I thought the camerawas a great idea, and waited for one of the first to hit the midwest, when I got it, the first few roles of film were fantastic , I thought the metering was really good, I liked the pan.mode with the 45 lens. All was fine until I tried to do some night shots with it. I do a lot of this type of photography, and, since the camera had a "B" setting, I never thought that I would have any problems, I was looking forward to seeing the chromes from this outting. Well, after I set up, I found that although the dial said bulb, it was actually only 30 seconds or less. That was it, 30 seconds max, and no getting around that, because there was no provision for multi-exposures.

see previous

This would be a great panaramic camera if the photographer, not the electronic shutter could decide the length of exposure time. Other than this, it is a great idea, and a very nice camera to use- focusing was easy, and exposures were on the money.

Customer Service

not very helpfull with the 30 sec problem, as they did not consider this a problem

Similar Products Used:

Fuji 617

Fuji Glass, Multi Format, Well made

Price, Lacks viewfinder info, a little heavy

Ok, Ok, it's spendy. But what do you get with the Leica's price tag? So, it takes an extra job or two to pay off the diff. It's much easier to use than the GX. Optics (45MM) are great; superb contrast and resolving. I'll pit this against Zeiss or Leitz. A little barrel distortion around the edges but not bad for such a wide field. Enlarges beautifully to 10 X 30 with Reala, Velvia even better. I put away the Contax G2 since I started shooting with the "X".

Negatives: Pretty heavy for 35MM (expected) and viewfinder info sucks. Needs to have at least shutter speed showing. Lens line needs a wide angle.

Been using it for 4 months. Enjoyed every shot.

Similar Products Used:

GX-617, Leica, Contax

Wide Format, Construction, Semi-Automation

Film Processing may be a problem in some areas, not mine.

I really like the camera a lot. It's light and easy to use and I love the format and being able to switch mid roll to normal 35 without losing any framing space. The lenses are very sharp and contrasty, my results have been terrific. I know the camera is a joint venture with Fuji, and the Fuji version is cheaper but not available outside of Japan. So it does me no good to whine about a less expensive model when it cannot be purchased here anyway. Besides, Hasselblad has an excellent reputation for service and all my friends who shoot Hassy Medium Format love the service they get from Hasselblad. One final note, any camera with Hassy's name on it has retained excellent resale value, so even if my X-Pan cost more it will retain a greater margin of it's value than had it said Fuji on the front of the camera. If you don't think so, just check out what Fuji 645s are going for on the used market compared to what they sold for new. Then look at Hassy used cameras and do the same. It will be very evident. But the bottom line is the camera gives me a hand holdable true panormaic camera that I can actually carry and use without a bulky tripod and return excellent results. Thumbs UP!!!

Customer Service

No experience

Similar Products Used:

Fuji 6x17