Hasselblad XCD 20-35mm f/3.2-4.5 E
I had to see for myself, and it was with bated breath that I waited to get my hands on the new Hasselblad XCD Zoom 20-35 f/3.2 lens. And finally, the UPS truck pulled up in front of our house and there was the lens.
I had waited for months and read everything written about this lens, most of it not that helpful, just a recital of facts about the lens, but little to know real experience. The sole exception was a deep dive by landscape expert Lloyd Chambers in is blog, which was behind a pay wall. Of course, I had to go behind that wall to get real in-depth experience with using the XCD 20-35 Zoom lens out in the wild.
Hasselblad XCD 35-75mm f/3.5-4.5 Lens
And I should mention that Lloyd Chambers at
https://diglloyd.com/ has a treasure trove of expert information available on photography, more like a university worth, a college of photographic training. I find this level of coverage almost no where else.
Needless to say, Chambers got right into the new 20-35 lens, warts and all, and then compared it to offerings from the Fujifilm GF 20-35/f4, and the Hasselblad XCD 30mm and 21mm lenses, and spared no one in his analysis of the group.
Chamber’s conclusion, and I quote was “The Hasselblad XCD 20-35/3.2-4.5 at 20mm on a 3D scene like this impresses with a gorgeous rendering with terrific color, sharpness, bokeh. I really want this lens! I can’t get this with the Fujifilm GF 20-35mm f/4.”
I don’t hear that enthusiasm for a lens from Chambers often.
As for me, I am less demanding and the only landscape I am interested in is mid-distanced landscapes and everything nearer.
I am impressed by several things. The fact that the close-focus distance is 12-inches allows me to get really close to a flower or an insect and pull the critter out with a cropped image. And here is an example.
More interesting to me is a quick image from our kitchen that makes clear to me that I’m going to love this lens. And as they say about the earlier Hasselblad zoom (Hasselblad XCD 35-75mm f/3.5-4.5 Lens), which I also have, that it is a ‘Prime Zoom’ meaning it’s a zoom that is of ‘prime’ caliber, and I agree.
In that case, this new zoom is the same, a zoom with pristine or prime sharpness and quality. For sure, it will stay on my X2D and replace a handful of other lenses. And it means I don’t have to change the lens as often out in the field. The X2D is notorious for collecting dust-bunnies by lens changing in the field.
Anyway, tests with this new Hasselblad XCD Zoom 20-35 f/3.2 I have still to do, but so far: fantastic!
I had hoped it could be this good and it is. I use the XCD 21mm a lot and THAT is an incredible lens. It looks to me that this new zoom is just as good. Wow!
