Why the X1D is slow to ship and what Hasselblad are doing about it.

[NickT]

I thought that those of you who are keen to get hold of an X1D would want to know a bit about what is going on behind the scenes so I reached out to a couple of Swedes to ask.
First off it's important to note that the X1D is hand made, really hand made. There are literally guys in Gothenburg building these things one by one, and guess what, it takes time. I heard how may they are making a week and it was, not very many. Hasselblad were completely taken by surprise by the number of orders for the X1D, I can't share how many have been ordered but the numbers are epic.

(As an aside and considering some of the stupid decisions made by previous management, we should be super happy that the company is back on track and financially viable).

So what now? Hasselblad are pouring huge amounts of resources into scaling X1D manufacturing, and we will see production ramp up as more Swedish hands become available. Obviously dealer demos take priority (even these have surpassed expectations) but customer orders will follow rapidly. It's good news I think.

I briefly handled an X1D back in May this year, and knew then I wanted one. I can hang out for a bit longer, hope you can too.

Nick-T

[ganesh]

Thanks for the update, Nick-T.
Much appreciated.

ganesh

[Greg]

Hasselblad needs to be very careful about how much ramping-up they need to do.  There is so much hype and anticipation for the X1D.  When the camera finally lands in the hands of users, there may be an inevitable let-down.  So, there will be a certain amount of complaining that will come about the camera from users after release.  Given that, there will probably be a number of cancellations of orders for the camera.  Who knows what that number will be.  But, there is, for sure, a large acceptance of the camera shown by the unanticipated huge numbers of X1Ds that were ordered.  In any event, this is going to be big for Hasselblad.  It is comforting to see Hasselblad back and back in a great way.

Greg     

[KeithL]

I believe the X1D is simply, potentially, the most exciting introduction for many a year.

If I was in the market for such a camera - sadly I'm not - then I would accept delays in delivery if it meant getting a more comprehensive and bug free version of the firmware.

I congratulate Hasselblad for their innovation and wish them much success with the X1D.

Keith

[Ralf Mueller]

Was at a Hasselblad event today hosted by my dealer and of course the HB rep had a demo X1D in his bag for folks to try out.

The audience was pretty much existing HB customers but also some Nikonians and Canonistas. The majority of people applauded
the innovation coming from HB and they all told better wait and make it work than ship something half-baked. None of the folks
had issues waiting a bit longer, heck people waited 10+ months for a Leica M-240 to ship.
My dealer told me that he will receive some production X1D units next week, unfortunately all sold already but it seems
they are finally shipping, at least in homeopathic doses ;-)

I have the impression the complaints are coming mostly from folks that won't buy the camera anyway but just
want to make some noise on the internet.

Its great to see Hasselblad back again with such a nice camera, really liked it, the form factor and build quality is superb, although
my money will go in an upgrade of my H3DII to H6D.

Regards,
Ralf

[Mats E]

Since the start, I have closely followed the birth of the sexy X1D including the thrilling launch in Gothenburg followed by the successful presentation at Photokina in September. Through our excellent dealer Goecker (for Sweden and Denmark), I'm now offered for a second time to have one of their demo cameras allong with 45 and 90 mm lenses for a long weekend - Friday till Tuesday.

Cheers to this weekend,
Mats

[acg]

http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/hasselblad-x1d-will-ship-december-15-europe-calumet-de/

ACG