Today Hasselblad announced the expansion of its XCD line of mirrorless medium format lenses designed for use with the firm’s new X1D camera. After many delays in 2016 the X1D is finally seeing consumers’ hands, and demand for more XCD lenses has been on the rise. The first of the four new lenses to hit the market will be the new 120mm F/3.5 macro lens.
This new XCD 120mm F/3.5 will be available this coming June, and Hasselblad says it features a 1:2 image scale, making it good for product imagery as well as for other purposes such a portrait or headshot photography. As with the other lenses in the XCD system, the 120mm F/3.5 will also feature a built-in leaf shutter, allowing the X1D to sync with lights at up to 1/2,000 shutter speed — a major advantage over Fujifilm’s GFX system which is limited to 1/125.
Following the release of the 120mm, Hasselblad has also announced the development of three other lenses for release in 2017. The XCD 35-75mm, XCD 65mm, and 22mm. No apertures or expected release time frames (other than within the next year) were provided for those additional lenses.
Hasselblad has moved fast to introduce new lenses to the XCD line. Their HC/HCD line of lenses for its traditional digital medium format cameras only features 12 lenses, and by the beginning of 2018 Hasselblad says that its XCD line will feature 7 lenses, plus an adapter allowing X1D owners to use those other 12 HC/HCD lenses.
This is Hasselblad’s second major announcement regarding their X1D line, and shows that the company is committed to building up its system as quickly as possible with the looming availability of Fujifilm’s competing GFX system which will also launch several lenses and more this year.
