Environmental Portraits with the Hasselblad 907X, CFV 100C & XCD2,5/38V

Introduction

This is Part 2 of my reviews of the Hasselblad 907X, CFV 100C, and XCD2,5/38V setup. Part 1, which is more detailed and technical, is here with all the hands-on sharing and samples from different genres.

Part 2 is more personal and more of a photo essay with much less text.

The XCD2,5/38mm for portraits?

With portraits, I am sure the XCD2,5/55V or the XCD1,9/80 are lenses we will consider first, them being full frame 40mm and 62.4mm focal length equivalents. However, not all portraits are photographed with a ‘fill the frame, thin depth of field and background all blurred‘ approach, and this is where the XCD2,5/38V comes in to give a different perspective.

For better or worse, Hasselblad has built in a noticeable difference in the auto-focus performance between the V and non-V lenses.

And for a system that can hardly be described as fast in auto-focus performance, any bit of advantage is clearly important.

While I would have preferred the XCD2,5/55V with its full-frame equivalent 40mm ƒ1.9 view and even thinner field of depth for portraits, the XCD2,5/38V with its full-frame equivalent 30mm ƒ1.9 view actually lends itself very nicely to environmental portraits, which was I guess, a sub-genre that I tried to work with in this review.

Most may see portraits as thin-depth of field shots where the subject fills most of the frame, environmental portraits instead aim to capture the subject in their (everyday) environments.

(in case you were wondering, environmental portraits have nothing to do with climate change)

Moreover, one of the more hyped functionalities of the recent firmware updates to the Hasselblad X2D and CFV 100C, which is the inclusion of face detection, was something I could test with this shoot.

Short answer: Face detection is a welcome addition portraiture workflow, it is not perfect in reliability but I am sure it will improve with time.

As mentioned in the previous preview, Hasselblad’s output is enchanting, probably due to the combination of their Hasselblad Nature Colour solution, medium format sensor, and excellent dynamic range. Regardless, this is a camera (which some I know will judge) that I know I can shoot JPEGs with if I get the parameters right.

As I proceed on my photography journey, I am less keen on using filters or film simulations, which may lose the touch of realism, and prefer more authentic output in its drawing. and in this sense, Hasselblad really gets it right.

There are also the moments where one starts to realize the advantage of the larger medium format sensor, the improved dynamic range in one’s shots, especially in areas where I wish to further post process by lifting shadows or to ensure that the highlights in the sky are not overblown while photographing wide open.

However, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, what draws me the most is the color depth the system can provide, giving portraits a sense of realism and color reproduction that many other systems will struggle to match,

To end off … and some random musings.

I must share that I started my journey in microfourthirds, then Fujifilm (X-mount and GFX), before I tried the other brands (Nikon, Canon, Ricoh, and on … except Phase One and Pentax), hence in a sad way, it is no longer that easy to get me excited over a new camera release seeing how many brands are simply making incremental updates with fewer innovations nowadays.

The Hasselblad 907X system, however managed to get me excited, to want to get out and shoot, which to me is a precious emotion.

Will I purchase this camera? Yes, but not now, where my Leica M and Nikon Z system fulfills the bulk of what I need for my photography. I know I will yearn for the output from Hasselblad’s Nature Colour Science, and I will one day purchase this system, churning out a precious shot one by one.

In 2024, I have set a restriction of a maximum of 4 review articles per month. I enjoy writing reviews and find them an excellent way to de-stress from work, but more importantly, I want to stay true to why I started writing in 2018, which is to provide a quality that I find lacking in many other reviews I read online.

Quantity is not directly proportional to quality, especially for writing reviews which is actually very time consuming.

Of course, many excellent reviewers still write better than me, and I aspire to learn from them. Jonas Rask is one such reviewer who not only can write well, but is an excellent photographer with his own unique style.

http://www.keithwee.com never had a subscriber wall and is simply around to share about photography. Through this journey, I hope to share the many blessings I have received through brands willing to work with a nobody like me for you as I journey along the 7th year of this blog with this 225th article.

And to you, the reader, thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me unless otherwise stated. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.

2. All images were shot with the Hasselblad 907X, CFV 100C, and XCD 2.5 / 38V, and the raw files were edited in LR CC Classic to my preferences. 

3. This review is not sponsored, and the setup was returned to CLES Singapore, the local authorized distributor of Hasselblad.

4. I do not do affiliate purchase links to keep myself neutral. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

5. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.