Using the Hasselblad X2D Camera

By Michael Erlewine

The Hasselblad X2D is a special camera with special lenses, so for me it’s not my only camera system. I have a robust Nikon system to use as well.

After some time using the X2D, I realize it is designed for landscape, fashion, and product photography, and of course every book on the X2D could have told me that. This camera is made for situations where we want to get as much detail in focus in the landscape or product as possible.

And with the X2D, that’s achieved through and with the 100 megapixel sensor and the special ‘color science’ that Hasselblad has perfected. This camera has face-recognition and autofocus, but not on the level of the Nikon Z8 or Z9 cameras. I don’t need fast autofocus. Most of my work is with still life. Nothing moves.

Oddly enough, and this is quirky, I find it easier to use my Nikon F-mount lenses on the X2D through either a technical camera (Cambo Actus Mini ‘G’) or by an adapter that matches Nikon F-mount lenses with the X2D, than I do using the natural Hasselblad XCD lenses. I have to explain this to myself.

Since most (or many) of my F-mount lenses are APO (apochromatic) or highly corrected and have wider apertures than most XCD lenses, the bokeh or out-of-focus areas of these F-mount lenses are easier for me to work with than with the actual XCD Hasselblad lenses. I already know them for decades.

It seems that the Hasselblad XCD lenses are sharp to the point that too much of the background of my still life photos are in focus, while I prefer the background to be slightly blurred. I have not yet figured out how to control my XCD Hasselblad lenses to achieve that effect. XCD lenses are for the most part not fast, meaning they tend to bring everything into focus rather than trail off into a lovely blur. I have to figure out how to deal with this.

And so, I’m left with realizing that what I need most is this 100 MP sensor, since with it I have more control (at the moment) with my old Nikon F-mount lenses, and they seem to benefit from the ‘color science’ that Hasselblad offers.

The X2D also has a 5-axis image stabilization system (IBIS) in the camera itself which claims seven stops of stabilization, and this feature is not average, but rather very powerful. It allows the photographer to take clear stable shots handheld at shutter speeds I never thought would be possible. It is quite remarkable and makes the X2D a great walk-around camera.

The X2D provides a 16 bit 102mp sensor with 15 stops of dynamic range, which is a broad range. Too bad that I don’t walk around much taking photos. Perhaps I will start! I use a tripod even if I don’t need it and for focus stacking of course I use a tripod.

The XCD Hasselblad lenses number at this point about 12 and adapters for earlier (and other brand lenses) are available. Of the twelve XCD lenses there is only one macro lens (1:2) at anything close to macro range, while all the rest have reproduction rations of 1:5.2 or greater. This is a problem for me as a close-up photographer, although because of the sharpness, even with the more limited reproduction ratio, the 100 MP provides usable close-up crops.

This cropping is actually interesting as it resembles a canvas larger than the proposed resulting photo, one that we can work with and around, with lots of room to crop out a solid image. I like that.

And so, to recap:

I have taken a vow to get out and walk around with the X2D and just photograph as well as to get out with a tripod and do more landscapes. We will see how that works out.

Otherwise, as mentioned, the main takeaway for my work so far with the X2D is that 100 MP is very much useful, so I can stop rationalizing why I don’t need that large a sensor. I need one.

That being understood, then I have the choice between Hasselblad XCD lenses and some of the many “APO” lenses in Nikon F-mount that I have. I already know how to use the F-mount lenses and they as a group, as mentioned, are much faster lenses, meaning they have low f/stops and offer great bokeh.

The Hasselblad XCD lenses are overall very sharp, or as Larry David of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” might say, “VERY, very sharp.” I like the XCD lenses but would like to keep them from sharpening the far background of the photo, so I can have some bokeh, some lovely blur or out-of-focus areas in the shot. There’s the rub.

I agree that I have much to learn about the best use of the Hasselblad XCD lenses of which I am only now learning how to work them. It may be that in time I will figure out the knack of getting what I want from those XCD lenses for close-up work.

Or I may find that they call them “landscape” lenses for a good reason and are not meant for closeup work that often requires a blurred background. And I should mention ‘adapters.’

I am glad that the Hasselblad X2D is not ‘fussy’ about adapters. It seems to handle them very well indeed, so I see a future in using my favorite Nikon F-mount lenses on the X2D as well as using the X2D as a digital back for technical cameras like my Cambo Actus-Mini “G” camera.

I don’t mind doing manual work with a digital camera and don’t require auto-everything. I am used to rather painful layer by layer manual focusing and even tend to like it because it slows me down and relaxes me. The process is like a form of meditation.

I share this here because I find it hard to follow a lot of what passes for gear discussion on the various photo forums these days, and they don’t seem much interested in what I do. Fair trade.

[Photo by me, with the Hasselblad X2d and the Zeiss Otis 55mm lens.]

EMAIL Michael@Erlewine.net

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