Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/25
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At 3:13 PM -0800 1/24/01, Jim Brick wrote:
>A couple of years ago I was in the market for a 60mm Hasselblad
>lens. I read an article in Shudderbug, by Bob Shell, that stated
>"the new 60CB Zeiss Hasselblad lenses are NOT T* lenses." So based
>on that I bought a used 60CF T* lens. Everyone knows that the T*
>coating is Zeiss' coating claim to fame.
>
>While in the camera store at a later date, there were 60CB, 80CB,
>and 160CB lenses on display. I asked to see them. Stamped, in RED,
>on the lens barrel, in the same location it is on all other
>Hasselblad lenses, was T* .
>
>So I Emailed Bob Shell and he re-iterated that the CB lenses were
>not T*, and I repeated that the literature states differently and
>the lenses themselves have T* stamped on them.
>
>He then said that he had talked to the Zeiss optics experts and they
>said that even though the lenses and literature say T*, it's really
>not T*.
>
>So based upon that conversation, I came to the conclusion that Bob
>indeed knows a lot of industry people, but cannot ever admit that he
>could possibly be wrong. I personally do not believe that Zeiss,
>Hasselblad, and world wide Zeiss/Hasselblad literature could get
>away with false advertising.
>
>So I agree that Bob Shell is a nice guy, has lots of industry
>contacts, has a large photo knowledge bank, but is somewhat
>pretentious.
>
>Jim
Over the years I've often bought Shutterbug since it was yellow and
one of the things that has been generally notable is the number of
factual errors in the articles, and the generally poor quality of
them. At the start they were at least somewhat quirky. In the last
years they have been banal at best. Also, their 'tests' of new
products are the most useless in the industry. A $100 consumer zoom
is given the same accolades as a $1500 professional grade lens; often
with no qualifications.
However, I've learned a lot from the ads.
- --
* Henning J. Wulff
/|\ Wulff Photography & Design
/###\ mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
|[ ]| http://www.archiphoto.com