Hasselblad X1D II 50C

My college graduation present from my parents was a Mamiya 6 rangefinder. I loved that camera. It offered the image quality of medium-format film but in a hand-friendly, rangefinder-style body rather than the boxy form factor of most medium-format cameras. It had its limitations. There were only three lenses available, and rangefinders can be more difficult to use when you’re trying for a precise crop in-camera. But the extra detail captured by the medium-format frame made the trade-offs worth it for me.

The Hasselblad X1D 50C, introduced in 2016, and its successor, the X1D II 50C, remind me a lot of the Mamiya 6. It’s a similar story: medium-format image quality in a body that’s familiar, approachable and designed to be used on-the-go rather than stuck in a studio. It, too, has limitations, however, and depending on your style of photography, they may be deal-breakers, especially when you consider