Hasselblad X1D... Thoughts and Testing

Well I having been shooting photography for going on 13 years now and I remember when I was lucky enough to buy my first digital camera, the Nikon D100. At a whopping 6.1 megapixels, it was the semi professional camera of the early 2000's. At the time I was heavily involved with my collage newspaper, both in shooting, design and writing. I shot every sport on campus from football, hockey, basketball, gymnastics, baseball, you name it. I still remember being blown away by 8x10 prints the camera produced even using a cheap Epson photo printer. I used to sell prints for beer money to the athletes I took photos of. It did the job, and did the job well. 

Hasselblad X1D with 90mm and 45mm lenses. 

Hasselblad X1D with 90mm and 45mm lenses. 

Fast forward to today and we are spoiled with the options out there. Sony with their 42mp A7Rii, Nikon has the new D850, Canon has a 50 megapixel camera, Fuji, Leica, and well of course Hasselblad with their 50 and 100 megapixel sensors. They even can render a 200 megapixel image by compiling multiple images on top of each other. Where will we head next.

Shot on top of the William Vale Hotel Brooklyn, NY - Bride and Groom Editorial style shot.

Shot on top of the William Vale Hotel Brooklyn, NY - Bride and Groom Editorial style shot.

I was lucky enough to be able to use the somewhat new Hasselblad X1D for a weekend in NYC not only to bum around the city, but to shoot my wife and I as we celebrated our wedding. Now if you actually read my blog or this article you most likely just spit out your morning coffee in disbelief. Sure, would a Sony or even Fuji for that matter be easier to use, absolutely, however when you get to borrow a 50 megapixel Hasselblad, you just don't say no. 

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Bride and Groom heading to dinner.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Bride and Groom heading to dinner.

To put it bluntly, this camera is a beast. The resolution is out of this world insane, and I can see why pro's who shoot portrait, and advertising work use Hasselblad. The camera is great, however it does come with some drawbacks, but more on that in a few. The pros to me outweigh the cons. The camera is lighter than most of the pro SLRs out there and way lighter than any other Hasselblad, Phase One system or Leica medium format system on the market. Yes I've also shot with the Leica and well... didn't like it at all. However, the X1D still has some heft to it, in a good way. You know you are handling something special as it feels really solid, and built like a tank. The lenses are also matching in quality. It's just beautiful to look at as well.  The image quality again is top notch and the amount of detail even zoomed past 100% is incredible. The menu system and touch screen is fantastic. Never did I have any glitches or issues using the functions as it's very straight forward. All around it's a fantastic piece of kit.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Posing in Downtown Brooklyn, NY.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Posing in Downtown Brooklyn, NY.

The Cons although not much, could be an annoyance to some, however, one must realize what they are comparing this too.People say it's not as fast as a DSLR or it's not as pro as a high end medium format camera. It sort of lies in the middle. That is where I think a lot of people get hung up on this camera. I could rant all day about people on YouTube getting paid to say this or that about one thing or another and it's frankly bullshit and annoying. The only real cons I'll bring up are three. The camera is a slow shooter. This doesn't bother me because I know what I'm getting myself into. I know this isn't going to be a Canon 5D iii or Nikon D5 or whatever. I have to slow down my shooting, plan the shot, set it up and take it. Second, the focusing. It is not meant for this type of shooting for one and I knew that going in. It's center weighted or you can select your focus point "it will not AF for you like a Canon, Sony, Nikon" it's a different focusing system so you can't bash it for that. You use the center focus square, focus and recompose, or if your'e on a tripod you manually select the correct AF point. Again didn't bother me because I knew what I was up against. Third and last, and I accredit this to just my style of shooting is the ISO and shutter speed performance. Now, in my scenario, I was shooting natural light between 2pm and 6pm. I like to shoot as the lowest ISO possible and tried to stay between 100-400. However I like to also use a fast shutter which means I'm used to shooting fast prime lenses as in f1.8-2.8. The lenses for the camera are a minimum I believe f3.5 which I think made it a bit difficult. That paired with some overcast conditions I was typically shooting around 1/60 - 1/250 of a second. For me I just missed a few shots with the lack of stabilization or all the other fancy things out there like VR lenses. Again, I'm okay with this because if I had lighting options I would have used them, or would have pumped up my ISO, whatever it was literally my wife and I, my dad and a tripod, I made it work and am still blown away with the results.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Natural light editorial style shot of Bride and Groom.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Natural light editorial style shot of Bride and Groom.

At this point famous YouTube people are probably cursing under their breath and saying this isn't an honest or "real world" review as they call it, but in my eyes it was. I know what I wanted to shoot, I took the camera out with nothing but a tripod and got some amazing shots. I didn't have a huge production crew, a million lights or makeup artist. All in all, again, this camera is great for what it's intended to be used for. It's not a run and gun wedding shooter, or a sports action 15 frames a second this or that, so I wish people would stop comparing different technology. If I had the money I would buy one in a heartbeat and shameless plug, would one day love to be a Hasselblad Ambassador, but at the moment it's just not in my budget. At the end of the day, just like all the other gear out there it is a tool with a specific job, it's just that this is a touch more special to me than any other camera I've used in the past.   

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Hailing a cab in Brooklyn.

Hasselblad X1D Sample Image - Hailing a cab in Brooklyn.

Thanks you for reading I hope you enjoyed - Never stop shooting!

**Disclaimer - all images are resized for the web and therefor do not represent the full resolution images that are produced by this camera** 

Analog Apex

The blend of analog photography & modern Motorsport...

I'm always up for a creative challenge, so I jumped at the opportunity to really test out the EOS 650 35mm camera during a IMSA race at Virginia International Raceway a few weeks ago with my trusty 50mm 1.8 and a rented 70-200mm. I also had my Hasselblad 500cm with me as well for some more static shots. Lets get right into it! For the Canon I was shooting Kodak T-Max 400 a Black and White favorite of mine and I'm sure many others, and I was also shooting some Fuji 400h Pro for the first time. For the Hassy I was shooting some expensive, yet sexy, and magical, Fuji Chrome Velvia 50, also for the first time. 

Rahal Letterman BMW M6 blasting down the back of the track...

Rahal Letterman BMW M6 blasting down the back of the track...

As the day got underway I was pumped with how decently well the Canon auto focus held up and dealt with cars hustling around the track some places over 100 mph. It would sometimes go out of focus and not be spot on however I just made sure that I was 100% sure I nailed the shot, because well as we all know, you can't review your images! In total I had 48 shots of black and white and 72 shots of color. 120 shots is not a lot esp when you are shooting all day and want to capture all parts of an event but I made the most of it alternating between the track and the paddock. 

A gentleman's chariot, Mercedes AMG GT car getting prepped to hit the track...  

A gentleman's chariot, Mercedes AMG GT car getting prepped to hit the track...  

After I got the film back I was disappointed to say the least. More than half of the shots both black and white and color, however most of the color ones were completely blacked out and it was obvious there was a shutter lag issue with this camera, bummer!  However looking at the bright side and staying positive this was the first shots I've ever taken with this camera and it essentially was a trial run. If I would have shot a roll prior I would have caught it, oh well. 

Team Risi Competizione prepping the Ferrari 488 GT car for track time...

Team Risi Competizione prepping the Ferrari 488 GT car for track time...

Out of the shots I got, I was pretty pleased that they were indeed in focus and offered some great images for the day. Since I did start with black and white, those turned out the most usable images. As it got hotter in the afternoon the shutter issue I feel became more apparent, hence the color not turning out so hot. 

The Ford GT speeding along full throttle...

The Ford GT speeding along full throttle...

All in a days work it was a fun time to shoot film at a fun event. I did also, get some weird looks, and struck up some good conversation with people who were shooting the latest high-end Nikon or Canon gear with 400mm glass and all sorts of gizmos. They were actually intrigued for the most part, and well when I pulled out the Hasselblad, some even turned away from looking at R8's or Porsches. 

Since then I have fixed the shutter issue for now, "crossing fingers" and still plan to use the camera for several upcoming events and travel, just need to maintain the shutter after each roll to ensure the sticking issue has ended. As a 25$ camera body investment for the Canon, I'm not too worried about it. If it breaks, I'll probably just buy another one. 

As far as the Hasselblad goes and that Velvia 50 Fuji film. Oh boy of course it is probably one of my favorite films I've shot on this camera. It sure is pricey though! At about 12$ a roll $55 for a five  pack it is not cheap, nor is it cheap to have developed, yet I want to buy a five pack and keep on hand for some awesome moments when I can put it to use. Forget really using this film in terrible light, however the dynamic range on it is fantastic, the grain is non existent and the colors are nothing short of Fuji fantastic. It uses an E6 processing method too, which creates a "positive" on the film once developed and in essence "slide film" The film itself once developed looks amazing holding them up to the light and once scanned looks brilliant. The images shown were not altered in Lightroom that much. I just adjusted the highlights and shadows a touch and some other minor dust removal ect.

BMW M6 of Rahal Letterman in the garage getting some tuning done before the race... 

BMW M6 of Rahal Letterman in the garage getting some tuning done before the race... 

Race Marshal looking on to the start of the race...

Race Marshal looking on to the start of the race...

This film would be best in early morning shoots, and early evening and even mid day when you have great light. I would also be careful on exposure and if you can push 1/2 or a full stop in camera depending on the light and shadows or else the image could be too dark. I'm happy with my first set of images and can't wait to shoot some proper landscape with this film. 

The R8 sits in the Paddock as it gets prepped to get on the track...

The R8 sits in the Paddock as it gets prepped to get on the track...

A driver looking focused and ready to race...

A driver looking focused and ready to race...

Well that's all I have so far! Hope you made it to the end of this long post as it was sort of two or three posts in one. Get out there and keep shooting, and don't be afraid to try something new and expand on something you might not be comfortable with. 

Medium Format... An intimate affair.

How shooting film has made me a better photographer. Tips, Film Type and why film will never die!

This year I discovered the joy of shooting medium format film, and it has completely rejuvenated my interest in photography as a whole. Lets start by going over what makes medium format so attractive. I have been shooting photography since 2004 when I first picked up my brand new Nikon D100. At the time this 6 something megapixel camera was at the top tier for semi pro and pro shooters alike. In collage I never took any film classes, and really just wrote film off as, oh it takes forever to get developed, I can never see what I'm shooting, and it's just slow. Fast forward to today with over 13 years of photography experience, several digital bodies and lenses later and my favorite camera to shoot... My newly acquired 1979 Hasselblad 500cm. 

Until I bought my Hasselblad I really didn't know much about film as I mentioned above, yet alone the word that is medium format. I didn't know what 120 film was, or the 6x6/645 lingo until a photo friend started to show off his Mamiya 645 camera.  Lets just say it it peeked my interest. I started the long and grueling internet search for medium format cameras. I looked at photographers, bloggers, reviews, brands and so on. I was immersed in this new found love, it became an intimate affair. 

After I settled that I wanted a Hasselblad, mainly for it's iconic look and heritage I found a perfect example on Ebay and took the plunge. It arrived a few days later as anxiously awaited the USP driver like a little kid on Christmas morning. I opened the box and I was infatuated with the cameras purity. I snagged some film and started shooting.  

1979 Hasselblad 500cm with a few of my favorite rolls of 120 Film.

1979 Hasselblad 500cm with a few of my favorite rolls of 120 Film.


Slides of film are tangible... You can touch them, they aren't something lost on a hard drive.

Slides of film are tangible... You can touch them, they aren't something lost on a hard drive.

Wait so your'e saying it shoots a square photo? Like Instagram? Sure you can say that, although this is OG and timeless. At first I didn't know how I would like the square look. It takes a lot more thought and time to really compose an image because well for one, the rule of thirds it a bit thrown off, it's hard to lead your subject, and square proportions usually leaves a little less of a desired look. 

I was hesitant at first and sort of unsure how to approach photography, something I've been great at for the past decade. However, the rudimentary shape of a square quickly became somewhat of an obsession and a challenge. It makes one look at a photo, a portrait or a landscape in a whole new manor. 

Loading a roll of film takes time, patience, and a certain meticulous care. With a medium format camera one doesn't just turn on the camera and blast away at 14 frames a second. Remember with 6x6 you only get 12 shots so make them count, and the old saying can be applied, measure twice and cut once...except expose twice or three times and shoot once. 

When I shoot a roll of film I might not finish a roll in a day, week or even two weeks. Sometimes I forget even what is on the roll once I get it developed. I plan my shots, I wait for the moment and capture something sensational on a tangible format. Once you start shooting film it almost becomes an extension of yourself. When I shoot film, I'm in no rush, I think about my shot before I even compose the exposure and then I think about it some more. I can't Photoshop the image after or crop someone out it's there forever engraved into a piece of transparent plastic. 

I encourage everyone especially these days to explore film if they can. Maybe not jump into medium format right away, but 35mm cameras can be had for some great prices. Explore different film types, some are high contrast some are grainy or smooth. Slow down your shooting, explore new mediums and don't limit yourself the the digital world. 

Concours d'Elegance

Blending the history, heritage and grandeur from three of North Carolina’s proudest traditions – Motorsports, golf and military – The Pinehurst Concours d'Elegance is a unique celebration of America’s passion for the automobile and honor for the brave men and women who protect and provide the very freedom we enjoy.

Known as the birthplace of golf in the United States, Pinehurst has hosted more golf championships than any other site in America, including the 2014 U.S. Open and 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, PGA Championship, a Ryder Cup match, PGA Tour Championship and U.S. Amateurs.

Events are planned for the fifth annual Pinehurst Concours d’Elegance on Saturday, May 6, 2017, with some of the most historic and rare automobiles staged on the fairways of the iconic golf resort.