A lot of new information about Hasselblad’s new X1D mirrorless medium format camera has been shared on the internet recently, especially on Hasselblad’s own Facebook page.
The Hasselblad team have been personally addressing many questions posed by prospective buyers and curious photographers, and among one of the more interesting comments was that Hasselblad will not be making any zoom lenses for the X1D.
The X1D launched with a 45mm and 90mm prime, and they’ve already mentioned that a 30mm wide-angle lens will be premiered at Photokina in September.
Hasselblad also mentioned that there will be more XCD lenses to come next year, although they mentioned that “having zoom will be difficult, as it’s almost impossible theoretically to develop a zoom lens for such large medium format sensor that is compact and practical for such portable camera. We hope this helps!”
However, that doesn’t mean that if you purchase a X1D, you won’t have access to zooms. Since Hasselblad have an adapter with their H-series lenses, photographers will be able to use lenses like the Hasselblad HCD 35-90mm f/4-5.6 or Hasselblad HC 50-110mm f/3.5-4.5—the only caveat will be that those lenses are far bulkier than the body of the X1D.
If you want the convenience of zooms, you’ll have to sacrifice the size and compactness of the mirrorless system itself. It’s a compromise that might not be worth it, especially since the whole point of the system is its portability.
Source: Bokeh
