I just tested the $7,400 Hasselblad X2D II 100C — here's why it might just tempt me away from Fujifilm

The Hasselblad X2D II 100C is the legendary Swedish camera manufacturer’s latest flagship mirrorless camera and the successor to the original Hasselblad X2D 100C. Just like its predecessor, the new model features a behemoth 100 megapixel medium format sensor, and is aimed at discerning modern professionals who need the last word in image sharpness and color accuracy.

For all the similarities, though, the X2D II fixes some of its predecessor’s glaring issues. The first model — as glorious, indulgent and lovable as it was — lacked features I’d expect in a professional body. The autofocus was very basic, with little in the way of subject detection, while there wasn’t even a focus joystick, often forcing you to rely on the screen instead of the beautiful hi-res EVF.

These were bitter pills to swallow given the +$8,000 price tag and the fact that its main rival, the (admittedly newer) Fujifilm GFX100 II, had no such issues, and even offered video.

The X2D II is Hasselblad’s answer to the GFX. The AF is much improved. There’s a joystick. It even costs less than its predecessor. So can it do enough to best the Fuji and become the best mirrorless camera in the medium format arena? Find out in my full Hasselblad X2D II 100C review.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Specs

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Price & availability

The Hasselblad X2D II 100C costs $7,399 which, believe it or not, is pretty good value (in medium format terms). At the very least, it’s a step in the right direction. See, medium format cameras are just incredibly expensive. Even a “budget” medium format camera, the Fujifilm GFX100S II, sits pretty at $4,999.

The original X2D 100C cost $8,199, so kudos to Hasselblad for knocking nearly 10% off the second model (despite significant updates). Stop the presses, though: the Fujifilm GFX100II costs $7,499, so Hasselblad is even undercutting Fujifilm!? Am I dreaming? Am I drunk? Am I… dead?

Anyway, back to this new weird reality: lenses are still Hasselblad-expensive. To resolve 100 megapixels, glass has to be incredibly good. Otherwise there wouldn’t be any point using such a high-res sensor. This is the best glass in the consumer industry, and you’ll pay for it. I tested the X2D II with Hasselblad’s latest lens, the XCD 35-100mm F2.8-4, which will set you back another $4,599.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Design

The X2D II looks virtually identical to the original X2D, which is no bad thing. I adore the camera’s styling. It’s ultimate high-end scandi: minimalist and futuristic, albeit with a neo-retro vibe. Sharp lines, elegant fonts, a matte gunmetal gray finish. It puts the odd shiver down the old spinal cord.

Build quality is peerless. Fujifilm’s cameras are built by the Japanese, and that’s good. Hasselblads are hand-forged by Norse Gods, and that’s better. Just kidding, they’re actually hand-forged by run-of-the-mill Swedish human beings, but the crafting is God-tier nevertheless.

Despite being a similarly humungous chunk of metal, the X2D II is 7.5% lighter than the original X2D (1.97lbs), although that’s like comparing a 92.5-ton slab of granite to a 100-ton slab of granite. At 1.85lbs the new model is still really bloody heavy, especially when you add that enormous 35-100mm lens. It’s 0.35lbs lighter than the GFX100 II (2.2lbs), though.

Displays

The X2D II has three displays. I’ll go in the order of how much I resent them, from least to most. The rear screen is a tilting 3.6-inch 2.36M-dot OLED display, which is super bright (1,400 nits, no less) with lots of contrast — both needed for the HDR mode I’ll discuss below.

Aside from looking great, the screen is capacious too, enabling the spacious and easy-to-use menu system (more on that later). 2.36M-dots of resolution is par for the course with mid- and high-end cameras, and is the same as you’ll find on the GFX100 II. For detailed focus checking at 100MP, though, you’ll want to use the higher-res EVF.

Up on the top panel sits a 158K-dot 1.08-inch TFT settings display, about which I’m ambivalent. Its job is to show you settings. It does its job.

The EVF is, honestly, a let down. It’s a micro-OLED display with 5.76M dots of resolution. That’s not bad. But it’s no improvement on the original X2D and much lower res than the GFX100 II’s 9.44M-dot EVF. The much cheaper 61MP Sony A7R V ($3,900) has a 9.44M-dot EVF, as does the 50MP Sony A1 II ($6,499). The 45MP Canon EOS R5 Mark II ($4,299) and even the 24.5MP Nikon Z6 III ($2,499) both have 5.76M-dot EVFs.

100MP is where a super high-res 9.44M-dot EVF is needed most, especially when you’re paying $7,399. This camera ought to have one.

Connectivity

Just like the original X2D, this second iteration features a built-in 1TB SSD with a CFExpress Type-B port for expanding storage by up to 512GB. Even with the camera’s enormous 100MP RAW files, though, 1TB is plenty of storage — I shot around 400 photos in testing and still had over 800GB left, so never needed to install my SanDisk Extreme 128GB CFExpress Type-B card.

There’s also a USB-C port for tethering and a port for wired shutter release devices. Naturally there’s a hot shoe up top for flash (which is supported at all mechanical shutter speeds). And that’s it! Pared-back Scandi minimalism.

Software

The X2D II also pairs with the Hasselblad Phocus 2 app. I wouldn’t want to edit RAW files on the app, but at the very least it’s useful to quickly preview and download shots — much quicker than transferring hundreds of +70MB JPEGs or +200MB RAW files to a computer.

Importantly, the X2D II is not compatible with Capture One and you’ll need to use Hasselblad’s Phocus desktop app to tether instead, which will be a big reason for many pros to opt for Fuji’s GFX line.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Controls & handling

The X2DII handles extremely well for such a large (5.8 x 4.1 x 2.9 inches) camera. It features a redesigned sculpted grip, blessed with more bevelling around the lower front and rear areas. It’s extremely comfortable to hold, but then again, so was the previous grip.

I had no issues operating the camera handheld on the street, at angles, and in portrait orientation. There are very few buttons and some are a stretch for your right hand due to the camera’s sheer size, although everything can be tweaked using the screen and menu (more on that below). There’s an Fn button down by the lens, just in reach of my right pinky, but it would’ve been nice to see a button or two in the grip recess, à la the GFX100 II and GFX100S II.

On a tripod in the studio — any Hasselblad’s indigenous habitat — it’s a joy. The control scheme just makes perfect sense, with large buttons and a bright screen that are each easy to hit in the dark.

Most pertinent control-wise is the addition of a focus joystick. Hasselblad calls it a “long-awaited joystick” — a tacit admission that it really, really should’ve put one on the last model. On the original X2D, choosing focus points while using the EVF was a total pain in the proverbial. Problem now solved.

Menu

Ah, Hasselblad’s menu system: while it giveth with one hand, it taketh away with the other. It’s so pretty, so minimal, so well laid out. Alas, like a benign mole, it is but skin deep. I said the same thing about the last model: there’s just not enough control over the camera.

Fujifilm’s menu gives you mastery of virtually every aspect of its GFX cameras. And it’s not as though it’s an outlier for doing so: Sony, Canon, Nikon, Lumix — their menu systems are all equally as comprehensive. It’s de rigeuer with modern mirrorless cameras.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Autofocus

The X2D II’s autofocus is much improved over the original model, which only had a single detection mode for human faces. The X2D features face and eye detection, which is important. On both the Hasselblad 907X + CFV 100C ($8,199) and X2D 100C (both use the same AF system), eyes often weren’t in sharp focus when shooting portraits — important, as the X2D was otherwise fantastic for high-end fashion billboard photographers.

Anyway, the new eye detection works very well, making the camera an even better prospect for portrait photographers. In the image above, eye detection found and tracked the subject’s eye, which is in sharp focus. It had no problems detecting in lower light, either, as in the portrait below which was taken in a dimly lit restaurant with the exposure boosted in post.

There’s now also cat/dog and vehicle detection modes too, making the X2D II a much easier camera to shoot with outside of a perfect studio environment. That said, the GFX100 II packs a wider roster of subject detection modes (including bird, animal, plane, train etc), so remains the more flexible tool.

The X2D II’s AF is fairly competent. It feels faster than the original X2D, especially using the new XCD 35-100mm lens. Although AF on medium format cameras is never that snappy: they simply aren’t meant to be fast. It struggled to keep up with slow moving birds, for instance, and the pigeon in the shot below is just a little soft.

Thanks to the hybrid PDAF/CDAF and LiDAR combo, the AF is effective even in dimly lit conditions, especially with human subjects. It struggled with low contrast subjects like my dogs’ eyes — they have black eyes and fur — but I haven’t yet found a camera that doesn’t struggle with those.

However (and I can’t bang the drum enough here), this isn’t a fast camera for rapidly changing scenarios. It’s for slower-paced, considered photography and studio work, so pining after the fastest AF is a moot pine. And besides, it's indisputable: the best way to focus on a Hasselblad is manually. For the uninitiated, MF on a Hassy is a joyous experience, and the on-screen/EVF MF assist dial makes it super easy, always proving accurate and reliable.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Stabilization

The X2D II features an upgraded in-body image stabilization (IBIS) system, now good for up to 10 stops of stabilization. It’s very, very competent and bests the (still very good) IBIS systems in Fujifilm GFX cameras.

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In the images above, I was able to shoot down to ¼ sec handheld with the scale legends still perfectly sharp. By ½ sec I was unable to get sharp shots — the image looks okay from afar, but zoom in close and the legends have blurred.

On the Original X2D and GFX100 II, you started to get problems at ⅛ sec in the same test. It takes a lot to stabilize such whopping great sensors, so ¼ sec is a fantastic result for a medium format camera.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Image performance

100MP gives you jaw-dropping levels of detail. The gallery above shows crops with the full-size original photos afterwards. As you can see, it’s possible to crop to borderline criminal levels and still come away with richly detailed images. In the cropped image of the green and red foliage, you can see the veins of the leaves and droplets of water.

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In the cropped image of the bee, you can see its fuzzy little abdomen and veined wings. That reframed image is still 12 megapixels despite the massive crop. It’s madness. Having this much detail at your fingertips isn’t just about cropping either — 100MP is ideal for super large format printing, like commercial billboard advertising.

Color rendition is equally as important to the Hassy ethos. It’s put decades behind its vaunted color science, and as soon as you use one, you get it. The X2D II offers 16-bit color depth, just like the original X2D, giving you 281 trillion individual shades. As a result, colors are just so darned true to life.

Having all that headroom with color also gives you heaps of flexibility with color and light in post. In the portrait above, I was able to shift the background entirely from blue to purple without any banding.

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You only get one color profile, though. It's a good one, but if you want to be able to shoot in different profiles in-camera, you'll need to opt for one of the GFX cameras. Likewise, if you want black and white, that all has to be done afterwards in post.

Dynamic range

With a big old sensor comes a big old dynamic range, and the X2D II’s RAW files give you heaps of flexibility in post production, with lots of headroom in highlights and less risk of blowing out the top end of the histogram.

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The first image above is shot in purposefully challenging backlit conditions at the lowest native sensitivity, ISO50. The second image is the same file with the shadows and exposure lifted, plus the highlights reduced.

Shadows are very clean, and plenty of detail has been revealed at the low end with shadows boosted — you can see the text on the lens body and the individual ridges on the control rings. The highlights were also salvageable. I placed fake ice cubes on the softbox netting behind the lens — they weren’t blown out with lots of detail retrievable.

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One of the new features on the X2D II, though, is HDR (High Dynamic Range), which lets you push to a maximum 15.3 stops of dynamic range. Alongside 16-bit color depth, this gives you even more tonal range, with super deep shadows and crisp highlights.

Personally, I still prefer working with RAW files, and there’s so much headroom there anyway that I don’t really need the extra dynamic range in JPEGs. Still, 200MB RAW files are a serious headache to move around and work on. With HDR JPEGs, you can have your cake and eat it too: bags of dynamic range with much easier files.

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As you can see in the out-of-camera JPEG above, you still have plenty of editing room despite the compression: In the second image, I’ve boosted the shadows to reveal lots of detail. I don’t see why you couldn’t work entirely with JPEGs on this camera.

High ISO performance

One of the joys of shooting on medium format cameras is how far you can push ISO values and come away with great-looking shots. The portrait below was shot at ISO25,600.

The X2D II tops out at ISO25,600, which is short of the GFX100II’s ISO51,200. That’s a little disappointing: these cameras can shoot up at 51,200 comfortably so why not give us the option, Hasselblad?

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Above are JPEG exports of the RAW files, which had no noise processing applied. Noise is obviously visible at the higher values, and causes a dip in sharpness, but even at ISO25,600, it isn’t even approaching ruinous. I wouldn’t want to blow up the ISO25,600 shots for large-scale printing, but for online/small screen viewing, they’re absolutely fine.

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Above are the out-of-camera JPEGs, with in-camera noise processing applied. The smoothing effect of noise suppression results in a noticeable drop in sharpness versus lower ISO values. Again, though, I wouldn’t think twice about using ISO25,600 JPEGs online.

Continuous drive

The X2D II’s continuous shooting rates are positive sedate, even for medium format. The camera tops out at 3fps, versus the GFX100II’s 8.7fps. If you need any semblance of speed, you’ll want to opt for the Fuji.

That said, 3fps should be fine for fashion shoots, giving models enough time to change position as you fire off shots!

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Battery life

Hasselblad rates the X2D II for 466 shots on a single battery, which is fairly accurate, if not a little conservative. I managed 246 frames (RAW + JPEG) from around 55% of battery. And that included mixed use of the EVF and rear display, playback, messing around on menus and tweaking settings etc.

Extrapolating, you can expect nearly 500, and that ain’t bad for a monster like this. Switch on HDR, and you can naturally expect your frame count to drop.

Hasselblad X2D II 100C review: Verdict

The Hasselblad X2D II 100C is a solid step up over the original X2D. Many of its core features have received welcome updates, especially the AF, but also the boosted IBIS, too. It’s the best camera the brand has made so far, and if you’re new to the Hasselblad system, it’s the model to get.

Would I upgrade from the original X2D 100C? No. These aren’t fast cameras. They’re about supreme imaging performance and are most at home in a studio environment. I don’t think the X2D II will perform that much better in such scenarios to warrant the upgrade.

Should you buy the X2D II 100C over the Fujifilm GFX100 II? Tricky. Both cameras produce phenomenal photos, but the Hassy’s glass and images feel just that bit sharper. And if you care most about color rendition, it’s Sweden all the way. Overall, though, the X2D II can’t pip the Fuji for general usability. The Hasselblad is slower; its AF is still behind the curve; the EVF is lower-res; and it won’t shoot video.

If you put both in front of me and asked me to pick one, though, I know it’d be the Hassy — not from the head, but from the heart. And I’m a Fuji guy.