Hasselblad X-pan
Discussion
I've been wanting one of these cameras for quite a while now and after trying some medium format think i might sell my bronica gear and 17-40 L to get one of them instead. I wont be able to get one in mint condition so have been looking at some of the cheaper ones available, a lot of the ones ive seen though seem to be missing the paint and have quite a few marks on them. I'm just wondering if anyone thats owned one could tell me if thats anything to worry about, I've read their built quite tough and had quite thin paint in the first place but still dont want to shell out that much money if its likely it could have some problems.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Any advice would be appreciated.
The bodies are made of titanium supposedly, still would be a bit suspicious about the internals on ones with paint damage. I find the format is limited, 35mm film but really long negs, no doubt a brilliant camera if you like shooting lots of panoramas i suppose.
I'd rather get a mamiya 7, but thats only because i like 6x7 and have access to a nicely equipped darkroom where i can make big prints without paying ridiculous prices.
There is a 35mm panorama adaptor you can get for the 7 though.
I'd rather get a mamiya 7, but thats only because i like 6x7 and have access to a nicely equipped darkroom where i can make big prints without paying ridiculous prices.
There is a 35mm panorama adaptor you can get for the 7 though.
if you are going to go panoramic, you might as well do it properly...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&...
About half of these were taken with the X pan Results are good but unless you scan in yourself it's expensive.
http://www.stevecarter.com/panoramics/panoramics.h...
http://www.stevecarter.com/panoramics/panoramics.h...
GetCarter said:
About half of these were taken with the X pan Results are good but unless you scan in yourself it's expensive.
http://www.stevecarter.com/panoramics/panoramics.h...
Hubba hubbahttp://www.stevecarter.com/panoramics/panoramics.h...
Thanks for the replies
Monochrome said:
The bodies are made of titanium supposedly, still would be a bit suspicious about the internals on ones with paint damage. I find the format is limited, 35mm film but really long negs, no doubt a brilliant camera if you like shooting lots of panoramas i suppose.
The format is the main reason i want it, theres something about panoramas that really appeal to me and i think i would much prefer it to 6x6. I usually end up cropping my landscapes or feeling that theres too much sky or foreground.GetCarter said:
About half of these were taken with the X pan Results are good but unless you scan in yourself it's expensive.
I keep looking at xpan pics on websites and every time i do i want one even more, i already have a scanner i used for scanning 645 and 6x6 so scanning wont be a problem, processing and film costs should end up roughly the same per shot aswell i think.I think the xpan is one of the greatest cameras of all time. I'd love another one. I shot all the pans here with it: www.mattwatkinson.com/travel
There are a couple of niggles with them but overall they produce fantastic razor sharp results. I'll try to remember what they are and post something back later.
There are a couple of niggles with them but overall they produce fantastic razor sharp results. I'll try to remember what they are and post something back later.
This is an extract from my diary when I was using the xpan every day in NZ
"The other problem in this area is positioning ND Grads on the xpan, which uses the rangefinder mechanism rather than looking through the lens. It’s one of those things that takes practice and experience but I have adopted a technique that seems to work: Take a spot reading from the ground (if you do not have a spot meter you can do this just by pointing the camera downwards at your foreground subject matter) and then compose your shot. Place the grad in the top of the holder, half press the shutter (this gives a meter reading in the viewfinder) and then pull the grad down and watch the meter reading change until similar to your previous foreground reading. Considering that the xpan system takes an average meter reading across the shutter plane, this should be about the right position as the filter will have balanced the exposure of the sky and foreground at this point, assuming you have used the right strength filter. Incidentally when the filter holder in on, it obscures all but the left third of the viewfinder so make sure the composition is right before you start!
Whilst on the topic of the xpan, I really feel like I have used it enough to have an opinion on it now. There is no denying it is an excellent camera and that it takes fantastic photos and do not regret buying it for a second. I love that it will do exposures upto 8 seconds before needing a bulb setting, the build quality is excellent and feels great in the hands: heavy and substantial enough to be a pleasure to use, but small and light enough to take anywhere. The Depth of field scales on the lenses are all I have used to focus it (I find split prism’s a bit clumsy and slow) and they have been accurate. The lens quality is also excellent, as you would expect from a Hasselblad. There are however some things that have been major irritations, most of which have been caused by the viewfinder, which has several flaws in my opinion. Perched on the end of the camera it is very easy to smudge the front side with a finger on your left hand which makes it hard to see through, but this pales into insignificance compared to the annoyance of the bloody thing misting up as soon as you put your eye to it if you have done anything more active than getting out of bed. Being left eyed, blessed with a substantial honker and wearing glasses, I also find the viewfinder pretty difficult to look through. More often than not I have been taking my glasses off which makes it much easier but it’s still a pain. Last but not least, I would say the finder is about 10% smaller than the image you get back, which I find really annoying. I know it is done on purpose for safety, as you can always crop it, but I tend to be quite anal with my composition and don’t like to get photos back which are wider-angled than I wanted.
The xpan has been a fine introduction to panoramic photography. My composition has come on leaps and bounds over the last three weeks, and the other camera has hardly been out of the bag."
"The other problem in this area is positioning ND Grads on the xpan, which uses the rangefinder mechanism rather than looking through the lens. It’s one of those things that takes practice and experience but I have adopted a technique that seems to work: Take a spot reading from the ground (if you do not have a spot meter you can do this just by pointing the camera downwards at your foreground subject matter) and then compose your shot. Place the grad in the top of the holder, half press the shutter (this gives a meter reading in the viewfinder) and then pull the grad down and watch the meter reading change until similar to your previous foreground reading. Considering that the xpan system takes an average meter reading across the shutter plane, this should be about the right position as the filter will have balanced the exposure of the sky and foreground at this point, assuming you have used the right strength filter. Incidentally when the filter holder in on, it obscures all but the left third of the viewfinder so make sure the composition is right before you start!
Whilst on the topic of the xpan, I really feel like I have used it enough to have an opinion on it now. There is no denying it is an excellent camera and that it takes fantastic photos and do not regret buying it for a second. I love that it will do exposures upto 8 seconds before needing a bulb setting, the build quality is excellent and feels great in the hands: heavy and substantial enough to be a pleasure to use, but small and light enough to take anywhere. The Depth of field scales on the lenses are all I have used to focus it (I find split prism’s a bit clumsy and slow) and they have been accurate. The lens quality is also excellent, as you would expect from a Hasselblad. There are however some things that have been major irritations, most of which have been caused by the viewfinder, which has several flaws in my opinion. Perched on the end of the camera it is very easy to smudge the front side with a finger on your left hand which makes it hard to see through, but this pales into insignificance compared to the annoyance of the bloody thing misting up as soon as you put your eye to it if you have done anything more active than getting out of bed. Being left eyed, blessed with a substantial honker and wearing glasses, I also find the viewfinder pretty difficult to look through. More often than not I have been taking my glasses off which makes it much easier but it’s still a pain. Last but not least, I would say the finder is about 10% smaller than the image you get back, which I find really annoying. I know it is done on purpose for safety, as you can always crop it, but I tend to be quite anal with my composition and don’t like to get photos back which are wider-angled than I wanted.
The xpan has been a fine introduction to panoramic photography. My composition has come on leaps and bounds over the last three weeks, and the other camera has hardly been out of the bag."
Thanks for the reply matt, lots of good points. I searched the forums to see if there was any topics on them and noticed you had one. pretty much made my mind up now and think ill stump up the extra cash for one of the better condition examples if i can, if only for a better resale value if i want to get rid of it. Its a camera ive been wanting for a while now but only just realised i could probably afford one from selling a few other items.
Edited by alanw89 on Friday 14th November 22:29
RobDickinson said:
Was just about to mention you! 
Buy a decent one used and you can always flick it on again later with little or no loss of cash anyhow.
How does it work with lens's , filters etc though , MF lens's?
There are three primes, a 30, 45 and 90 IIRC. I never used any other than the 45...the 30 is really too wide I think and horrifically expensive, and I just couldn't compose well with the 90. Incidentally I never used the recommended centrespot ND grad on the 45 and had no noticeable problems with fall off on the corners at all. It's just a standard screw in for the filter holder. I always composed and then put the relevant filter on. Buy a decent one used and you can always flick it on again later with little or no loss of cash anyhow.
How does it work with lens's , filters etc though , MF lens's?
Cheers
Matt
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