Digital Alternatives to the Hasselblad XPan

[@mpbcom]

Do you know of any other cameras that can shoot images like the XPan or think that nothing can beat the original? Let us know in the comments👇

[@Bbarm97]

panasonic lumix s5 has a panaromic mode with the same ratio as xpan, and when you convert the raw files to dng (which is what I do) it actually just gives you that ratio raw (maybe in original rw2 but idk)

[@dougfromsoanierana]

This is a bit of a cheat, but with a standard 50mm 1.8 lens on any decent digital camera, you can take a series of shots across a scene and stitch them together seamlessly in Lightroom. It’s not as sexy as native panoramic images, but I doubt anyone could tell the difference. Great video, BTW.

[@key2adventure]

Stitching in post is not the same as experiencing the panoramic mode during your shooting. If you havent tried it, you dont know. It is so inspiring to look through the viewfinder on my Hasselblad X1D and see the World in the panoramic view.

[@N9olan]

The Fuji film GFX line of cameras. I have the 50S but the 50R is built rangefinder style like the Xpan.

[@bagzhansadvakassov1093]

@@N9olan its 1000+ right? And very big camera.

[@StreetsOfVancouverChannel]

I bought one of these in a Vancouver camera shop around nine years ago. It was a consignment item and the 'owner' wanted $1000. The camera and lens were in mint shape in their respective boxes. The guy at the shop implied that the seller had inherited it from an uncle who died (who must have bought it strictly as a collector item). I suspected that the new owner wanted quick cash and had zero emotional investment in it... so I offered $800 as it had been sitting there for a month already. Sure enough the guy accepted and I paid for it and never used it. Three years ago I sold it for $2500... but now I'm seeing that the prices are INSANE! The best part of this story is that the guy who bought it from me met me at my bank downtown and handed me the cash. He immediately unpacked the camera and put a roll of film in it. He had every intention of using it as often as he could and that's what cameras are designed for: capturing images!

[@RiceCubeTech]

I’m glad that you sold it to another person who would use it! You made a good penny off of it, and someone paid a lot less for it then than they would now.

[@badmancrooks]

"Let me show you alternatives you can use for a fraction of the price" proceeds to demo 2 cameras that are virtually the same price as the xpan

[@jaegerschtulmann]

You can literally mimic the xpan on most high mp cameras, just change the aspect ratio to 16:9, display gridlines (grid 24) and compose and shoot within the middle rows) in your editing software create an xpan crop (65:24) and boom 🤯 free xpan with minimal loss in quality if you shoot 40mp or higher

[@geofff6671]

I’m hoping Fujifilm introduce an Xpan crop in the X-T5 via firmware update. It has the megapixels for it. Come on Fuji.

[@nonsoville]

Impossible. Can do a crop but the depth of field is rubbish

[@nelsonclub7722]

@@nonsoville Neither impossible or unlikely - Fuji's version of the X-Pan was the TX-1 (identical down to the mame) DOF has zero to do with it

[@owRekssjfjxjxuurrpqpqss]

@@nelsonclub7722 definitely unlikely because people have been asking for more crop options for literally a decade and Fuji hasn’t implemented them. I want a 4:5 crop for portraits, previewing the aspect ratio is super important but they don’t seem interested in letting people do that. The few crops they have work well enough for what they’re for, they keep the raw info outside the frame but show you the aspect ratio you want. They just have very few useful aspect ratios.

[@nelsonclub7722]

@@owRekssjfjxjxuurrpqpqss Agreed

[@nikoolix]

@@nonsoville The X-Pan lenses were all f/4 or slower, the Fuji X-system has heaps of faster lenses that can give a shorter DOF despite the smaller sensor.

[@pawpaw324]

There is also the Panasonic S1R that shoots a 65:24 crop. Truthfully, all the Panasonic full frame cameras do this. But the S1R is 47 mp.

[@raksh9]

Another video on KZbin mentioned this feature, so I tried it with my Panasonic S5. It's very enjoyable to shoot with this aspect ratio, especially with wide lenses like 24 and 28.

[@ductritran8637]

Panasonic S1R is one of the best camera in the world today .

[@eventhori3on]

100% i dont mind the 13mp on the S5 and it's a super cheap camera! Even the kit 20-60 in the mode is legit amazing! I may have to get a 1R though now as I'm.obsessed with this ratio

[@karlyabasa]

RitchieCam for iPhone has a 65:24 crop mode, it’s great fun to have a mini ‘XPan’ in your pocket.

[@davidn2749]

Hoping an android app makes this soon

[@Zobeid]

Here's my expedient trick. . . I take my Sony A7R II and switch on the 4×6 square grid display. If you ignore the top and bottom rows, what remains in the middle two rows is basically XPan aspect ratio. You can compose using those grid lines and see exactly what you're doing. Of course you are going to capture the entire full-frame image when you take the shot, but cropping it back down to XPan format in post-production is easy. (It's an built-in aspect ratio in RawTherapee, for example.)

[@CrnaInBela]

amazing production quality of this video, keep it up!

[@MonsieurZine]

Really nice video. Thanks for it, i just ordered a Sigma DP2 Quattro. Can’t wait to try panoramic photography with this one.

[@mpbcom]

Thanks for the compliment and good luck with your Sigma!

[@Felix-rg9if]

Hello, I just want to mention, that the LUMIX S5 has the aspect ratio of 65:24 build in and may be a solid choice as a digital alteranative to the XPan.

[@Viewtolove]

Probably the S5 mark 2 has it too then… how many megapixels are left in this mode? Thanks for the answer.

[@eventhori3on]

13mp

[@marcalmecija5761]

Beautiful video, very informative. I use the GFX 50sII and I have very good results in 65:24. In my youth I wanted to buy the Xpan, but it was too expensive and developing films were expensive. Now I am happy for a reasonable budget.

[@KingGameReview]

I have the GFX 50R and it's by far my favorite camera I've ever owned. I love it so much. The XPan mode is just the icing on the cake.

[@erikleypoldt8275]

Is it great as an all round camera? Travel, general etc Whats a good lens to pair it with?

[@KingGameReview]

@@erikleypoldt8275 I think so. I use a lot of vintage lenses on it. It's not fast and the autofocus (on the one native GF lens I've tried) isn't super accurate, so of you shoot sports or rely on autofocus, maybe it's not the best camera?

[@erikleypoldt8275]

@@KingGameReview the 50mmm 3.5 sounds great in what ive watched. Smaller also

[@TheLDunn1]

Great video! I was looking at getting an xpan/TX in 2019 purely for the format, not the use of film. I used to shoot, develop and print film in the past, but the convenience of digital is too great to me in so many different ways, that the prospect of going back to film didn’t fill me with joy (I do have other film cameras still, and one even has a roll of partially exposed film in it that I need to get around to finishing off and developing). However, the main thing that put me off getting an xpan/TX, and your video touches on it, is the ‘ticking time bomb’ comment. I read about the difficulties in getting some spare parts now with know weaknesses. So end of 2019/start of 2020, I started looking at alternatives that would give the xpan aspect ratio. In March 2020, I purchased a (relatively) cheap, pre-loved GFX 50r, primarily for the xpan functionality. Wow, what a fantastic move that has been - with one proviso, that you don’t mind manually focusing or just using single shot AF (the continuous AF, in my opinion, is very poor to the point of being unusable, well, by me at least). The focusing was no concern to me however, because I was already using old manual lenses adapted (to a Sony A7R3) before I got the 50r, & intended to adapt all manner of manual lenses to the GFX too. One of the points that has not been covered in this video re shooting with the GFX, is that you can shoot JPEG+Raw, but it’s only the jpeg that is saved with the selected aspect ratio and film sims, the RAW is still full GFX frame without the film sim. So, in post, you can still ‘play’ with the RAW file and have the JPEG as you shot it as a reference, you can then try out different film sims, or adjust your framing, or even totally change your aspect ratio if you want. I still have & use my Sony A7R3, it makes a great partner to the 50r - if I know I need longer focal lengths, good AF, or generally speed, I grab the Sony, for everything else,mi grab the 50r. I enjoy shooting with the GFX more than I enjoy shooting with the Sony, the 50r is, somehow, more satisfying. I’ve always been an SLR style of camera shooter, for 40 odd years, so the change to a Rangefinder style layout was interesting I didn’t know how I’d take to it, but it’s actually very good, although most of the time I use a tripod. The one thing I’d like the 50r to have is and LCD that tilts in two axis, like the 50s. And if the AF on the 50r could be improved to levels seen on the Sony’s, then, It would be the perfect all round camera for me, as it is, I still feel I want to keep the Sony, it is the better all round camera I think, and when I need good AF, IBIS, long lenses, fast shooting etc, it is still the system I would pick.

[@piotrabanowicz3340]

6:36 I just noticed that you have an old Polish START 66 camera. I had an identical one in 1980. Nice video 🙂

[@mpbcom]

Great spot, thanks for watching!

[@ColinRobertson_LLAP]

It annoys me to no end more cameras don't offer wider than 16x9 crops-or, let you set a custom crop ratio. Good tip about the Sigma! I knew the GFX (sadly not any of the X mount) cameras offered a wide crop, but was not aware the Sigma's did too...

[@wbajzek]

It annoys me that 4:5 is rare, too.

[@Humungojerry]

agree, there’s no reason fuji coudnt offer it in their x mount cameras. the xt5 is 40mp. an x pro would also look very similar to the xpan

[@vintehindecembre1607]

Panasonic S1 / S5 series offer wide aspect ratio, xpan mode and cinemascope. If you are ok to shoot raw and crop in post, Panasonic also offer custom grid line and custom ratio in viewfinder (you can set the line you want, color of the line, and opacity of the outer space if you want to keep transparent, grey or full black). You have the same option on SIgma FP. Shame you don't have this option on other brand.

[@RiceCubeTech]

@@vintehindecembre1607I know Sony gives you guidelines in video for a variety of aspect ratios, even if it isn’t baked in. I’ll try it on my A1 and see if will work in photo mode too.

[@krakapoww]

@@RiceCubeTechdid it work?

[@4mooncheese]

The DP0 Quattro is a favourite of mine for landscape and even some street photography. Detail and colours are very nice and if anything it is a great conversation starter due to it's weird design. You also have the flexibility to shoot RAW DNG if you don't want to go through the lengthy X3F process.

[@mpbcom]

I definitely agree, the DP0 Quattro is a great conversation starter. That's an underrated secret feature of this camera 🙂 - Jakub

[@disraelidemon]

Many digital camera brands allow you to display a 4x6 grid in the viewfinder/rear screen. Composing between any two vertical dividers will give you a 1:3 panoramic image. It's a great way to try out panoramic composition without buying a new camera. (Note: if you're using micro 4/3 or a digicam with a 4:3 ratio sensor, this tip will give you a 1:2.6666 ratio, almost exactly the same as the XPan's 1:2.7) (Edited for new info on 4:3 sensors)

[@mpbcom]

That is a great tip, thank you for sharing! - Jakub

[@iello911]

the sigma fp (full frame sensor) can shoot at 21:9, pretty close, both in stills and video.

[@msculac]

Really in video as well? Are there limits to frame rates and/or resolutions? Would this be a kind of anamorphic look then? I'm super interested 😮

[@Sotangy247]

Great very informative video . I didn't know anything about this camera and the collaboration with Fuji, so learned something new

[@mpbcom]

Thank you! We are really glad you enjoyed it! - Jakub

[@StrangelyIronic]

The Panasonic S5 has the 65x24 aspect ratio as an option along with a hires mode to put out massive files.

[@soundknight]

The external view finder for the sigma cameras is amazing! Best I've ever seen through.

[@mikeshane2048]

Thanks for the compilation. Really liked the presentation.

[@matthewwilson3673]

Great video, there was a guy who was working on converting a fuji xpro1 into hasselblad format but I haven't seen updates on that recently

[@mpbcom]

Thanks! We'll try to hunt down that video too

[@J0ss717]

Well the Sigma Fp L has a 21:9 crop mode. And this is a full-frame L-mount camera with 61 mega pixel sensor @ 2500 USD

[@miljo2146]

Just because you have less megapixels in the 65:24 mode doesn’t mean you have to print smaller. You still get the full width of the image. If a full size GFX 50R image looks good printed 2 meters wide, the XPan crop will look just as good.

[@johntravena119]

There’s the Vivitar IC 101 point and shoot. The top and bottom of the frame is cropped. I got one at a garage sale. Loved that camera but the winder gave out on me.

[@ivorj4715]

Another possibility is using say a Fuji X camera in panoramic mode. Not the same thing I know, but you will get an out of the camera wide .jpg picture which can be cropped to the desired shape.

[@shadowcultur]

Full frame with a 28 or 24mm, use rule of thirds grid, frame shots in that center row, crop to 2.39:1 in post. No XPan but it’s close.

[@BackFocus11]

The Leica SL2 and SL2-S both have 3:1 aspect ratio which is very very close to 65:24. So you can add that one

[@Station9.75]

65:24 rounds down to 2.7:1. So it is very close.

[@F1lmtwit]

The Hasselblad 7023 series has a Xpan set up and you can use the Xpan lenses (with converter)

[@PianoBlackTrimRep.]

I just bought a Sigma DP0 Quattro, looking forward to shooting in 21:9 format. I know you can use any camera to take multiple photos and then stitch them together and crop in post but that's too much work. I want to shoot 21:9 natively.

[@troz856]

I used to shoot panoramic with a Horseman LF camera and a 6x17cm film back, scanned with a Flextight Precision II scanner. I now use a Fujifilm GFX 50R and if I crop to the same aspect ratio, the Fujifilm images are as good or better.

[@andyvan5692]

one alternative, to get a panoramic shot, is a Sinar Zoom back, it shoots 120 film, but in 6x4.5 all the way up to 6x12 panoramic format, and it has a mask for the 'ground glass' using a variable border to the format in use, so you can compose correctly, and the back can fit to all 4x5" cameras, its the darkslide that does this masking of formats, it is stopped at smaller formats, and fully opens at 6x12.

[@mpbcom]

That is very interesting, thank you for sharing! Although I must admit, using a large format film camera and adding even more accessories to it is the very opposition of convenience 😀 But I imagine the quality coming from such a set-up is just unmatched. - Jakub

[@thatsreallyamoon]

With those locations, any camera seem amazing!

[@mpbcom]

True, true :)

[@0rdsec]

Mamiya 7 with a wider lens (65 or 50, 43 if you're into extremes), pano kit - et voila, you have an xpan that can shoot 6x7 :) I know it's still a pricey solution and the film overhead is there, but I personally truly enjoy the analog process, and I save money by developing and scanning at home. If I were to go digital, though, I'd probably grab a 50R as the variety of lenses you can adapt to it is pretty insane. Great video - thank you!

[@PMS1950]

Interesting presentation and at locations I've been familiar with since the 1950s. The great English landscape photographer, Fay Godwin's photo essay of images featuring the 'Saxon Shoreline' manages to convey the wide skies and flat, brooding atmosphere of this wonderful area. Fay used a Hasselblad 500 and (I think) Ilford film stock. Tbe digital transfer process, which was the latest tech for the 1970s, gave the printed images a sharpness and tonal accuracy, which was impressive for the time.

[@AdrianFilipiak]

What about Lumix LX100 with physical crop mode switch allowed you to shoot 16x9 natively (sensor is larger than lens coverage)

[@raksh9]

A number of Panasonic cameras have/had multi-aspect ratio cropping, where either the imaging circle of the lens was smaller that usual for the sensor, or the sensor was larger than usual for the format. allowing full resolution in each crop mode. The Panasonic LX3, LX5, LX7 and LX100 all had this feature, and the Panasonic GH5S has a true multi aspect ratio sensor which is bigger than the standard m43 size. In 16:9 crop mode on these cameras, the image at 24mm equivalent is close to 22mm as the lens covers more of the left and right of the image.

[@Samson1]

One of the impacts of Oppo's collaboration with Hasselblad when developing the Find X5 Pro is that there are Hasselblad filters and a standalone XPan mode. Oh! I just noticed you're MPB, my camera shop of choice.

[@mpbcom]

It's great to hear that, Samson!

[@wujiali1117]

Thank you for the video. i did not know 50R can shot in X-pan mode. Very helpful!

[@Kref3]

I had an XPAN 1 some years ago. I also had a Mamiya 7 and several other cameras of the 90s. I also had a 4x5 and a 16x6 panoramic medium format camera. Ultimately I bought an Imacon 646 scanner to get the best out of these things. I sold practically all. The view cameras because they were too much of a hassle for me, the Mamiya and XPAN and the Scanner because I simply could not afford to keep pieces like this without using them practically daily especially while I always thought about them dying on me any day, since they are so complicated electronic machines. I kept my Nikon FM2, F2, Hasselblad 501CM and Rolleiflex 3.5E and then I do camera scanning with my Sony A7R2 and Sigma 105 macro. Just as you said: If an XPAN dies, you have just lost thousands of whatever kind of money you use. Made me nervous.

[@stesso7122]

Nice video! Personally, i would go for a regular camera with an anamorphic lens. That would allow you not to lose megapixels with the plus of the anamorphic look.

[@jandwstudios9729]

The Panasonic S series do this but you can just crop In post. I want the extra pixels in case I need to crop stabilize video later.

[@naturarum]

I find it crazy that we can’t just use any size ratio we want in current DSLRs. My Nikon Z5 gives me the choice between 3:2, 4:3, 1:1 and 16:9. Why not ANY ratio I want?? To get XPan-like results I compose in 16:9 and crop afterwards but I always wonder how I would have composed a shot if I had the the 27:10 preview.

[@Dahrenhorst]

Well, you can crop as you want in post to achieve any aspect ratio you could wish for ...

[@naturarum]

@@Dahrenhorst but you can't compose in the target aspect ratio.

[@Dahrenhorst]

@@naturarum That is just a matter of experience and imagination.

[@naturarum]

@@Dahrenhorst You realize you're justifying the absence of a simple software feature on multi-thousand dollar cameras? If I want limitations, I go to my film camera.

[@krimke881]

I think you should be able to type what ratio you want. Or put in a handful of your favorites to use, in Camera. I really wonder what limitations there are to not do this. It's really weird with everything else thats possible

[@quite1enough]

there's also Fuji GFX 100 and 100s, 65:24 crop there is 50mp and you have an ibis on top

[@pilsenphotocoop861]

you know you can use a canon R5/6 etc and just select that crop in the menu. You can have a line to show the crop or actually have the extra sensor space matted out. Its pretty handy when you're shooting for a specific format.

[@gfcphotography3101]

explain further as i own the R5 please. Thank you. I do not see 65:24 in the menu.

[@yfaitube]

My iPhone 14 pro max with an anamorphic lens does a great job (with lots of distortion of course) with emulating this.

[@mpbcom]

I'm sure it does! How about the depth of field though? Can you use the portrait mode with an anamorphic lens? A camera phone is an option worth considering but here at MPB we believe a dedicated camera gives you better results and definitely a much better user experience 🙂 Thank you for watching! - Jakub

[@yfaitube]

@@mpbcom - yeah not going to lie - I prefer dedicated cameras too - have way too many of them! :) no shallow DoP of course with iPhone.

[@jenshjmann3547]

In the Lumix G9 you can set a Frame marker to 2,39:1 (thats 57:24) and make the frame red. In post you have to find the aspect again though....

[@mpbcom]

This is an awesome tip to help with this type of composition, thanks for watching! - Jakub

[@CircuitBoardcokr]

just use 2.0x squeeze anamorphic lens on your camera. it will make squeezed image. and once you open the image on photoshop, set pixel ratio from square to 2 by 1, magnificent landscape will show up.

[@wallacedavis1728]

Can either be used with anamorphic lenses for super panoramas?

[@mpbcom]

That is a great idea! Sigma has a built-in lens so it can't be used that way. As for the Fuji and Hasselblad, I'm not sure if there are anamorphic lenses for medium format cameras... Probably there are but I imagine they would be cine-grade lenses designed for high-end cameras. I think a full-frame Panasonic (S5 or S1) would be your best choice as there are anamorphic lenses for L-mount. The S5 didn't make it into the video but I've added it to the article, have a look here: www.mpb.com/content/kit-guides/top-3-digital-alternatives-to-the-hasselblad-xpan Thank you! - Jakub

[@markos.5539]

Does anamorphic stills count?

[@detra5882]

i would suggest that you say actual numbers rather than "its a 1/10 of the price" or so. i watch this video to inform myself without asking google for details But its a great video. keep up the good work

[@mpbcom]

Thanks for the comment, we're glad you watched and enjoyed!

[@SeguraCine]

hi, friend,. I'm desperate to find a magic lantern for my M6 MARK II do you know where I can get the software for my camera for the M6 MARKII?

[@walkingmanvideo9455]

Forgive the question but I have to ask. If i was to take a photo with my Leica Q3 and crop the photo the same ratio as an xpan, would i not have the same look?

[@mpbcom]

Yes, you would! And it would work with any camera, not only the Q3 🙂 But: this way you can only guess the composition while taking a photo with a camera without the crop built-in. And the cameras mentioned in the video (or the article on our website) will give you a real-time preview of the actual panoramic composition. So you will see the actual composition, no need to guess anything! - Jakub

[@bgrzesiak5996]

Fuji X-T5, Fuji 10-24 or 8-16 lens, shoot SOOC JPEG, know how to use the Highlight Tone and Shadow Tone controls, crop image. Done.

[@TanichthysAlbonubes]

great vid 😍 In my opinion, the sigma wins in all areas... except for the speed and the software 🙂

[@hakonsoreide]

The Sigma's speed and software still puts it miles ahead of the original XPan's processing speed and software... 😁

[@JohnVander70]

Beautiful photos (love the dp0)

[@mpbcom]

Thank you! The Dp0 is surprisingly enjoyable camera to shoot with. - Jakub

[@rivergate950]

I bought a few xpan cameras from cayman cameras when they first came out. sold them for a profit because prices in cayman were a good 30% lower than in the USA. cant' believe they actually went up in price! if you use a tripod and any shift lens you can take 2 photos and stitch in post.

[@jameslee2736]

does the entire line of sigma dp cameras offer the 65-24 crop?

[@OttosTheName]

AFAIK all of those Sigma DP series are basically the same camera, but with a different fixed lens.

[@strider111ab]

How do we get the xpan look on a Fujifilm TX-5? Please do a video on this. Great job! Thank you.

[@weisserth]

I bought the dp0 from MPB a while ago, specifically for the purpose of shooting panorama in 21:9 aspect ratio. It's essential that you also find the viewfinder attachment for the screen which is quite expensive.

[@MarkSpan]

SD quattro? That had all the options of the DP, built-in viewfinder and exchangeable lenses.....

[@cylais3518]

The find x5 pro hasselblad colab also has xpan mode.

[@mpbcom]

Thank you for this information! It looks like a few smartphones out there have this feature. Although here in MPB we strongly believe using a dedicated camera gives you just a better experience than taking photos on a phone. - Jakub

[@albrechtn]

...very very great video....btw I think you can shoot the quattros in dng....

[@Klaus-macht-Bilder_de]

I think any full frame camera > 36MP can do the job by cropping - important is a real wide angle lens or even a FishEye with software correction to rectangular pictures

[@roy5515]

I use the iPhone app 645 Pro, it has film simulation plus multiple crop modes, including 6 x 12 and 6 x 17. Cheapest way to x pan alternative. They look good too.

[@rrvrs4115]

What is that strap on the Hasselblad Xpan? looks great! 2:25

[@mpbcom]

Thanks! It's a shame we can't track down exactly where it came from though - sorry!

[@georgelamb9873]

If you have Photoshop you can produce a panorama quite simply by stitching a series of frames together. Yes that other processing programmes that will do the same.

[@OlDoinyo]

If you know how to crop an image in post, you can get this 7:3 aspect ratio (or any arbitrary other) out of any image file. If you want a panoramic image, just be sure to shoot with a wide-angle lens (some by Laowa cover up to 135 degrees' field of view.) My OnePlus cellphone camera actually has an Xpan mode--officially sanctioned by Hasselblad!

[@mpbcom]

You are right, cropping an image in post will give you any aspect ratio you want. However, this way you still frame your shots in a 3:2 (or 16:9) aspect ratio and have to imagine how the final, cropped photo will look like. Hence the idea to find cameras that have the Xpan crop built-in. I definitely agree with using wide angle lenses for this crop, such images look great! Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts! - Jakub

[@VasiTeoca]

On film there is also the Horizon Panoramic Perfekt. It is the same with Horizon S3 U-500

[@mpbcom]

That's true, and they can be a fairly affordable way to get into panoramic shooting on film. Although not everyone is a fan of the distortion swinging lens mechanism creates. Thank you! - Jakub

[@SuperSuperka]

Of course it's not an alternative at all, but I am glad more people talk about Xpan. Maybe Fuji will hear and produce real digital Xpan, based of halph of GFX-sensor - horisontal cut produce perfect Xpan ratio sensor.

[@felixmorsdorf1391]

i use an a7 riv. square grid in display helps with composing, cropping in post with aspect pre-set in capture one. still 33mp images then. love it.

[@soundknight]

My friend has the sigma, is beautiful. Very slow and painful to use but I like its charms

[@fthprodphoto-video5357]

I would say the Sigma Quattro H with anamorphic adapter in front of any Sigma lens, shot in original ratio and squeezed back to panoramic after is the closest to a Fuji GX617 or Hassleblad XPAN. I could compare my Fuji GX617 slide shots with the Quattro H shot in panoramic mode and the 100% detail is pretty close even if the GX617 still has more fine detail, it also has some grain and overall softness vs the Foveon sensor

[@mpbcom]

That is a very unusual and wonderful idea! I'd love to try it, if only the Sigma Quattro H's weren't so hard to get these days. Thank you for sharing! - Jakub

[@fthprodphoto-video5357]

@@mpbcom well you will love the files of the Quattro sensor of you like film, textures and colors are pretty much the same, without all the hassle of developing and scanning/removing dust. The QUATTRO H is probably the best but harder to get than the APSC Quattro. The portable Sigma DP Quattro O,1,2,3 are great options otherwise but the regular mirrorless Quattro allows to have more reach thanks to the second hand Sigma SA and ART lens options out there. I will try to ad my Panasonic anamorphic adapter in front of the Sigma SA lenses and post the differences vs its integrated crop-panoramic mode.

[@DimitriGalle_N25]

any high res camera you can crop to 65:24 or 2.7:1 ratio and you have the same. if you compose for it the creativity is endless and the crop ratio is fab,

[@mpbcom]

You're right, you can crop a photo taken on any camera to 65:24 aspect ratio. But I looking for cameras that can actually show you the panoramic frame while shooting, without the need to imagine composition afterwards. Thank you for watching! - Jakub

[@nightcoder5k]

How about the "645 PRO" camera app for iPhone? Give it a try. It might surprise you.

[@Stanlyok]

It is not only about resolution and aspect ratio. Otherwise cropping would be a solution. As for composing - Sony cameras have 2.35:1 Marker display. Not far off from rangefinder framing experience (seeing more than what ends up being photographed). It is mainly about the sensor size, sensor being film in XPan's case. Speaking of sensor size - Fuji & Hasselblad mirrorless "medium format" sensors are approximately 44 x 33mm VS standard medium format film size of at least ~60 x 45mm. So the short side of the actual medium format frame is longer than long side of these new cameras. The XPan, with it's unique use of 35mm film, has an even wider frame of 65 x 24mm. So if you adapt XPan lenses onto these modern "medium format" cameras - the crop factor will be huge at about 1.47 horizontally! That's FF vs APS-C difference :D To sum up, not only there is no camera with a wide digital sensor like XPan had, but there is also no camera that has large enough sensor and short enough flange distance to adopt the XPan lenses.

[@connor56347]

I mean "technically" there's the Arri Alexa 65 which is 55mmX25.5mm. But yes, in terms of cameras people could actually own and use for photos you're right.

[@Stanlyok]

@@connor56347 also thought of it, but as you noted it’s still not wide enough to capture all width of the light projected by the lenses being 1 whole centimeter narrower compared to XPan’s frame

[@ItsCjhoneycomb]

I'm impressed at how well the Sigma actually keeps up with medium format... and for the price.. WOW. From experience, it is truly a pain to use.

[@itch1428]

which one do u have

[@ItsCjhoneycomb]

I used the Sigma SD Quattro H @@itch1428

[@d.idowuolutosin4250]

Not understanding how you missed out on mentioning the LUMIX S5II or S5IIX. Both support a native panoramic shooting mode and does it better than any of the cameras you mentioned. Maybe in a second version of this video you will mention it.

[@mpbcom]

We have added the Lumix S5 to our article here: www.mpb.com/content/kit-guides/top-3-digital-alternatives-to-the-hasselblad-xpan . Sadly, updating a video is not that easy but maybe we will have a chance to make a second version of it. The Lumix S series are indeed great cameras. Thank you! - Jakub

[@divyanshu_besra]

how is the xpan a medium format equivalent

[@mpbcom]

Its lenses cover a larger than 35mm image circle. So it's a _sort of_ medium format lens projecting an image onto a regular 35mm film. Hope that explains what I had in mind. Thank you for watching! - Jakub

[@MartinJablonski]

You don't often hear people talk about the dp quattro cameras. Love my dp0 and I bought it precisely for the wide aspect ratio once I saw that I can't spend that much money on an xpan.

[@JohnOpie]

I have the Sigma dp1 quattro. Oddly enough, the 21:9 format is what I use it for primarily, shooting native B&W. Fabulous tool for this format. Only thing is if you want to do time lapse in that format, no software I found will let you merge in that format. Output is 16:9, leaving black borders at the top and bottom. Hence: shoot 16:9 natively if you want to generate time lapse with the quattros. One commentor said it's not a Foveon: that isn't true (what makes Foveon Foveon is the layering of the sensors, not the distribution) and it makes no difference: results are superior.

[@ngjacky2922]

The camera I really like so much, but one thing I really worry about when the camera broken, they don’t have any repair solutions problems :( fuji tx1

[@fgj4990]

Great video! Many thanks.

[@mariusv.8965]

There actually are cameraphones that have the Xpan crop mode as well. The OnePlus 9, 9 pro, 10 and 10 pro all have "Hasselblad"-branded cameras with an Xpan crop mode built into the camera settings.

[@CodHumors]

The Minolta PS, a point and shoot film camera.

[@mpbcom]

Ah yes, it is a cute little camera although it is not digital! Thank you for sharing. - Jakub

[@00chilli00]

The Sigma FP also has a 21:9 crop mode!

[@TopshelfJunior]

Panasonic S5 shoots this aspeect ratio, as well as the new Panasonic S9. Cool entry level cams for somebody if they wanna shoot that ratio..

[@mpbcom]

Thank you! Since the video has been released we've added the Panasonic S5 to the list on the MPB blog: www.mpb.com/en-uk/content/kit-guides/top-3-digital-alternatives-to-the-hasselblad-xpan . Panasonic S9 is a really cool camera! - Jakub

[@beameup64]

My Olympus Pen E-PL10 will do panoramas HAND-HELD as you rotate. I paid about $300 for it.

[@anta40]

Fuji GFX has a 65:24 mode. Yeah sure there are some interpolations involved. Considering it's a 50 MP camera, I think the result is still very acceptable.

[@AndrejsZavadskis]

make video Hasselblad X1D vs Fujifilm GFX 50R

[@rockyBalboa6699]

There is another camera you missed. It's the SIGMA SD Quattro H with a 38.6MP sensor which has a super wide xpan option.

[@sergioarcaya7178]

Do you know if the new Hasselblad X2d 100c or the 907x can shoot XPan as well? I went to the Hasselblad website but couldn’t find any information. BTW. Excellent video.

[@EmmaKAlexandra]

Tape over the screen: ✅ Foveon sensors ✅ Might as well be a One Month Two Cameras video

[@raksh9]

Better than a Two Girls One Cup video.

[@framue]

Great video. In addition to the presented cameras all Panasonic L-mount/full frame support a 65:24 in-camera crop mode as well.

[@SabbaLinga]

Mate do you have any alternatives that can cost idk like 3.50$?

[@mpbcom]

Of course, that would be an old Halina Panorama found in the attic 😉 Thanks for watching!- Jakub

[@chadsexinton]

So just a wider lens ? I don't get it

[@raksh9]

Does cropping really produce a look like the XPan? Because the XPan used two full frame widths per image, rather than just cropping the top and bottom. The look of XPan images is almost unique, apart from Widelux images which have a similar frame coverage.

[@BrennanMartin]

The xpan was essentially cropping though too, it was a medium format lens using 35mm film. The image circle was really big that's why it's so wide. Essentially just cropping off the top and bottom of the lens' image circle.

[@raksh9]

@@BrennanMartin Sort of, but not really. The XPan lenses were specifically designed by Fuji to shoot on near-double width 35mm film frames, not medium format. A few medium format film cameras had a panoramic masking mode, which is considered cropping, but the XPan was not cropping anything in full panoramic mode. If anything, the XPan cropped when shooting in standard 35mm mode. And this video talks about using cropped full frame and digital MF cameras as XPan alternatives when the XPan produces a unique image due to the double width frame use. Even the Hasselblad X1D doesn't match the XPan as the sensor isn't as wide as two 35mm film frames. The closest available digital sensor is in the Hasselblad H6D, and even that isn't as wide as 120 film.

[@OttosTheName]

I suppose the distortion might be slightly different? In the past it was harder to correct for distortion and it all had to happen in the glass. Now, to some extent, camera's do it in software. Better lenses need less software correction, but very compact, older or cheaper zoomlenses will need more corrections. I've seen some odd things in the corner of my Sony 16-50mm kitlens for the A6x00 range. For the most part that's the only difference I could come up with from the top of my head. The popular 45mm options for the Xpan was a 25mm equivalent, which isn't stupid wide, so I wouldn't expect it to have had silly distortion. Maybe the 30mm (17mm equiv) gets a little crazier.

[@Dahrenhorst]

@@raksh9 Actually, the XPan lenses are prone to vignetting, their image circles are struggling with 65 mm.

[@Angelo_Botta]

The new Sony A7c II has this feature build in too.

[@mpbcom]

I will look into it, thank you for letting me know! - Jakub

[@ardas77]

And I was thinking that it will be a sort of a budget offering of cameras like older Panasonics or Ricohs :D

[@raytbrown2]

Thanks for the video. IMHO - The Hasselblad produced the least pleasing images of the three and the Sigma beat out the Fuji except for one picture -- the shot looking down the street with houses on either side. Humph.

[@jshell]

I shouldn’t have watched this video because now I’ve got a Quattro DP0 ordered. It’s a much more interesting camera than I realized.