X1D Feedback and Questions

[tbullock]

Hi folks,

I have a demo X1D in hand now and have been playing with it off and on for a day now. I have a few days left but already have some comments and questions that maybe some of you could help with. It has the latest firmware but I don't know if the hardware is production or pre-production. Serial number is xxx000048 so perhaps it's an early one.

1) AF is definitely fast enough for single shots of static subjects. I'm happier than I thought I'd be actually. But I've now been spoiled by the Sony and especially Fuji AF. Zone focusing, tracking, and facial recognition are really nice to have sometimes for the sort of take-anywhere, do-anything camera I'm looking for.

2) It seems that there is indeed higher than normal shutter lag I believe. If I watch the lens while taking a photo, there a four clicks, and the second one is the shutter opening for exposure. It's definitely not as quick to that second click as *I'd* hope. The GFX has EFCS, right? Is there any hope (NickT?) that Hasselblad will figure EFCS out? If they did it would also cut the shutter clicks from 4 per frame to 2 I think, which to me would be nice.

3) This unit doesn't seem to like some (or all) SD cards as has been mentioned elsewhere. First I tried a Lexar 256GB 150MB/s 1000x card and had issues every few frames. The camera will either tell me there was an error with a card, and says to remove and reinsert the battery, or once it said my card wasn't fast enough despite it being the latest gen. Then I tried an older Sandisk 16GB 95MB/s, and occasionally the shot counter changes from a number to "NO CARD", requiring a reboot. With the Sandisk I was mostly able to shoot error-free at least.

4) I made a number of exposures with my Nikon flash and it worked fine, apart from consistently underexposing and not getting white balance right. But I wasn't able to use my cheap Calumet radio transmitter on it, as the hot shoe is too narrow vertically. This is the first camera where that's been a problem.

In the next few days I hope to do some comparison shots with my A7RII, which is perhaps the biggest test for me given its size, weight, cost, slowness, and (to me) loudness. If anyone else has done this I'd love to hear your thoughts or see some photos.

Overall I like it so far and find the controls intuitive, but would love to know that it will work with my SD cards, will soon have EFCS, and that it easily bests an A7RII in image quality.

Travis

 

[JoshMerwin]

Hi,

There's a fun with X1D thread that has some pics and notes. It sounds like a hardware issue. Have you tried both SD port? Maybe one is faulty. I've used it with sandisk 95 mb/s cards and it's had no issues. Much older cards like over 5-8 years can be an issue. I tried a demo with an old eyefi and it didn't work.

1) No tracking or continuous focus yet, maybe in a future firmware upgrade, but most likely won't be near as fast as the Sony. I would expect the X2D to have vast improvements once DJI's technology gets implemented, but that's a ways off obviously.

2)I thought it was 3 clicks. There is a way to motor drive it, but then you don't see what is going on on the EVF, it's blacked out. So can be useful, but has limitations. I was told they are hoping to eventually allow a ECFS, but I would not buy the camera based on it having one. They are somewhat limited by the sensor specs, the Fuji is as well. But I think because of their past experience with mirrorless they had an upper hand in implementing ECFS more quickly.

3)See above.

4)They are working on a WB fix so it looks right on the EVF and on the review of the image. Not sure when it will be implemented. I have a cheap trigger and it worked fine in manual mode.

I haven't used a Sony other than to play around with it briefly, so can't really comment on it. But I love my X1D, the colors are amazing and its very sharp.

 

[hcubell]

My take on your questions:
1. The AF will never be at the level of a DSLR. The X1D is, after all, a medium format camera. I find it perfectly acceptable for my needs but I am not shooting fast moving objects. I think Hasselblad may implement Eye AF in a future firmware update, but you probably should not rely upon it.

2. I have only used Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards and have had zero issues.

3. There is very limited if any shutter lag. What you perceive as shutter lag is really EVF blackout. If you want to satisfy yourself on this score, try mounting a flash on the hot shoe and depressing the shutter to see how quickly the flash fires.

4. I also have a Sony A7RII. The files from the X1D are a significant improvement over the A7RII files. They have a much more refined and extended color palette, a more organic "feel". Shoot them side by side and make some prints and I think you will see what I am talking about.

5. The X1D lenses are fantastic. Consistently sharp from edge to edge. Some of the Sony /Zeiss lenses are quite good, but the QC is poor and it is a challenge to find good copies.

6. The auto white balance of the files and the accuracy of the Color on the LCD/EVF was significantly improved with the latest firmware update around February 20. Be sure that your demo has the latest firmware. Load it yourself from the HB website if necessary.

 

[tbullock]

My take on your questions:
1. The AF will never be at the level of a DSLR. The X1D is, after all, a medium format camera. I find it perfectly acceptable for my needs but I am not shooting fast moving objects. I think Hasselblad may implement Eye AF in a future firmware update, but you probably should not rely upon it.

2. I have only used Sandisk Extreme Pro SD cards and have had zero issues.

3. There is very limited if any shutter lag. What you perceive as shutter lag is really EVF blackout. If you want to satisfy yourself on this score, try mounting a flash on the hot shoe and depressing the shutter to see how quickly the flash fires.

4. I also have a Sony A7RII. The files from the X1D are a significant improvement over the A7RII files. They have a much more refined and extended color palette, a more organic "feel". Shoot them side by side and make some prints and I think you will see what I am talking about.

5. The X1D lenses are fantastic. Consistently sharp from edge to edge. Some of the Sony /Zeiss lenses are quite good, but the QC is poor and it is a challenge to find good copies.

6. The auto white balance of the files and the accuracy of the Color on the LCD/EVF was significantly improved with the latest firmware update around February 29. Be sure that your demo has the latest firmware. Load it yourself from the HB website if necessary.

1) Agreed, it will just factor into my decision

2) It seems the latest cards aren't officially supported, which is too bad, since I just invested in two 256GB ones. See this.

3) I'm not talking about EVF blackout, but we actually sort of agree because I measure the shutter lag to be about 100ms by recording the sound on my iPhone and looking at the timing. I just meant that when I listen to the time between the first two clicks, it has higher perceived lag than I'd want. But the second click is possibly when the shutter is *fully* open, not when it starts opening, so maybe the actual lag is less. Regardless, EFCS would help this and the excessive clicking.

4) I plan on it and hope you're right!

5) Good to hear. I hope to do more lens testing in the next few days.

6) Thanks, yeah I had already updated it to the latest firmware myself.

 

[tbullock]

Hi,

There's a fun with X1D thread that has some pics and notes. It sounds like a hardware issue. Have you tried both SD port? Maybe one is faulty. I've used it with sandisk 95 mb/s cards and it's had no issues. Much older cards like over 5-8 years can be an issue. I tried a demo with an old eyefi and it didn't work.

1) No tracking or continuous focus yet, maybe in a future firmware upgrade, but most likely won't be near as fast as the Sony. I would expect the X2D to have vast improvements once DJI's technology gets implemented, but that's a ways off obviously.

2)I thought it was 3 clicks. There is a way to motor drive it, but then you don't see what is going on on the EVF, it's blacked out. So can be useful, but has limitations. I was told they are hoping to eventually allow a ECFS, but I would not buy the camera based on it having one. They are somewhat limited by the sensor specs, the Fuji is as well. But I think because of their past experience with mirrorless they had an upper hand in implementing ECFS more quickly.

3)See above.

4)They are working on a WB fix so it looks right on the EVF and on the review of the image. Not sure when it will be implemented. I have a cheap trigger and it worked fine in manual mode.

I haven't used a Sony other than to play around with it briefly, so can't really comment on it. But I love my X1D, the colors are amazing and its very sharp.

1) Agreed and yeah I I think DJI will be a great partner for the future, as hardware/software will increasingly be the real game changers.

2) If you put in in manual mode, set the shutter to 1", and make a single exposure, you should hear 4 clicks before live view comes back on. Two quick clicks, then two slower ones. 1-Shutter close to initialize sensor; 2-Shutter opens to start capture; 3-Shutter closes to finish capture and read from sensor; (long delay) 4-Shutter opens to start live view again.

4) I couldn't get the cheap trigger to mount, and my cheap manual flash won't fire with the X1D. My SB-900 works great though!

 

[Nebster]

I'm getting the NO CARD/must reset issues with the stock 16GB card that Hasselblad shipped with the camera, which is also all I've used so far. I've seen it two times in three ~two-hour field shooting sessions.

I've also seen a different error on the display once with wording something like, "You must remove the battery now." It wasn't during card I/O if memory serves, so it was probably some other system flaking out.

 

[Ario Arioldi]

I had twice in a raw a system error requesting to remove the battery and it was during the writing to the card process. No file was recorded on that occasion. Afterwards everything has been fine since then.