Hasselblad breaks new ground with mirrorless X1D

Pro photographers and well-off enthusiasts who want top-flight photo quality but need portability take note: Hasselblad joins the march toward mirrorlessness, debuting the world's first medium-format interchangeable-lens camera. Its new X1D series launches with the X1D-50c, essentially an adapted-for-mirrorless version of its HDC-50c, and two new lenses specifically designed for the X1D's mount.

While it's not cheap, it's not nearly as expensive as you might expect: $8,995 or £5,990 for the body, $11,300 with the XCD 45mm f3.5 lens or $14,000 with both the 45mm and XCD 90mm f4.5 lenses. (Pricing for the UK and Australia wasn't available for the kits. The US prices convert to £7,685 and £9,520, or AU$11,975, AU$15,040 and AU$18,640.)

Roughly the same size as the full-frame Leica SL but smaller and lighter than Hasselblad's HDC models, the X1D-50c incorporates the same 42.8 x 32.9mm sensor as the HDC-50c, but couples it with an electr onic viewfinder instead of an optical one. While the 50c-size sensor isn't large for medium-format, it's certainly larger than that of a full-frame camera. Its benefit lies in providing more control over background blur and much larger pixels for a greater dynamic range; 14 stops, as with the other Hasselblads.

Relative sensor sizes for medium format vs. full frame. The X1D has the same sensor as the H6D-50c.

Lori Grunin/CNET

In fact, many of its specifications match that of the reflex (mirrored) model, including the touchscreen and interface, 1.7-2.3fps burst speed, and 1080/30p video recording. It's dust-and-weather sealed, with an ISO range of ISO 100-ISO 12800 and dual SD-card slots.

Though the company is shipping the two aforementioned XCD-mount lenses for the X1D, it will also offer an H Lens adapter so that you can use all of its H lenses with it.

The camera has autofocus, but medium-format focus performance is typically not quite as fast as what we've become accustomed to; that may pose a challenge for Hasselblad as it takes on smaller, far less-expensive full-frame models like the Sony A7R II.

I'll be getting some time with the camera this afternoon, so stay tuned for an update with my hands-on impressions.

Source: Hasselblad breaks new ground with mirrorless X1D