Update X2D

[Jack73230]

Fuji has launched the new GFX 100 II. When you see the characteristics, they succeeded to integrate quite all that we expected for the X2d including a fast autofocus with deep learning and high level of stabilisation for the quite same price of and X2d . what about Hasselblad now ?
I know very well that one camera don't do a beautiful picture without the look of the photographer, my x1d II give me full of satisfaction but it's for sure a question of survival inside this market for Hasselblad.. Paradoxically, I find my X1d II more accomplished in is category.

[CedV]

Something tells me their camera will have stable tethered live view from the start.
And what about those very appealing new tilt-shift lenses...

I've been a loyal HB user for many years. I make my living with their beautifully designed products. But in the end it's a tool, and a business decision. I hope HB will get to grips with their professional users, soon.

[Larsb]

They haven't really improved the looks of the camera much :-).  It does not appear to be a camera that excites me.

[justin_parker_photo]

I used a Fuji GFX 100S for a short time but never really fell in love with it so despite its great image quality I used my other cameras.  I have loved my other Fuji cameras and considered them kindred spirit roughly to Nikon which I have also liked.  Recently I sold the GFX and bought an X2D.  I have been in love with the X2D from the start.   I was concerned things like having to use the touchscreen to move the focus spot (even when the camera is up to my eye, which it mostly is) would be too "modern" for my comfort but actually it doesn't feel that way at all.  It feels more analog to be making a smooth motion with my finger rather than "pulsing" some buttons.  I also like that it doesn't have video capability and lots of other useless features are removed.   In total it feels more like a film camera than most digital cameras, very few things to go wrong in its setup.

Fuji GFX gaining one stop of IBIS is nice, but at some point probably starts to be marketing gimmick.    I do think bigger EVF might be nice, but I am very weary about its lower refresh rate.

Will be interested to see how the 55mm 1.7 stacks up against the 55V.  Lens looks bigger for one thing.

Overall I think more in terms of what Hasselblad needs to do to complete the XCD lens lineup  and maybe a native XCD tilt shift system (over the HTS) and things like adding eye detection than I do in needing to keep up with Fuji.   

Sure in a pipe dream world I would love to see an X3D get a stacked sensor so that electronic shutter could be fast and free or rolling shutter effects and maybe a sensor protection shutter like the Nikon Z9 etc.   But probably that would all make the camera bigger and much more pricey.

[hcubell]

I used a Fuji GFX 100S for a short time but never really fell in love with it so despite its great image quality I used my other cameras.  I have loved my other Fuji cameras and considered them kindred spirit roughly to Nikon which I have also liked.  Recently I sold the GFX and bought an X2D.  I have been in love with the X2D from the start.   I was concerned things like having to use the touchscreen to move the focus spot (even when the camera is up to my eye, which it mostly is) would be too "modern" for my comfort but actually it doesn't feel that way at all.  It feels more analog to be making a smooth motion with my finger rather than "pulsing" some buttons.  I also like that it doesn't have video capability and lots of other useless features are removed.   In total it feels more like a film camera than most digital cameras, very few things to go wrong in its setup.

Fuji GFX gaining one stop of IBIS is nice, but at some point probably starts to be marketing gimmick.    I do think bigger EVF might be nice, but I am very weary about its lower refresh rate.

Will be interested to see how the 55mm 1.7 stacks up against the 55V.  Lens looks bigger for one thing.

Overall I think more in terms of what Hasselblad needs to do to complete the XCD lens lineup  and maybe a native XCD tilt shift system (over the HTS) and things like adding eye detection than I do in needing to keep up with Fuji.   

Sure in a pipe dream world I would love to see an X3D get a stacked sensor so that electronic shutter could be fast and free or rolling shutter effects and maybe a sensor protection shutter like the Nikon Z9 etc.   But probably that would all make the camera bigger and much more pricey.

I very much agree with your point about the desirability of a sensor protection shutter for an X3D. I just spent 10 days in Iceland shooting in the Highlands with driving rain and 30-40 mph winds. It was impossible as a practical matter to change lenses, so my XCD 35-75 zoom was used almost exclusively. Fortunately, it's an exceptional lens and very versatile.

[flash]

I use both systems and have a GFX100 II on order. It looks sensational. But I'll be taking my X2D to India and Vietnam in October. The equivalent GFX100 II kit would be MUCH less discreet. The X2D also has much better long exposure implementation and leaf shutter lenses for flash. For street and travel photography there's not much that beats an X2D with 28, 55 and 90, for me. I don't really care about the video specs and I find the GFX utilitarian rather than inspirational.

Likely the GFX kit will travel to Iceland in February. The versatility of the zooms and system flexibility will shine. I'm pretty excited about the 500mm as well, when that arrives. Medium format wildlife photography!!

I think of it like having both an M11 and a SL2. Both great but very different. Sometimes I'll have one and sometimes the other. Occasionally both. I'd REALLY have liked to have the GFX100II for the Mongolia trip I leave for today. Oh well....

Gordon

[SeanRL]

I just spent 10 days in Iceland shooting in the Highlands with driving rain and 30-40 mph winds. It was impossible as a practical matter to change lenses, so my XCD 35-75 zoom was used almost exclusively. Fortunately, it's an exceptional lens and very versatile.

Interested to hear how X2D and zoom performed in driving rain and wind? On tripod or off?

[Andy Miller Photo UK]

It would have been perhaps better to call this thread some thing a wee bit different -- like "have you'all looked at the GFX 100 II wot do you think".

Well it is better than the GFS 100s and certainly cheaper than the 100. Fuji have improved a bunch of things including swapping one of the UHS ii card slots for CFE-B card and changing the processor - which is why they can now do more 8fps ok and the brough in AF from their other cameras in to the GFX and this is a big selling point for them, full sized HDMI and so on - return of the tilting EVF for +$600 etc..

They appear NOT to have changed the sensor - it still has the same flash sync speed 1/125th or "slower" which is rather slow. This implies the sensor read time is still horribly slow. That means there will be rolling shutter (same as on the GFX 100 and 100s) when shooting with Electronic Shutter and some "expect" there to be rolling shutter issues when shooting video with this sensor. [Obviously Fuji is line skipping and cropping but .... I might start ranting about using a 102MP sensor as a video camera -- but why bother.]

Fuji placed a lot of emphasis on their connected collaboration solutions OK - if that floats your boat and is what you need.

8 stop IBIS but only with 3 lenses and it drops to 5-5.5 stops with other lenses -- it is not clear why since the one lens I looked at did not appear to have a VR/stabilisation element in it.  It would be interesting to hear more and how this "extra" stabilisation is obtained. [Nikon speak about Synchronised VR/Stabilisation when say a Z8/Z9 is used with a Nikkor Z mount S-line lens that has a VR element in it and they can obtain a 1-2 stop improvement over adapted Nikkor AF-S (E/G) lenses (with VR) and a perhaps another stop or two over lenses without VR or from 3rd parties.

No real testing yet by independents -- and so the jury is still out.

Is the GFX a threat to the X2D  -- no -- but that is on the assumption that we get continuous AF and perhaps some kind of 3D or eye tracking SOON.

GFX is an engineers tool - big ugly clunky thing lots of mechanical options and solutions -- those that have it and have spent money on it and its lenses seem to like it. EXCEPT the limited flash sync speed means it has less flexibility than the X2D with leaf shutter lenses to control ambient without having to drop into HSS and suffer the low of strobe/speedlight power. Great inside a studio, less great in the open -- unless you have very capable strobes.

Other than that it will sell a bunch I am sure.

[SrMi]

I do not know about the GFX100 II. I am about to get rid of my GFX system, and I am not sure that GFX100 II will change that. The most attractive feature is the larger EVF, but I always had issues with Fuji's EVF implementations. A GFX100S-based system is already too heavy and too large for me. I used to travel with an H6D system, but I no longer want to do it.

The X2D and the new V lenses are a small and light marvel.

For wildlife, it is either m43 or FF.

[hcubell]

I just spent 10 days in Iceland shooting in the Highlands with driving rain and 30-40 mph winds. It was impossible as a practical matter to change lenses, so my XCD 35-75 zoom was used almost exclusively. Fortunately, it's an exceptional lens and very versatile.

Interested to hear how X2D and zoom performed in driving rain and wind? On tripod or off?

The X2D with the 35-75 zoom functioned perfectly in just horrible conditions on many of the days I was shooting in the Highlands. The files are beautiful. Always on a tripod. Given the conditions, I was surprised quite frankly that I never had a problem. I did take five basic precautions. First, I took some black electrical tape and sealed as many potential spots as possible where water could penetrate into the camera body. Second, I periodically put a disposable plastic shower cap over the camera body when the camera was sitting on a tripod. Third, I used a towel to wipe down the camera and lens when I placed them back into my backpack. Fourth, I never changed lenses out of the vehicle. And fifth, I always brought the backpack into my hotel each night and removed the camera and lenses.
The on,y mishap is that a huge wind gust blew over my tripod onto the black sand desert when I left it unattended for a minute. There are two tiny little scratches on the front element of the lens. I can't see any effects of these scratches in the files, so I don't know if it's worth it to replace the front element.

[Frankvth]

'functioned perfectly' after diy taping and plastic shower caps? that's not functioning perfectly.

I love the x2d, don't get me wrong, but i see a lot of people that bought it as a dream camera and not a workhorse it should have been. I work in the industry with the thing but outside it doesn't feel safe with rain like a lot of other camera's.   To be honest, i still don't get that you make a camera with amazing landscape capabilities and not waterproof it to a certain standard that you can communicate. I mean, they have never stated any weathersealing for the x2d...  People feeling the need to tape up a camera is NOT functioning perfectly.

[Jack73230]

The X2D non "water resistant " is really a problem for professional use like the non geolocation of the images.
I like very very the ergonomic of the X line and I will never go to Fuji for this reason ( I did a test) . My strong interrogation is the impact of the new Fuji on the HB market . Maybe here we are not representative of the customer to evaluate well . To be able to stay in digital medium format market, you need a lot of ressources and technical knowledge. DJI will give it ? I don't know but I think HB is on the cross of life .. or your are able to devlpt your camera well in the futur  , specifically with new hardware solutions or you will die at the end .the H line stopped is maybe a signe regarding the HB human capacities that they decide to concentrate all on X line. But for sure when you spend more than 25 000 euro on the X line by HB you will prefer that they will survive .. not like the photographer that they spend much more in H line ..

[Jack73230]

I'd waterproof ANY camera -- ANY CAMERA should I be in a situation where I had to shoot in a downpour! NO camera is fully waterproof. It's just silly to argue this. Why do you think there are rain covers for lenses and cameras?

I m'y mind I don't speak about an underwater camera , but there is a technical solution to improve at strong level the capacity to resist better under the rain . We speak about a camera more than 8000 euros ...

[Andy Miller Photo UK]

Lets just use the correct terminology -- The level of weather and dust proofing as measured in accordance with the IP Code would be a help. 

The IP Code is an international standard that rates a product's protection against intrusions by water and foreign particles.The solid particle protection is always the first number and the moisture protection is always the second. To illustrate, a product rated IP57 would be dust resistant and waterproof up to 1 meter. A product rated IP68 is completely dustproof and waterproof.

ONLY a few cameras that are designed for use underwater are designed to achieve an IP68 rating and only within certain use parameters -- like water depth.

Obviously if want want to go beyond that or use a not-waterproof camera underwater than one needs to buy a suitable housing (suitable for the camera and lens and the proposed use -- including depth).

Some gear has almost no dust or weatherproofing -- it is the battery connections, the card slots and then everything else.

The X2D has rubber gaskets built into the card/usb cover and a seal on the battery -- there is little no specific proofing on the lens mount. The lenses have some weath/dust proofing and the camera can be used in the damp. BUT only a fool would not take further steps if they were planning to use any camera in heavy rain or near sea water.

The Hasselblad X2D 100C is claimed to be weather-sealed, providing protection against dust, moisture, and other environmental factors during outdoor shooting. (I could not see any reference on any Hasselblad site though)

The XCD lenses do not appear to be as "sealed" as HC/HCD lenses. But this may just be an impression. All the Hasselblad XCD lenses are weather-sealed. I see no reaons to assume the new V or P lenses are any different.

When shooting sailing I use ThinkTank Hydrophobia and this is a weather/spray protection but not water proofing. If I dropped my gear in the sea then it would DIE.

[Jack73230]

This topic is not about the water resistant of x2D but I understand why we speak about .. my question to close this subject is : why HB don't write clearly the IP level of each components of the X line ( If I'm wrong sorry) . It will avoid all of personal interpretation of how to use it under the rain, on the boat ....