Hasselblad 907X 100C Is Finally Here!

We couldn’t believe our eyes when Hasselblad announced their newest entry to the market known as the Hasselblad 907X 100C, which surprisingly boasts a whole host of features that exponentially change the camera dynamics.

Frontautenly, the rumors in the past month to some extent were true, however, there are some features that we didn’t expect it would also roll out in this entry which makes it extremely versatile such as:

• First of all, as the name suggests, it rocks a 100MP medium format sensor combined with nearly 16 stops of dynamic range which means the image quality for professional photoshoots is beyond our mental capacity. 
• It even comes with an enhanced form of phase detection autofocus across nearly the entire frame, focusing will be a breeze and we cannot wait to get our hands on this bad boy and test out the claims by Hasselblad. We are also certain the precision on focusing has been top-notch considering the previous iteration which hasn’t disappointed us either.
• Furthermore, the whole setup, even though may look bulky, surprisingly only weighs a mere 620 grams, so it will be much less of a burden to haul around all day. 
• My favorite aspect that has also made its way through the cracks of leaks is the tilt-screen and customizable buttons, I can already envision the seamless workflow improvements in my photoshoots.

One of our senior editors, Edward was even baffled by its 100MP sensor and commented something along the lines “I keep mentally going over all the specs again because the 100MP capture is just mind-blowing for the image quality it will allow.” 

That’s right Edward, No more upscaling smaller files or worrying about cropping in posts. 

But that’s not even the most scrumptious part of this news because apparently, I and my dad always had a thing for collecting old gear which included Mamiya lenses and some vintage Hasselblad glass, and since it is now fully supported, I can easily pop in some of those vintage bad boys and take it out for the spin in the field.

After surfing a couple of infamous subreddits such as r/Photography and r/Hassleblad, there is been quite a word around this camera back, however, most of them revolve around the price tag. One highly enthusiastic individual even posted “I’m sure this system will be outside many photographers’ budgets, but if I pick up some side work and save aggressively over the next year, I think I can swing a pre-order.”

Which our reply was “I am fairly certain your endeavors would be worth it, even though it is a mountainous investment, it is still worth the investment and will be the go-to investment for years to come.

What Other Features Are Introduced In this Entry?

Well along with the massive price tag, here are a couple of noteworthy elements that are present such as, 

1. The autofocus system is vastly improved considering it now has up to 300 focus points covering nearly the entire frame, lock-on focusing will be incredibly fast and accurate, pretty sure it drastically helps during wildlife photoshoots.
2. Let us not forget it even has a Type C connectivity, I am glad that the Type C feature is making its way on the surface with many products I own, the ability to charge my device as well as transfer files is over standard CFExpress cards or directly from the built-in SSD. In other words, No more bottlenecking over slow card speeds.
3. Although, I did have my fair share of doubts regarding high-resolution backs as the battery life on these things sucks since  Hasselblad claims it would offer 420 shots per charge which should get me through a full day of shooting with no worries. 
4. A dynamic range of 15 full stops means I’ll have maximum editing flexibility no matter the lighting situations I encounter. Things will really pop even in my city’s often harsh contrast.
5. It even offers a leaf shutter for lenses, which means pushing the speed limit on your previous lenses is no longer an issue especially if you are planning to go along with studio-grade flash sync issues.

One on the r/Hassleblad subreddit had a very valid concern and it was hard not to include it here, 

“I hope they fixed the problem of paint with the buttons, normal use the paint starts to tear apart. That was the only thing disappointing when I had the 50c. But it worked beautifully with my Hasselblad 500CM, having a 100Mp now is a dream!” 

How Does The Built-In Calibrated View Finder Work?

Being a professional Photographer, I was skeptical about the calibrated Built viewfinder, however, after researching its logic, I instantly fell in love with it, here is why.

First of all, instead of using a viewfinder that has a one-size-fits-all view frame, Hasselblad on the other hand has has calibrated the viewfinder’s markings which cater to lenses such as the XCD 28, 38, and 55mm lenses. 

Furthermore, it also offers center-weighted framing lines that match the angle of view for each lens. So when you mount a 28mm XCD, the scales will represent the 28mm focal length precisely which is why it is pretty much the same for the 38 and 55, pretty clever right? But that’s not all, This modularity means you aren’t left to go through all the endeavors so you aren’t restricted by certain focal lengths. It even acts as a digital camera’s electronic viewfinder in displaying exactly what the lens sees.

Nevertheless, considering how many features it has to offer, it looks like Hasselblad has thought of everything a working pro could want with this system. Since the demand is so booming right now, I am fairly skeptical I would get my hands on the first batch but here is hoping it arrives in the mail in a couple of weeks, our team of camera nerds cannot wait to tear it apart for benchmarks and put it through its paces!