I Took Over 4,000 Photos With Hasselblad’s X2D II Camera. These Are My Best

The Hasselblad X2D II 100C is one of the most accomplished stills cameras you can buy today. Featuring a massive medium-format sensor at its heart, the camera can capture huge 100-megapixel images with an incredible 15.3 stops of dynamic range, giving you endless scope to rescue highlights or lift shadows in editing. 

It provides up to 10 stops of image stabilization, allowing you to take hand-held photos with shutter speeds up to, and beyond, a second in length. There’s also the faster lidar autofocus and the built-in 1TB of storage. At $7,399 it’s not exactly cheap for a camera but despite the new tech on board it’s actually cheaper than its predecessor.

I’ve been testing the camera for the past couple of weeks, and I’m really impressed — so impressed that it’s made its way into our guide to the best cameras. Here is a selection of my favorite images so far.

It starts with a black-and-white image of this couple finding a quiet moment to relax on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. While Hasselblad talks at length about its natural color science (read: accurate colors) in the camera, I actually love how easily I can convert the images to punchy, dramatic black-and-white shots.

The details in this image are tremendous, and I love how the camera’s wide dynamic range keeps the very bright highlights under control.

Like the Hasselblad’s before it, the X2D II can shoot using the company’s XPAN panoramic crop mode. I love the look of images captured using this cinematic aspect ratio.

I shot mostly using Hasselblad’s new 35-100mm zoom lens, leaning into the wide-angle end here to capture these guys feeding the seagulls in the park.

Here, I used a fast shutter speed to capture the wings of the pigeon being fed by this friendly chap.

Taken in Paris, I used selective edits in Adobe Lightroom to try to draw the eye more naturally toward the artist subject in the middle of the scene.

Another punchy black-and-white shot. The wide angle gives a nice perspective here, while the lidar autofocus allowed me to capture the image quickly as I walked past.

The stabilization allows for slow shutter speeds, even when handheld. I used it here to create a sense of motion: One figure walks quickly and is blurred, while the static figure remains pin sharp.

I couldn’t help but snag a quick shot when I saw this guy pushing a piano across a busy crossing in Edinburgh.

This guy’s vibrant tracksuit, yellow sign and salute immediately caught my eye.

Further down the road, these scantily clad men were doing a street performance and, I think, were making some commentary about the British train network. No, I’m not kidding. 

Edinburgh’s Royal Mile is full of amazing subjects, especially during the Fringe arts festival. The focus wasn’t quite spot on for this guy, but I actually like that he looks a little soft in some of the details. It gives it a more filmic look that I really like. 

The camera nailed focus on this guy’s face, leaving his fist bump toward me (“Love your Hasselblad, bro”) with a nice out-of-focus element.

Taken at a nearby horse racing event, these revellers have set up a great picnic situation. I love the look of the scene.

This person was getting more into the spirit of the day with a big cheer toward the camera, giving a great little flash of the gold tooth! 

I used a slow shutter speed and panned the camera with the horses here, and I love the sense of action and drama it’s created.

I had to shoot a classic portrait of this guy. The hat and the cigar are straight out of a 1950s scene, and I love the amount of detail the Hasselblad has captured here.

A fast shutter speed was crucial to capture the horse in sharp detail between these two figures.

Deep shadows and warm tones overwhelm this evening shot overlooking Edinburgh.

Once the light fell even more, I headed to Edinburgh’s streets to capture some long exposures, using light trails to add interest to the image. This was taken using a 45-second exposure with the camera securely locked down on a tripod.