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Hasselblad X1D and DSLR alternative

rollsman44

Well-known member
Just speculating for a friend. He does not want to spend the money to buy a X1D and 1 XCD lens for his portraits and general photography.
Is there a DSLR or Other Mirrorless camera that will come close to the X1D, Less than 50Mp is ok. Easy tio use ergonomically and Excellent Skin tones. Max ISO 1600-3200. AF is a Must. Any suggestions that I can pass on to him is appreciated. ( He does NOT want Sony) Thank you
 

PedroL

Member
Just speculating for a friend. He does not want to spend the money to buy a X1D and 1 XCD lens for his portraits and general photography.
Is there a DSLR or Other Mirrorless camera that will come close to the X1D, Less than 50Mp is ok. Easy tio use ergonomically and Excellent Skin tones. Max ISO 1600-3200. AF is a Must. Any suggestions that I can pass on to him is appreciated. ( He does NOT want Sony) Thank you
IMO Fuji got the best skin tones in jpegs. But it is not X1DII....
 

Pelorus

Member
We had a similar question and ended up buying the Fuji GFX 50R...and pleased with the decision we are. Any of the 110, 120 or 100-200 lenses would do the portrait lens job. I'm not a fan of zooms but I love the two GF zooms.

Just speculating for a friend. He does not want to spend the money to buy a X1D and 1 XCD lens for his portraits and general photography.
Is there a DSLR or Other Mirrorless camera that will come close to the X1D, Less than 50Mp is ok. Easy tio use ergonomically and Excellent Skin tones. Max ISO 1600-3200. AF is a Must. Any suggestions that I can pass on to him is appreciated. ( He does NOT want Sony) Thank you
 

mristuccia

Well-known member
Just speculating for a friend. He does not want to spend the money to buy a X1D and 1 XCD lens for his portraits and general photography.
Is there a DSLR or Other Mirrorless camera that will come close to the X1D, Less than 50Mp is ok. Easy tio use ergonomically and Excellent Skin tones. Max ISO 1600-3200. AF is a Must. Any suggestions that I can pass on to him is appreciated. ( He does NOT want Sony) Thank you
Nikon D850.
If even cheaper: Nikon D810
 

Photon42

Well-known member
Honestly I feel this is very subjective, and probably too subjective to answer in a general way. I still have the Hasselblad CFV50c back and whenever I use it, the colours are somewhat different / special. For me, other features were however more important. Such as, lens selection, ability for real shallow depth of field (without shelling out another 5k for a new lens ...), broad used lens market etc.

So when the Z7 came out, I bought it and am very happy with it indeed. It is one of these cameras which got pulled to pieces mostly from people who never used it for more than some hours and compared the specs. it is an amazing camera. IQ wise, I'd stick my head out and say it is almost on par with the Hasselblad X1D.

In terms of colours, maybe your friend can do some profiling for certain lighting conditions.

When it comes to ease of use, I have not had any real issues with any camera so far. I can shoot and did shoot with Olympus OMD cameras as well as a Leica MD.

As a last point .... if you actually really want a certain camera and just feel it is a bit too expensive (but you can afford it in principle), you often end but buying it anyway at some point. So - if he really is after the Hasselblad colours and operations dearly, he should buy one, if he understands the downsides. Maybe rent one first.
 

Godfrey

Well-known member
IMO Every camera and lens sees in a unique way. So if you can't afford the one that sees the way you want your camera to see, you're just going to have to try some others until you find another one that sees in a way that you like, and can afford.

No one else will be able to tell you what that other camera might be. Others can only tell what in their opinion works for them.

G
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
IMO Every camera and lens sees in a unique way. So if you can't afford the one that sees the way you want your camera to see, you're just going to have to try some others until you find another one that sees in a way that you like, and can afford.

No one else will be able to tell you what that other camera might be. Others can only tell what in their opinion works for them.

G
I cannot stress Godfrey's point enough. NOTHING about a system matters except how much YOU like using it, from handling through results. No one else's opinion. No one's measurements. No one else's results.

I'm in a bind because the results I like best come from a system that is hard(er) to use. A much easier to use system gives results I like almost as much, but the difference nags at me.

The X1D (for me!) has size and and perfect optics going for it. Perfect, however, is not necessarily what I want. I end up processing every shot in B&W. The colors do not spark joy. But that's me.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
I agree, he needs to try different systems and sees what he likes.

But if he really want the looks and operation of a X1D he just needs to save up for a X1D and adhere to the age old advice of "buy cheap, buy twice"
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
I agree, he needs to try different systems and sees what he likes.

But if he really want the looks and operation of a X1D he just needs to save up for a X1D and adhere to the age old advice of "buy cheap, buy twice"
The Dante version seems to be "buy expensive, buy three times."

:ROTFL:

Matt
 

drunkenspyder

Well-known member
Just speculating for a friend. He does not want to spend the money to buy a X1D and 1 XCD lens for his portraits and general photography.
Is there a DSLR or Other Mirrorless camera that will come close to the X1D, Less than 50Mp is ok. Easy tio use ergonomically and Excellent Skin tones. Max ISO 1600-3200. AF is a Must. Any suggestions that I can pass on to him is appreciated. ( He does NOT want Sony) Thank you
Short answer is "no." But your friend should follow other advice here and try different systems. It's cheap to rent a kit for a long weekend, cheap enough to rent more than one kit to compare side-by-side in same conditions, both in the field/studio and in front of the computer.

I happily use my Nikon Z7 alongside my X1D, Phase, etc. But, though I agree with Photon42 about its merits as well as the ridiculously negative critiques it has received, it's not the same as any current MF. I happen to be a Nikon guy [but was a Canon guy before that], and have used Sony extensively. I like Nikon's ergonomics best of the FF DSLR category. The D850 is also a superb camera, but the FF IQ is just not going to be the same. If he really wants that look [and feel], buy a quality used first gen X1D and the 90mm lens. Or maybe the Fuji, though I am not a big fan of the cameras themselves. Otherwise, get the Nikon D850 or D810, and any one of the many very nice lenses available for that platform in the 55-105 range.
 
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