2025 was inadvertently the year of medium format photography for me. It started with my husband gifting me a medium format film camera for Christmas last year, which was the camera I used to take my favorite photo of 2025. We also saw two digital medium format camera releases this year: the fixed-lens Fujifilm GFX100RF and the Hasselblad X2D II 100C. The Fujifilm camera was certainly intriguing, but I’ve been a Hasselblad fan from afar ever since I got into photography (I mean, just look at the 503CW), and I was highly impressed by the new release, at least on paper.

Sometimes, we build things so much in our heads that when we finally get a chance to experience them in real life, disappointment follows. There’s a reason people say to never meet your idols, after all. Luckily for me, such was not the case with the X2D II 100C. Instead, it simply confirmed what I had originally expected: this is one heck of a camera.

With the 35-100mm lens, it’s still a relatively reasonable size to bring along on adventures. Photo: Abby Ferguson

Given that my previous medium format experience has been film-based, I’m used to medium format photography being an extremely slow and clunky process. I had heard that was largely the case with previous digital offerings that used the larger format, especially compared to smaller-sensor modern mirrorless cameras. The X2D II bucks that assumption, though.

I was able to pick up the X2D II and use it exactly like my Sony a7 III without much thought, especially since I was using it with the XCD 35-100mm F2.8-4 E, which is surprisingly small and fast for a medium-format standard zoom. Yes, as a whole, it’s larger than my typical kit, but it was by no means unreasonable to take it out of a studio setting. In fact, I brought it on a (short) hike and had no issues or complaints about the size or weight.

“Simply put, it made medium format photography easy.”

More so than the form factor, though, I was impressed by the autofocus. In fact, given the age of my Sony, it even seemed like the autofocus, especially eye detection, was better on the Hasselblad. It found eyes pretty much immediately and was very sticky, including when the subject, or I, moved around. It even had no issues with my husband’s tinted glasses and did a great job finding the eyes of my black dog and cat, something cameras often struggle with. Simply put, it made medium format photography easy, something I didn’t necessarily expect.

I used the X2D II to photograph one of my recurring subjects, broken glass. Photo: Abby Ferguson

The Hasselblad also uses an ‘Ultra HDR JPEG’ workflow, the same approach that we were surprised to find on the Sigma BF (Sigma didn’t market the feature at all). What’s nice with the X2D II, though, is that the rear monitor is HDR-capable, so you can see your HDR photos in all their glory right there on the display. It made me excited to look at the pictures I just took, especially when photographing in dramatic light. Because, wow, they looked good (and this is not a comment on me as a photographer, but rather on the quality of the display).

Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a computer capable of displaying these images in their full glory. For now, viewing them on the tiny screen on my phone is the only way for me to bask in the HDR-ness. Needless to say, I greatly look forward to a bit of a computer upgrade soon that will allow me to appreciate the images fully.

If you click through to the original, you can see the HDR version (provided you are using an HDR-compatible display). It’s a good example of how much more depth you can get in certain situations. Photo: Abby Ferguson

Lastly, although a feature that often gets overlooked, I also truly appreciated Hasselblad’s approach to the menu system on the X2D II. It was drastically simplified and pared down compared to just about every other camera system. Instead of having to wade through page after page of options, there is a limited selection of icons that take you to straightforward settings. Plus, all essential things that might need to be changed while photographing can be adjusted without entering the menu system at all. It was a refreshing switch, and was again a surprise on a camera as robust as the X2D II.

Of course, Gear of the year isn’t supposed to necessarily be waxing on about the technical aspects of a camera. It’s a series that isn’t here to highlight the best gear of the year (although the Hasselblad X2D II did win our best high-end camera award this year), but instead looks at gear that made for a memorable experience for each of us, personally. The Hasselblad was just that for me.

“Even more important, the camera made me excited to take photographs.”

Experiencing the X2D II satisfied a lifelong dream of at least using a Hasselblad, so that’s a check on the memorable part. But beyond that, the camera looks nice, feels nice, and made medium format photography highly approachable (I’m strictly speaking about the process here, not the price of the system or the size of the files you have to deal with later). While I’m not sure if I took any museum-quality photos with it during my short testing window (actually, I’m sure that I did not), I do like many of the images I took. Even more important, the camera made me excited to take photographs, something that I often struggle with, so that’s a notable win in my book.

Gallery

You can see a small selection of the images that I took (and edited) with the Hasselblad X2D II 100C below.

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