Hasselblad X1D-50c gets top score of 102 at DxOMark
Thursday 2 November 2017, 20:02 by Michelle Peeters | 6,013 views | 1 commentThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
The Nikon D850's top-class status at DxOMark was very short-lived: less than a month after the Nikon D850 received the first official score of 100, DxOMark has just crowned the Hasselblad X1D-50c medium-format camera with the highest score ever: 102.
In its recently published review, DxOMark praises the Hasselblad X1D-50c's "cropped" medium-format 50-megapixel sensor, which measures 43.8 × 32.9 millimetres (traditional medium format is 56x42 millimetres).
The sensor has around 70% more surface area than the 35-millimetre full-frame sensors found in high-end DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
It is this large sensor that gives the Hasselblad X1D-50c and other medium-format cameras on the market a fundamental advantage in DxOMark tests compared with cameras with smaller sensor formats.
Compared with the Nikon D850, the X1D-50c has roughly the same portrait (colour depth) score, the same landscape (dynamic range) score and a much better sports (low-light ISO) score.
With a theoretical maximum ISO setting of 25,600, the X1D-50c should be a viable proposition for photographers who do a lot of low-light photography, says DxOMark.
The camera's 'real' highest ISO value is ISO 3200. Higher settings up to 25,600 are merely extended (digital, not analogue) settings that use 'digital gain'. You also lose resolution as a result.
The image quality of the Hasselblad X1D-50c is excellent, they broke through the 100-point barrier to become the best commercially available sensor we have tested, concludes DxOMark. With 102 points in total, they therefore achieve the best result for both colour depth and dynamic range.
Combine that with a resolution of 50 megapixels and a mirrorless design, all at a more than realistic price, and the X1D-50c looks promising.
DxOMark does note, however, that the X1D-50c is not significantly better than other top cameras (for example the Nikon D850 and Sony a7R II), except in low-light situations, so that should be a major consideration before you spend 7,750 euros on this medium-format monster.
And on the other hand, it was impressive that Nikon's D850 could hold its own against a medium-format camera costing almost three times as much.
About the author
Michelle Peeters is fotografe en oprichter van DeuxBleus Fotografie. Michelle herkent het bijzondere in het gewone en het gewone in het bijzondere. Ze heeft zich nooit willen specialiseren en is daardoor van alle markten thuis.
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1 comment
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100
wrote on Friday 3 November 2017 at 03:07
| reply
Medium format is anything larger than 35mm format (24 x 36mm) and smaller than 4 x 5 inches (102 x 127 mm), in short, it is quite a broad term.
Translated from Dutch.
The well-known Hasselblad cameras from the analog era generally use 6 x 6cm or 6 x 4.5cm film.
A sensor measuring 44 by 33 mm is therefore right at the lower end of medium format.
DXO scores only say something about the sensor and even then you can question their usefulness.
Take the Sports score, for example.
A Nikon D5 scores 2434 ISO
A Canon 1Dx Mark II scores 3207 ISO
The aforementioned Hasselblad X1D-50c scores 4489 ISO
Based on that score, the Hasselblad would therefore be the best camera (sensor) for photographing sports. A camera (sensor) that can take 1.7 to a maximum of 2.3 frames per second and has a shutter speed no faster than 1/2000 second…
Every reasonable person understands that the score (actually based on the dynamic range of the lowest ISO value) has little to do with sports, where performance at high ISO and high FPS is much more important, but those are not included in the sports score.
Incidentally, the camera costs more in the Netherlands than the price you mention (around 9,500 euros).
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