38V and 55V as landscape lenses for X2D?

[6X6Miles]

Hi,

Long time Hasselblad user here, have a large V system, 501CM's, Flexbodies, CF, CFe and CFi lenses. I have also had the CFV50c, currently a 907X and now X2D.

I tend to not want wider than about 28mm in 35 equivalent for my landscape lenses, prefer the 35-150mm range or so. Right now I am using a 45P and 65mm 2.8 XCD lens for shorter than my outstanding 100mm and 180mm CFi glass. I am considering the 38mm and 55mm XCD V lenses to replace them in order to take advantage of the smaller and lighter form factor and both being excellent walk around lenses even though very expensive.

I don't really care about rendering / bokeh so it is all about sharpness across the frame, especially in the F8-F11 range. At F11 my 45P is outstanding on the X2D and the 65mm not quite as good at F11 in the corners as it hits peak at F5.6 and holds it well at F8.

For me to go to double the price to move to the 38 and 55, I need those corners sharp but have seen hardly anything in terms of comparisons.

Anyone have opinions on this based on typical landscape outcomes?

[SrMi]

Hi,

Long time Hasselblad user here, have a large V system, 501CM's, Flexbodies, CF, CFe and CFi lenses. I have also had the CFV50c, currently a 907X and now X2D.

I tend to not want wider than about 28mm in 35 equivalent for my landscape lenses, prefer the 35-150mm range or so. Right now I am using a 45P and 65mm 2.8 XCD lens for shorter than my outstanding 100mm and 180mm CFi glass. I am considering the 38mm and 55mm XCD V lenses to replace them in order to take advantage of the smaller and lighter form factor and both being excellent walk around lenses even though very expensive.

I don't really care about rendering / bokeh so it is all about sharpness across the frame, especially in the F8-F11 range. At F11 my 45P is outstanding on the X2D and the 65mm not quite as good at F11 in the corners as it hits peak at F5.6 and holds it well at F8.

For me to go to double the price to move to the 38 and 55, I need those corners sharp but have seen hardly anything in terms of comparisons.

Anyone have opinions on this based on typical landscape outcomes?

Jim Kasson has looked at 38V here https://blog.kasson.com/x2d/38-cxd-on-x2d-45-gf-on-gfx-100s-foliage-edge-crops/.
The corners of 38V are great starting at f/5.6.
I have the 55 and find the corners great at f/5.6, but have not done a systematic analysis.
They are both fantastic lenses, you'll be happy with them.

[6X6Miles]

So that's it?

That is all anyone has got as far as beta on these near $4K lenses?? Kasson's report is not exactly glowing, my 45P is great at F4, critically sharp beyond that.

Maybe I just need to save my self several grand and stick with my current lineup...

[tenmangu81]

My XCD45P is excellent as you say, and the XCD65 is very good, but heavy and bulky. I have bought the XCD55V, and it is excellent as well.

But none of these lenses are outstanding in the corners at full aperture on my X1D II, but they are indeed in the center. As a matter of fact, I don't know any camera lens being outstanding in the corners, even the Leica 90 mm APO-ASPH that I had for a while, and which can be considered as a good reference.

If you want to have an idea of the sharpness of the XCD lenses, I would suggest you to have a look at their MTF curves, available oh the HB website.

When you shut down the aperture value, down to 5.6 or 8, all the XCD lenses are fantastic, even in the corners.

[JCM-Photos]

I use some corner outstanding lenses like:
Nikkor 19 PC-E
The Leica Q Summilux after mandatory optical correction
some Nikkor ED tele lenses

In the Hassy X line
the XCD 80

My X adapted HCD 28 is visibly much softer in the corners than my XCD 21 that remains fantastic in corners (both quite the same in the center)

When shooting my X cameras, the sharpness problem in corners and edges come mainly from lack of depth of field not from lenses, but when using focus stacking (on static subjects) sharpness becomes outstanding all over the image.

But I also love portrait lenses with really bad corner sharpness and fairly good center results such as the TT-Artisan 90mm 1.25 in native X-mount. (it gives awesome women portraits)

Each photographer feels a lens differently, I prefer for example the rendering of my XCD 45 3.5 over the XCD 45P, but I own and use both ( I feel the P a bit more clinical in harsh light)

[glaiben]

So that's it?

That is all anyone has got as far as beta on these near $4K lenses?? Kasson's report is not exactly glowing, my 45P is great at F4, critically sharp beyond that.

Maybe I just need to save my self several grand and stick with my current lineup...

Lloyd Chambers has a LOT to say about both of these lenses in his reviews (behind a pay wall, but if it prevents you from making a $4,000 mistake, may be worth it).  I personally sold my 45/3.5 and opted for the 38/2.5 due to ergonomics primarily.  I think Hasselblad has compromised optical design for ergonomics in the new series of lenses - which is the reality - all manufacturing has to deal with compromises.  Buyers just need to know what they want and seek out those items which are aligned with their desires.

The 38 certainly has some strange behaviors out in the corners, as well as when stopping down.

...gregg

[6X6Miles]

I have the 55mm V on order but the Hasselblad Store seems to not be honoring their ships by date so it is dragging on a bit. My hope is that it will perform better in the corners at F11 than the 65mm I recently picked up in mint condition. Oddly enough and unlike my 45P, when stopped down to F11-16 it starts to smear in the corners and Phocus can not correct for it.

As 90% of my landscape work is not static or involves long exposures, focus stacking is just not what I am going to do, so lenses that perform are what is needed. My 45P is fantastic in the corners by F5.6 and keeps that well into landscape apertures that offer better global depth of field.

Last fall I took my some of my Nikon Z system to Iceland, great lenses did great in the corners, including my 45mm PCe which I did a ton of work with. The Fall before that I took my 907x, 501CM, Flexbody and a nice assortment of CFi lenses to the Faroe Islands for two months, all that work is fantastic.

So the idea of taking a 100MP sensor in a small package to places where getting film to is now a royal pain is really ideal. I just need the lenses to hold up to what it can do...

[sanglier]

I have the 55 and find the corners great at f/5.6, but have not done a systematic analysis.
They are both fantastic lenses, you'll be happy with them.

Hello, I would like to see what the 55 at f2.5 is really worth on a landscape image with trees, even if this aperture is not necessary for landscapes, but just to reflect the real quality of this perspective. I hesitate and a raw would be welcome.
Regards

[mmanesh]

To be honest, at their price point, they should be able to deliver sharp images at reasonable apertures. The problem I see is that unlike Fujifilm GFX lenses, it is impossible to rent the equipment for 100 bucks a weekend and give it a try. And ordering any new lens and body takes months. The question needs to be answered by experimenting yourself and reviews may just not give you the right answers. I got into the X system for ergonomics and better EVF but given the struggle with availability, I am not all that happy. Rant end. 

[6X6Miles]

I finally found a point in time when I could get both the 38V and 55V at the same time since they would be replacing my 45P and 65 2.8, I got them Thursday.

I love all the things that make them better than the regular XCD designs and the 38 is a good replacement for the 45P for the most part. But the 55 I got is just not sharp enough in the corners for landscape work. Regardless of focus distance, in shooting landscape type images at any distance to infinity, the corners are not sharp enough even at F8. I hope I have a dud lens and a replacement will do better.

Just to put it in perspective, my 28P and 45P one stop down are better in the corners than my 55 at any aperture up to F8. And my 65 even wide open is better than the 55 in the corners at any aperture at all. 

I know the MTF charts show the corners being less sharp on the 55 but this is so unusable for me that I really hope it is not an outcome of the compromise of a smaller lens with a faster maximum aperture. If so I will happily return both the 38 and 55 and just stick with my otherwise great combo of 28P, 45P and 65 XCD.

I have a friend locally who has the 55V, I am going to compare the two tomorrow and see if mine is a dud or comparable to his.

So far, pretty disappointed with the 55V's image quality, especially for the price.

[Fedro]

I have both, I like them for ergonomics and the manual focus, I sold my 30, 45P and 65 when I bought them. I use them for portraits and street photography but I dont see them as landscape lenses, corners are better on some of the original lenses.
For landscape I still carry the 21, 35-75, 135 + TC i have used for the past two years.
Fedro

[6X6Miles]

I have both, I like them for ergonomics and the manual focus, I sold my 30, 45P and 65 when I bought them. I use them for portraits and street photography but I dont see them as landscape lenses, corners are better on some of the original lenses.
For landscape I still carry the 21, 35-75, 135 + TC i have used for the past two years.
Fedro

For portraits, street and travel I use either Leica or Nikon for that, don't need 102MP for it, especially since most magazines and newspapers I publish in don't need that for those images either and people generally don't order massive prints of that stuff.

But landscapes are another story, mine get used as big as 15' x 40' feet.

I compared my 55V to my friend's 55 today and his lens is the same, poor image quality in the corners. I'll likely be returning the 38V and 55V and sticking with the 45P and 65 2.8. It's stunning just how much better the 65 is over the 55, it's like they are not even made by the same company.

[glaiben]

...it's like they are not even made by the same company.

It is likely they are not.  The original XCD's were manufactured by Nittoh.  Rumor has it that the XCD/V style lenses are made by Panasonic.

[tenmangu81]

@6x6Miles
It all depends on your requirement level. I understand as, being a professional photographer, and more specifically for landscapes, the XCD65 is most suitable for you. I will keep mine anyway, but the 55V is enough for my needs, and I use it most often, because of its lightness, small weight, lens control ring, etc... And the FoV is perfect, I like the 43mm FF eq. more than the 50mm.

[SrMi]

@6x6Miles
It all depends on your requirement level. I understand as, being a professional photographer, and more specifically for landscapes, the XCD65 is most suitable for you. I will keep mine anyway, but the 55V is enough for my needs, and I use it most often, because of its lightness, small weight, lens control ring, etc... And the FoV is perfect, I like the 43mm FF eq. more than the 50mm.

Ditto.
Going through my images with 55V, I cannot find any images where extreme corners should be sharp . Everything that I expect to be sharp is sharp (shooting mostly at f/8 or f/16).