38V and 55V as landscape lenses for X2D?

[jhasselblad]

I have the X2D and the 38V - not the 55V. My experience is, that the IQ of my 38V is very good, e.g. sharpness in the corners. I am satisfied with it.

I don`t shoot landscape images with stops smaller than f8 due to the problem diffraction with the 3,76 μm sensor.

Shooting with this sensor with stops up to f16 is at my point of view not a good idea.

[6X6Miles]

I have the X2D and the 38V - not the 55V. My experience is, that the IQ of my 38V is very good, e.g. sharpness in the corners. I am satisfied with it.

I don`t shoot landscape images with stops smaller than f8 due to the problem diffraction with the 3,76 μm sensor.

Shooting with this sensor with stops up to f16 is at my point of view not a good idea.

Most of these lenses hit peak sharpness and contrast in the center of the image circle by 1-2 stops from wide open, but when you need to overcome the effects of DOF, F8 is about perfect if you can pull it off and with a bit longer focal length you often can't. So my personal limit is usually around F11 give or take a 1/3rd of a stop. Stopping down also usually helps to mitigate light falloff and soft corners from curvature of field or other issues. I don't mind having to add a bit more sharpening in post to overcome the beginning of diffraction at F11.

The 55V makes all of the above impossible when striving for uniform sharpness in a landscape image.

[6X6Miles]

So in answer to my initial question and after spending 10 days with them and pouring through nearly 100GB of comparison photos, the answer is simply no.

Diglloyd's scathing review of the 38 is largely spot on but I do question if in having received early copies that Hasselblad did not correct the focus shift in these lenses since I could not really detect any in the lenses I received. If true, this might explain the significant delays in product fulfillment.

The thing that makes these otherwise wonderful lenses not at all suitable for landscape work is that in making them much smaller and yet a bit faster than their legacy counterparts, the image circles are likely so small that the highly pronounced curvature of field you see in either of them was unavoidable by optical laws of physics. These lenses basically perform like a full frame DSLR / mirrorless lens might when adapted to the X2D's larger sensor.

My copies of the 38V and 55V also exhibited a bit of de-centering which anyone who has used Mavic 2 or 3 series drones knows can absolutely destroy IQ uniformity as they too, use a lens with a barely-fits image circle.

The bottom line is the lack of uniformity of image quality via worst I have ever seen curvature of field in the new 38V and 55V lenses make them nearly unusable for landscapes if you are wanting to get the most out of that fantastic 102 MP X2D sensor.

I am happy to report my lenses are on the way back to the retailer and I will be getting a refund.

[paratom]

I fully respect and believe your experience with your samples of those lenses.
Its good to have choices and its good you good make your decision without (I hope so) loosing any money.
However "nearly unusable for landscapes" I fully do not agree.
By the way I also have access to Digiloyds reviews-I find it interesting to read and it is one (of many other)factors to build an option about gear. In the end the most important factor for me are my own experiences and what I see myself.
Reading digiloyd 90% of all lenses are close to unusable due to filed curvature, wrong focusing, focus shift,....
Lenses are always compromises between price, speed, build, IQ, handling,....
If I was a landscape only shooter, I might skip the new lenses (but then I can hike to much greater places if I have lightt equipment in my backpack) but the overall package of the new lenses works quite well for me (well understanding it might not well for others).

[6X6Miles]

I fully respect and believe your experience with your samples of those lenses.
Its good to have choices and its good you good make your decision without (I hope so) loosing any money.
However "nearly unusable for landscapes" I fully do not agree.
By the way I also have access to Digiloyds reviews-I find it interesting to read and it is one (of many other)factors to build an option about gear. In the end the most important factor for me are my own experiences and what I see myself.
Reading digiloyd 90% of all lenses are close to unusable due to filed curvature, wrong focusing, focus shift,....
Lenses are always compromises between price, speed, build, IQ, handling,....
If I was a landscape only shooter, I might skip the new lenses (but then I can hike to much greater places if I have lightt equipment in my backpack) but the overall package of the new lenses works quite well for me (well understanding it might not well for others).

Totally fair and believe me when I say I *really* struggled with the decision to return them. They are so well made, the MF focus ring, the near silent shutter and god knows the AF was leagues better, no full cycling like my 45 and 65 have to. I think it really sucks I had to let them go, I already miss what was good about them.

You could carry the shade from just the 28 and use it on the 28,38 and 55 if super tight on space and could easily flag the light with a black glove beyond that. The trio of the 28,38 and 55 plus my 100 CFI would have been an amazing kit for this job next week. I even have a commercial job on Friday I planned on using them on at a hospital that they would have been perfect for since sharp corners were not needed.

Maybe mine were both bad copies then, because I can't imagine anyone who would spend the time and money to use the fantastic resolution on the X2D would be happy with the smeared detail that was in focus and the corners never becoming sharp for a landscape shot. So I am going to give you and others the benefit of the doubt here and say that I just got super unlucky and not one but BOTH lenses I got were really out of spec and just flat out sucked for what I needed them for.

With the exception of the $140 for two 72mm UV filters that I could not return because I tossed the packaging, I am getting all my money back.

What a drag man, really.

[paratom]

Hard to say if and how much sample variation is existing.
Anyways threads like the one you started are great to learn not only about the strong sides but also about the weak sides of products.
Personally I will further have an eye how these lenses work on ladnscapes, even though its not my main subject.

[Georg Kovalcik]

Well, sample variation: If it does not meet specs it should not leave the factory. Quality assurance is an essential part of product quality.