XCD 90 f/3.2 Discontinued

[SMurphy]

B&H is listing the XCD 90 f/3.2 lens as discontinued, and it also no longer appears in the Hasselblad Online Store.

A bit of a shame as it remains a wonderful lens.  I can see the attraction of the new 90V, but for my needs the legacy lens will keep its place in my camera bag.

[bmikiten]

I agree. The lens is sharp and while I haven't tried the new one, I can't imagine that this won't be a standard lens for years.

[MarkN]

The original XCD lenses were made by Nittoh in Japan for Hasselblad - as confirmed by this 2017 article:

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hasselblad-x1d-photography-manufacturing

I read that the V and P lenses are made by another company, possibly Panasonic, but it would suggest that Hasselblad changed lens suppliers.

[tenmangu81]

Yes, that's what I read, too. Except for the 45P, which finds (found ?) its origins in an X-Pan.
Generally speaking, and from what I read here and there, it looks like the new lenses (28P, 38V, 55V, 90V) provide a little bit lower IQ than the original "legacy" ones made by Nittoh.

[FloatingLens]

It seems you are right. The 3,2/90 is no longer listed among the X lenses in Hasselblad's own EU store.

[pdprinter]

That is the 2nd original XCD lens discontinued, no direct replacement for the 21mm. If Nittoh is not supplying anymore XCD lenses what will be the replacement for the rest. As there is an expected announcement for the replacement of the 907X 50 next week I wonder if there will be any lenses announced too (except if there is enough old stock left for some focal lengths)?
In general HB looks to have lower f-Stop lenses with some compromise especially at the edge performance but that is a general trend in the photographic business. I am not subscribing to the minimal DOF fashion, often sold as bokeh. The out of focus image quality is important for me too but I consider just blurred background a not very interesting compositional tool. Then again HB makes the P series and I hope there will come something interesting coming with good edge to edge performance

[JCM-Photos]

Yes, that's what I read, too. Except for the 45P, which finds (found ?) its origins in an X-Pan.
Generally speaking, and from what I read here and there, it looks like the new lenses (28P, 38V, 55V, 90V) provide a little bit lower IQ than the original "legacy" ones made by Nittoh.

Hasselblad says that it's the XCD 45 3.5 that is a re-engineered X-Pan 45mm formula by the same Nittoh engineer to fit to the leaf shutter and digital sensor.
But as the XCD45 3.5 is fantastic on the digital X camera, my X-Pan 45mm has bad results on it.

At the launch of the X1D Hasselblad also announced 3 lenses based on the same suite as the X-Pan: 30mm 45mm and 90mm

https://youtu.be/zKG-bUc3qDY?si=I_0q68NZ4U37WV59

[JCM-Photos]

The legacy XCD line has to be discontinued because they use the same 3 different shutters of the H system and the lens manufacturing workflow is very complex:

manufacturing, testing of exposure blocs in sweden
shipping them to Nittoh japan
Integration in the lenses by Nittoh
bulk shipping to Hasselblad in Sweden
individual lenses final testing and packaging in Sweden

[Alex]

use the same 3 different shutters

Do you mean here that that the various legacy XCD line lenses use 1 of 3 different types of shutters?

If so it'd be useful know which lenses used which type of shutter i.e -
XCD21 - Type A shutter
XCD30 - Type B
XCD45 (3.5) - Type B
XCD90 - Type A
XCD120 - Type B
XCD135 - Type C
etc

Do you have such infomation at hand?



Thanks,


A

[JCM-Photos]

it's a matter of opening diameter of the leaf shutter depending on focal length and lens opening that give the type of H shutter used in the XCD lens,

The biggest  for 135, 80mm XCD's has a double magnetic actuator, other lenses have one of the smaller shutters with a single magnetic actuator.

You will find the informations on different Hasselblad publications on their homepage and on youtube.

[Alex]

Thanks, I look forward to researching further.


A.

[Georg Kovalcik]

The legacy XCD line has to be discontinued because they use the same 3 different shutters of the H system and the lens manufacturing workflow is very complex:

manufacturing, testing of exposure blocs in sweden
shipping them to Nittoh japan
Integration in the lenses by Nittoh
bulk shipping to Hasselblad in Sweden
individual lenses final testing and packaging in Sweden

Is there any evidence for this story? From Hasselblad, Nittoh or anyone who has an insight to Hasselblads manufacturing processes?

[pdprinter]

The 28P has a completely different shutter with only 2 blades and one single pivot point https://www.hasselblad.com/x-system/lenses/xcd-28p. I think such a small shutter can be only used for small openings but it goes to 1/4000sec. So I see no evidence that HB wants to reduce the number of shutter designs but maybe update the older ones

[FloatingLens]

I tend to agree. Shutter design has been for a long time a core technology developed by Hasselblad. Why would discontinuation of the H line mean they no longer produce a full range of shutter devices? I think Hasselblad continue to refine their designs and provide it for the assembly of lenses.

[colonel]

this is a very interest thread which I did not pick up on before

it sounds like the original lenses are something special, at least I think my 45/3.5 is.
This makes me want to get the 30/3.5 more as it is a classic that might not be repeated

Does any know yet if Nittoh is still manufacturing the original designs, and who the new manufacturer is ?