Daran Wu's excellent review of the X2D + 38 & 55v lenses

[Larsb]

I cannot help but remark that 95% of the time "excellent review" or "Great Review!" comments in the interwebs actually translate to "writer has reinforced my confirmation bias" or "writer fully agrees with me" or "writer heaps praise on my favourite toy"  .

I'm going to be that curmudgeon who has to step in say that I don't see any excellence in the art of reviewing demonstrated here. Sure, it's nicely written, it's attractively presented, but it reads more like a Hasselblad-commissioned puff piece, not a critical review. All I learnt from it is that Daran Wu loves his Hasselblad. Good for him! I quite like mine too.   Also, well, non de gustibus non dispuntadum est and all that, but the previously painfully trendy "Portra 400 pushed 2 stops" look is getting a bit old, especially here where he has turned up the dial to push another 2 stops and thrown in a drastic Fuji 160NS-like shift in the greens.  Not sure I see the point of investing in HNCS there. But in particular, using such an extreme style in a review just isn't appropriate.  And finally, is an X2D+55V really the best choice for street photography? Well, maybe for some. Personally I'd tend to pick up my Ricoh GRIIIx for that focal length.

Excellent or even good critical reviews of X-System gear (or in fact any gear) are very few and far between.  Either they are influencer-style where the gear is on loan from Hasselblad and they don't want to bite the hand the feeds them, or they are made buy people who've maxed out their credit cards and don't want to look foolish (or are in denial) by saying anything more than very mildly critical.

Anyway, must dash, I've got to shout at some clouds and get those darn kids off my lawn.

I could say "Excellent review of an excellent review"  .  I did actually like the "review", partly because of the reasons you mention above.  As a non-professional photographer, I do like it when people show a passion for their adopted hobby or profession, regardless of the style they choose.   I must admit, the review did "reinforced my confirmation bias", but heck, lots of these things are very subjective.

[Faithwell]

The HNCS is excellent as compared to my previous Canon users from AE1, Mark 4, 1DX, 5DSR & finally R5 before taking a huge leap into medium format such as this elegant & astonishing almost perfect photographic gear with amazing light weight XCD 38V len. The sharpness & colour rendention is outstanding. Would be perfected if eye detection, increase in multiple shots & incorporating Phocus Mobile live view plus delay timer are available in the next firmware update😀

[Ikarus]

Yeah, sorry Daran.  I applaud your enthusiasm, but I read reviews to be informed.  I didn't glean much from the review.

Any other recommendations?  I have my credit card poised to commit as soon as I seen the 38V available (or the 55V to be honest).  An informative review of camera and lenses is always well received.

[Larsb]

I would also love to see "eye detection" in the X2D, and am definitely hoping that Hassy will come up with that feature in the next firmware release (hint, hint, Hasselblad, if you read this forum :-) )

[Orokaj]

I would also love to see "eye detection" in the X2D, and am definitely hoping that Hassy will come up with that feature in the next firmware release (hint, hint, Hasselblad, if you read this forum :-) )

Very likely, although Face Detect to be more realistic..

[Larsb]

Hi Ikarus,   I'm not sure that I am qualified to give an 'informed' review, but I did purchase the 38v, and I absolutely love it.  It is by far the best (and most expensive) lens that I have ever purchased.  I've shot directly into the sun on several occasions and there is no flare and the lens has good contrast.  I don't really pixel-peep, but on cropping and zooming in, it seems very sharp to me.   There are several articles on the web that go into much greater detail on the lens.  As for cost, I think that one would expect that sort of pricing, given that Hasselblad is more of a luxury product.  My only slight negative on the lens is that I would have preferred something a little bit wider than 38mm, but that I will probably buy the next 'V' series lens that is wider than 38mm, when it comes along.

On my most recent outing (a 4 day weekend to Newcastle, in Australia),  I used the 38V for almost all my pictures and found it to be very versatile.  I did also use a 21mm TTartisans lens (M-Mount, with adapter) for about 5 pictures, but it had noticeable issues (sharpness, chromatic aberration), which is not surprising given the difference in cost.

I think I will probably limit myself to 3 lenses on the X2D (maybe 4 :-) ), which would be the 38V, something wider (eg., a 30 or 28V would be great), and then either a 55V (and I would sell my 45p), and then the 90V.   I have several adapters for M-Mount, Canon EF, XPan, and Nikon G lenses, and while they all work, I must admit the quality of the 2 Hasselblad lens I have is just noticeably better than my older glass, just a bit slow (ie., would be nice to have a faster than f/2.5 or f/4.5 aperature for the 45p).  The adapters were a bit of an experiment for me and have confirmed that the native glass is way better (at least for me).  That being said, I am tempted by the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.0.  Choice is always good

[Ikarus]

Hi Lars,

I' not sure I can be bothered with M glass adapted to the X2D - the appeal is the medium format; not keen on blurry edges, CA and electronic shutters.

It will be interesting to see if anyone makes X mount lenses - Zeiss would be interesting ...

John

[Zuazua]

What's the Facebook group link

[6X6Miles]

It's an interesting practical review but not a single person has done a head to head comparison of the new 38V and 55V compared to lenses like the 45 3.5, 45P and 65 2.8 in terms of all-out optical performance, the true hallmark of Hasselblad.

Now that I have the 38V and 55V in hand, I can see why. While the 38V is a good replacement for the two 45mm lenses, the 55V is no replacement for 65 2.8 unless you don't mind wasting about 25-30 of those 102MP on sub par image quality in the outer 1/3rd of the image area, a concept I can not grasp.

What is gained on the 55 in terms of AF speed, ergonomics, slimming the lens down, etc when comparing the 55 to the 65 utterly pales in comparison of the overall image quality it gives up to the XCD 65mm 2.8.

Even if all you ever shot the 55 and X2D in was square crop mode, it would still not be as good as the 65 is. For me personally as a landscape shooter who waited months until both the 38V and 55V were simultaneously in stock to buy them, this is really disappointing.

[SrMi]

It's an interesting practical review but not a single person has done a head to head comparison of the new 38V and 55V compared to lenses like the 45 3.5, 45P and 65 2.8 in terms of all-out optical performance, the true hallmark of Hasselblad.

Now that I have the 38V and 55V in hand, I can see why. While the 38V is a good replacement for the two 45mm lenses, the 55V is no replacement for 65 2.8 unless you don't mind wasting about 25-30 of those 102MP on sub par image quality in the outer 1/3rd of the image area, a concept I can not grasp.

What is gained on the 55 in terms of AF speed, ergonomics, slimming the lens down, etc when comparing the 55 to the 65 utterly pales in comparison of the overall image quality it gives up to the XCD 65mm 2.8.

Even if all you ever shot the 55 and X2D in was square crop mode, it would still not be as good as the 65 is. For me personally as a landscape shooter who waited months until both the 38V and 55V were simultaneously in stock to buy them, this is really disappointing.

Could you share raw images where you see corner issues with 55V?

[6X6Miles]

It's an interesting practical review but not a single person has done a head to head comparison of the new 38V and 55V compared to lenses like the 45 3.5, 45P and 65 2.8 in terms of all-out optical performance, the true hallmark of Hasselblad.

Now that I have the 38V and 55V in hand, I can see why. While the 38V is a good replacement for the two 45mm lenses, the 55V is no replacement for 65 2.8 unless you don't mind wasting about 25-30 of those 102MP on sub par image quality in the outer 1/3rd of the image area, a concept I can not grasp.

What is gained on the 55 in terms of AF speed, ergonomics, slimming the lens down, etc when comparing the 55 to the 65 utterly pales in comparison of the overall image quality it gives up to the XCD 65mm 2.8.

Even if all you ever shot the 55 and X2D in was square crop mode, it would still not be as good as the 65 is. For me personally as a landscape shooter who waited months until both the 38V and 55V were simultaneously in stock to buy them, this is really disappointing.

Could you share raw images where you see corner issues with 55V?

I'll get some up on dropbox and post them here, I'll try to get them up by mid morning.

[SrMi]

It's an interesting practical review but not a single person has done a head to head comparison of the new 38V and 55V compared to lenses like the 45 3.5, 45P and 65 2.8 in terms of all-out optical performance, the true hallmark of Hasselblad.

Now that I have the 38V and 55V in hand, I can see why. While the 38V is a good replacement for the two 45mm lenses, the 55V is no replacement for 65 2.8 unless you don't mind wasting about 25-30 of those 102MP on sub par image quality in the outer 1/3rd of the image area, a concept I can not grasp.

What is gained on the 55 in terms of AF speed, ergonomics, slimming the lens down, etc when comparing the 55 to the 65 utterly pales in comparison of the overall image quality it gives up to the XCD 65mm 2.8.

Even if all you ever shot the 55 and X2D in was square crop mode, it would still not be as good as the 65 is. For me personally as a landscape shooter who waited months until both the 38V and 55V were simultaneously in stock to buy them, this is really disappointing.

Could you share raw images where you see corner issues with 55V?

I'll get some up on dropbox and post them here, I'll try to get them up by mid morning.

Thanks. Please make sure that some are at least at f/8. Otherwise, the field curvature may cause unsharp corners.

[6X6Miles]

It's an interesting practical review but not a single person has done a head to head comparison of the new 38V and 55V compared to lenses like the 45 3.5, 45P and 65 2.8 in terms of all-out optical performance, the true hallmark of Hasselblad.

Now that I have the 38V and 55V in hand, I can see why. While the 38V is a good replacement for the two 45mm lenses, the 55V is no replacement for 65 2.8 unless you don't mind wasting about 25-30 of those 102MP on sub par image quality in the outer 1/3rd of the image area, a concept I can not grasp.

What is gained on the 55 in terms of AF speed, ergonomics, slimming the lens down, etc when comparing the 55 to the 65 utterly pales in comparison of the overall image quality it gives up to the XCD 65mm 2.8.

Even if all you ever shot the 55 and X2D in was square crop mode, it would still not be as good as the 65 is. For me personally as a landscape shooter who waited months until both the 38V and 55V were simultaneously in stock to buy them, this is really disappointing.

Could you share raw images where you see corner issues with 55V?

I'll get some up on dropbox and post them here, I'll try to get them up by mid morning.

Thanks. Please make sure that some are at least at f/8. Otherwise, the field curvature may cause unsharp corners.

Comparison images from the 38V, 45P, 55V and 65 2.8 are uploaded. I only uploaded the set from F4 and F8. The focus point is the bottom 25% of the frame from center. There is a zip file if that works if better for you and the corresponding jpegs are included in each sub folder. Hopefully you can tell where the issues are, it's super obvious, especially in the case that the 45P wide open crushes the 55V at even F8:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/vmkc0ogs23yx3gi77b4l6/h?rlkey=tircesehja6iqiouu7p5t0zj5&dl=0

The 55V is not a suitable lens for landscapes or other precise image quality work due to significant design compromises that include very problematic curvature of field that simply does not go away until F11.

[PatrickM]

Nice post of those images. My landscape specific lens is the xcd 4/21. I sold my 45p in favour of the 55v and I also have the 38v. The 38v I use more generally when I'm out and about...towns etc, and the 55v for things like car shows.

[Ikarus]

I'm sorry, but I learned absolutely nothing from Dran Wu's "review".

Jim Kasson's review is the best I've read so far.

If I had the time (and skill) I would run some tests on my 38/2.5 V and some M lenses with adapters.  I also have an APO Elmarit-R 180/2.8 ROM and a HAX-LER adapter, but to be hinest I haven't had the time.

I will post some images at some stage, if there's any interest.