Thoughts On Hasselblad’s Medium Format Mirrorless X1D.
The Hasselblad X1D is the newest offering from the Swedish company, and their first compact mirrorless medium format camera.
I got to take this $8,995 USD offering for a spin to see if it was worth the sticker price. I did more of a technical review over at Luxury Standard; but this is the review from a photographer’s perspective.
Jumping right into the body. The X1D is a light weight juggernaught which felt great in my hands. It’s a little slow when shooting but then again it’s really more of a studio camera than it is an action camrea.
The results of the 50MPX sensor more make up for any lag in focusing and shooting it might have.
I took it out to shoot some content for HIGHSPEED Magazine as that was the shoot I had set up at the time.
The camera performed as one could expect. The colors were amazing and vibrant and that’s important when you’re a glamour/boudoir shooter.
What makes this camera special?
It’s the first medium-format camera that is also mirrorless! This makes it very small and light while still producing absolutely stunning photos with incredible optics at 50 megapixels.
This paragraph is just for people that don’t know what “medium-format” or “mirrorless” mean. Hey, I was there. I didn’t even go to photography school where they teach this kind of thing (I assume).
Anyway, “medium-format,” very simply means it has a bigger sensor than full-frame cameras. Sensors come in different sizes. Like the one on your phone is only a small rectangle.
Then it gets bigger, generally, as the cameras get bigger. Bigger sensors see more light. But the optics also improve a lot as it is better able to render the direction of the light.
As for the “mirrorless” bit, that simply means the camera is a lot smaller because it doesn’t have one of those mirrors inside at 45 degrees that flips around.
The light lands directly on the sensor, and the image you see through the viewfinder is digital.
Specs:
Here’s the basics. It’s 50 megapixels (8272×6200). This makes giant files at just over 100MB each. It has 2 card slots, sweet. It does HD video, but I don’t really use it for that.
There’s an awesome 3-inch display on the back that is touch screen. The shutter can go from 60 minutes down to 1/2000 of a second.
The biggest issue I’ve had with most mirrorless cameras is how they feel in my hand. MOST just feel like toys and frankly I hate that. I mean; they’re great for VLoging and all but for really shooting they just never felt right.
That is until now. Hasselblad certainly got it right with this one.
Not to mention the amazing glass. All in all; this is a great offering from Hasselblad and one that I am happy to add to my collection.
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