Using the Hasselblad X1D II 50C

A mirrorless medium format review

At the end of 2018 Keith published a review of the Hasselblad X1D-50C medium format mirrorless camera. In this article he looks at the X1D II 50C, an updated version of the original.

Given that there is now an X2D-100C, why look at the older 50MP version?

Well, despite the spotless condition of the X1D II 50C, it’s a used camera. Part of the reason is Keith’s strong belief that you don’t need the latest and greatest kit – oh and this 50MP medium format camera is decidedly kinder on the wallet.

After all, at 50MP it’s the same as Keith uses for his commercial work.

Note this is much more a ‘How I used it review’ not a detailed review of its functionality.

Thanks to Park Cameras for loaning me the X1D II 50C and XCD 30/3.5 lens

Article Index

• The camera
• Taking photos
• Conclusions
• Specifications

Other Hasselblad info on the site

• X1D 50C review
• X1D II 50C announcement.
• H6D 50C with HTS T/S adapter
• H6D 100C with HTS [Video]

Video overview [20 mins]

X1D II 50C: What do you get

This article covers my impressions of using the Hasselblad X1D II 50C. It’s rather more heavily about how I personally felt about the camera than my normal long reviews. There are lots of images here – click on an image to see it at a much larger size.

In the original X1D review I was using a 21mm lens – very similar to the [unshifted] view from my TS-E17. In this review I’ve got the 30mm f/3.5, which is not dissimilar to the unshifted] TS-E24mm I use a lot.

X1D 50C vs X1D II 50C key differences

Given I’ve got a lengthy review of the X1D, what’s actually different about the  X1D II 50C?

• The rear screen – goes from 3″ to 3.6″
• EVF goes from 2360k dot to 3690k dot
• Shooting speed from 2.3 to 2.7 fps
• 1/10000 electronic shutter added
• Video Full HD 1920×1080 to 2.7k [2720×1530]
• The X1D II 50C camera body is a darker grey than the polished metal of the X1D
• USB [C] charging added
• Both slots now UHS II
• Built-in GPS
• ‘snappier’ performance [startup/lag]

The most obvious change is the darker colour, although there are some slight dimensional changes.

Once you switch the camera on, it’s immediately much more responsive. Switch-on doesn’t leave you hanging around for something to happen.  The screen and EVF are improved too. Interestingly enough, the original X1D was one of the first serious EVF cameras I used. I was OK with it, but if you’re familiar with a higher end 2023 camera, it may show its age a bit in responsiveness.

Most welcome was the switch to USB charging for the battery.

AF is slow compared to cameras with phase detect AF, but in manual mode I found the focus assist very convenient. No, this is not a camera for fast action….  If you make much use of face detect then, no, that’s not here either.

The sensor is the same as the X1D, so from an image quality POV, I still find the images really nice to work on.

I processed X1D II 50C images in Hasselblad’s Phocus software as well as DxO PhotoLab and Adobe Camera Raw [+Photoshop]. Images are nice from all three and lens corrections are supported.

When it comes down to it you’ll probably use the software you are most comfortable with. Switching software is a significant undertaking if you want to get the most out of it, since new software will almost always have features/foibles you are not comfortable with.  That said, Lightroom still has no place on any of my computers ;-)

X1D II 50C: The camera

This view of the controls (there aren’t many) sums up so much about picking up the camera and looking at it

There is a simple elegance about the lines and the whole grip area is just comfortable to hold

The screen doesn’t tilt or flip at all – personally I’ve no concern with this, it’s like my ‘work’ DSLR.

Like many of these things, It’s what you’re used to.

My poor close eyesight means I make much more use of the viewfinder for composition. Those big symbols on the screen though are excellent, as are the control settings.

Easily visible to me and with a clear touch screen operation, easy to use without looking for my glasses.

Note the battery compartment underneath.

Powering the camera

The X1D II 50C takes a custom battery pack. It can be charged in camera via the external USB charger. The battery life seemed better than I recalled with the original X1D, which required the battery to be connected to the charger via  a socket on the bottom.

The X1D II 50C can be charged from an external battery pack, giving me much less concern if taking the camera out for a while with no extra battery,

Lens choice – 30mm f/3.5

A nice wide lens – low flare and very good contrast.

It’s an electronic lens, so no distance scale or aperture.

Like most Hasselblad lenses, the shutter is in the lens. The leaf shutter makes for more expensive lenses, but mostly works as the focal plane or electronic shutter does in other cameras.

I don’t shoot with flash outdoors much, but a leaf shutter allows for flash sync right up to the shortest exposures.

This lets you shoot with flash at wide apertures in daylight for example. Now, the 30mm and f/3.5 aperture of this lens is not one you’d look at for soft OOF areas, but there are other lenses much more suited to portrait work though.

The camera does offer electronic shutter at up to 1/10000, but I’m not quite sure why if I needed such an exposure, I’d be using this camera…

Focus

That contrast AF is a bit slow and I’d be wary of nailing focus on eyes if the subject was moving at all?

You can move the focus area via the touch screen whilst using the EVF, but that always feels a bit clunky to me. Big changes in focus do seem to have a bit of a lag in things happening. Feels a bit like turbo lag in an old car – yes Saab did spring to mind ;-)

For a well lit scene like this it’s fine though.

1/250 f/8 ISO100

The dynamic range of images means that you can be rather more daring in including strong lighting.

Two examples – as shot and pushed in processing

1/60 f/8 ISO200

I’ve lightened up the shadows more than perhaps needed, but it shows what you can get

I’m careful about doing this though since it’s possible to veer into an ‘over-processed’ look.

1/35 f/8 ISO400

This is a shot where despite the pleasing colours I’m inclined towards B&W [see below for another example]

Indoors

The 30mm after correction, combined with the dynamic range of the camera makes it a good choice for interior shots.

1/125 f/8 ISO400

A view of our conservatory – I’ve used a slight bit of geometric correction to line up verticals, in lieu of a shift lens

1/180 f/6.8 ISO400

1/125 f/9.5 ISO400

X1D II 50C Camera settings

I largely used the camera in fully manual mode or sometimes Av mode (with auto ISO – 3200 max). Metering seemed fairly accurate, but I shoot fully manually most of the time, so it’s metering, then manual adjustments unless I feel the light has significantly changed.

The internal level works well and I do quite like the Hasselblad style of display for this.

GPS is now built in, but I didn’t get to go anywhere where it wasn’t obvious from the photo where I was…

The camera works tethered, but I’m looking at this as a travel/landscape camera rather than something I’d use in the studio. The camera itself is very capable, but I’d not have the flexibility in lens choice I have for my macro work for example.

X1D II 50C Video

Yes, it has video.

I still don’t shoot video enough to say much more other than the maximum resolution setting is up from the X1D 50C  [now 2.7k @29.97]

I’m minded to think this is a camera fairly well down your list, if video is important to you,

Using an EVF

The EVF feels faster than I recall from the X1D – but in the time between I’ve gotten more used to using them and I’d not got an original X1D to compare.

Also, my close up eyesight has changed, so I’m wary of drawing conclusions between testing many years apart…

Taking photos

The camera is comfortable to use. The faster switch on and ability to top up battery charge from a powerbank meant I was less concerned about battery management when I was out with it.

It’s comfortable to hold, and the rear screen was usable to me for settings, even without my close-up glasses. The ergonomics of it is great for my hands.

Controls are simple – easy to adjust settings as I felt needed. AF is not quick and not very quiet with the 30mm lens. Not annoyingly so, but it depends on what you are used to. The screen can select an AF point and you can easily zoom in. Be careful in selecting AF spot size, since it can easily be just a bit too big.

Although many might think of this as a camera for tripod use, the very clean higher ISO settings meant I had no difficulties from my preference for hand held use.

Image processing

The RAW files produced by the X1D II 50C (.3fr) can be read by a number of software packages. These files are around 110MB. As I’ve already suggested, the files are very amenable to processing.

The bigger sensor and increased bit depth, compared with my 50MP Canon 5Ds just gives files which handle stronger processing with less signs of stress, whether it’s highlights or pulling detail out of darker areas of the scene.

The strong contrast in this scene is no problem.

1/90 f/6.8 ISO 100

No image stabilisation, so care is needed if you drop the shutter speed

1/45 f/6.8 ISO100

The 30mm lens gives a fair bit of vignetting and some distinct distortion – easily fixed in RAW processing. These two examples show the difference, using ACR [shot at f/6.8]

With the 30/3.5 lens I found myself often preferring to leave geometry and vignetting correction at partial levels – that’s a compositional choice though.

The 50MP images give more than enough coverage if I need to stitch images or crop. A square crop is still ~33MP more than enough for many of my commercial uses.

1/250 f/8 ISO100

And the new bus station in Leicester – geometry tweaked and cropped.

1/350 f/8 ISO200

Prints

50MP is a nice size for making prints. The Hasselblad lenses I’ve looked at have all been more than sharp enough for the 50MP sensor.

This shot shows two identically exposed images taken in woodland. The colour one is out of the camera, and shows an exposure chosen not to blow out any of the sky or sunlit twigs on some trees.

The second shot shows an ACR conversion to B&W using the channel mixer. the bit depth and dynamic range of the image give me a lot of latitude to adjust channel blending options.

Here’s the image straight out of the RAW conversion, before any additional print editing.

1/250 f/8 ISO400

Moire

As with the X1D I was able to get some moire fringing from fine detail. but it was pretty easily fixed with modern raw conversion software.  Not an issue, but then again I don’t shoot much finely textured fabric.

X1D II 50C Conclusions

For a non-current camera the X1D II 50C is still pretty nifty. You get the Hasselblad style and design excellence at a much more reasonable, but still not cheap, price.

The X1D 50C and the X1D II 50C both got a bit of a panning from some critics – mostly trying to do things the cameras never were aimed at.  Fair comment, but I’m not buying myself a two seater sports car if I’ve got two kids to take to school and use for the family shopping.

From a technical ‘taking photos’ POV, the camera does just fine.

For myself, I use tilt shift lenses a lot for my work so, for example, the GFX 50 from Fuji is a far more versatile option – especially with an adapter for my Canon lenses. It’s the same medium format sensor, but in a much more ‘general purpose’ body.

But it’s not a Hasselblad…

This is a Hasselblad.

OK, that big question [again]

Who’s the X1D II 50C for? If you’re a Hasselblad user and want a second camera (which will take your normal lenses via an adapter) then this camera is a great compact solution that will double as one to take around for convenience too.

For me it’s primarily a landscape/travel camera

Lens choices

The XCD lens range are all primes and all with a built in leaf shutter. The leaf shutter lets you shoot flash at high shutter speeds, but that’s something I’ve never really needed to do. I have looked at the HTS1.5 tilt/shift adapter with an H6D 50C and 100C

Obviously with the H1D II 50C, a lot comes down to just having a highly capable, nice to use camera, and that’s exactly what this is.

Thanks to Park Cameras in the UK  for the loan of the X1D II 50C and lens

X1D II 50C Specifications