Distagon 50mm f/4 (Rollei 6000, 7/7 design)

Carl Zeiss · Rollei 6000 · 1976

Also known as: Rollei Distagon 50mm f/4 HFT PQ · Rollei 50mm f4 Distagon HFT PQ · Rollei Distagon 50mm f/4 HFT EL · Rollei 50mm f4 Zeiss Distagon EL · Carl Zeiss Distagon 50mm f/4 HFT Rolleiflex 6000 · Distagon HFT 4/50 Rollei SLX 6006 · Rolleiflex 6008 Distagon 50mm · Rollei 50mm F4 Distagon 6000 · Zeiss Distagon 1:4 f=50mm Rollei · ローライディスタゴン 50mm F4 HFT PQ · ローライディスタゴン 50mm F4 EL · ディスタゴン 50mm F4 ローライ 6000 · ローライフレックス SLX ディスタゴン 50mm

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Distagon 4/50 HFT, SLX generation (cat. no. 201-302 in the 1984 US sheet) · Electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 30 s–1/500 s; shutter-priority and manual exposure only	Rollei 6000	1976	—	—
Distagon 4/50 HFT PQ (item no. 86704)	Rollei 6000	1988	—	—
Distagon 4/50 HFT EL (cat. no. 86 706)	Rollei 6000	—	—	—

Elements and groups (7/7), f/4–32, 75° diagonal and 57° horizontal field, closest focus 0.5 m, 81.5 mm diameter, 96 mm length, 840 g and the bayonet VI mount are from Berkey's 1984 sheet (cat. no. 201-302) and Rollei's 2003 lens table (EL row), and agree with Rolleigraphy, the Wikipedia lens list and Japanese Wikipedia (7群7枚). The Hasselblad and SL66 Distagon 50 f/4 of the 1960s share the seven-element, seven-group construction; whether the computations are identical is not stated by any source consulted.
Years. The SLX was introduced in 1976 (Rolleigraphy, English Wikipedia; Japanese Wikipedia gives 1974); the 50 is taken as a launch lens on the strength of the 1984 sheet and Rolleigraphy's first-generation listing. The PQ variant's 1988 is the PQ line's start with the 6008 professional, not a dated document for this lens; its earliest dated listing is the January 1993 brochure. The EL variant is undated. No end date is published for any version; the FLE lens of the same name had replaced the PQ in Rollei's tables by 2003, with the EL continuing beside it.
Price. US$3,092 is the B&H Photo price Greenspun quotes for 'the Zeiss 50 for the Rollei', the non-floating PQ lens, on a page whose other B&H figures are dated July 1995; the year is taken as 1995. Greenspun sets it against $2,481 for the Hasselblad 50 FLE.
The PQ 50's optic in 1993. The January 1993 Rolleiflex 6008 brochure lists only one 50 mm Distagon, '50 mm Distagon f/4 HFT PQ', and its data table gives it 7 elements in 7 groups; the nine-element FLE appears in Rollei's 2003 brochure as the PQ lens, with the seven-element optic surviving as the EL. A used lens described only as 'Distagon 50 PQ' may be either; the FLE has a third ring.

How to tell them apart (expand)

Rollei bayonet with ten gold contacts; Distagon HFT 1:4 f=50mm on the front ring, with no generation mark (SLX era), 'PQ lens' or 'EL lens' beside the aperture figures
Two rings, aperture and focus — the FLE lens of the same name has a third ring for its floating elements; bayonet VI filters on the SLX and PQ lenses, an M67 thread on the EL
81.5 mm across, 96 mm long and 840 g: the compact wide-angle of the system, against 1,600 g for the Super-Angulon 50 f/2.8
Not the Hasselblad Distagon C 4/50, which has a Synchro-Compur shutter and bayonet 60 filters and no contacts, nor the SL66 Distagon 50, which has no shutter

Distagon 4/50 HFT, SLX generation (cat. no. 201-302 in the 1984 US sheet):

No generation mark beside the aperture figures (the original SLX lenses carry none); red HFT on the front ring; Distagon HFT 1:4 f=50mm without the Carl Zeiss name, the lens being built by Rollei under licence (Berkey sheet of 1984)
Bayonet VI filter mount; 81.5 mm across, 96 mm long, 840 g (Berkey sheet)

Distagon 4/50 HFT PQ (item no. 86704):

'PQ lens' engraved or printed beside the aperture figures and an 'A' position on the aperture ring; bayonet VI filters; same 7/7 optic, 81.5 × 96 mm and 840 g
Two rings only — a three-ring 50 is the later FLE lens

Distagon 4/50 HFT EL (cat. no. 86 706):

'EL lens' printed in white beside the aperture figures (Rolleigraphy)
M67 × 0.75 filter thread inside the front in place of the bayonet VI filter mount; the bayonet VI outside remains for the hood (Rollei 2003 brochure)
Same 7/7 optic, 81.5 × 96 mm, 840 g, 1/500 s top speed, and the full PQ exposure modes (Rollei lens table)

Distagon 4/50 HFT, SLX generation (cat. no. 201-302 in the 1984 US sheet): The wide-angle of the original SLX range, listed in Berkey's 1984 'Lenses for 6006/SLX' sheet with seven elements in seven groups, a 75° field, closest focus 0.50 m, 96 mm length, 840 g and a bayonet VI mount; Japanese Wikipedia gives the same counts and a series VI attachment. Supports shutter-priority and manual exposure, and limits later bodies to those modes. Rolleigraphy's '1st generation' column gives the lens as O and PQ.
Distagon 4/50 HFT PQ (item no. 86704): The PQ-mount lens of the 6008 era, item no. 86704 in the January 1993 Rolleiflex 6008 brochure, which calls it 'the most popular wide-angle lens' and notes it can be reverse-mounted for close-ups. The same brochure's data table gives it seven elements in seven groups, so the PQ 50 of 1993 was still this optic; the nine-element FLE lens came later. Greenspun, who owned one, priced it at B&H at US$3,092 and remarked that it 'does not incorporate a floating element' while the Hasselblad 50 FLE cost $2,481. Full exposure modes on the 6008, 6003 and 6001; limited modes on the SLX, 6006 and 6002; manual focus on the Hy6. Introduction year taken from the PQ line's start with the 6008 professional.
Distagon 4/50 HFT EL (cat. no. 86 706): The economy-line version: the same lens electrically and optically as the PQ, with a screw-in filter thread instead of the bayonet, sold at a lower price. Rollei's 2003 brochure describes it as 'a versatile wide-angle lens that is very popular as a standard wide-angle for architectural, indoor and landscape photography', catalogue number 86 706, and Rolleigraphy notes that of the lenses offered in both PQ and PQS the PQ version was sometimes re-badged EL to widen the price gap. Undated; it is listed beside the FLE PQ lens in 2003 and absent from the 1993 brochure.

Specifications

Formula: Distagon (retrofocus), 7 elements in 7 groups — the SL66 and Hasselblad C 50 computation
Construction: 7 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range: f/4–f/32
Shutter: Electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 30 s–1/500 s, diaphragm and shutter driven by linear motors
Min. focus: 0.5 m
Dimensions: 81.5 × 96 mm
Weight: 840 g
Filter: Rollei bayonet VI (EL version: M67 × 0.75 thread inside, bayonet VI outside for the hood) (Distagon 4/50 HFT, SLX generation (cat. no. 201-302 in the 1984 US sheet), Distagon 4/50 HFT PQ (item no. 86704)) · 67 mm (0.75 mm pitch), M67 × 0.75 thread inside; bayonet VI outside for the hood (Distagon 4/50 HFT EL (cat. no. 86 706))
Years manufactured: 1976
Country: Germany
Coating: HFT multicoating
Original price: US$3,092 (B&H Photo, PQ version, c. 1995) (today $6,360)

What reviewers say

Philip Greenspun (photo.net) (blog) — Owned the Zeiss 50/4 on a 6008 and was 'initially very taken' with it as the equivalent of a 28 mm on a Nikon, but after wider 35 mm lenses 'found it constraining and the perspective uninteresting'; he notes that at $3,092 it lacked the floating element of the cheaper Hasselblad 50 FLE, which he presumed gave 'dramatically better near-far shots'.

History

The Distagon 4/50 was the wide-angle of the original Rolleiflex SLX range of 1976 and remained the system’s standard wide for a quarter of a century: a seven-element, seven-group retrofocus Distagon of the construction Zeiss had used for the Hasselblad and SL66 50 mm lenses of the 1960s, built by Rollei at Braunschweig under Zeiss licence, with Rollei’s own leaf shutter and diaphragm inside, each driven by a linear motor under the body’s control through ten gold-plated contacts. Berkey’s US sheet of 1984 gives f/4–32, a 75° field, closest focus 0.5 m, 81.5 mm across, 96 mm long and 840 g, with a bayonet VI filter mount; Rollei’s 1993 brochure called it ‘the most popular wide-angle lens’ and pointed out that it could be reverse-mounted for close-ups.

The optic never changed through three generations of barrel. The SLX-era lens carries no generation mark and offers shutter-priority and manual exposure only, which it imposes on any later body. The PQ lens of the 6008 era, item number 86704 in the January 1993 brochure, adds aperture-priority and program modes and is still the seven-element optic in that brochure’s data table — the nine-element Distagon 50 FLE, with its third ring, replaced it in Rollei’s tables between 1993 and 2003. The EL lens is the PQ re-badged for the economy line, electrically identical and with the full exposure modes, but with an M67 thread inside the front instead of the bayonet VI filter mount, the outside bayonet staying for the hood; Rolleigraphy observes that Rollei sometimes ‘down graded’ a PQ lens to EL to widen the price gap below the PQS lenses. All versions have a 1/500 s top speed, work on the SLX, 6006 and 6002 with limited modes and on the Hy6 as manual-focus lenses.

Philip Greenspun, who owned the PQ lens on a 6008 and then a 6003, was at first taken with it as the equivalent of a 28 mm on 35 mm film and later found it constraining, the perspective uninteresting after the wider lenses he used on his Nikons; he also noted the price, US$3,092 at B&H in the mid-1990s for a lens without the floating element of the Hasselblad 50 FLE at $2,481. Volker Muth’s 2021 review of the system passes over the 50 Distagon in favour of the Schneider 50 f/2.8. Left open: a production figure, serial data, the date of the EL version and the year the PQ gave way to the FLE.

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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 wanted — shot with a Distagon 50mm f/4 (Rollei 6000, 7/7 design)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

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【全額返金保証】【最速発送】 Rollei Distagon 50mm F4 HFT Rolleifrex 6008用動作確認済 — from ¥97,750 · Yahoo! Auctions Japan · auction 2026-11-02

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