First experiences with the Hasselblad X2D II 100C

Friday 19 December 2025, 23:32 by Elja Trum | 3,089 views | 4 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Today I did my first shoot with my new Hasselblad X2D II 100C camera. As with every new camera, and every lens, it always takes some getting used to. Especially at the start of the shoot, I was still searching for the right settings.

Alina - f/4, 1/250s, 50 ISO @ 43mm
How do I quickly change the ISO, how do I get a short preview of the photo in the viewfinder, how do I use my Godox X3 trigger with this camera, and so on. The Hasselblad X2D II has a pleasant menu, but as a new user you still have to search a little to find the right options.

Autofocus

Focusing is another thing I need to get used to. The autofocus on faces and eyes is good, but certainly not as good as on the R5. The camera needs a little more time to find the eye, especially when it is fairly dark.

It seems to help if you first point the general autofocus point at the eyes. So, a sort of focus-and-recompose approach. Or, of course, by moving the focus point manually, although the joystick is actually a little too low for that.

You also really have to wait until the camera confirms with a beep, and a green box, that focus has been achieved. If you do not wait for that, the chance of getting a blurry photo is high.

Hefty files

When I got home, I of course transferred the photos straight away. I knew the files would be larger than on my previous camera, but they turn out to be more than four times as large as the 40 megabyte files from my Canon R5: an average of 196 megabytes per photo.

In total, I had 166 gigabytes during one shoot. Now, taking 845 photos during a shoot is not unusual for me, but perhaps I should shoot a little more carefully. It adds up quickly like this. With 6 shoots, I can easily fill a terabyte.

It was clear while selecting and editing the photos that I still had some autofocus problems. A relatively large number of photos were out of focus.

Alina - f/5.6, 1/125s, 50 ISO @ 78mm
Today was a great introduction to the camera. I think I now have the basics reasonably well under control. I have another shoot planned soon, this time in the studio instead of on location.

Do you also find that you need some time to really get to know a new camera or lens? Feel free to share your experience in the comments.

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About the author

Elja Trum is the founder of Photofacts and online photography course website Photofacts Academy. He has been writing about photography since 2006. Elja is also the author of (Dutch) books on composition, black-and-white photography, flash photography and portrait photography.

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4 comments

John Jansen wrote on Tuesday 23 December 2025 at 11:42 | reply
I've had a medium-format camera as an extra for a year now, unfortunately not a Hasselblad, that was a bit beyond the budget. I mainly shoot landscapes and occasionally photos of dogs. (fujifilm GFX 100S with three fine GF lenses)It's a whole different way of photographing, you have to be more patient and not just start shooting randomly, but what a cool image and what incredible detail and sharpness you get from these kinds of cameras. I'm still happy with my Nikon Z9, but medium format is really a story apart. Good luck and have lots of fun taking photos with this fine system, Elja.
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Tuesday 23 December 2025 at 12:05 | reply
Thank you!

I definitely considered the Fujifilm GFX as well. It really is a beautiful camera too.
Translated from Dutch.

jahiba112@gmail.com wrote on Tuesday 23 December 2025 at 15:44 | reply
And why did you choose Hasselblad?
Translated from Dutch.

Elja Trum wrote on Tuesday 23 December 2025 at 16:41 | reply
Because of the leaf shutter and the user-friendly operation.
Translated from Dutch.

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