Hasselblad XCD 65mm f/2.8 Aperture Series: View Over Alabama Hills Formations, Last Light on High Peaks
Related: Alabama Hills, digital sensor, Eastern Sierra, Hasselblad, Hasselblad Lenses, Hasselblad medium format, Hasselblad XCD 65mm f/2.8, lens mount, medium format, Mt Whitney area, peak bagging
This aperture series from f/2.8 through f/8 evaluates the far distance performance of the Hasselblad XCD 65mm f/2.8 including sharpness and overall lens correction along with real (actual) depth of field gains with stopping down.
Includes images up to full camera resolution.
All in all, the Hasselblad XCD 65/2.8 and its ultra low distortion make it my prime lens of choice on the Hasselblad X1D II because it sits in a sweet spot good for many images, and it is a very useful focal length for panoramas.
Lens skew ===> lens mount/sensor parallelism
I have concluded that what appeared to be lens skew with the 80/1.9 and with the 35-75 zoom and now with the 65/2.8 that the issue is actually a lens mount/sensor parallelism problem. The camera had absolutely no knocks or bumps and thus I must conclude that out of the box the lens mount flange was out of alignment (not parallel to) the sensor. So I have to give full credit to the lenses at this point, given the variable. However, such problems can be additive or subtractive; a slightly out of kilter sensor parallelism can be worsened with a lens out of kilter the same way, or lessened if the opposite way.
Below, classic stacking of granitic rock formations in the Alabama Hills looking towards the peaks of the Horseshoe Meadows Road area.
Hasselblad X1D II 50C + Hasselblad XCD 65mm f/2.8 @ 53.5mm equiv (65mm) + polarizer Breakthrough Photography
ENV: Alabama Hills, altitude 4900 ft / 1494 m, 70°F / 21°C
RAW: pull 0.65 stops, +100 Shadows, -86 Highlights, +50 Whites, Color Luminance {Blues +8}, +10 Dehaze, +30 Clarity, vignetting corrected (partial)
[low-res image for bot]
