Fujifilm may be the king of medium-format photography, but historic player Hasselblad is still there, as demonstrated by the launches over the past year. Between the
And to keep up the pace, Hasselblad is today launching a very wide angle fixed focal length, the XCD 2.5/25V. The V stands for versatile (versatile in English), because it focuses more on the search for balance between the different parameters (size, weight, aperture, etc.) than on ultimate optical quality.
This 25mm f/2.5, which corresponds to a 20mm in 24×36 equivalent, is the brightest lens of its kind. Opposite it, the GF 23mm f/4 R LM WR from Fujifilm certainly sees wider, but it is less luminous, and much heavier. Because weight is another advantage of the XCD 2.5/25V. With only 592 g on the scale, it is 250 g lighter than its competitor, which is not negligible considering the weight of medium format systems.
If it is not the widest fixed wide-angle in the world of medium format – the prize which goes to another lens from Hasselblad, the XCD 21 mm f/4.0 – it is therefore the brightest, one one of the lightest, but also one of the most suitable for close-up photography (only 25 cm minimum focusing distance). But it is also the fastest for flash photography. With its blade shutter placed directly in the optics, it allows a minimum flash sync speed of 1/4000, like its little brother, the XCD 28 mm f/4.0. Faced with this, Fujifilm’s 1/250th of a second is a little outdated!
Designed around a construction of 13 optical elements divided into ten groups, its optical formula uses four aspherical elements and three low dispersion elements. Compatible with the phase detection autofocus of the latest 100 Mpx sensors, it is equipped with the same mechanism as certain Olympus/OM System lenses. Namely a ring (a clutch, in the jargon) that you pull/push depending on whether you want to switch to automatic or manual focusing.
On paper, this lens, which is only compatible with the brand’s hybrid and modern cameras (X2D 100C, X1D II 50C, . The latter retains, apart from considerations of optical quality (which should be compared), two significant advantages: wider angular coverage (equivalent to 18 mm) and a price twice lower.
The XCD 2.5/25V is in fact launched at €4,199.