Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Why this $6,400 Hasselblad is the slowest camera I’ve ever loved”.
There’S like this whole idea that for something to be new, it has to move faster, our files, our cars, our processors, our packages, even they all move faster than ever, but the 907 x50c from hasselblad this camera’s, not fast. In fact, it’s the slowest camera that i’ve ever loved big things in small packages is like super. The trend in cameras recently and hasselblad’s newest digital medium format. Camera is no exception to it. The 907x is a 740 gram metal box that can serve as a standalone. Medium format, digital camera or as a digital back for hasselblad v system cameras made from 1957 onward, and it is the smallest medium format.
Body hasselblad has ever made. This camera came out in late 2020 and when i originally got this camera in for a review. Unfortunately, during shipping, the back screen shattered, which was both the most heartbreaking and terrifying unboxing – i have ever done in my whole entire life, but we’re here now we’re back in action and because of that, i’m not under any embargo.
So i got to ask all of you what you wanted to know and you all came through for me. One of my favorite questions asked was around how the camera’s form factor changed. My style of shooting – and even i was surprised at how different this camera is to use from cameras that i am used to using the 907x is done mostly with the pointer finger and grip. I mean what grip? Okay, there is a grip you can buy for additional 729 dollars, but i truly challenged myself to use this camera without this expensive mod.
There’S a battery compartment that houses dual sd card slots on the right side of the camera, a usb c port with a cool little door on the left and around front under the lens mount is the shutter button on the back underneath the 3.2 inch articulating touch Screen are the flash, headphone and mic ports cleverly hidden under a rubber door. If you spend a lot of time with hasselblad’s, more traditional, medium format, cameras using the 907x will feel extremely familiar, but for me it was like stepping into a whole new world. To start the lack of a hand, grip leads me to grip this metal box with pretty much the entirety of my right hand, and then i kept my left hand around the barrel of the lens. Next, there’s only one dial on the whole system. It runs around the shutter button, which is on the front of the camera spin, this dial to adjust f-stop or hold down the small button on the right side of the camera, while spinning the style to adjust shutter speed. Everything else is controlled on the touchscreen around back, which is very responsive and smooth, and, lastly, there’s no viewfinder on the base model of this camera.
As an ode to the waist level, cameras of medium format past the 907x’s back screen can articulate 90 degrees up so you’re looking down and into the camera instead of through the camera. At your subject, all three of these features the button placement, the lack of a handle, the articulating screen that you look down into they make for a completely new way of taking photos. It takes a lot more time to do and a lot of patience to learn.
Okay, the next big question i got on instagram was if i could compare this 50 megapixel sensor to that of a full-frame camera, and then someone also wanted to see it compared to an iphone 12 pro max, which is a funny request, because those are extremely different. Sensors but asking you shall receive: let’s talk photo quality. The 907x has a whopping, 50 megapixel medium format, sensor capable of capturing 8272 by 6200 pixels.
I found it sharpest at around f, 5.6 to f 11, but the amount of depth you can capture at f 1.9 is truly next level and its focus fall off is just stunning, although you can capture both hasselblad 3fr raw files and jpegs. I found that in post i really dug the colors from the jpegs more than starting with the super flat profile of the raws hasselblad’s color science is honestly remarkable, in particular the red hues. This camera captures are so vibrant, yet not over the top. This woman’s red jacket on the snowy white background really allows her form to come alive.
The 907x can shoot from iso 100 to iso 25600. I found the image gets a little grainy once you cross the 6400 range, but i didn’t really mind this grain. It kind of has a nice texture to it. I also took it out one night on a tripod and let that shutter sit open on still objects.
That level of detail is super useful for printing for reframing, and i think especially useful for products when you want your viewers to feel like they could reach into the frame and touch something now. The only thing that super disappointed me about using this camera was the focus system. It’S contrast based and it is slow. I think i’ve just gotten so used to the super fast systems on new mirrorless cameras, especially sony systems that coming back to the hasselblad’s slower focus system, was jarring and that’s another thing that really slowed me down. If i had a limited window for capturing a scene i wanted, i simply wouldn’t even try, because i knew i was likely to miss it, but the real match. With this camera.
It’S that huge sensor. I mean stop the f-stop down to f8 and punch in for details for days: okay, okay, okay, but now, let’s put it head-to-head with a full-frame sensor and an iphone sensor for this test. I have available to me the a7c, which is 24.2 megapixels and the 12 megapixel iphone 12 pro max. All right i’ll show you a few comparisons with the iphone, but very quickly.
We can start to see that the iphone is bringing up, shadows and honestly just not capturing the same amount of detail as the a7c or the hasselblad okay. But if we’re looking at just the a7c and the hasselblad, we can start to see a slight difference. But honestly, i was pretty impressed with how the a7c really kept up with the hasselblad. It’S only really in the depth fall off and in the background blur that i can really notice a difference, and i tried to match these camera settings as close as i possibly could. I do prefer the color science of the hasselblad, it’s just a bit punchier and truer to life. Now some of you wanted to know. If you could shoot video with this camera. You know i was gon na.
Do it come on? First and foremost, the limited amount of video settings this camera provides should really tell you that it is not made for video at all. On the 907x. You can only shoot in 2.7 k, 29.97 frames per second or full hd 29.97 frames per second and then there’s absolutely no in-body image stabilization. So when shooting handheld, you can see every shake every breath, every focus, pull and next there’s no continuous autofocus in video mode and certainly no face detection in either photo or video modes.
I i really think this camera is more for maybe capturing video reference or shooting gifs. Besides the lack of controls, i don’t think the battery life in this camera could support shooting a lot of video either. I found that, while casually taking photos all day, i was really only getting through about half of a day shooting before needing to swap to another battery, and while you can recharge a battery via a usb-c port on the side of the camera, i can’t imagine owning This camera, and not also owning at least two additional batteries. The last most frequently asked question was: who is this camera for, and that’s a damn good question, and with that it might be a good time to tell you this camera’s price. The 907x 50c starts out at 6400. for the body alone, although it is one of hasselblad’s, more affordable, digital medium format, cameras this premium sensor, this sleek design, this brand name, it doesn’t come cheap and i really think someone who’s going to keep this in their studio.
For years to come, maybe someone who’s printing, their photos, someone who’s, doing product photography, or especially the person – that’s looking to make their film camera digital and they’re going to use this as a digital back they’re the person that’s super, going to benefit from all of those Megapixels but for me i’ve always wanted to be going faster and when it comes to photography that just means getting more shots in just a second or having auto focus that can track really quickly moving subjects, because i move quickly. But when i was using the 907x, it was really nice to take a step back and slow down to put the camera on a tripod, to really think more about my compositions before just firing off the shutter. It does feel kind of like shooting film like really really valuing each and every frame it’s slow, but it’s really relaxing and the results are gorgeous so 907x50c.
I love you you’re, so gorgeous but wowie. I can’t live on this island forever. .