data sheet (C80) — 7 elements in 5 groups; curvatures and spacing stylized. — Drawn for this site
ⓘ What these charts mean

MTF (modulation transfer function) shows how much contrast the lens keeps at a given fineness of detail, from the center of the frame to the corner — the coarse curves track punch, the fine ones resolving power, and a gap between solid and dashed lines means astigmatism. Relative illumination (falloff) shows how much darker the corners are than the center at each aperture. Manufacturers only began publishing these for modern lenses; no 1950s maker issued them, which is why older families here cite period magazine bench tests instead.

History

The 80mm f/2.8 Planar was the lens Hasselblad chose as standard when the 500C replaced the focal-plane 1000F in 1957, and it stayed standard until the last 503CW left the catalogue on 29 April 2013 (Wikipedia). Zeiss’s data sheet for the C T* version describes it plainly: a Planar whose “anastigmatic flatness of the image field is outstanding,” with a focal length “approximately the diagonal of the 6 x 6 cm format,” sold as the standard outfit of the 500C and 500EL alongside the slower 100mm f/3.5. Seven elements in five groups, 465 g, 0.9 m closest focus, a Compur size 0 shutter with automatic diaphragm and a bayonet for Hasselblad’s series 50 filters. Mike Eckman puts the 500C with this lens at $480 in the American market at launch; no separate price for the lens has been found for 1957.

The optics of the first years are the family’s one real puzzle. A photo.net thread is titled around the question of why the 80mm changed from six to seven elements, and dealer lore repeats that the earliest chrome lenses were a six-element computation replaced around 1960. The thread could not be read for this entry and no Zeiss document consulted describes a six-element C Planar, so the claim stands as reported. What the sheets do establish is that from the C T* through the F, CF, FE and CFE the seven-in-five design did not change: both the F and FE sheets say the optical design “is the same as that of its sister lens” for the 500-series, the one that “stood the test of many NASA space flights round the earth and to the moon.”

The barrel changed far more than the glass. Chrome gave way to black and single coating to T* multicoating in the early 1970s — Jo Geier dates T* on the 80mm to 1971/72 and the black finish to 1973/74, while Victor Hasselblad Inc.’s April 1973 suggested-retail list still shows the 80mm as a chrome lens and pairs the black 500C/M kit with the 100mm Planar instead. In 1977 the 2000FC brought the shutterless F version: the same optics in a longer helical mount focusing to 0.6 m (1:5.5), 410 g, no shutter-speed ring and no F engraved on the lens (2000FC instruction book). The 1980 dealer list prices it at $1,050.00 — the only standalone list price for any 80mm Planar found here. In 1982 the CF replaced the Synchro-Compur with Prontor’s CF shutter, moved the filter mount to bayonet 60, added the rubber focusing grip and the green F setting that lets a leaf-shutter lens work on a focal-plane body; the Zeiss sheet gives 510 g and an exact focal length of 81.2 mm.

The 1990s multiplied the versions. The 205TCC of 1991 needed lenses that could report their aperture, so the F Planar gained four databus contacts and two blue lines as the F/TCC, renamed FE in 1994 when the 203FE arrived (205TCC manual; Japanese Wikipedia). The 501C of 1994 came only as a kit with a “new C” Planar — a black CF-style barrel with bayonet-60 mount but no EV interlock and no F setting, so it cannot be used open-shutter on a 2000- or 200-series body (Jo Geier; KEH lists it as “C T* Late”). In 1997 Zeiss did recompute the lens for the budget CB line: its sheet says new design mathematics and “novel technologies” allowed the Planar to be built with six elements, at 81.5 mm and 550 g, with scattered light “markedly reduced.” The CFE of 1998 returned to the seven-element CF optics with contacts added, and became the kit lens of the 501CM and 503CW from about 2000 (Jo Geier; the 501CM/503CW manual).

What remains open: whether a six-element 1957 computation existed and, if so, where its serial boundary lies; who at Zeiss Oberkochen designed the 80mm — no source consulted names anyone; the months of the T* and black changeovers; whether the CB lacked the F setting, which Zeiss’s wording (200 and 500 type cameras) suggests but does not say; whether a ZV Classic 80mm was ever sold; and every production figure, which would have to come from Nordin’s compendia.

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This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Planar 80mm f/2.8
Hasselblad 500C with the Planar C 80mm f/2.8 — grasses (ichigonotsukikage) — ichigonotsukikage, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Planar 80mm f/2.8
Smoky sunrise, Yosemite — tagged Planar 80mm (Andrew Lambeth) — Andrew Lambeth from San Francisco, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Planar 80mm f/2.8
Black water — tagged Planar 80mm f/2.8 (Tom Mills) — Tom Mills, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Planar 80mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

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