The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Hasselblad X1D

robertwright

New member
Sounds promising.

Understanding it's "demo software", what was the autofocus like and did the Hasselblad reps talk at all about what they are working on in the way of improvements for final release?

What was wrong with the information layout in the EVF? Did they talk about that stuff, too?

So... The million dollar questions... Is it a viable digital Mamiya 7 replacement?

Thanks for the report.
The autofocus sometimes worked and sometimes didn't It was clearly a work in progress. I would not judge anything by it. I am not that familiar with EVFs so I don't know what the standard really is. The sony A7R 24mp is pretty snappy- it might not be that snappy but it would depend on the lens and the subject distance. All the reps reinforced the notion that this was beta software.

The EVF info was superimposed over the image area- it was not on a separate black background. Evidently, the H6D has the info on a black background outside of the image area, however that is an optical viewfinder. So they are currently using the whole EVF for image. The reps were taking survey forms asking for impressions and improvements and I said the info like aperture, shutter, exposure, etc, should be on a background otherwise it is hard to discern on complicated backgrounds.

My feelings are that the Mamiya 7 is the holy grail so I would say this might be as close as you'll ever get! Its been slightly smaller than a Mamiya 6. That was one reason why I suggested a pancake lens for this- it would be very compact.

If I can wrap my head around EVF's in general it is a compelling solution- this camera, 3 primes and it all goes in a smalll leica like shoulder bag.

I should also say I am biased against 35mm simply because of the frame aspect ratio- I have used them simply because they are affordable and durable, but since 2006 and losing the film workflow for editorial it has been 10 years of looking through a viewfinder and 'hating' what I see.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
No one (I asked Hasselblad but they disappeared) figured out the camera registry yet?

The sensor plane is marked on the body.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
...Meanwhile, I spotted this on Hasselblad's Facebook page (from the Hasselblad team):

On a short-term we are introducing a 30 mm wide angle lens already at photokina in September this year. More XCD lenses to come next year. Having zoom will be difficult, as it almost impossible theoretically to develop a zoom lens for such large medium format sensor that is compact and practical for such portable camera. We hope this helps! // The Hasselblad team
Good to read this and their reasoning.

This subject is indeed what I consider the biggest marketing failure of the Leica SL. Leica chose to introduce the SL with a big, pro-class zoom lens and chose to introduce another big pro-class zoom as the second lens in the line-up. That's created the perception that the SL is a huge camera. It means that for people like me who don't want to carry around a big package all the time, we have to adapt lenses from R and M cameras until Leica fills out the lens line further.

The SL body is very close to the same size as the X1D and would have gotten a reputation of being at lease intermediate in size, rather than huge, if Leica had introduced it with an f/2 class 35 or 50mm lens as an option beyond the SL24-90. Many more people would be interested in the SL if they didn't have to buy it with a bazooka on the front in order to get AF, OIS, and all the metering modes. I know they were targeting it at the pro users, who almost invariably buy zooms nowadays, but it would have been much better to have a couple of compact lens offerings on introduction IMO.

The much more difficult problem of building zooms that are fast, have enough range, and are also compact, for medium format forces Hasselblad to work within the confines of technical reality and produce a very compact (for MF) camera.

G
 

docmoore

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I wonder how well the XPan lenses will adapt to the X1D ? :watch:
About as well as the Mamiya 7II's or my Leica S lenses ...

So the question is how good are the X1D lenses ... maybe Hasselblad will loan the camera to someone who can shoot
and we will see something worth an introduction like this.

Wonder why every camera unveiling is crippled by pictures that would not get past my initial cull?


Just saying.


Bob
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I wonder how well the XPan lenses will adapt to the X1D ? :watch:
If that worked it would be awesome (since I still enjoy my full xpan II system and would love to leverage those 3 lenses). I'm not holding my breath though.

I've not preordered yet because I've learnt to let others do the beta testing and don't need to be first on the block. I realize for some getting the early cameras is important for some reason - I can wait ... For a bit at least ;)
 
V

Vivek

Guest
There is no chance of adapting the X pan lenses for any practical use for these reasons:

1. There is no built in shutter in them that can be operated by the camera.

2. Even on film, the 30 and 45mm lenses need a central filter to minimize the vignetting. On a digital sensor, that too a large one, there is no prayer.
 

ErikKaffehr

Well-known member
Hi,

Based on my experience with the A7rII I have, I don't think that neither unmagnified LV or peaking is useful for accurate focusing. The way to focus is to either use magnified live view or simply to use AF.

Just to say, on the Hasselblad 555/ELD I normally use a PM5 finder with a Zeiss 3X monocular giving me 9X magnification. With that combo I can achieve critical focus more than half the time.

The best way to focus the "Blad" in my experience is split image on a smooth high contrast edge using 9X magnification.

Contrast detecting AF is normally very accurate. Hopefully Hasselblad can make it work reasonably fast.

Best regards
Erik

Managed to get ahold of one today at Fotocare's demo day. Obviously demo software, so it is just a teaser.

The size, weight and balance and feeling are all first rate. The build quality on the body is excellent. Touch screen is snappy even in demo, pinch to zoom, double tap to 100%, lots of good things already.

Autofocus was still a work in progress, didn't try focus peaking but you might be able to manually focus this even without it. Viewfinder is not enormous but had decent eye relief, but they need to address the information layout and legibility.

Camera is quiet, the shutter is definite. Could not assess the blackout time between frames in demo software but I hope it's brief like the Sonys.

Overall the feeling was just right, so they got that going for them. The details will be where it either becomes amazing or just ok. But they seem to have most of it sussed out and its seems intuitive, not overly complex and everyone was saying how the heft and feel were spot on.

Could be a huge winner for them.
 

Tim

Active member
There is no chance of adapting the X pan lenses for any practical use for these reasons:

1. There is no built in shutter in them that can be operated by the camera.

2. Even on film, the 30 and 45mm lenses need a central filter to minimize the vignetting. On a digital sensor, that too a large one, there is no prayer.
so no one could make a leaf shutter within an adapter? (edit: probably cost prohibitive)
I do recall now the central filter. Seemed like a fix for a design that was a bit lacking IMO.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
so no one could make a leaf shutter within an adapter? (edit: probably cost prohibitive)
I do recall now the central filter. Seemed like a fix for a design that was a bit lacking IMO.
In reality the filter is only required with the 30 & 45mm, in particular with slide film. Now on a digital sensor there's a lot less need due to LCC correction as an alternative. I never use the filter on 45/90, although admittedly it's a constant light sucking feature on the 30mm.

I'll be happy to see Hassy 30/45/90/150 and that would be my travel MF outfit right there.

Btw, isn't it great that so many people are again enthusiastic about Hasselblad products? Despite the damage of the last few years I sense a resurgence of interest in the brand (outside those who were always loyal). Great to see Hasselblad stepping up to give Phase One a run for the money. It'll be interesting to see what comes from Pentax / Fuji too. Personally I'm very happy with the 44x33 ratio sensors since I personally detest 2:3, especially in portrait mode.
 
Last edited:
M

mjr

Guest
I agree, it's great that there is a renewed passion in Hasselblad, I really hope it sells well.

The whole tilt/shift adapter thing, I always thought that the HTS needed to have magnification because it was meant to be used with existing lenses on the H that needed the magnification to maintain infinity focus, could be completely wrong though, if that's the case, then I could see the adapter needed for H lenses on the X1D being the ideal opportunity for them to build a non magnifying t/s adapter as there is lots of space? Can't get away from needing to create the added depth between X and H mounts so maybe a smart adapter with t/s would do the trick and wouldn't need to stack the H adapter, plus the HTS and have an unwieldy piece of kit? Just thinking aloud.

Mat
 

gazwas

Active member
The 30mm and 45mm lenses announced so far sound great but a dedicated X1D HTS with lower magnification along with a 120mm/150mm lens (perhaps macro) would make be buy this tomorrow.
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
Mat,

As I understand it, the issue with the HTS adapter magnification is the image circle. You can't shift the image if the image circle isn't a good deal bigger than the sensor. Blowing up the image means your sensor covers a smaller part of the image, so the end result looks magnified. Hasselblad lenses meant to cover full 645 will have some extra image circle naturally, but maybe not enough for the desired use without some magnification.

Dedicated TS lenses (and their tech cam brethren) have much larger image circles than the sensors they're used with.

Best,

Matt
 
M

mjr

Guest
Ahhh, I see Matt, that makes a lot of sense, ignore me! It would be truly great if the future saw a wide t/s lens put in to action though, would be a great package although I imagine it won't be long before we see a Cambo/Arca mount for use on their cameras soon.

Mat
 

torger

Active member
I doubt Hasselblad will make the X1D useful for technical photography as it does not seem to be their intended market. However a HTS with lower magnification (thanks to the crop sensor) seem technically feasible, maybe if there is a significant demand...
 
M

mjr

Guest
I haven't looked to deeply, what would stop it from being mounted to an Actus or something for example with a tech lens on the front or the Canon or any other mount? Is there a sync port? I'm guessing entirely here but wouldn't it work the same as the Actus with a db? Obviously I am aware of the normal reported issues with movements but I'm talking is there a practical reason why it couldn't be mounted beyond there not yet being a bayonet mount for it?
 

Slingers

Active member
If a t/s adapter needs a crop factor I would hope they would make it user selectable displayed like the aperture going from 1.1-1.6 in increments of one. Also then would like the cropping and as well as all the aspect ratios like square to be in an XMP file so the full view captured by the sensor is available but the software like phocus and Lightroom defaults to the crop.
 

torger

Active member
I haven't looked to deeply, what would stop it from being mounted to an Actus or something for example with a tech lens on the front or the Canon or any other mount? Is there a sync port? I'm guessing entirely here but wouldn't it work the same as the Actus with a db? Obviously I am aware of the normal reported issues with movements but I'm talking is there a practical reason why it couldn't be mounted beyond there not yet being a bayonet mount for it?
It's not as flexible as the Sony A7r as it lacks a focal plane shutter, so you need to have a copal shutter or something in the lens. If you're only using it as a digital back, getting a CFV-50c is probably wiser as it's not much more expensive and you actually get a digital back with no flange distance issues.

It doesn't have a normal flash sync port, I think I've seen various work-arounds for that, so I guess there is one for syncing it with copal shutters...?

Anyway the reason for using it instead of a CFV-50c would be that you want to use the X1D for it's intended use as well, and then use it on a tech cam only as a complement. If you're only using it on a tech cam, a CFV-50c makes much more sense I think.
 
Top