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
[Music]
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
[Music]
now some of you wanted to know if you
could shoot video with this camera
you know i was gonna 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