Up until now, photographers on the Hasselblad digital X system were limited to prime lenses when it came to photographing very wide scenes. The awesome folk at Hasselblad’s headquarters in Sweden have decided that now is the time to change this. Their first-ever ultra-wide zoom lens for the X system is being announced today – the Hasselblad XCD 3.2-4.5/20-35E lens.
Hasselblad’s First Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens
If you’re a landscape or cityscape photographer who’s been a tad unhappy over the constant switching of wide-angle lenses on your Hasselblad X camera, we have some good news for you today. Hasselblad is releasing the XCD 3.2-4.5/20-35E lens, heralding a new era for ultra-wide zoom lenses in their ecosystem. A camera from Hasselblad is a pricey investment, so it’s safe to say that most of us don’t really carry around more than one with different lenses on each to save time on switching lenses in the field. No more of that now for those of you who shoot wider scenes. With the XCD 3.2-4.5/20-35E lens, you not only get the exceptional image quality their X lineup is known for, but you also get the comfort and convenience of a 1.5x zoom.
Key Features
Sharper Than Sharp
The ‘E’ in this lens’s nomenclature stands for ‘Exclusive.’ Much like the L and S designators in the Canon and Nikon lineups, respectively, the E here indicates that this lens is among the crème de la crème of Hasselblad lenses. Expect it to be as sharp (if not more) edge-to-edge as the prime lenses they have.
Super Large Aperture
At f3.2, this is the largest aperture in the Hasselblad medium format system for a wide-angle lens. The close focusing distance of 32cm/12.5in would allow for some dreamy out-of-focus areas even at the wider 20mm focal distance
Wider And Wider
No more having to step backward or forward to get the perfect wide-angle frame in-camera. With the 1.5x zoom capabilities, you can get all of that 100-megapixel glory (on the X2D100C or CFV100C) without cropping. The 20-35mm (16-27mm full-frame equivalents) means you can capture anything from landscapes to cityscapes and environmental portraits.
Flash Synchronization And Fast Autofocus
The leaf shutter enables flash sync up to 1/2000s, allowing you to mix natural and flash light safely when outdoors. The lens elements used here are smaller than usual, allowing for quick autofocus enabled by the Hasselblad PDAF technology
Who’s It For
Things can only go forward for Hasselblad users here with the addition of this zoom lens into their lineup. As wonderful as their prime lenses are, the convenience that a zoom lens offers is unmatched for many photographers. The E badge indicates that users won’t sacrifice speed or sharpness when using this lens. From sweeping vistas to more intimate landscapes, travel and landscape photographers now have the added flexibility of the optical zoom features. Architectural photographers can frame wide perspectives of buildings and tighter compositions with a single lens. While especially in confined spaces, the interior photographers can now capture the full scope of a room as best needed. Saving you the hassle of carrying multiple prime lenses for your professional work, Hasselblad has launched a real winner with the XCD 3.2-4.5/20-35E lens.
Tech Specs
| Focal Length | 20-35mm, equivalence 16-27mm |
| Aperture Range | Wide-end: f/3,2-f/32 Tele-end: f/4,5-f/32 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 0.32m |
| Maximum Image Scale | Wide-end: 1:10.6 Tele-end: 1:6.4 |
| Lens Design | 16 Elements in 12 Groups (3 Aspherical Elements, 4 ED Elements) |
| Focus Type | Internal Focusing |
| Shutter Speed | 1/2000s-68min, Flash sync at all speeds |
| Length/Diameter | 117mm × Φ81mm |
| Weight | 805 g |
| Filter Diameter | 77mm |