Hasselblad releases X1D II 50C system camera with 50MP sensor for 6050 euros
Hasselblad announces the X1D II 50C system camera as the successor to the X1D-50C released three years ago. The new medium format camera still has a 50-megapixel sensor, but gets an improved electronic viewfinder.
Hasselblad does not say whether anything has improved in the sensor area compared to the first generation. The X1D-50C, released three years ago, had a sensor with a dynamic range of up to fourteen stops, and that also applies to the current successor. The 44x33mm sensor size is also unchanged. Shooting is done at 2.7 frames per second, while the predecessor was still stuck at 2.3 fps in this area.
The manufacturer speaks of a better electronic viewfinder with an OLED screen and a higher resolution of 3.69 million pixels and a magnification of 0.87x. The predecessor had an LCD viewfinder with a resolution of 2.36 million pixels. The refresh rate of the EVF would also have been increased to 60 frames per second. Furthermore, the manufacturer reports that the start-up time has been reduced by 46 percent; the shutter speed delay and blackouts between shots are also shorter compared to the X1D-50C. In terms of the housing, design and button configuration, little to nothing seems to have changed.
Things like a touchscreen on the back, two slots for SD cards, a USB-C output and support for WiFi were already present in the predecessor of the new X1D II 50C. One difference is that SD cards of the UHS-II standard are now supported. Furthermore, the resolution of the touchscreen has been increased from 1024×768 to 1280×960 pixels. A GPS module has now also been built into the new camera, so that it no longer needs to be purchased separately.
Hasselblad also announced a new XCD lens. It is a 35-75mm zoom lens with a variable aperture from f/3.5 to 4.5. This lens has internal focusing and has a minimum focusing distance of 42cm.
The new camera has a suggested retail price of 5000 euros without VAT, which comes down to 6050 euros with VAT. That is a lot lower than the suggested retail price of the predecessor, which was set at 9559 euros in June 2016. The 35-75mm lens has a suggested retail price of 4,500 euros without VAT, or 5445 euros with VAT. Hasselblad will soon announce more about the availability in the Benelux, although the Hasselblad store states that the camera will be released in Europe in July.