In a previous post, I compared the autofocus performance of the FujiFilm GFX 100 II with the GF 110 mm f/2 lens to that of the Hasselblad X2D with the XCD 90V lens when shooting family portraits, and found that the X2D autofocus failed to achieve focus in situations that the GFX 100 II handled with ease. I noted that one of those situations was backlighting. I’ll be doing some more work with that, but in this post I”m going to see how finder brightness affects the ability of the two cameras to achieve automatic focus.
I sorted through my target collection and found a target that Horshack created to be easy for AF systems to deal with. I printed two versions of the target, one low contrast and dark, and the other even lower contrast and darker. I taped them to a wall about 6 feet from where I set up the cameras.
I set up the cameras this way:
- Manual shutter and aperture
- Mechanical shutter for the X2D, EFCS for the GFX 100 II
- ISO 400
- f/8
- IBIS on
- EVF exposure simulation on
I varied the shutter speed until I found the fastest shutter speed (and thus the darkest finder) where the AF system was able to acquire focus.
- For the low contrast target: X2D, 1/320 second. GFX 100 II, 1/4000 second. Actually, in the case of the GFX 100 II, I don’t know if it would still AF at a faster shutter speed.
- For the even lower contrast target: The X2D couldn’t focus at any shutter speed. GFX 100 II, 1/4000 second. In the case of the GFX 100 II, I don’t know if it would still AF at a faster shutter speed.
I tried again at ISO 100:
- For the low contrast target: X2D, 1/100 second. GFX 100 II, 1/4000 second. Actually, in the case of the GFX 100 II, I don’t know if it would still AF at a faster shutter speed.
- For the even lower contrast target: The X2D couldn’t focus at any shutter speed. GFX 100 II, 1/4000 second. In the case of the GFX 100 II, I don’t know if it would still AF at a faster shutter speed.
So finder brightness makes a big difference with the X2D. As a check on that, I set the X2D EVF exposure preview to off. Then it could focus on both targets at ISO 100 at 1/4000 second.
Caveats: Preproduction version of the 90V, lens firmware 1.4.9.
Bob Foster says
Thank you.
My XCD 120 is by far the worst performing XCD lens insofar as auto-focus is concerned.
I duplicated your test with this lens and obtained similar results.
Compared to better lighting conditions and/or better contrast in the subject the speed with which the lens acquires focus does not appear to be affected. I suspect, but do not know, that this lens used in combination with the X2D camera uses smaller step sizes than other XCD lenses to determine best focus.
Alberto Lau Chang says
Thank you for your informative posts, Mr. Kasson!
I rented a Hasselblad X2D 100C camera, an XCD 38mm f2.5V lens, and an SCD 90mm f2.5V lens for two weeks over the holidays. While I was impressed by the quality of the files, focusing performance left a lot to be desired in both auto and manual modes. The new face recognition firmware helps, but it still misses occasionally and sometimes crucially. This is unacceptable in such an expensive camera.
I am specially disappointed because back in the film days I loved my Hasselblad 500C and my Super Wide. Yes, I know they were manual-focus cameras, but I did not have any problem focusing.
DJI, the drone maker and current owner of Hasselblad, seems to just want to profit off past glory. Didn’t DJI come out with products that use LiDAR to focus? Why don’t they lavish that kind of love on Hasselblad?
Riswan says
Hi jim, thanks for the findings, are you suggesting that turning off exposure simulation actually help with the AF on X2D? Especially indoor when room is dimmed?
Im using 55v and with face detection, i found it when X2D gets focused, at times it will be on the farther side of the eye too unlike what most people claim
JimK says
If the subject is dark in the finder, yes.
Gary Halvin says
For the x2d, is turning off exposure simulation still the solution for faster auto focus with current firmware?
JimK says
It still seems to help if the finder image is dark otherwise.