Hasselblad’s name is synonymous with medium format photography. From the iconic 500 series film camera to 2016’s X1D, the first (well, relatively) compact digital, medium-format mirrorless camera. The X1D’s initial image quality was outstanding, but unfortunately the rest of the camera left much to be desired. Even the second sample, which greatly speeds up things like autofocus and handling, is far from perfect (6/10, WIRED Review).
Now that Hasselblad has released the X2D 100C, along with some new XCD V lenses, and I’m happy to say, this is the camera Hasselblad fans have been waiting for. It delivers large, stunning RAW files that are fast enough and still compact enough to make you feel like you’re shooting with a DSLR.
But it’s still Hasselblad: At $8,200, plus another $4,000 for a lens, it’s not an affordable camera for amateurs. And yet, for the right kind of photographer, X2D delivers.
Faster in the end
At the heart of the X2D is a new image sensor. The sensor has the same physical dimensions as that of the X1D II, but twice as many megapixels. The sensor measures 11,656 x 8742 pixels, actually placing it a little above 100 megapixels and has a 4:3 aspect ratio. Hasselblad also introduces 15 stops of dynamic range that its 16-bit files will provide. Do those stats sound familiar? It may be because Fujifilm’s GFX100 medium format mirrorless camera uses a very similar sensor.
Photo: Hasselblad
That huge sensor size produces some incredibly sharp images with very nice micro contrast in the details. It’s better in every way than the previous sensor Hasselblad used in the X1D and is one of the best on the market today. The only downside is that you get some large image files. If you end up with X2D, be sure to get some spare SSD storage (and we have SSD tutorial here), as RAW files from this camera are over 200 megabytes per image. Even “good” JPEGs range from 60 to 80 megabytes, depending on the scene.
An even better upgrade in X2D in my opinion is a new processor. Large image files are nice, but not so great if it takes a long time to capture them, as happened with the X1D. This time around, I found that, despite the lack of speed demons, the X2D was fast enough that I didn’t notice any lag. The processor upgrade is combined with an autofocus upgrade that now uses 294 phase-detection points, covering nearly the entire sensor. That helps make it significantly faster.
While the autofocus system in the X2D is a big improvement, it’s not as good as what you’ll find in full-frame flagship cameras like the Sony A9 or Canon R5. It reminds me a lot of Fujifilm’s autofocus system, which in theory isn’t very impressive, but in the real world, at least for my style of shooting, the autofocus system as well. Fujifilm and Hasselblad’s movements are both good enough 90% of the time. The X2D isn’t the camera I want to shoot sporting events with, and it certainly has some trouble in backlit scenes (which is where all autofocus systems fail), but In most situations, it’s accurate enough, although it does tend to hunt at times. Another thing to note here is that to get the most out of the new autofocus speed, you need to use one of Hasselblad’s new lenses. While the company’s legacy glasses will work with X2D, it won’t focus as quickly.
The X2D now includes in-body image stabilization, which Hasselblad says offers up to seven stops of stabilization. The company says you can shoot handheld at shutter speeds of up to one second, which was proven in my testing. I’m lucky to have pretty steady hands and I can shoot continuously for up to 1.5 seconds without blur. Any shake, on the other hand, is clearly visible with a sensor that captures this level of detail.
