Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C Camera Review

Introduction

The Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C is a medium format camera body / sensor pair. It’s one of the lightest medium format camera options available today, weighing about 700 grams (1.5 pounds) with the battery included. Furthermore, the camera is modular, with the option to separate the 100-megapixel medium format digital back (the CFV 100C) from the 907X and attach it to other camera systems. This makes the 907X & 100C an extremely versatile pair. That said, at $8200, it’s still a niche camera – even if the cost is not out of line for a Hasselblad.

In this review, I’ll share my thoughts and photos from the Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C, which I’ve been using extensively in Yellowstone National Park and other landscapes in Wyoming.

What Are the Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C?

The Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C are sold as a single camera system, but they’re really two separate parts. The bulk of the camera is the CFV 100C – this digital back is where the medium format sensor resides, along with the camera’s processor, touchscreen, storage, battery, and many of the controls. Meanwhile, the 907X is a relatively slim frame that goes in front of the digital back, providing a lens mount, shutter button, and a few other controls for the camera.

To photographers who are familiar with typical digital cameras, it may seem strange to “cut the camera in two” like this. Why would the CFV 100C need to be separate from the 907X? But this, in fact, is one of the camera’s great strengths. Because the two parts are separate, the excellent CFV 100C digital back can be removed and attached to a wide variety of other cameras, including Hasselblad V film cameras, technical cameras from different manufacturers, and even large format equipment.

For demanding photographers who work in industries like architectural or landscape photography, the lenses – and especially the camera and lens movements – offered by technical and large format cameras can be irreplaceable. It’s not that the 907X unit is an afterthought by any means, but I expect that many photographers will buy this combination for the CFV 100C digital back alone.

Hasselblad CFV 100C Explained

1. The Sensor

Before diving into the camera’s features and controls, let me take a minute to describe the sensor. This, after all, is why you’re spending $8200 on a camera.

The sensor found in the CFV 100C is one of the most impressive digital sensors available today. Not only is it a 100-megapixel medium format sensor (with all the detail-gathering capabilities that implies) – it also reaches a base ISO of 64, with the option of 16-bit color depth for raw images.

As a result, photographs taken with the CFV 100C achieve some of the best image quality that is possible today in a single press of a shutter button. Only the fact that the sensor size is “cropped” medium format (44 x 33 mm rather than 54 x 40) separates it from today’s $40,000+ digital backs.

Even so, the sensor is noticeably larger than full-frame (36 x 24 mm); the crop factor of the CFV 100C is 0.79x. In other words, a 100mm lens on the CFV 100C will give you the same perspective as a 79mm lens on a full-frame camera, apart from the differences in aspect ratio.

Unlike medium format sensors of yore, the CFV 100C promises good high ISO performance and fast processing speed thanks to the BSI CMOS design. To that end, the maximum ISO sensitivity is 25,600, and the sensor actually performs well at that setting (more on that later). It also has 294 phase-detect autofocus points that are reasonably fast when paired with the right lens.

Of course, it’s still not a camera that you’d want for sports or wildlife photography. Hasselblad even says as much in their promotional material: “907X & CFV 100C is not a camera for fast shooters, it’s for those with a deliberate and planned approach. The target audience is portrait and landscape photographers.”

And with that, I agree.

2. Other Features of the CFV 100C

There’s more to the CFV 100C digital back than just the sensor – the monitor, battery, USB port, storage, and many of the controls are also found here.

One of the most notable is the monitor. The monitor’s 3×4 aspect ratio matches the size of the photos you take, making it feel even larger than it is. It has a really nice touchscreen, more similar to an iPhone in its precision than to a typical camera touchscreen. It also tilts at three different positions: 0°, 40°, and 90°.

Photos taken with the CFV 100C are stored in one of two ways – either via a CFExpress memory card, or the internal SSD. This SSD is no gimmick – it’s fast and 1TB in size, so it functions as a very effective backup (or primary storage) when taking photos. Despite the large files that the Hasselblad CFV 100C sensor generates, the SSD can fit approximately 4700 raw photos before it becomes full.

The rest of the CFV 100C is rather straightforward. There are several menu and playback-related controls along the bottom of the tilting screen. There’s a button at the top of the camera for attaching or detaching the digital back to a camera unit like the 907X. There’s a row of hidden ports under a rubber cover beneath the monitor (used for flash, cable release, and ELX output). And there’s a USB-C port on the left-hand side for data transfer or charging.

Hasselblad 907X Explained

The 907X is the frame that attaches to the front of the CFV 100C digital back. (Alternatively, you have the option to attach the CFV 100C to certain technical cameras or Hasselblad film cameras, but it ships with the 907X).

The Hasselblad 907X is pretty straightforward in its features and capabilities. This is the portion of the camera where you mount and unmount various lenses. There are also some important controls, including the shutter button, a command wheel, and a button for shutter speed/exposure compensation. Finally, along the bottom, there’s a tripod socket and connection pins that allow you to attach the 907X Control Grip.

This gives the 907X & 100C the form factor of a more typical camera, and it also adds an extra range of controls. That said, I found myself leaving the 907X Control Grip at home most of the time. The bare camera already has all the controls you need, especially if you’re willing to use the touchscreen, and it’s a more streamlined form factor.

You can also attach an optical viewfinder to the 907X (simply called the 907X Optical Viewfinder) which offers frame line guides for various focal lengths. One of Hasselblad’s optical viewfinders is dedicated to 21mm, 30mm, and 45mm lenses – the other is meant for 28mm, 38mm, and 55mm lenses. If you use different focal lengths than that, you’ll want to rely on the rear monitor instead.

I’ll mention once more that the 907X needs to be removed if you intend to use the CFV 100C digital back with a different camera, like one of Hasselblad’s film cameras or a technical camera. However, if you want the most compact possible form factor when taking pictures with the CFV 100C, the 907X is the way to go. It’s also currently not possible to buy the CFV 100C on its own, so you’ll end up getting the 907X regardless of which camera you ultimately want to use with the CFV 100C.

Menu, Specifications, and Features

Most cameras these days have countless of pages of menus that try (with mixed results) to organize all the features that were crammed in. For better or worse, Hasselblad takes things in a different direction with the 907X and 100C. This is the menu:

That’s it. Tapping any of these icons (using the highly responsive touchscreen) opens a sub-menu, but even the most complex sub-menus – Exposure, Focus, and General – have fewer than a dozen options within. It’s easily one of the most streamlined menus of any digital camera today.

For reference, here’s an overview of the specs and features found on the Hasselblad 907X & CFV 100C:

Specifications

• Camera Sensor Size: Medium format (43.8 x 32.9 mm)
• Crop Factor: 0.787x relative to full frame
• Sensor Type: BSI CMOS
• Resolution: 100 megapixels (11,656 x 8742)
• Pixel Pitch: 3.76μm
• File Formats: 3FR (raw), JPEG, HEIF
• Color Depth: 14-bit, 16-bit
• ISO Range: 64-25,600
• Frame Rate: 3.3 FPS (14-bit color only)
• Fastest Shutter Speed (electronic): 1/6000 second
• Fastest Shutter Speed (mechanical): Varies by lens; anywhere from 1/800 to 1/4000
• Longest Exposure: 68 minutes
• Flash Sync: Mechanical shutter only, all available shutter speeds
• Metering Range: -3 EV
• Autofocus: PDAF and CDAF, single-servo only, face detect capabilities, 294 points
• Monitor: 3.2-inch TFT, 2.36 million dots, tilting touchscreen (0°, 40°, and 90°)
• Storage: CFExpress and Internal 1TB SSD
• Battery Life: 420 images (CIPA)
• CFV 100C weight (excl. battery): 460 g
• CFV 100C weight (incl. battery): about 540 g
• 907X weight: 160 g
• Total weight (incl. battery): about 700 g / 1.54 lbs
• CFV 100C dimensions: 91 × 92 × 61mm
• Total dimensions: 102 × 92 × 84mm
• Operating Conditions: Under 85% humidity, -10° to 45° C (14° to 113° F)
• MSRP: $8199 (check current price)

Feature Set

• Internal SSD (1 terabyte) and CFExpress card support, with backup or overflow options
• Shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and exposure compensation controls
• Extensive Auto ISO controls, including “minimum shutter speed” selectable to exact shutter speeds or various multiples of your focal length
• Shutter speed manually or automatically selectable up to 1 hour 8 minutes
• P/S/A/M and full auto modes
• Metering methods (center weighted, spot, or center spot)
• Drive mode (single, 3.3 FPS continuous, self-timer (selectable up to 60 seconds), interval, exposure bracketing, focus bracketing)
• Extensive focus bracketing options, including the number of shots, pace, and direction of focus stack
• Electronic and leaf shutter
• Shutter release cable support
• USB-C support
• Manual focus and single-servo autofocus
• AF point size controls
• AF face detection on or off
• Focus peaking, including color options
• Touchscreen on or off (can move the focus point, magnify the image, and select camera settings via touchscreen, among other things)
• RAW (14 or 16 bit), JPEG, and HEIF. You can separately load JPEG color profiles if desired.
• RAW+JPEG, and RAW+HEIF
• Various crop modes
• Flash: rear sync and normal (works with external Nikon flashes and triggers using hot shoe adapter)
• Flash sync speed up to the speed of lens’s leaf shutter
• Shutter release cable support
• Tilting screen (three angles)
• Overexposure “blinkies”
• Optional histogram, grid line, distance scale, spirit level overlays
• Display sleep / power off timers
• WiFi
• Custom buttons – although the options here are quite limited, only allowing customization of controls on the lens or the external grip

Missing Features?

Hasselblad certainly took the 907X & 100C in the direction of minimalism. The benefits of that approach are self-explanatory – it’s a streamlined, straightforward camera. You don’t need to worry that it will stop working properly because of some long-forgotten setting in Menu Bank 3, Section 4, Sub-Section 4.15.

Indeed, within a few weeks of using this camera, you’ll probably have most of the menu memorized and know exactly what to change if something is not set correctly. There simply isn’t a lot of junk to deal with. In certain ways, I consider this a good thing – it focuses the photographer on the fundamentals, rather than escalating technical features of the camera.

Of course, the related downside is that this camera is missing some modern features that you may have grown to expect, especially if you’re coming from one of today’s newer mirrorless cameras. For the target audience of this camera – slower-paced, deliberate photographers – many of the missing features won’t matter. However, some of the omissions could pose a problem depending upon the type of photography that you do.

Most noteworthy are the lack of image stabilization, continuous autofocus, or any kind of video on the Hasselblad 907X & 100C. Let me elaborate on those three missing features in particular.

1. No Image Stabilization

Perhaps the biggest feature missing from the 907X & CFV 100C is image stabilization. This camera is so portable and lightweight that it practically begs to be shot handheld. But without image stabilization, you’ll often run into issues with motion blur – especially because the CFV 100C’s 100-megapixel sensor is very unforgiving if you want pixel-level sharpness. As a result, in my time with the camera, I found myself mostly sticking to a tripod.

For what it’s worth, the closest alternative to this camera (the Hasselblad X2D, a more traditional camera with an integrated sensor) does have in-body image stabilization. It also sports the same sensor as the CFV 100C, and it even costs the same as the 907X & 100C at $8200. This doesn’t mean the X2D is necessarily the better camera – I’ll get to that later in this review – but it’s certainly a point in its favor.

Granted, part of why the 907X & 100C is so small and light is because Hasselblad eschewed features like image stabilization in the first place. If you were already planning to shoot from a tripod (certainly not unusual with a medium format camera), you’ll most likely appreciate the camera’s light weight without fretting over the missing stabilization.

2. No Continuous Autofocus

The lack of continuous autofocus isn’t just something that sports and wildlife photographers may care about. Some portrait photographers also like continuous autofocus, especially when their subject isn’t standing perfectly still. The difference between someone’s eye being in focus, rather than their nose, could depend on it!

To be on the safe side for portraiture, you may want to take 2-3 photos at a time of the same subject when using this camera. That’s especially true if you’re employing a shallow depth of field with a lens like the XCD 80mm f/1.9, XCD 90mm f/2.5 V, or XCD 135mm f/2.8. It’s just the price to pay for having only single-servo autofocus.

That said, at least the camera has the ability to detect people’s faces in the frame. While this feature doesn’t continuously re-focus on a moving face, it does reposition your autofocus point over the person’s face in real time. Combine that with the moderately fast single-servo focusing speed of the 907X & 100C, and you should be able to get sharp photos even with a bit of subject movement.

(The camera cannot detect animal eyes/faces, but it still focuses quickly enough to allow occasional wildlife photos if your subject isn’t moving too much.)

3. No Video

As for video, I actually appreciate that Hasselblad didn’t overload the 907X & CFV 100C and kept it video-free, but other photographers may disagree. Certainly the prospect of medium format video is enticing in some ways (and it is possible with some other medium format cameras). As you’ll see later in this review, the image quality of Hasselblad’s sensor is truly amazing, and I’m sure it would have been good for video as well as stills.

But one of the nice benefits of the CFV 100C is how straightforward and streamlined it is. Video likely would have required the CFV 100C to be larger and more expensive, as well as adding complexity to the menu and/or control layout. It simply isn’t a camera that Hasselblad designed with such a philosophy in mind. That’s all right with me – I have other cameras for video instead.

Available Lenses

All of Hasselblad’s XCD lenses are natively compatible with the 907X & 100C, and so are their classic HC/HCD, V System, and XPAN lenses using the appropriate adapter. To clarify:

• XCD Lenses: Hasselblad’s newest lenses, with the XCD V lenses in particular being the most advanced, and the fastest to autofocus. No adapters needed in order to use these lenses with the 907X & 100C. Leaf shutters on XCD lenses go up to 1/2000 second, while leaf shutters on XCD V lenses reach a blazing-fast 1/4000 second. Flash sync works at all these shutter speeds, too. While testing this camera, I used two XCD V lenses – the 38mm f/2.5 V and 90mm f/2.5 V – and both were excellent, with my favorite being the 90V. You’ll find that about two thirds of the landscape photos in this review were taken with the 90V, even though it’s supposedly more of a portrait lens!
• HC/HCD Lenses: Originally designed for a larger lens mount and film size, but can be adapted to the 907X & 100C. Use the Hasselblad XH Adapter to do so. Or, use the Hasselblad 0.8x XH Converter to use the same lenses, but with additional optical elements to widen the lens’s focal length and increase its maximum aperture by 0.8x. Full electronic connections and leaf shutters supported, but autofocus is only supported on newer HC/HCD lenses that can be updated to Firmware Version 18.0.0 or later.
• V System Lenses: Older lenses for Hasselblad’s V System cameras, including the 200-, 500-, and 2000-series cameras. You can adapt them using the Hasselblad XV Adapter. These lenses only work with the electronic shutter of the CFV 100C, not a leaf shutter. It’s compatible with C, CB, CF, CFE, CFI, F, and FE lenses. No electronics in this adapter; focus and aperture must be set directly on the lens.
• XPan Lenses: Three discontinued lenses (a 30mm f/5.6, 45mm f/4, and 90mm f/4) can be adapted to the 907X & 100C via the Hasselblad XPan Adapter. Electronic shutter only. Aperture and focusing controlled directly on the lens. These film-designed lenses may exhibit some sharpness loss in the corners on the CFV 100C due to its IR filter and sensor cover glass changing the light path.

I hope that serves as a good introduction to the Hasselblad 907X and CFV 100C. On the following pages of this review, I’ll dive into the camera’s handling, build quality, and image quality in more detail. Click the menu below to go to the next pages.