Review: Hasselblad 907X 100C

Hasselblad's new 100-megapixel medium-format camera system is capable of truly stunning images and totally incapable of shooting video. This is a photographer's camera, for those lucky enough to still be photographers, without the demanding video workload tacked on to every job. If that's you—and you have plenty of cash to spare—this is the camera you want.

The CFV 100C is a new 100-megapixel digital back that will pair with both Hasselblad's 907X digital body (the smallest medium format camera on the market) and older 501c Hasselblads. Throw in an optional grip and you have a medium-format digital camera system that can be used like an old Hasselblad film camera (shooting waist level), as a more versatile digital version using the flip screen, or for more traditional SLR-style shooting with the grip.

Second to None

Like most photographers, I do not have a Hasselblad 501c just lying about, so I did all my testing using the 907X with the CFV 100C. This combo is incredibly compact, comfortable to shoot with at both waist level and eye level, plus easy to carry around. The 907X portion of the rig is thin, little more than something that connects an XCD series lens to the 100C sensor back. The brains and sensor of the package are in the new CFV 100C digital back.

The 100-megapixel medium-format sensor is the same one Hasselblad used in the X2D (7/10, WIRED Review), and it remains mind-blowing. Not only is the resolution extremely detailed, but the RAW files capture 15 stops of dynamic range and 16-bit color, offering some of the best color rendering I've ever seen in a digital sensor. It's difficult to quantify exactly what it is that makes these files special, but I rarely felt the need to edit them. They already look the way I want. Naturally, this will be up to photographic style and personal taste, but for me at least, Hasselblad's color and tone rendering—even in JPG files—is second to none.

They are huge files, though. Be forewarned that the RAW files are around 200 megabytes each, and even JPGs can be up in the high 80-MB range. Like the X2D, this camera includes a 1-terabyte drive and a CFexpress card slot to expand that storage capacity even more.

The sensor and storage are the same as the DSLR-style X2D, but the 907X 100C has nothing else in common. The X2D feels like using a high-resolution Nikon. Combine that with the lack of video features—which I would prefer to have in a more DSLR form factor—and the X2D fell flat for me. The 907X with the 100C is the polar opposite, despite sharing the same sensor. This is the camera Hasselblad fans have been dreaming of. It's everything that made the film Hasselblads special, with a digital soul. It might not last as long as the film cameras (electronics being finicky, after all), but in every other way, it carries that Hasselblad tradition.

That's not to say there aren't modern improvements here. Autofocus, a place where even recent Hasselblads have struggled, is much better. There's face detection (no, not eye, just face), which works quite well in all settings but very low light. I would prefer eye detection, but this works in most situations. I prefer manual focusing most of the time.

Before I get into why I love this camera, let's talk about what it can't do, because the missing features are exactly what make this camera special. The big one is that there's no IBIS support. That's right—no in-body image stabilization. While it is light for a medium-format camera (it weighs 1.3 pounds without a lens), it is still somewhat large and somewhat heavy. Pair this with the lack of image stabilization, and in all but bright-light situations, you're probably going to need a tripod.

There's also no electronic viewfinder. There is an optional optical viewfinder you can buy, but it doesn't help focus. To focus, you either rely on the autofocus or do what I did 90 percent of the time and manually focus by zooming on the digital screen.

Would it surprise you to know there's no burst mode? Like, none at all. You take a picture, and then you take another. The wildlife and sports photographers just stopped reading. No viewfinder, no IBIS, no video, no mind-bending frames-per-second shooting. What's left? A camera that shoots like a medium-format film camera.

Blast From the Past

To compose, you use the rear screen, which is a 3.2-inch, 2.36 million-pixel display (which works out to a 1,024 x 786 screen in 3.2 inches). It's sharp and plenty bright. It's also a touch display and responds to pinch-to-zoom and other gestures. There's no side-to-side articulation. You can view the screen flat against the back (how I used it when shooting with the grip), out at a 45-degree angle (useful on a tripod), or fully extended at 90 degrees (for waist-level shooting).

The screen is relatively bright, but in direct sunlight it can be hard to see. I used a trick I learned years ago shooting with the Panasonic GF1: Overexpose your image to compose, then, once everything is focused and positioned where you want it, you can set the exposure. Almost every setting you want to tweak is readily available either through the touchscreen display or the five buttons running along the bottom of it. My personal favorite is the single button press to call up a live histogram.

While the rear screen is what makes this Hasselblad so much like a 500-series film camera, there is an optional grip that turns the 907X 100C into something that feels and operates much more like a modern digital camera. The grip adds two command wheels, four fully customizable buttons, and a gorgeous-looking little joystick for moving your autofocus point around. I like this versatility, and I can see the grip's appeal in situations like a studio portrait shoot, but beyond testing it for this review, I didn't use it.

The grip for the Hasselblad 907X 100C.

Photograph: Hasselblad

It might have some nods to the digital camera world, but the heart and soul of this camera are in the past. And I would argue that to get the most out of this rig, you have to slow down and return to a more film-like photography mindset.

I handheld plenty of shots out hiking with my kids and got great results even well into the evenings, but there were plenty of times when I had to stop and set up the tripod. I'll admit that at first, I found this moderately annoying; I didn't want to slow down. But I had to, so I did, and that in turn made me think through compositions more. It made me move a bit to the left, or squat down and reframe. All things I should be doing all the time but often don't. The Hasselblad forced me to be more deliberate and more conscious of my compositions.

This style of shooting works for things like landscapes, portraits, and possibly even street photography, but it doesn't work for other things. No sane person ever took a Hasselblad to a sporting event. If the 907X 100C fits the style of shooting you do, and you have the money, this is the finest digital camera I have shot with in a very long time—possibly ever.

That said, I only got to spend a week shooting with the 907X 100C, which isn't enough time to find all those quirks that might drive you crazy in the long run. I can say that in the time I used it, I didn't hit any alarming issues, which doesn't mean they aren't there, but it's a sign that maybe they aren't that bad.

The last thing that must be said is that Hasselblads are expensive. The 907X 100C is $8,199. Throw in a 55-mm lens as a general-purpose lens, maybe a 120-mm for portraits, and you have yourself a roughly $17,000 camera system. If you have the money and don't need the IBIS, the 907X 100C is a fantastic camera.