The press release, which is circulating on various preview sites, is less than a convincing upgrade, but after thinking about this, I think that the advantages of upgrading might make sense if:
You have focusing issues at near/mid range. The number of phase detection sites has increased and the processing power has been upgraded. Lidar assist has been added, but the exact results of these changes is yet to be revealed. Much of what I shoot uses manual focus and I’ve not had issues with using autofocus. That said, hidden in the list of changes is a processing power upgrade, which should translate into a more responsive experience. I don’t really know what to make of the HDR upgrade. Perhaps someone could explain this. Tilting brighter screen is welcome as well as a slight reduction in weight. I know that some like the remote wired shutter control.
For me, I think that the degree of processing power improvement will be something that I’ll be looking for. I doubt that anyone is purchasing this system to compete with top full frame alternatives and if we did, maybe Fujifilm would have been a better choice.
I’m just hoping that the press release was understated, but I have my doubts. I suspect that when all is in and reviews posted, the new autofocus system still won’t lock on to a subjects eye in a dynamic environment. We will see.
Somewhat sadly, the physical Shutter Cable Release is my #1 reason for purchasing the new body. I'll also be keeping the X2D for now.
Other things I can say are good quality of life improvements. Joystick/Thumbstick. Hoping the additional processing power allows for Multi-Shot modes to occur in camera, not tethered. LiDAR could be of use, but strangely I feel this is more useful for video, which I don't think is coming, but would now make sense if it does.
It would be spicy if they could do the HDR in such a way that results in a RAW file, somewhat similar to Phase One's approach, but the press release doesn't allude to that "way". Also, could be nice to use that internal storage for frame averaging and even summing, but that's an advanced feature we haven't had yet either.
I don't think this system and any system using the IMX461 really is going to compete with any of the top end Full Frame/135 mirrorless bodies when it comes to Autofocus or even video. However, image quality is where the focus is and should be.
There are a lot of unknowns and we don't know if there were any iterative improvements on the sensor design and/or readout. If so, it would be nice to have a faster electronic shutter readout, but I'd say that's a low chance.
Circling round to video again. This would still be a 10-bit video like the GFX series if Hasselblad ever implements this and I'm not certain there's a hardware encoded even on the board in the camera. Sensor readout at 12-bit isn't fast enough, unless there is a real spicy sensor update. I mainly shoot in 16-bit for stills and don't leave that mode as this is a IQ first system for me. Unsure if this will be the focus for Hasselblad, but I suspect it could be the focus for a future perhaps DJI branded body with likely a full frame sensor.
