MichaelErlewine
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Upload & Sell: On
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 The Style of Hasselblad XCD Lenses | |
I’ve been round and round about the question: should I get rid of my older XCD lenses for my X2D Mark II and only use the new lenses that have continuous focus.
I did get rid of some of the older XCDs and mostly don’t regret it. However, I do regret selling the Hasselblad XCD 135mm f/2.8 lens. Yes, it is too large, clunky, and heavy, yet it takes really good photos, IMO.
I don’t want the XCD 25 (heavy) and sold the Hasselblad 35-75mm Zoom, but don’t miss it. And I don’t think I need that new 35-100mm f.2,8 as it too is somewhat heavy and I have most of that range with primes. I may get it someday.
I don’t have the XCD 55mm, but I don’t feel I need it although many really love that lens. I had it before and sold it.
And so, right now, the only scratch that I can’t itch is to find a good used copy of the Hasselblad XCD 135mm with Teleconverter.
I don’t mind the older XCD lenses, as I don’t need the AF-C for much of my work. Especially in winter, I’m in the studio and all the problems with being heavy, clunky, etc. don’t matter much.
And last, I wonder what new XCD lenses are coming down the pike that I may want to try out. All of the Hasselblad XCD lenses seem to be similar, incredible of course, and at the same time in some strange way a bit ‘crude’ in their incessant detail.
Photo with the X2D Mark II and the XCD 38 with 8mm extension.
My Nikon 58mm Noct, f/0.95 lens and Plena 135mm f/1.8 seem somehow to have more character. Just as today many AI graphic image generators (I use Midjourney) have begun to seem so similar and limited to just a few styles, so Hasselblad XCD lenses, while different in length, seem similar as to style or character, almost clinical, with the exception of the XCD 80mm f/1.9, which was influenced by the brilliant photographer Ming Thein who was Hasselblad’s Chief of Strategy from 2017 to late 2018, a period that overlapped with the XCD 80mm lens development, which was announced in September of 2018.
I wonder if anyone else notices what I am describing with the XCD lenses. I love them, I do, but am a bit unsettled in that for all their refinement, they have so little difference in style. I understand that many photographers feel this similarity and consistency is valued.
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