Hasselblad 907x & cfv 100c

6 min read

MEDIUM-FORMAT CAMERA TEST

HASSELBLAD 907X & CFV 100C

EXPERT OPINION ON THE LATEST KIT

A camera system that’s not just beautiful but versatile, too

The Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C is quite simply the most beautiful camera system I’ve seen. I’m a sucker for vintage cameras and SLR-styled modern mirrorless models, but I’ve never been quite as smitten with the design of a camera as with this one.

This beauty is also a beast, however. A truly unique modular system, the Hasselblad 907X & CFV 100C comprises a ‘camera’ – the 907X – and the all-new 100MP medium-format back – the CFV 100C. Combined, they become a modern mirrorless camera, but the CFV 100C can also be attached to a vintage Hasselblad body, such as the iconic 500C, adding 100MP horsepower to these similar systems.

The camera is a huge step up in performance over the previous Hasselblad 907X and CFV 50C (the older 50MP digital back). That’s because, inside, it has a lot in common with the Hasselblad X2D 100C, namely the 100MP sensor and phase-detect autofocus system with face detection.

However, the X2D is a conventional SLR-style camera, so the 907X & CFV 100C have as many differences as similarities. So who is this combo for, and does an old-fashioned boxstyle camera still have a place in the modern world?

Features

The most obvious feature of the camera is its jaw-dropping design – a palm-sized, perfectly sculpted square body that eschews a viewfinder and ergonomics in favour of a tilting screen and touch-oriented inputs. However, this is more than just an aesthetic affectation. This is a modular camera system that consists of two parts: the wafer-thin 907X ‘camera’ (a mount adaptor to attach XCD lenses to the camera back) and the CFV 100C digital back, which contains the 100MP image sensor, processor, rear screen, controls, battery and memory.

1 The most obvious feature of the camera is its jaw-dropping design – a perfectly sculpted square body., 2 The CFV 100C instantly transforms an old 200 or 500 camera into a 100MP mirrorless powerhouse., 3 From the tactility of the exposure dial to the shutter button, the whole system is a marvel of precision., 4 An optional optical viewfinder can be attached, though the system is intended to be used via the screen.

5 The shutter is located in the bottom corner, where your finger sits as you hold the camera in hand.

6 The 3.2-inch rear screen’s 2.36 million dots and 24-bit colour show off the glorious colour depth and tonality of its images., 7 There are five buttons at the bottom of the screen, but the system is designed to be driven by touch.

The 100MP resolution offers so much flexibility in terms of editorial framing, shooting in different aspect ratios, and the ability to artificially extend focal length

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