AI Background Removal: Professional Applications for Photographers
Capturing the picture is just half the job for professional photographers, and the rest comes when the camera shutter closes. Behind every professional photograph, there is plenty of time spent on editing, removing the background, and more. Traditionally, this meant spending long sessions in editing software, carefully cutting around subjects pixel by pixel.
Now, an AI background remover for photographers changes the process completely. Instead of manual effort, a photo can be cleaned up in seconds, with the subject isolated and ready for any professional use.
AI has made product photoshoots, marketing visuals, and other shoots a lot easier. AI Background Remover for Photographers helps make the process simple, faster, and effortless. Let us understand how it works and why it has become an essential tool for photographers.
The Role of Background Editing in Professional Photography
Professional photographers are expected to deliver polished images, especially when the projects are fast-paced. For projects like E-commerce and marketing, every minute counts as they require quick photo delivery. Meeting the expectations can be somewhat challenging for the photographers. AI background remover helps resolve it by automating the tasks in photo editing, as it allows them to:
Save Ample Time: What earlier took hours for the photographers to complete can now be seamlessly done within seconds. All credits to the X-Design AI-generated photo editing tool.
Maintains Consistency: AI ensures that you can maintain consistency across all edits. It helps you deliver clean and accurate cutouts, no matter how many images you are editing.
Boosts Productivity: The quick way of editing the pictures and removing background reduces the burden on the photographers, and they dont need to work for hours. The extra time can be used to plan shoots, communicate, and perform other vital and productive tasks.
Meet Deadlines: For the client, both speed and quality matter, and with X-Design Free Background Remover Online, there is a quick turnaround that allows you to deliver refined images for commercial shoots, portraits, and more right on time.
Photography Scenarios That Need Background Editing
Saving time on repetitive tasks and quality matter the most when it comes to professional photography. There are countless uses offered by AI background cleanup. The tool is not only limited to creative work, but also supports the practical and business needs. Here are a few key applications of the AI background removal tool.
1. Product Photography for Online Stores and Catalogs
Selling products online is all about how they look. If the background is busy or messy, people often skip over the item without even noticing it. A simple white or transparent background maker does the opposite; it puts the focus on the product and makes the details pop. For photographers, cleaning up hundreds of photos by hand is tiring, and that’s where background tools help. They cut down the work, keep the look consistent across a whole catalog, and make the final images more trustworthy for shoppers.
2. Passport and ID Photos with Strict Background Standards
Passport photos, visas, or other government-approved documents have strict rules. In most of these documents, the background has to be plain. Manually removing the background can be time-consuming. Moreover, it can be prone to errors, which means a high chance of application rejection. With a background remover, the process is streamlined. A normal portrait can be turned into a photo that fits the requirements in seconds, which saves the photographer time and helps clients avoid rejections.
3. Marketing and Advertising Visuals for Brands and Campaigns
Marketing campaigns rely on strong and clear visuals. Banners, or social media ads, all need images that look professional. By removing a background or making the background white, the main subject can be dropped onto any design without extra effort. Photographers can hand over flexible images that brands can use across different platforms without repeating the editing work.
4. Social Media Content Creation
Social media feeds need to be updated regularly, and for a constant flow of engaging content, AI X-Design’s Free Background Remover comes to the rescue. It helps creators and photographers to give a clean and uniform look to the images and improve the brand identity. Maintaining neat and aesthetic photos helps the feed stand out, whether you are an influencer or using it for business promotion.
5. Event and Portrait Photography
Think about wedding albums or company heads hot. People don’t want clutter in the background; they want to see faces clearly. Taking out distractions helps the photo feel sharper, more personal. Background removal helps with image refinement, removes unwanted distractions, and more for a clear image focus. Pictures that look professional but still natural are something clients are proud to share or hang on a wall.
X-Design Background Remover: How to Use It
There are many editing tools available online, but X-Design AI Background Remover stands out as it is quite simple and efficient to use. Moreover, it is a web-based tool, which simply means you don’t need to install it. With basic skills, you can get started and navigate through the tool. The design is simple yet intuitive, which makes background removal and editing simple in a few clicks. Let us quickly understand how it works.
1. Upload Photo
Upload or simply drag and drop the image to the tool. The tool supports formats like JPG and PNG. It is a versatile platform for professional photographers.
2. Automatic Background Cutout
Once the image is uploaded, the tool identifies the subject, and AI removes the background from it. The tool also allows you to customize the background as per your choice. Also, you don’t need to trace the outlines manually or spend time on corrections. Within a few clicks, you get a clean cutout.
3. Download or Edit Further
Because it’s lightweight and web-based, photographers can edit on the go and no longer install or configure complicated settings. It’s a practical option whether you’re handling a few images or a full project. The users can also use its AI background editor to create stunning background images.
Final Words
Cleaning the background requires hours of hard work and manual effort. Whether it’s product photography, passport images, or more, background removal has become an essential part of professional editing. With the AI background remover for photographers, the process is streamlined.
The X-Design photo editing tool helps professional photographers to deliver consistent visuals and unlock opportunities to focus on creativity and client satisfaction.
The Hasselblad X2D II 100C is a medium format mirrorless camera, built around a 44mm x 33mm, 100MP BSI CMOS sensor. It's designed to deliver a high-dynamic range image workflow, and gains continuous autofocus supported by Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors and more effective image stabilization.
Despite the significant upgrades, the X2D II 100C sees the body-only price fall to $7399 / €7200 / £6400, an $800 reduction, compared with the existing X2D 100C.
This image, captured as an Ultra HDR JPEG, makes the chrome of the car's wire wheels shine much more convincingly when viewed on an HDR display.
Hasselblad X2D 35-100mm F2.8-4.0 @ 60mm | F3.5 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100 Photo: Mitchell Clark
Hasselblad claims to be the first company to make a medium format camera with "end-to-end" HDR and has equipped the X2D II with a high-brightness viewfinder and rear screen, so that you can see some of the wider brightness range as you shoot. Its default output is in the HEIF format but it can also create 'Ultra HDR JPEGs' which have an embedded brightness map to let them convey a wider tonal range on compatible devices, while still maintaining backward compatibility. The company says this gives images with up to three additional stops of dynamic range compared to standard sRGB JPEGs, using a technique adopted by Google in its Pixel phones, and by Sigma in its BF Mirrorless camera.
The camera supports the P3 color gamut throughout the shooting and editing experience, in addition to making fuller use of the wide color range, as well as the wider tonal range, of its large sensor. It says it doesn't use either the HLG or PQ response curves used by other brands, and instead uses gain maps with linear response and a roll-off in the highlights to give a natural look. The system appears to be utilizing the highlight data that's usually clipped in the JPEG output, rather than reducing exposure to capture any additional highlight information.
HDR images are only captured in P, S or A modes, where the camera has some control over exposure. The company says it assumes people setting exposure manually may be trying to capture a very specific look that may not lend itself to HDR, so disengages the feature, rather than producing a potentially unnatural-looking image that the photographer didn't want.
Embedded in the above image is this 1/4 resolution brightness map, which tells compatible devices which parts of the image to display with addtional brightness.
The X2D II's rear display has also been substantially upgraded to support HDR, going from a TFT LCD to an OLED panel that can display up to 1400 nit peak brightness. That lets it provide the HDR experience when you're reviewing your images, giving you a better idea of what you've captured.
Hasselblad has also updated its Phocus Mobile 2 app to allow for editing the X2D II's HDR files, and even reprocessing Raws from some of its other cameras, such as the original X2D and the CFV 100C, into HDR output files.
Continuous autofocus
While the original X2D was limited to single autofocus and manual focus, the II gains continuous autofocus, making it easier to capture moving subjects. Like many modern cameras, the system also includes AI-derived subject recognition for humans, animals and vehicles, and support for tracking arbitrary subjects.
At first seven of the company's more recent lenses will support continuous autofocus, and each will require a firmware update before they can access the feature.
The supported lenses are the XCD 35-100mm F2.8-4.0E zoom, launched alongside the camera, along with the 25mm, 38mm, 55mm and 90mm V-series lenses, and the 28mm and 75mm P lenses.
Even more AF improvements
To feed the autofocus system with information, Hasselblad has not only increased the number of phase detect autofocus points – 425 versus 294 on the original X2D – but added an entirely new type of sensor as well. The X2D II also uses Light Distance and Ranging (LiDAR) to judge how far away a subject is, with this input fully integrated into the AF system.
It's reasonable to assume this technology comes from DJI, which owns a majority stake in Hasselblad, as the company already uses the technology in several of its cinema tools. The camera also now has an AF illuminator lamp on the front, which doubles as a self-timer countdown indicator.
Improved IBIS
The camera's in-body stabilization allows the capture of images at slow shutter speeds, and boosts the frequency with which you'll get the full resolution out of the camera.
Hasselblad XCD 35-100E @ 35mm | 0.3 sec | F8 | ISO 800 Photo: Richard Butler
The original X2D had an IBIS system rated for up to 7 stops of stabilization, but the X2D II takes it even further, with Hasselblad promising up to 10 stops. In real-world use, your results will depend on how still your subject is and how steady you can hold the camera, but in the right conditions, you can definitely use it to push your exposure times past where you'd be able to with an unstabilized system.
Updated controls
Hasselblad has updated the controls, adding a joystick that can be used for controlling the autofocus selection point or scrolling through menus and a customizable button on the back plate. Additionally, the front control dial can now be pressed in to access yet another custom function.
The camera also gains a vibration motor to provide haptic feedback for certain operations, such as confirming that the camera has acquired focus or that you have both your spirit levels centered.
How it compares
While medium format cameras are most often associated with high-end studio work (a task the X2D II is fully capable of), the X2D series has always clearly been designed to be taken outdoors and used in a wider variety of conditions. The company suggests that the addition of C-AF expands its audience to include subjects such as "landscapes, daily, portraits and street photography."
Fujifilm targets a very similar audience with the GFX 100S II, which uses a very similar sensor and also comes complete with IBIS and continuous autofocus. (The higher-end GFX 100 II is also comparable, but has faster burst rates, more video features and nicer ergonomics.) We've also included the Sony a7R V, since its full-frame sensor uses the same 3.8µm pixels, just fewer of them.
Hasselblad X2D II
Fujifilm GFX 100S II
Sony a7R V
MSRP
$7399 / €7200
$5499 / £4999 / €5499
$4199 / £3999 / €4500
Sensor size
Medium format (44 x 33 mm)
Medium format (44 x 33 mm)
Full-frame (36 x 24 mm)
Pixel count
102MP
102MP
60MP
Stabilization
10EV
8EV
8EV
Flash sync speed
Dependent on lens (Typically 1/2000 - 1/4000 sec)
1/125 sec
1/250 sec
HDR output
HEIF Ultra HDR JPEG
N/A (Shoots SDR HEIF or HDR video)
HLG HEIF*
Burst rate
3fps
7fps
10fps (compressed Raw)
Viewfinder res / mag
5.76M dot 1.0x
5.76M dot 0.84x
9.44M dot 0.9x
Rear screen Size / Res / movement
3.6" 2.36M dot Tilting OLED
3.2" 2.36M dot Tilting
3.2" 2.1M dot Fully-articulated/Tilting
Storage
1TB SSD 1x CFexpress Type B
2x UHS-II SD
2x UHS-II SD / CFexpress Type A
Battery (CIPA rating)
327 shots
530 shots
440 shots EVF 530 shots LCD
Dimensions
149 x 106 x 75mm
150 x 104 x 87mm
131 x 97 x 82mm
Weight
840g
883g
723g
*Cannot shoot Raw and HLG HEIFs simultaneously
Fujifilm and Sony don't have the same focus on HDR that Hasselblad does; while the a7R V can shoot HDR HEIFs, doing so comes at the cost of your ability to save Raw files, which is a serious downside for high-end work. The Fujifilm can shoot HEIF images and HLG video, but can't combine the two to offer HDR stills.
Another big difference is that the GFX 100S II and a7R V both have focal plane shutters, while the X2D II uses leaf shutters built into each lens. This comes with the benefit of being able to sync flash at any speed, but means that Hasselblad lenses will be significantly more complex and expensive than similarly-speced counterparts from Fujifilm and Sony. Another side effect: if you want to use a third-party lens with the X2D II, you'll be stuck with the very slow electronic shutter.
While high-resolution cameras have always been more suited to stills, the GFX100S II and a7R V both have relatively complete suites of video features as well, with Log profiles, 10 bit video and headphone and microphone jacks. By contrast, the X2D II doesn't shoot video at all; something to consider if your work ever requires motion pictures.
Body and Handling
The X2D II feels extremely sturdy and well-crafted in the hand, and the grip instills confidence, even when you're using a relatively large zoom lens. The controls are laid out well, with the essential buttons and dials within easy reach.
The camera has two top plate control dials and several customizable buttons. Two – one on the back and one on the front – are unlabeled, while another two can be accessed by pressing down on the joystick and the front dial. The top-plate M and WB/ISO buttons can also be reassigned if you choose, with a choice of 35 options.
The joystick is a four-direction control and can be used for moving your autofocus point (though we found it somewhat slow, and often significantly quicker to just tap on the screen) and to navigate through the menus. Both tasks can also be achieved directly using the touchscreen, which has its own selection of buttons for controlling playback and accessing the menu.
Viewfinder and Screens
The camera's rear screen tilts out, and there's a sensor to ensure the camera doesn't switch to using the viewfinder when the screen is extended.
The X2D II's viewfinder is large, bright and responsive, providing an excellent preview for composing and exposure. The low-profile rubber eyecup doesn't do the best job of sealing out light, but it'll be sufficient in most cases, and less likely to snag when you're taking it in and out of a bag than some other designs.
While the screen's 1400-nit peak brightness allows it to properly display HDR images, you won't get the full effect until after you've taken a photo and the camera has generated your HDR output file. It is, however, still very effective for composing your images and is easy to see, even in direct sunlight. Its hinge allows you to pull it out and position it at a 90° angle for waist-level shooting unobstructed by the viewfinder.
While shooting, the screen provides plenty of resolution for the camera's excellent punch-in manual focusing experience.
The X2D II also has a 1" color display on the top plate, which shows your battery life, exposure settings, and a light meter when the camera is on. It's typically blank while the camera is turned off, though a quick tap of the power button will get it to display your remaining charge.
Ports
The X2D II's minimal selection of ports is hidden behind magnetically latching doors, which feel great to open and close. It has a 10Gbps USB-C port for charging and offloading data, and a 3.5mm for use with Hasselblad's somewhat eccentric cable shutter release.
It also has an CFexpress Type B slot, which can be used for backup or as an overflow, should you fill the internal storage. It's worth noting that the internal storage has capacity for over 4000 16-bit Raw and JPEG/HEIF pairs.
Battery
The battery is rated as delivering 327 shots per charge, if tested to CIPA's standards. This can be increased, depending on the camera's configuration. These numbers tend to underestimate how many shots you'll actually get, with double the rated figure not being unusual, depending on how you shoot.
In practice, a rating of over 300 shots per charge will let you shoot for a good period of time, especially if you're shooting occasional, considered shots, rather than rattling off hundreds of snaps at a time. We suspect it's few enough to start to be of concern for professional wedding shooters, who'll definitely want to develop a system for ensuring they have spare batteries charged and ready to go. But with the option to charge over USB-C, the X2D II should be relatively comfortable, away from the studio.
In Use
The X2D II can seem a little daunting at first, with four buttons marked with potentially unfamiliar glyphs down the right-hand side of the screen, PlayStation style. Their functions turn out to be pretty self-evident once you start using the camera: Play, Ok, Cancel/Delete and Menu.
Most other functions can be assigned to one of four customizable buttons (one on the front of the camera, one on the rear and the Mode and WB/ISO buttons on the top plate), or to a press of the front command dial, rear command dial or press of the AF joystick.
Press the Menu button once and you are presented with a settings panel. Some settings, including drive mode, AF mode and ISO can be set by tapping on the screen your using the joystick. Some exposure parameters can be changed from this screen, but not exposure comp, which tells you to use the dial instead.
The camera offers Auto ISO, including in manual exposure mode. You can set the threshold shutter speed that the system will try to maintain, either by selecting a specific shutter speed or by choosing a relationship to the current focal length, with the choice of: 4f, 3f, 2f, 1.5f, f or f/2, if you're very steady.
Press the Menu button a second time, or swipe your finger left across the screen and you reach the main menus. It's a simple and well-arranged system with eleven named icons arrayed around the screen. Within each category (exposure, focus, connection...) are a handful of settings, often with explanatory text if their function isn't obvious. Swipe upward from this menu page or the settings page and you'll find yourself back in live view, ready to shoot.
It's a quick and easy-to-learn system that lets you just get on and shoot.
Our experience of the autofocus has left us impressed. There are occasions where it would erroneously confirm focus, but most of the time it focused quickly and accurately, with eye detection in particular giving us a level of performance we'd associate with some of the better mass-market cameras. Combined with the up-rated image stabilization, the X2D II is one of the easiest-to-shoot medium format cameras we've encountered.
Initial impressions
By Richard Butler
The X2D II 100C in many ways still looks a lot like the original X1D launched back in 2016, but the reality of using the two cameras couldn't be more different. The original camera looked great, and was capable of delivering excellent images, but its short battery life and lack of responsiveness meant that it wasn't nearly as comfortable untethered from the studio as its small body would imply.
It's worth noting, though, that the original X1D was launched just a few months after DJI first took a stake in the company, so its development would have started long before. The X2D II can perhaps be seen as what happens when a well-established photography company and an ambitious, advanced tech company come together. The X2D may still resemble the original camera but it's worlds away in terms of performance and usability.
The introduction of LiDAR (already used in products such as the Ronin 4D gimbal camera) is the most overt sign of input from DJI, but it's hard to imagine Hasselblad's cameras would have developed so far, so fast, without DJI's contributions. Continuous autofocus with highly effective eye detection autofocus was not on the cards for the contrast-detect X1D, yet here, and in conjunction with in-body image stabilization it allows you to use medium format like it was a point-and-shoot.
The X2D II will shoot HDR unless you go out of your way to stop it
Then there's the decision to lean into HDR photography, something that's becoming increasingly common in modern cameras but poorly supported and even more poorly communicated or promoted to photographers. Most modern mirrorless cameras can capture HDR HEIFs that can make use of the wide dynamic range and wide color gamut of modern displays, but very few cameras give you a good preview of its impact or make much effort to encourage its use. The X2D II will shoot HDR unless you go out of your way to stop it.
The X2D II has an excellent screen that can give an impression of how much more vibrant and lifelike your images can look. And, in addition to HEIF files, which can still be awkward to share and view reliably, the Hasselblad can capture JPEGs with brightness map embedded in them: giving full backward compatibility with just about every viewing device imaginable, but giving HDR vibrancy on devices that support it.
In the right conditions, HDR can make it feel less like you're looking at a photo, and more like you're looking through a window to the world, with much more realistic representation of the way light reflects from objects. To get the effect, open the photo in a supported browser.
Hasselblad XCD 35-100mm F2.8-4 E @ 100mm | F10 | 1/160 sec | ISO 50 Photo: Richard Butler
By letting you see the benefits of well-judged HDR as you shoot the images, the X2D II encourages you to make use of the capability and start thinking about how to ensure your customers and viewers are able to see those results. We regularly found ourselves as impressed by the way the camera uses its greater DR output as we were by the stunning amounts of detail it captures.
What's all the more impressive is that Hasselblad is launching the X2D II 100C at a lower price than the previous model. In fact, it's at a lower price in money terms than the original X1D 50c, despite the vast improvements that have been made in the intervening nine years. The XCD lenses, with their leaf-shutter designs, tend to be more expensive, and often slower, than the rival Fujifilm system, but the X2D II 100c brings a level of performance and usability that makes the system as a whole look more competitive than it's ever been.
Image quality
Our test scene is designed to simulate a variety of textures, colors, and detail types you'll encounter in the real world. It also has two illumination modes, full even light and low directional light, to see the effect of different lighting conditions.
Image Comparison
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Unsurprisingly, the X2D II's Raws provide superb amounts of detail at low ISOs, besting the single-shot performance of the a7R V's 61MP sensor and matching the GFX 100S II. At its base ISO of 50, it provides the cleanest image of the bunch; the GFX 100S II has slightly more noise, but still outperforms the a7R V thanks to its larger sensor.
Its JPEGs, however, don't seem to quite do that level of detail capture justice, with the finest parts of the image looking a little softer than they do with the GFX 100S II. The details are generally still present in the JPEG, but they don't stand out as much, at least when viewed 1:1 (though that's likely to be a very unusual use-case for images taken on this camera).
The X2D II's Raws continue to look good even at higher ISOs, though its chroma noise is more noticeable than Fujifilm's. And while the JPEG engine doesn't reduce noise as aggressively, that means it does a better job at preserving details.
The X2D II only has one color mode, but we found it strikes a really good balance between accuracy an attractive level of saturation.
Click here to view the original file, which will display in HDR if you have a compatible device.
Hasselblad XCD 35-100mm E | 60mm | F3.5 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100
Back at lower ISOs, the Hasselblad's colors are generally less saturated than Fujifilm's or Sony's, though in our use outside the studio, we found that it still produced pleasing skin tones for portrait work. We also didn't have any issues with getting images that popped with vibrant colors, especially with HDR switched on.
Dynamic Range
As we've come to expect from this sensor, the X2D II has excellent dynamic range at its base ISO, with very little read noise. This means you won't face much penalty for taking an image at ISO 50 to get the maximum DR, then boosting it in post, compared to taking an image at a higher ISO to achieve your desired lightness.
Its files also hold up well when you're boosting shadows, which is helpful if you're shooting at lower ISOs to protect your highlights with plans to brighten the image in post.
Note about studio scene Raws: Leaf shutters tend to become less accurate at high shutter speeds. We got lighter results than expected for our higher ISO images. To ensure the images are comparable, we shot the high ISO Raws using exposures that gave consistent Raw values across different ISO settings.
HDR consequences
By default, the camera shoots HDR images (in either the HEIF or JPEG format). It appears to assess the level of brightness and contrast in the scene and adjust its exposure strategy accordingly: not just in terms of selecting the exposure values and ISO setting but deciding how much highlight headroom it needs. In high contrast settings you may see it select a reduced exposure (reflected as a higher ISO value), to capture the additional highlights. The higher ISO value doesn't mean more analog gain is being applied, but it does mean you pay whatever noise cost comes from the reduced exposure. In theory, then, there might be a slight IQ benefit to turning HDR off and letting the extra highlights clip, if you don't intend to use the HDR output.
Autofocus
The LiDAR sensors augment the camera's improved phase detection system.
Autofocus is one of the X2D II's biggest areas of improvement over previous models. It adds LiDAR to its on-sensor phase detection system and gains a range of subject-recognition modes, based on algorithms developed by machine learning. When used with the latest handful of lenses that have suitably fast motors, the X2D II becomes the first XCD camera to be able to continuously autofocus.
The results are really quite impressive. We weren't about to race down to our local sporting venue with the X2D II but in its responsiveness and reliability, we found the X2D II's autofocus made it a much easier to use camera that could adapt to a much broader range of shooting situations.
Its generic tracking (of non-recognized subjects) is pretty sticky and its human detection, which we used most extensively, is very dependable in terms of finding an eye to focus on. There are a few instances of eye-lash, rather than iris focus, but given the level of scrutiny a 100MP medium format camera allows, we were impressed by how reliably the camera focused perfectly. We'd consider the X2D II 100C paired with the 35-100mm F2.8-4 to be more dependable for capturing people quickly than the Fujifilm GFX paired with the 110mm F2 lens. The Fujifilm does a very good job but hasn't historically given us as high a hit rate as we saw from the Hasselblad, thanks to its sticky eye detection and high focusing speed.
Conclusion
By Richard Butler
Pros
Cons
Some of the highest image quality we've encountered
HDR display
HDR output in backward-compatible format
Very usable autofocus
Very effective image stabilization
Reasonable battery life
JPEGs don't make the most of the Raws' detail level
Autofocus performance distinctly lens dependent
Reliance on leaf shutters makes lenses expensive
Slow startup times
Write times somewhat unpredictable
Our review is primarily focused on the use of the camera out in the field, rather than sitting comfortably tethered in a studio, where these cameras have already proven themselves.
We found it striking how usable the X2D II 100C is, not just in comparison to the rather slow experiences we had with the X1D cameras, but even when held up against modern, more mainstream cameras.
The improvements in autofocus and stabilization, in particular, mean you can comfortably shoot 100MP medium format every bit as easily as you could a high-end full-frame camera. You don't have to adapt your shooting or give extra consideration to what you're doing to gain the camera's extra capability over those cameras.
This, as much as the price, makes the X2D II a much more credible rival to Fujifilm's GFX range. If anything, with the latest lenses, the X2D II is a little more dependable when shooting impromptu people pictures, in terms of both focus speed and consistency. This isn't necessarily true of all lenses, and there's still the fundamental decision to be made about the pros (full-power flash at any shutter speed) and cons (lens cost and occasionally odd bokeh) of whether you want a system built around leaf or focal-plane shutters. But the Fujifilm system no longer has the advantage in out-and-about flexibility it previously had.
Whether you see any benefit from the X2D II's HDR capabilities will depend on what you use it for
Whether you see any benefit from the X2D II's HDR capabilities will depend on what you use the camera for. If you plan to produce prints or work from Raw, it isn't really going to make much difference to you, and you'll probably benefit from explicitly disengaging the function. But if you, for instance, want to be able to share images with a client that have a bit of an extra 'wow' factor, particularly if viewed on their phones, it can deliver results that show off more of the underlying capability of the camera's hardware. The option to output JPEGs that will work as SDR or HDR, as available, makes them especially valuable.
In the past, Fujifilm's GFX cameras had a distinct advantage in this regard: outputting attractive, shareable images immediately, with a choice of creative looks. The Hasselblad only offers a single color mode (there's not even so much as a mono option), but the HDR output can be easily shared via, say, a Google Photos album, letting people immediately see strikingly good-looking results. If this is valuable to you, it's worth ceding a little control over exposure logic and risking a little extra noise to let it handle the highlights.
It's still a medium format camera, so there is additional size and weight to carry around, vs a full-frame camera, and even though you may find the IQ boost you get worth it, for better or worse, this is a camera people will notice. There are a couple of areas in which it lags. Startup time is still a little slow, for instance. And, despite having a super-fast internal SSD, we found the X2D II could sometimes be rather slow to record images, showing a spinning icon on the screen: something we haven't encountered in a while on more mass market systems.
The X2D II feels like a system really hitting its stride
Overall, the X2D II feels like a system really hitting its stride. The fact that you can shoot it as if it were any other mirrorless camera (hell, almost as if it were a point and shoot), feels like a major step forward in terms of practicality. It's still a lot of money, but the X2D II makes it almost unbelievably easy to capture some of the highest image quality currently available.
Scoring is relative only to the other cameras in the same category. Click here to learn about what these numbers mean.
Hasselblad X2D II 100C
Category: Professional Interchangeable Lens Camera / DSLR
Build quality
Ergonomics & handling
Features
Metering & focus accuracy
Image quality (raw)
Image quality (jpeg)
Low light / high ISO performance
Viewfinder / screen rating
Optics
Performance
Movie / video mode
Connectivity
Value
PoorExcellent
Conclusion
The Hasselblad X2D II 100C produces sensational image quality but what makes it really compelling are its improved stabilization and autofocus that make the camera much easier to use than before. It's the first camera to provide a high brightness screen to let you preview the HDR images it can take. I can be a little slow and battery life isn't great but it can deliver some of the best image quality we've ever seen, with the ease of a point-and-shoot.
Good for
A wide range of professional photography.
Not so good for
Sports and action. Travel photography.
90%
Overall score
Sample gallery
Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.
All out-of-camera JPEGs in this gallery are Ultra HDR JPEGs: please click "Original" link on the right of the preview to download the original file, if you're viewing on an HDR-capable device.
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This month, we’re celebrating the camera that’s always with you: the smartphone. As we all know, sometimes the best camera is the one you have with you. Wow us with your best smartphone* photos to show us how small sensors can tell big stories, anywhere, anytime.
Photos can be submitted between Sunday, September 14, and Saturday, September 20 (GMT). The challenge is open to photos captured at any time.
Important: Images MUST include a title and a caption of at least 25 words to be eligible. We need to be able to share the story behind your photo. We will consider both photos and captions when selecting our winners, so make sure to tell us that story!
Visit the challenge page to enter your photo in this month's Editors' photo challenge.
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OM System OM-1 II | OM System 50-200mm F2.8 IS Pro w/ MC-20 2x teleconverter | 400mm | F5.6 | 1/400 sec | ISO 200 Photo: Mitchell Clark
This week, OM System announced its long-awaited telephoto zoom, the 50-200mm F2.8 IS Pro. It's designed to give photographers a fair amount of reach with its standard 100-400mm equiv. focal range, and even more if they pair it with a teleconverter, which it's compatible with.
We were able to test it out both with and without a 2x teleconverter; the images taken with it are labeled as such in the gallery below.
Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.
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Light Lens Lab is working on a new 300mm f/1.9 lens with an APO design. The new lens will be able to cover medium-format sensors. Here is the MTF chart of the upcoming lens:
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Sony a7CR | Sigma 35mm F1.2 DG II Art | F1.2 | 1/125 sec | ISO 100 Photo: Mitchell Clark
Earlier this week, Sigma announced a second-generation version of its full-frame 35mm F1.2 lens, the 35mm F1.2 DG II Art. It promised not only improved optical quality and autofocus performance, but a much smaller and lighter package overall.
We had the chance to use the lens in a variety of conditions to get an idea of how it performs, and you can see our samples in the gallery below.
Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don't abuse it.
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This week, we've seen a slew of video and cinema news, timed alongside the International Broadcasting Conference trade show that's kicking off today. Perhaps two of the most notable were the Nikon ZR, a video-focused camera featuring the same sensor as the Nikon Z6III, and the Canon EOS C50, which uses a new 32MP full-frame sensor.
DPReview editors Dale Baskin, Richard Butler and Mitchell Clark sat down to discuss the cameras and the surprisingly different places they fit into the market. Fear not, photographers; they also discuss some of the new stills-focused lenses from Sigma.
As a wedding photographer and YouTube creator, Benj Haisch has a lot of gear. That's a benefit when he's gearing up to shoot an elopement. But when he's packing for a family trip to Hawaii? Turns out, too much gear can be a liability in that instance.
In the first episode of our new series produced in partnership with MPB, Haisch sets out to simplify his travel kit – without breaking the bank.
As a starting point, Haisch connected with DPReview staffer Mykim Dang to discuss his options. That conversation quickly led him to our Lens Feature Search and Lens Comparison Tool where he was able to quickly whittle the list of potential lenses down to just three.
From there, Haisch jumped over to MPB, the leading platform for buying, selling, and trading camera equipment, to check on pricing and inventory. Because MPB has the largest range of used digital cameras and lenses in the US – over 20,000 items – he was able to quickly find a Sony FE 24-50mm F2.8 G in the right condition and price point for his budget. Plus, he even traded in a macro lens that was collecting dust to further reduce the cost of his upgrade.
Got gear of your own collecting dust on a shelf, or simply looking for something new? Head over to MPB to upgrade your kit today.Buy, Sell, or Trade with MPB
Here is an updated list of what is coming next from Viltrox:
Viltrox is also teasing a new adapter with AI autofocus support called Nexus Focus: “Where Al autofocus meets the art of cinema“. The new adapter will give manual-focus lenses autofocus capability and will support the native phase-detection AF, AI subject recognition, eye + face detection, and more.
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