Every time I picked up the Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C, I heard a song in my head: “He’ll Have to Go” by Jim Reeves. My earliest memories of it are of my parents slowly dancing together in the living room within our small Queens apartment. Those memories still stick in my mind — and I can see them moving with far less celerity than 37-year-old me glides to daily. It’s only when writing about this combo that I now understand why that song came up in my head. This camera isn’t about capturing a zillion frames a second or capturing things at all. It’s about making memories and images that stand the test of time. But more importantly, it’s the closest thing to a romantic experience one might have with a camera.
The Hasselblad 907x and CFV 100C are not for content creators. If you shoot video, move on. But if you shoot still images and don’t want to come back with over 100 images to cull through, this is the camera for you. The Hasselblad 907x and CFV 100C feel like the camera equivalent of someone who went to therapy and worked on themselves to evolve because they cared. They’re still not perfect — but when someone shows signs of wanting to grow, that makes them attractive. Sure, a decade ago, Hasselblad was announcing Sony cameras.
But this — this is something no one else has.
Table of Contents
The Big Picture
The Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C appeals to a passionate photographer who wants the aesthetic experience of being a photographer along with the feel. It’s a camera system where you can take the CFV 100C off the camera and mount it to a 500C-style camera body or others. This way, you can truly switch between digital and analog. What’s more, it also feels great in the hands. And even if you’re an experienced photographer, you’ll realize that you’re going to learn something with this camera. As stable and sturdy as I am when shooting, the 100MP back doesn’t have image stabilization. And so it feels like the D800 all over again, where even your tiniest movements will magnify into camera-shake. That’s all fine- if anything, it reminds you to slow down more and get a tripod.
There are also other great things going for it. For example, when working with a flash system, it syncs up with Nikon TTL. The 907x also has a bit of weather resistance — though not enough for me to be confident enough to protect the CFV 100C in more torrential rain. The lenses are also leaf shutter, so high-speed sync isn’t even a worry. Plus, there’s a 1TB SSD built into the camera. Heck, if you shoot in an old-school way, you probably will only ever use the CFExpress card just for backup.
Of course, there are some issues. Besides the lack of image stabilization, someone greener to photography will probably hate the autofocus speed. Indeed, even in low light, it’s good. But it can struggle at times — though fairly rarely. However, the lenses have zone-focusing abilities, so they’re great for using the camera system that way. The RAW files are also enormous.
Honestly, I’d consider buying the Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C for my personal project: What NY Loves. But I know that it’s overkill and every expensive at $8,100 without a lens. So who should get it?
- Commercial photographers: 100MP is tough to beat for retouching. Plus, the Nikon TTL is nice.
- Street photographers: Zone focusing on this thing is incredible and makes you shoot completely different.
- Portrait photographers: The colors this camera renders are unlike anything that I’ve seen from Leica, Fujifilm, or Canon — the brands whom I often consider to have the best colors.
- Fine art photographers: Slowing down is very nice, and the touch interface is some of the simplest I’ve ever used.
- Film shooters using Hasselblad: You can switch from digital to film easily and quickly.
The Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C win four out of five stars. It’s an incredible camera system for photographers who don’t want to be called content creators. They want to make art. And if you don’t understand why labels matter, then you’re not understanding how modern marketing is trying to devalue what we do.
Want one? The price of the 907X & CFV 100C is 7,799 EUR / $8,199 USD
Pros
- Nikon TTL works with it
- Beautiful handling and ergonomics
- A completely different experience than all the monotonous cameras out there
- Excellent image quality and how it renders light
- You can use it on 500C cameras!
- Nice lenses with leaf shutters! So you don’t need to worry about high-speed sync
- It’s small
- Weather-resistant seals on it
- 1TB of storage built into the CFV 100C
- Fast autofocus for medium format with phase detection
Cons
- Slow autofocus for some, though this is very fast for medium format. It even outperforms some full-frame cameras I’ve got around the office.
- Some might complain about the price. But it’s very worth it.
- 200+MB files are much more than I asked for.
- The lack of image stabilization is surely a concern that someone might complain about. But at the same time, I don’t think this is a camera designed for that kind of work.
- Underexposes by almost two stops according to the laws of Sunny 16.
Innovations
What makes this camera so different is that it’s one of the only medium format cameras to be adaptable since its predecessor’s release during the pandemic. It boasts 100MP, and the CFV 100C can be mounted on the 907X one minute and the 500C another minute. Truly, you have a system that can move back and forth between digital and film. Plus, it meters TTL with Nikon flashes. This feels like a camera I’d want to bring everywhere, too. Oh yeah, there’s also a 1TB SSD built into it.
Gear Used
The Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C we tested are loaner units provided to us by Hasselblad. We tested them with the 38mm f2.5 and 55mm f2.5 lenses — which were also loaned to us. The back was used with our own 501C camera and lenses. We also used our own Profoto B10.
Hardware
The Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C are overall very small units. With the grip, it can fit into a Billingham bag with no issues, as seen in my Instagram tease. Without the grip, it can go into something even smaller. If you’re into retro ergonomics and old-school Hassy cameras, you won’t need the grip at all. Instead, you’ll fall for the aperture ring around the lens, the dial around the shutter button located on the front, and the fact that the back comes off the same way as it would with a film camera.
The CFV 100C has only a few buttons. Instead, you’ll mostly be working with the touchscreen. I still know photographers who don’t use touchscreens — which I think is a disservice at this point. But this screen is so much different. Any other buttons are out of the way, and so it’s dominant here. Sure, you can use buttons for certain things — but not for everything.
The 907x also has a bit of weather resistance inside of it to protect the sensor. I used it in a bit of a snow shower. But I don’t think that there are enough seals to really protect it from the elements. Further, the lenses aren’t made with a lot of weather resistance either.
Ease of Use
If your love language is simple menu systems, then you’ll want the Hasselblad CFV 100C to slide into your DMs or slip you a little note sprayed with a bit of fragrance. Forget everything that the Japanese camera manufacturers do with menus – with the exceptions being Canon and Lumix. The menu system is touchscreen oriented and overall pretty easy to use. My only gripe is that I couldn’t find a way to turn off automatic playback – but we’re not all perfect, and Hasselblad isn’t a billion-dollar company, so I’m willing to make an exception here.
Understanding the hardware, like the sliding door on the side, the grip’s precise alignment, and other things, also takes a bit of time. But if a legally blind guy like me can figure out the entire camera in under an hour or so, then you can too.
Seriously, I’m so in love with the interface that every time I rated an image in-camera, I wanted to believe that the stars were actually hearts that I’d see on Instagram or Tumblr. Trust me, with the size of the Hasselblad CFV 100C files, you’ll want to rate in camera and only upload those to your computer.
Another nice touch: Hasselblad sandwiched a 1TB SSD into this camera back. Only Leica has done this so far – and I’m at a loss to understand why the Japanese manufacturers aren’t doing this.
If it sounds like I’m picking on the Japanese, perhaps ask yourself why we’re defending billion-dollar companies instead. All camera manufacturers tend to share the same components, more or less. The same few companies are making lenses. And every company besides Canon gets their sensors from Sony. They all feel the same after a while – but this is synonymous to a mom and pop shop slinging Grandma slices in a neighborhood filled with Sbarro’s and Pizza Hut. They’re all probably using the same stuff, but the preparation is different many times over.
When shooting with a flash, you’ll appreciate the leaf shutter lenses.
Focusing
The autofocus on the Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C work fairly well together. You’re not going to use this to photograph in the same way that you use the Sony a9 III, so I don’t think that it should be treated in the same way. So instead, you’ll slow down a bit more. It’s great for portraits, and if you want to stop fast-moving motion, you can use the second curtain flash feature.
Hasselblad says very specifically in their press kit that this is a camera designed for you to slow down with. And I agree with that, as it’s not designed to be a competitor to the Sony a1, Canon EOS R5, or the Nikon Z9. The autofocus is nowhere near as complex. When I shoot with this camera, I’m somehow reminded of a Mr. Rogers quote where he tells people that the gift of silence is nice versus all the noise out there. This camera setup reminds me to slow down and shoot in silence without asking myself a million questions: kind of like shooting film. And I greatly appreciate that.
If you’re absolutely dying to know about the autofocus speed, though, know that in my tests, I find that it outpaces the most recent Leica, Lumix, and Fujifilm cameras. That’s truly saying something.
You can focus using the touchscreen or using the grip. Personally, this is also the first grip that I’ve really liked. If I wanted to shoot with it in a very compact format, then I’d lose the grip and just shoot with the body and back as it is. It’s so small and powerful that I’d want to carry it everywhere with me.
What’s even more incredible is that the autofocus works really well even when the lighting is lower than you’d like it to be. This is the case even with the exposure preview setting on. Sure, it struggles at times with low contrast — but it can work.
Aside from the technical gobbledygook, this camera shares the Hasselblad X mount – the same as the other mirrorless cameras. Those lenses boast the focusing ring that, when activated, switches to manual focus and reveals Europe’s gift to street photographers: a depth of field scale that actually works. This means you can use the Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C for street and documentary photography while zone focusing. I am absolutely bewildered as to why Fujifilm doesn’t do this with GF-mount lenses.
Metering
Hasselblad’s metering is a bit odd. If you have the exposure preview on, then that’s all you might care about. But most of the time, I turn it off because it supercharges the autofocus, battery life, and more things than I can remember right now. Indeed, this is the case with the Hasselblad 907x and CFV 100C. But it gets even stranger.
It doesn’t feel like it adheres to the beliefs of Sunny 16, at least in manual mode. And you really see this when adapting the CFV 100C. A buddy of mine tried this camera back on the 501C and needed to overexpose an image shot in very low light. At ISO 64, 1/50th, and f11, I was able to get a balanced exposure where the exposure should’ve been ISO 64, 1/64th, and f16.
Please process that last sentence again and then apply it to every time that you’ve shot film — only then you’ll understand why this is such a big deal.
Modern cameras, with the exception of Canon’s, really want you to underexpose the scene and then pull it back in post-production. By that, it also means that the highlights are also pretty much gone.
Image Quality
At the moment of publishing, Lightroom is the only editor that supports these RAW files. From the onset, I can tell you that I immediately saw the difference after not opening the program for several months and only editing in Capture One. I truly can’t wait for Capture One support for this camera as the RAW files will sing a song that should be heard on Broadway and not some random theater in the Village.
With that said, we did some edits using the Phoblographer’s new Lightroom presets, which you can purchase for yourselves very soon. The presets work well with this camera. But again, Capture One is just a much better color editor in every single way.
Because this is a medium format sensor at 100MP, the high ISO output is also incredibly clean when viewing it on a screen.
Straight out of the camera, the colors can be great too. That’s to say that in the right situations, it’s easy to fall in love with the JPEGs this camera produces. That’s partially because of the way that medium format sensors render lighting. Full-frame 35mm can’t touch it. I surely do wish that I could have film presets of some sort built into this camera though, as that means that I’d probably rarely ever even edit the RAW files.
Extra Image Samples
The Phoblographer has been huge on transparency with our audience since day one. Nothing from this review is sponsored. Further, many folks will post reviews and show lots of editing in the photos. The problem then becomes that anyone and everyone can do the same thing. They’re not showing what the lens can do. So, we have a section in our Extra Image Samples area to show edited and unedited photos. From this, you can decide for yourself.
Unedited
Edited
Edited with the Phoblographer’s New Presets for Lightroom
If you’re interested, you can try these presets for yourself. Purchase them at our store.
Hasselblad 907x CFV 100C Tech Specs
- 100MP BSI CMOS sensor
- Hasselblad Natural Color Solution
- Phase Defection autofocus
- 1TB Built in storage
- 3.2 inch LCD screen with 2.36MP resolution
- Tilting backscreen
- Hot shoe adapter with Nikon TTL
- 907X control grip
- 16 bit color
- 15 stops of dynamic range
- ISO 64 to 25,600
- CF Express type B card slot
- Touch screen
- 620 Gram
- USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 charging
- Wifi/Bluetooth