Hasselblad XPAN review and examples 30mm 45mm and 90mm - the mythical panoramic 35mm film camera

[@hlash99]

Between the 3 lenses do you have a favorite?

[@zand]

I must say the 45mm is just so perfect both in panoramic and 4/3 shooting… even adapted to a mirrorless, it is my favorite of the three.

[@hlash99]

@@zand thanks for the reply! I’ve got the 90mm and have been on the fence with 45mm…maybe I’ll finally pull the trigger

[@eliedelorme9945]

I bought on 20yeaes ago like new in the box with the center filter the lens hood the strap everything loook like new for 1000€ and I sold it because not interested by panoramic especially in portrait mode. I see the price now for a combo that is insane. There are today way many better cameras for this price range. As you can clip your digital files in panoramic 2/1 3/1 or longer if you dig it. I stick with my Hassy H3DII and its fabulous CCD sensor. Happy new year 2025 and a lot of panos.

[@zand]

At that price would be worth it ;) . Oh yeah the H3DII is a beautiful tool!! What a sensor!!

[@smartereveryday]

Would you recommend the investment?

[@zand]

Actually not at current market price… I love it but at the price I originally paid (around 2k). But then there is no real alternative to the experience.

[@zand]

Actually an interesting camera I’m experimenting with now brings that kind of magic and some more beyond, and you can find them sometimes at a similar price, but worth it for the money imho: Technorama 612 . Not as portable, no rangefinder, but boy it is panorama magic and a delight to use. Will try to make a video soon. :)

[@eliedelorme9945]

Absolutly not it is a showing off camera…get a dslr leica and croc your files….

[@zand]

I think it is all about the way you take pictures more than the theoretical results you could get that makes this a great camera. If you check Destin’s work (e.g. through his KZbin works), I believe he would be a good candidate for the XPan, but the current price for a camera that will be hardly repairable if its aging electro-mechanism fails makes it a hard proposition to recommend imho. Thus the Linhof fully mechanical camera I proposed. But true, getting a good digital camera and cropping could do the job theoretically otherwise (the guy who proposed me his XPan actually was doing that).

[@garethwilliams976]

Had an xpan 1 15 years ago and it was well made (by Fuji) with the standard and 90mm. Was used to SLR and a number of missed lenscap shots! Lenses good and results fine so no problems there but also had an RZ with 50mm which duplicated it with at least equal results at normal apertures. X pan redundant but got back a far more than I had paid - Result!. Seriously if you are into landscape the Fuji 617 is a better bet.

[@zand]

Fuji always really had some great technological approaches, and their collaborations (also thinking of the Leica / Fuji digital cams) often were quite norm-changing. I think what really makes the XPan a great cam is its compacity compared to the larger ones. I also love shooting with "real" medium formats, love my Technorama, but while the results are better, they're harder to carry along (never tried the 617, but seems huge).

[@eliedelorme9945]

Let’s start to cri pour digital photos to get 3/1 2/1 panoramic landscape. We can also assemble few photos with photoshop merge to get very high resolotion landscape photos. I merge 5 photos shot with my Hassy H3DII 31mp wich produce a 155mp landscape photos and believe me you can see people inside their house with a shot taken from the Hill to down the valley with the see in the bacground. I doubt you can get that with a Hassy Xpan than makes 72mmx24mm negatives ! If photogs know that photo trick the price of the CPAM will go down becaus no one will buying it any more. Thank for reading from a french photog. Hny 2025

[@chumleyk]

Get the Fuji version. Hasselblad had little to do with the development; Fujifilm came up with the idea but didn't think it had legs outside of Japan so asked Hasselblad if they wanted to market it for them for the rest of the world. Hasselblad was pretty much on the ropes at the time so they agreed. As a result, the Hasselblad Xpan 1 and 2 are just wrapped Fujifilm TX-1s and TX-2s. Yes, they are EXACTLY the same - Fujifilm manufactured them. There is no reason to buy the Hasselblad versions for the premiums (1000 bucks) being asked over the Fuji version, yet the paint wears off quickly to remind you that you've lost resale value.

[@zand]

The price of the Fuji is starting to go up for the reasons you state, and sometimes you will actually find them for a premium compared to the blad versions.