Hasselblad XCD 90V 2,5 Long-Term Review: Perfect Hasselblad X2D Companion?

[@BrownieX001]

How do you talk to people to let you take pictures of them and also what do you say to not have them change composition from where they were?

[@GajanBalan]

I wrote an article on this for my foto club. You can find it here: www.churchxstreet.com/p/how-do-you-ask-a-stranger-for-a-portrait

[@tgwinternational3296]

Thanks for the video. May I ask what bag are you carrying.

[@theresjustnotellingfpv4822]

Did I hear correctly, you mentioned a new type of glass defined by "E" for exclusive?! Faster than f/2?! 3:58 in the video. My gosh, if so this really gets me curious.

[@GajanBalan]

Some exciting stuff in the works 🙏🏾

[@BrandonTalbot]

That camera lens combo is just so hot right now.

[@GajanBalan]

Absolutely wild what this can do, especially for portraiture.

[@calverphoto]

Great video, and beautiful images. I just got my 90v today! Can I ask what camera bag you're using throughout the video? Thanks.

[@GajanBalan]

Thanks for watching and congrats! The bag is the new sling by Clever Supply. I talk about it here: www.churchxstreet.com/p/how-im-packing-for-long-photography

[@theonlyredspecial]

Great review would have loved if you had been in a position to compare against the 80mm 1.9. Not many good comparisons online with them.

[@TimHunold]

Xpro3 and X2D is my kit. Leaf shutter with that color science is hard for the GFX series to beat, but I LOVE the Xpro3 so much so I am happy with both. I 135mm would be nice. I always used 90 or 135mm on my RZ67 and that is my pair of fave focal lengths on MF

[@GajanBalan]

Sucha solid combination. Looking forward to sharing my thoughts on the X2D next week.

[@mahdimanesh4221]

XPro3 and the X2D fit nicely. I owned both consecutively as main cameras which did not work for the X2D for me 😅now I use the XH2S mainly but miss the higher resolution and color depth. So many choices…

[@Bhupinder2024]

​@@mahdimanesh4221 okay 👌 what didn't work

[@botant500]

Great content. Thank you. What are your thoughts on putting a UV filter on a lens like this? I'd want to protect it but I also want to get every bit of that 100MB resolution.

[@GajanBalan]

I got the Hasselblad UV filter and use it in most outdoor situations, and remove it for studio environments.

[@gurugamer8632]

With the 90mm which other focal length would you go for?

[@GajanBalan]

I’d love to add the 38 2.5 to this kit. Between the two, I’ll have what I need.

[@JohnMacLeanPhotography]

I bought a couple of new Hasselblads back in the 1990s, but I am seriously envious of this camera now that they’ve updated the auto focus. I will imagine it getting better with continuous Eye AF tracking in future updates. I also hope they come out with a longer lens in the new style. I would love to have a 135V. I only shoot stills, but I wanted to complement you on the color of your video. What are you using and editing with? It’s just super rich and really beautiful.

[@GajanBalan]

I’m putting together a review of the camera itself, stay tuned for that. And thank you, it’s been quite a journey locking down a reliable process for colour grading video. I use Da Vinci Resolve now.

[@davidclark2476]

Amazing work.

[@GajanBalan]

My brother! Thank you for watching 🙏🏾

[@patrickmolloy6994]

great review. I like your dynamic style. Modern and professional. Congratulations

[@GajanBalan]

Thanks for watching ✌🏾

[@SidVidZid]

Safer to carry this $12K camera kit in any city of India than San Francisco.

[@thehuyhuytran]

Clear review!!! I love your leather camera strap. Please share me the info.

[@GajanBalan]

Thanks, it’s the Ona Sevilla strap with some Hasselblad lugs.

[@juliussternfeld428]

Very nice portraits. 👍

[@GajanBalan]

Thanks for watching ✌🏾

[@AlanGreenberg-i8p]

"Chocolate Rambo"? Awesome Gajan

[@GajanBalan]

Haha, thanks for watching ✌🏾

[@leicoholic]

Hi Gajan Great video. I am curious to know what bag fits X2D and a couple of lenses. I own one with a 25mm and a 38mm both V lenses. You seem to be carrying one in this video. Cheers

[@GajanBalan]

The smallest solution I found was the Sling Pro from clever supply. Comfortably fits one body with a lens attached and a second lens.

[@leedeleon2745]

This is big screen and coffee time ☕️

[@GajanBalan]

This and the next one, made for the big screen 🤌🏾 Appreciate you homie!

[@tjmanou6422]

a quick question pls. I read 2 reviews on BH Photo that the leaf shutter was VERY loud on 90mm. did you have the same experience? thank you very much

[@GajanBalan]

To say this shutter is very loud I think it inaccurate. You can hear it, but it doesn’t have that loud sound of a large mechanical shutter.

[@tjmanou6422]

@@GajanBalan thank you very much.

[@jeanjoseph2288]

Can you compare this to the gfx 100ii

[@Stockezy]

Fucking beautiful work brother! 🤌🏾🔥

[@GajanBalan]

Ah, thank you so much fam!! Always appreciate you coming through and watching the work ✊🏾

[@BrownieX001]

Have you tried the Viltrox 75mm f1.2 for Fuji? It seems like the hot thing right now for Fuji portraiture.

[@GajanBalan]

I haven't. I'll be honest, I probably won't have the time to really test drive them but they seem like really competitive options.

[@filmbycolin]

hey maybe i might be able to help i’ve shot the 85 f1.8 its fantastic very clinical if you’re not a pixel peeper it is generally as good as a sigma or fuji lenses themselves just dive into the guides on it for portrait work the autofocus is fine and even some street

[@nixonmanuel6459]

"Like a Chocolate Rambo". Yeah! XD

[@GajanBalan]

😂

[@jwtubification]

Glad I stuck it out for chocolate Rambo.

[@GajanBalan]

😂

[@1Firstdivision]

All 90mm Hasselblad V reviews on youtube came online 17 hours ago from all reviewers. So it means that they all are paid, where is a disclaimer?

[@GajanBalan]

Nov 30th 8am EST was the embargo time, that’s the earliest we could all publish.

[@1Firstdivision]

The lens was announced 07.09.2022, started shipping ~ 17 of November 2023, there was no embargo as it was already an announced product. The fact that 7 reviewers release their "independent" reviews on the same day at the same time is just ridiculous@@GajanBalan

[@GajanBalan]

@@1Firstdivision You realize that there can be multiple embargo dates, right? There was an embargo date for reviews to be published. This is exactly how it's done with the iPhone, where the product is announced and then the reviews all drop later at the--wait for it--embargo time

[@dgoullet1]

Leica M11 or this camera, what system you prefer?

[@GajanBalan]

If I'm picking one, it's the M11. But that's just based on my shooting style.

[@dgoullet1]

Love it too

[@oliverlison]

I know this focus clutch from Tokina Lenses. The focus clutch on Tokina lenses were not that great because the gears need to fall into each other. This was never accurate when switching back and forth. I assume that Hasselblad lenses has the same problems. Also the switching will wear the lens more quickly. It is difficult to say without having had a lens like this in the hands. Unfortunately, this is not review. It is an advertisement because there were no cons.

[@GajanBalan]

Haven't seen any signs of wear over the last few months so we'll just have to agree to disagree.

[@ahmeddaghriri4180]

When will India get rid of its waste? The street view is really bad. Pictures lose their beauty!

[@forgewire]

A slow, noisy piece of crap with a malfunctioning loud shutter. Hasselblad should try to implement basic quality control, especially for the money they are charging.

[@piotrch0]

1. Seeing this gear used to shoot street in what looks like India (or Pakistan, Bangladesh etc. ) feels wrong for the simple fact the gear cost more than the residents of those countries make in a whole year, if not a few years' time. 2. How you avoided getting robbed not only shooting with this gear, but having a cameraperson following you - is another thing. Tony Northrup talks in one of his episodes about personally knowing people who have been robbed at gunpoint for their HasselBlads.

[@GajanBalan]

1. You’re free to have that opinion. I’ve been working with South Asian communities for years and I see value in bringing the best tools I can to document their lives. 2. This is something that most tourists, vacation photographers, and KZbinrs will never comprehend. And that’s largely because they sit on the periphery of photography; tapping in for selfish reasons. They reality is most people are around the world are not out to get you. Being authentic and having genuine dialogue goes a long way in staying safe while working overseas. Lastly, I think it’d be valuable for you to do some more research and challenge some of your preconceived notions around photography. Unless you just prefer sitting on the periphery spewing ignorant takes.

[@kishoresawh4946]

Ah, the classic paradox of documenting human life - Yes, the camera’s cost might eclipse the annual income in some locales, but isn’t the value of art in its ability to bridge divides, to shine a light on unseen lives, rather than in the price tag of its tools? As for safety, wherever you are it’s a tango of risk and respect. Just as Tony acknowledges the dangers, so too would Gajan tread with awareness and adaptability, blending respect for his surroundings with a keen eye of it. After all, isn’t the greatest theft failing to record and share the rich tapestry of human experience, in all its hues and contrasts? And let’s address your insidious assumption that underprivileged areas are hotbeds of theft and crime. How dare you cast such aspersions on communities you don’t know? If anything, it is often those with the least who often possess the richest generosity. Your view is so antiquated I’m surprised they weren’t dug up in the rubble of Pompeii. Be a fountain dude, not a drain.

[@piotrch0]

​@@GajanBalan 1. These are antiquated beliefs. What would benefit South Asian communities more - some political change for greater regional development, wealth redistribution, tackling societal problems, of which there are plenty, combating those affected by climate change through grants from the biggest historical polluter countries (UK being one of them)? Or snapping some more pictures? The kinda pictures you take have been adorning NatGeo and other travel magazines the world over for decades. So no, I don't agree that what we need is more pictures, more awareness. People are aware of South asian communities and their struggles, yet they, or rather - they key decision makers: the governments and the big corporations - don't care enough to give the right chances and the right incentives to those communities. And thousands of pictures ain't the way to change that. You're refusing to address my point. Is it morally right to dance into a community whose most members couldn't afford this gear in a year or a few, take a few photos of them with such gear and fu*k off into the sunset? Yes / No That a simple question. You claim to, as I understand, be respectful and the anti-thesis of a tourist when doing street photography. That's words. Let's look at deeds. And what do we see? When I look at your IG feed on the street posed portraits you did you fail to follow best practices. These are - for posed portraits: 1. to credit the person you photograph, especially if you visit someone from a less developed country than yours; 2. to email that person a copy of the photo 3. (good practice) those that really care about shining light on the communities they photograph, as some photographers do, actually talk with their subjects, even for few minutes, enough to write a short paragraph about the photo hero's story or their meeting etc. - a number of IG photographers do that. You fail to follow any of those behaviors, and yet you somehow hold yourself to an imaginary better standard. I ask: how does that standard manifest? What's better than those points above that you somehow provide? 2. You're making assumptions about me being either a tourist or a vacation photographer, neither of which are true, and both of which are unfounded, since you have no grounds for them - did you research my work, my workflow and my career? There's a difference between people being out to get you when you're just going about your business AND people out to get your gear when an occasion arises and you're out alone shooting with very expensive gear, innit? You're accusing me of being a tourist, yet you're profile says you're based in Canada and you shoot in India and go home, isn't that correct? I don't. I shoot where I live, unlike your videos. So who's the tourist there? You talk about tapping in for selfish reasons - well, shit - how do you differ? Do you get monetary gain from your photos? Do you care to give back some of that to the communities you visit and photograph? I don't see no charities mentioned on your website. OH, they get "exposure"? You can't eat or drink exposure, you can't put it on your back, can you? In this review you didn't even mention the place where you shoot, so there goes the theory about featuring the place. That's especially sad, since it's common for youtubers who do photography to mention "Oh, I'm shooting here and here", "In this video I'm wandering here and here", but no - no info on that in your video, so much for respect for the place and shining light on it. 3. (Bonus) Again, talking about ignorance when you don't know shit about me yet call me someone sitting on periphery is a bit rich. What research have you done to make this claim - that I'm sitting on periphery? Of what? Photography? The world affair? And how would you define such periphery? These arguments don't hold water. You're accusing me of failing to do my research. Back this up. What claim was wrong? Based on your IG story (where you refused to tag me, how social!) you had to research who Tony Northrup is. And you call me ignorant.

[@piotrch0]

I mention Tony's friend's history of being robbed that happened in a developed country (US or Canada, don't remember). My logic is if that can happen there, it's at least as likely to happen in a developing country, isn't it? I never said getting robbed is unique or likely per se in a developing country, I implied that it's at least as likely as in a developed country. @@kishoresawh4946 That's what I actually wrote. The implications you're making tell more about yourself than me and have no basis in my original comment. If you disagree, quote what part of my comment state, as you put it "underprivileged areas being hotbeds of theft and crime"? What part?

[@rumporridge1]

Interesting dialogue. Well I carry insurance to cover theft. Sucks we have to think like this in today’s society worldwide. I dunno about you guys but when I carry my SL2 in Manhattan I’m definitely watching my back. People are getting very aggressive toward photographers out here. I only speak of my experience and travels of course. Great video too.