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Hasselblad SWC (3)
A true wide-angle
All this is necessary because the 38mm Biogon is a true wide-angle and not a typical "retro-focus" type lens which would allow viewing through an eye-level prism or other attached reflex finder as with an SLR. This type of short focal length design always has its rearmost element protruding deep into the camera very close to the film plane and therefore requires that there be no mirror obstruction between the rear element of the lens and the camera shutter/film plane. The resulting near symmetrical design used for the lens produces superb resolution, excellent covering power, no discernible fall-off and edge distortion so small that, to quote a recent product brochure, an image of a 10 meter high flagpole filling the edge of the 6x6cm frame would only show a 1.5mm (barrel) curvature on a 1 meter square enlargement... in short the eye would be unable to detect any curvature at all. These are remarkable claims for a 1940/50's lens when several other true wide angle designs of slightly later period including, for example, the 2.1cm f/4 Nikkor (for Nikon F) and 2.1cm f/4 and f/3.4 Super-Angulons (for Leica M) exhibited noticeable vignetting unless well stopped-down.
The above image of my "Shadow of Man #1" from the Print Sales page was taken with a Hasselblad SWC (just discernible from the shape of the shadow) from a very close position to the folly facade... and manages to include most of it with no noticeable distortion.
The odd man out
Although well established and firmly within the Hasselblad family the SWC, now as the 905 SWC, has always been the odd man out. Like its recent brothers, the Hasselblad FlexBody and ArcBody, it is not a light-tight box in the accepted sense but rather a chassis housing the film winding and shutter cocking / release mechanisms. On the SWC the fixed lens, interchangeable film magazine, optical viewfinder, bubble spirit level, neck-strap lugs and tripod coupling foot are attached to this chassis to form a very cohesive and compact whole. So compact that many Hasselblad users prefer using it to the 500C or 2000F series with a 40mm f/4 Zeiss Distagon which is more or less the same weight as the SWC/38 Biogon. Of course other considerations are the much smaller filter size, quieter operation and unsurpassed resolving power. Added to that is the "pan" focus capability of the lens... when stopped down to f/22 and focused on 1.2 meters everything is in technically acceptable focus from 0.65 meters to infinity. Hyperfocal distance focusing with the older 38mm Biogon lens was particularly easy because of the "twin claw" pointers which showed the change of depth-of-field when the lens aperture / EV and / or focusing ring was turned... a very clever and practical interlock.
Conclusions
For a 50-year old camera and lens design to be still going strong, partly perhaps because it's a no-nonsense mechanical camera that is totally free of battery requirements, there have to be not only many things right about it but also many photographers buying and using it. Considering that the SWC is used for all types of photography from architectural heights to archaeological sites, from spacious interiors to interiors of space capsules, from huge industrial complexes to the recording of the blueprints that were drawn up to build them... and countless more applications in both professional and amateur fields... and that it is capable of changing between a wide variety of conventional as well as "special application" black-and-white and color emulsions in roll-film and sheet film formats within a matter of seconds, then it has to be said that the camera is essentially a proven workhorse. To call it a "classic" does not date it as a "collectible," it simply reaffirms its unique position in photography.
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