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

rickgrainger

New member
Okay, I've never used a mirrorless camera, nor even a Leica rangefinder camera. My experience has always been with SLRs and DSLRs, namely Bronica GS-1, Rollei 6008, and various Nikons.

This may seem like a very novice question, but I'll pose it anyway. Is there a steep learning curve with a mirrorless camera? On a wedding, will I be wishing for something that my DSLR does that a mirrorless does not?

For those of you with your Sony A7s and Fuji XT-1s, please share your knowledge and experiences with me, especially in a fast-paced environment like a wedding or similar event.

Maybe stupid questions, but I am wanting to like the idea of the X1D, I just don't know what I don't know. I had been saving my pennies for a used Leica S2, but this may be a better option.

I thank you in advance for sharing with me your thoughts and opinions.

Rick
 

Pradeep

Member
Still trying to figure out if this one's for me. I love the concept of MF with it's inherent IQ advantage and the higher resolution allowing for larger prints. The downsides so far have been the cost/value as with Phase or the weight/bulk as with the Pentax.

The X1D does come as a welcome change and is certainly tempting.

'I don't do people', as I keep reminding my wife at most family events. So the shallow DOF and leaf shutter advantage is wasted on me.

This camera won't work for actively moving subjects and rapid fire imaging as in wildlife photography.

That leaves travel and landscapes, the two things I love to do and do a lot.

An ideal travel camera though, needs to be small (which this one is), with small, fast(ish) lenses and most importantly good, quick AF (does not need to be like a 1DX, but not like the X1D either - at least from what I've heard so far). It may fit the bill, albeit partially. For me, my Rx1R2 is far easier, smaller and has enough resolution etc to satisfy my needs, even for large prints.

That only leaves landscape photography. This might be the best use for the X1D, for me at least. Small body, no need for stabilization, no need for fast lenses (use f8 or f11 most of the time), AF a non-issue, enough choice in lenses including legacy with adapter. The image resolution is large enough for huge prints. The only thing that remains to be seen is if it is, like the Pentax very sensitive to overexposure or not. The lack of an articulating LCD is a significant disappointment for me, but I could live without it.

So, would this be enough for most landscape needs? Possibly. I need to wait for more reviews before I sell my Pentax.

Certainly having a rethink about it though. Perhaps there will be a surprise from another company later this year.

Interesting times for sure.
 

tjv

Active member
This is a large overstatement, don't you think? I've converted plenty of my Credo files in LR and they look fine. And Phase doesn't even have an open sharing of info with Adobe like 'Blad does.

Even so, Phocus is actually a good programme and very easy to use in its current iteration. I don't know why people are scared of it? Is it because they have nightmares about working with Flex Colour with old Imacon backs and Flextight scanners or something?

If you want the best results, use Phocus. Hasselblad and phase files look awful in Lightroom.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Okay, I've never used a mirrorless camera, nor even a Leica rangefinder camera. My experience has always been with SLRs and DSLRs, namely Bronica GS-1, Rollei 6008, and various Nikons.

This may seem like a very novice question, but I'll pose it anyway. Is there a steep learning curve with a mirrorless camera? On a wedding, will I be wishing for something that my DSLR does that a mirrorless does not?

For those of you with your Sony A7s and Fuji XT-1s, please share your knowledge and experiences with me, especially in a fast-paced environment like a wedding or similar event.

Maybe stupid questions, but I am wanting to like the idea of the X1D, I just don't know what I don't know. I had been saving my pennies for a used Leica S2, but this may be a better option.

I thank you in advance for sharing with me your thoughts and opinions.

Rick
Hi Rick, as you may know I am a wedding shooter … albeit less these days than in past years.

There is no quick answer to your question. The best answer would be to rent a Sony A7R-II and take it to a wedding to do a few non-critical shots. I did it that way at first.

My experiences:

Previously, I worked with the standard DSLRs as the main wedding system … Canon, Nikon then the Sony A900 DSLR, on to the Sony A99 SLT (my first introduction to an electronic viewfinder).

These are all gone now and I use a Sony A7R-II backed up by a A7R.

These main work-horse cameras were supplemented by a medium format digital camera kit, starting with a Contax 645 and Kodak back, onto a Hasselblad H system, up to the Leica S(006) I now use … all optical viewfinder systems BTW.

I think the learning curve is less about mirror-less than it is about using an electronic viewfinder (EVF) in the various wedding situations.

Mirrorless with EVF isn't the same as a rangefinder with an optical viewfinder (I also have used a Leica M for over 40 years). It is TTL viewing the same as a DSLR with some distinct differences.

Obviously, mirror-less cameras are smaller, lighter, easier to carry all day at a wedding. That advantage is also a desirable attribute of this new MFD camera from Hasselblad.

Mirrorless cameras can be set so you can see exactly what you will get right in the viewfinder (menu item: Setting Effect On). Hard to make an exposure error. If you use a TTL speed-light in the hot shoe, the camera reverts to Setting Effect Off, which is a constant view like a DSLR provides.

However, if you use off-camera strobes you have to manually change it to Setting Effect Off when shooting in a dark venue at 1/200th at f/8 or the viewfinder would be black or very dark. I tell you this because it adds a level of complexity to using a EVF while switching back-and-forth between available light with YSWYG, and use of lighting. Practice makes it swifter, but never as fast as a DSLR.

Also, if you are a shoot immediately check LCD like you can do with a Canon/Nikon DSLR, an EVF either immediately shows the last shot in the viewfinder which I found incredibly disorienting, or it has to be shut off and you have to press a review button to see the last shot on the LCD/Viewfinder (i.e., slower review) The latter is what I use when shooting weddings. I've now gotten used to this so it is less of an issue, but it did take some time.

The mirror-less cameras I've used (A7R and newer A7R-II) are different from the current DSLRs, and in lower light like a moody first dance scenario the viewfinder brightens which screws with your night vision, and it gets grainy (video gain) and smears when the camera is panned to the next still shot. I've also come to ignore this so it's less of an issue than at first.

I think you would miss your DSLR for awhile, maybe a long while. But that is the work-horse camera … rather than a MFD camera to use for more specialized work. I use my S camera for formals, portraits, and when using lighting both outside with a higher sync speed, and indoors with powerful off-camera Profotos … but DSLRs and even the A7R-II are faster for the more routine shots like processionals, dancing, and candids, etc..

As far as which between the S2 and this camera, this camera is CMOS and offers higher ISOs, plus with no mirror is easier to hand-hold … which I think would make it more usable at a wedding than the S2. On the other hand the S2 has a big bright optical viewfinder and offers up to 1/4000 focal plane shutter in concert with an array of pretty fast f/2, f/2.5, f/2.8 lenses.

If it were a few years ago, and I were looking for a MFD wedding kit to work with a DSLR, I'd get this new Hasselblad without doubt. I could see it slowly taking over more and more of the DSLR stuff as I got used to it, and eventually the DSLR with a standard 24-70 would be the secondary camera just for those really fast situations.

Hope this helps.

- Marc
 
V

Vivek

Guest
Okay, I've never used a mirrorless camera, nor even a Leica rangefinder camera. My experience has always been with SLRs and DSLRs, namely Bronica GS-1, Rollei 6008, and various Nikons.

This may seem like a very novice question, but I'll pose it anyway. Is there a steep learning curve with a mirrorless camera? On a wedding, will I be wishing for something that my DSLR does that a mirrorless does not?

For those of you with your Sony A7s and Fuji XT-1s, please share your knowledge and experiences with me, especially in a fast-paced environment like a wedding or similar event.

Maybe stupid questions, but I am wanting to like the idea of the X1D, I just don't know what I don't know. I had been saving my pennies for a used Leica S2, but this may be a better option.

I thank you in advance for sharing with me your thoughts and opinions.

Rick
Two things:

1. Do not listen to the bunch that an optical view finder is what makes a "real" camera.

2. It (liveview, tilt LCD, EVF) is lot more versatile than using SLRs.

Check out the 9 year old who is using a Fuji mirrorless for weddings.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...ph-their-weddings_us_576868cee4b0853f8bf1e642
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
Dear Hasselblad?

As the XD lenses are focus by wire and do not have distance / DOF scales on them, will the interface menu on camera have an option to dial in a set focus distance electronically and give indication of DOF at the set aperture? I think this feature is essential for many shooters considering the lack of the above. Hopefully this info would also be discretely displayed also in the EVF.

Thanks!

TJV
Did not know this or make that observation...... I'm not a big fan of 'focus by wire' lenses. Got rid of every one of the Sony's I had and used only Zeiss or Leica on my A7Rll.

Victor
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Well I shot optical finders for almost 40 years when I switched it took about a month to get used to the EVF. After that you do not even notice you are using a EVF. Frankly I will never go back to a optical. I also will never go back to a Nikon or Canon mirrored camera. I will stay mirrorless for the rest of my time.
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
Have to agree..... OVF's are way over glorified. A good EVF will change your way of shooting forever. Just the ability to quickly magnify to 100% pixels while handholding and nail focus is something that could never be done with an OVF. Want to see the histogram?...... it can be seen in the EVF if you want. Want grid lines?.... piece of cake. Go for it.....

Victor
 
Hi TJV,

1: Will the HTS 1.5 work with the X1D and H lens adaptor, and will adjustments be transmitted to metadata for automatic corrections in Phocus? - Yes, it is in the plan. If it works fine without compromising optical and image quality, the feature will be introduced.

// The Hasselblad team
So to clarify, there is possibly the plan where you could take the x1d body, add an H adaptor, add the hts, then add an H lens? For something that would equate to a field of view of roughly 30-35mm in 35mm terms, what amount of front rise and fall would this hts set up give? I am trying to see if this could be usable for some architecture to avoid keystoning.
 

KeithL

Well-known member
I've used some of the finest optical finders known to man including Hasselblad H. I'm now using a toy grade EVF (M240). Although I admit I was concerned when switching I don't feel my work has suffered a jot as a consequence.
 

Hulyss Bowman

Active member
So to clarify, there is possibly the plan where you could take the x1d body, add an H adaptor, add the hts, then add an H lens? For something that would equate to a field of view of roughly 30-35mm in 35mm terms, what amount of front rise and fall would this hts set up give? I am trying to see if this could be usable for some architecture to avoid keystoning.
The thing is it is not practical. The hts is 1.5 crop on a crop sensor so the movements will be kind of limited and you defo loose WA shots possibility. So in all logic, it is useless.

If the XD platform meet success I think they will probably make a dedicated TS tool for this camera OR a TS lens or two (more easy).

Just my wild guess.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I thought about this last night and not sure my thinking is correct but let's see what you all think. The HTS is a 1.5 crop factor considered on a full frame MF back. Now with a crop sensor is it still 1.5 times factor. It's a smaller sensor. I'm thinking maybe wrongly here it maybe a 1.3.

Was I drinking to much when I thought of this, maybe. Lol
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
B&H has most lens specs. The 45 weighs in at 450G - very light. The 90 doesn't have a weight spec but I would guess around 750G - just a guess.

Victor
 
Top