Makro-Planar 120mm f/4 (6000)
Carl Zeiss · Rollei 6000 · 1993
Also known as: Rollei Makro-Planar 120mm f/4 HFT PQ · Rollei Makro-Planar 120mm f/4 HFT PQS · Rollei 120mm f4 Makro-Planar PQS · Rolleiflex 6008 Makro-Planar 120mm · Zeiss Makro-Planar 4/120 HFT Rollei · Makro-Planar HFT 120mm f4 PQS · Rollei Macro Planar 120mm F4 · ローライ マクロプラナー 120mm F4 PQS · ローライフレックス 6008 マクロプラナー 120mm F4 · ローライ 120mm F4 マクロ PQ
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 HFT PQ (item no. 86 884) | Rollei 6000 | 1993 | — | Not published by any source consulted |
| Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 HFT PQS (order no. 66 300) · Rollei direct-drive electronic leaf shutter, 30 s–1/1000 s and B (PQS) | Rollei 6000 | — | — | Not published by any source consulted |
- Date. No source gives an introduction year for either version. The lens is absent from the 1984 Berkey lens sheet, which still lists the S-Planar 120 mm f/5.6, and present as a PQ lens in Rollei's January 1993 brochure; the PQ generation began with the 6008 of 1988 and the PQS generation in 1990 (Wikipedia), so the PQ may date from any year between 1988 and 1993 and the PQS from 1990 onward. The year given is 'documented by 1993'.
- Construction. 6 elements in 4 groups in both Rollei brochures, on rolleigraphy.eu, in Wikipedia's list and in Japanese Wikipedia's 1998 yearbook citation; the same count as the S-Planar 120 mm f/5.6 it replaced, which rolleigraphy.eu describes it as 'opened up to f/4, same size, same optical quality'. Zeiss's Hasselblad Makro-Planar CF 4/120 of 1982 is the same design.
- Weight and size. 960 g, 81.5 mm across and 102 mm long in the 1993 and 2003 tables and Wikipedia; against 830 g for the S-Planar and 695 g for the Hasselblad CF lens with its Prontor shutter.
- Blades and price. Neither is given by any source consulted. The diaphragm is set by a linear motor in 1/3-stop steps.
- Rendering. The one written assessment found is Greenspun's, who owned the PQ in the mid-1990s and found it 'disappointingly flare-prone' with low contrast even on a white studio background; no second user account was found to confirm or contradict him.
How to tell them apart
- A Rollei 6000 lens: leaf shutter inside, ten contacts in the bayonet, Makro-Planar HFT engraving without the Carl Zeiss name; the Hasselblad Makro-Planar 4/120 reads Carl Zeiss, T*, and carries a Prontor shutter with a speed ring (rolleigraphy.eu; Rollei brochures)
- PQ or PQS marking to the right of the aperture numbers; the SLX-era S-Planar 120 is f/5.6 and unmarked (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Takes the Bayonet VI filters and hoods of the 80 and 150 mm lenses and the clamp-on rapid focusing lever, Cat. No. 98 029 (Rollei 2003 brochure)
- The PQ fits every body from the SLX to the Hy6 (SLX, 6006 and 6002 in shutter-priority and manual only; Hy6 manual focus); the PQS fits only the 6008, 6003, 6001 and, in manual focus, the Hy6 (Wikipedia compatibility table)
Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 HFT PQ (item no. 86 884):
- 'PQ lens' engraved or printed to the right of the aperture numbers; aperture ring 4 to 32 with an A position (rolleigraphy.eu; 1993 brochure)
- Engraved Makro-Planar HFT 4/120 without the Carl Zeiss name (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Bayonet VI filter mount and a long focusing helicoid reaching 0.8 m, 81.5 mm across and 102 mm long (Rollei 2003 table)
Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 HFT PQS (order no. 66 300):
- 'PQS lens' engraved or printed to the right of the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu)
- Same glass, size and weight as the PQ: 6/4, 81.5 × 102 mm, 960 g, Bayonet VI (Rollei 2003 table)
- Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 HFT PQ (item no. 86 884): The version in Rollei's January 1993 brochure for the 6008 professional SRC 1000, item no. 86 884, with a top speed of 1/500 s: 'special high-performance lens for closeups, copying and big enlargements', optimised for 1:8 and usable to about 2:1 on the bellows unit. The PQ line began with the 6008 in 1988; no document places this lens in that first year.
- Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 HFT PQS (order no. 66 300): The 1/1000 s version, order no. 66 300, in Rollei's May 2003 brochure: 'the ideal high-performance lens for copy work and high magnifications', optimised for 1:8, with the bellows an extended range of 1:5 to about 2:1. PQS lenses draw more current for their lighter shutter and do not work on the SLX, 6006 or 6002; on the Hy6 they focus manually. Rolleigraphy.eu reports that some older PQS lenses need a factory upgrade before their top speed works properly on the Hy6, and names this lens as an example. Rollei later sold the same specification under its own name as the Makro-Apogon 4/120 PQS, which rolleigraphy.eu lists as the replacement, 'Makro-Planar type, improved Zeiss design', 6 elements in 4 groups.
Specifications
- Formula
- Makro-Planar, 6 elements in 4 groups, optimised for 1:8 (Rollei brochures 1993 and 2003; rolleigraphy.eu; Japanese Wikipedia 4群6枚)
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/4–f/32
- Shutter
- Rollei direct-drive electronic leaf shutter in the lens, 30 s–1/500 s and B (PQ); 30 s–1/1000 s (PQS); timed and powered by the body through ten gold-plated contacts
- Min. focus
- 0.8 m
- Dimensions
- 81.5 × 102 mm
- Weight
- 960 g
- Filter
- Rollei Bayonet VI
- Years manufactured
- 1993
- Country
- Germany
- Coating
- HFT multicoating
What reviewers say
- Philip Greenspun (philip.greenspun.com), on a Rolleiflex 6008 (blog) — Owned the lens and did not like it: 'disappointingly flare-prone and delivered low contrast results even in the studio with a white background'. His 1997 page favours the Schneider 80 and 300 over the Zeiss lenses he bought.
History
The Makro-Planar 120 mm f/4 is Zeiss’s 1982 reworking of the S-Planar 120 mm f/5.6, a stop faster in the same six elements and four groups, made for the Hasselblad CF line and, in Rollei’s version, for the 6000 system with the direct-drive shutter inside. Rolleigraphy.eu puts the relation plainly: ‘opened up to f/4, same size, same optical quality as S-Planar’. Like its predecessor it is optimised for a reproduction ratio of 1:8, focuses on its own helicoid to 0.8 m, and on the bellows unit covers, in Rollei’s words, ‘an extended range of 1:5 to about 2:1’; the 1993 brochure names it with the Schneider Apo-Symmar 90 mm and the Apo-Symmar 150 mm bellows head as the three lenses computed for the macro range. It is 81.5 mm across, 102 mm long and 960 g, takes Bayonet VI filters, and stops down to f/32.
It exists in two versions that differ only in the shutter. The PQ, item no. 86 884, has the standard 1/500 s top speed and is the version in the January 1993 brochure; the PQS, order no. 66 300, has the lighter 1/1000 s shutter introduced in 1990 and appears in the May 2003 brochure, in Japan’s 1998 camera yearbook and on rolleigraphy.eu. The PQS draws more current and will not run on the SLX, 6006 or 6002, and rolleigraphy.eu reports that some early PQS lenses, this one among them, need a factory upgrade before their top speed works on the Hy6. When either version was introduced is not recorded: the 1984 lens sheet still lists the f/5.6, so the f/4 arrived between then and 1993. At the end of the line Rollei sold the same six-element specification under its own name as the Makro-Apogon 4/120 PQS.
The only written assessment found is unflattering. Philip Greenspun, who owned the PQ with a 6008 in the mid-1990s, called it ‘disappointingly flare-prone’ and said it gave low-contrast results even in a studio against a white background; he kept his praise for the Schneider lenses. No second account was found to weigh against him, and the Hasselblad CF version of the same design has a far longer record of use. A buyer should test the shutter at its top speed on a body it belongs to, a PQS on a 6008, 6003 or 6001, and check that the helicoid, which is long for a lens of this focal length, turns evenly through its whole travel.
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
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