[A Photographer’s Notes] Updated Take on an Old Style of Photography

~All in all shooting with the 907X 50C was a unique experience that I enjoyed immensely. It’s simple and intuitive design made getting used toーand using the camera a breeze~

As a photographer I naturally have my radar up for the next big thing to come along in photographyーwhether that be gear, shooting techniques, or other photography tips and tricks. So a few months back when I saw Hasselblad announce the new 907X 50C camera system, I was naturally curious to see what it would be like shooting with such a unique, yet classic, style of camera.

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If you are unfamiliar with what I mean by this, the Hasselblad 907X 50C is specifically designed to be shot at hip level, while looking down at the foldout LCD screen to compose and shoot your images. This harkens back to a classic style of older cameras (which Hasselblad is well known for) where your viewfinder was located on top of the camera body and you would need to look down on it to compose your images. 

It’s a classic design to be sure, but one I had never personally tried to use. So I was quite curious about what it would be like to shoot in this style with a modern digital camera. 

One other interesting aspect of the 907X 50C is that it is a medium format, 50 MP camera. I have only ever shot with cameras that had about half that resolution, and never with a medium format camera, so I was very interested in seeing how this would affect or improve my shooting style, if at all. 

After a few emails back and forth with my contact at Hasselblad Japan, I was informed I could visit the Hasselblad Japan shop in Harajuku, Tokyo and try out the camera for a few hours. Yea! 

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Trying Out the Hasselblad 907X 50C

When I arrived and was first handed the camera I was quite surprised by its small size yet sturdy weight. I could tell just by holding it in my hands that this was a professionally built camera meant for serious shooting. 

After a quick explanation from the staff, and 5 minutes playing with the camera, I was ready to head out into the streets and see what I could get. And I don’t say that to brag. One of the great things about this camera is all the controls can be found on the large LCD display, and are very intuitive to use. I have used a lot of different brands of cameras, and sometimes even just changing your ISO can have you getting lost in row after row of settings. 

With this camera, everything is in pictures and super easy to understand. I think the only actual physical button on the camera is the shutter button. 

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For this shoot I asked my good friend and professional freestyle football player Kazane to join me for a short adventure around Harajuku and Shibuya. 

I wanted to try using my Broncolor Siros L strobes during the shoot, but upon closer inspection of the camera I noticed there was no hot shoe for my flash’s transmitter. Whoops, should have noticed that when I saw the pictures of it online... The transmitter CAN be attached to the camera via a cable, but I didn’t have one with me at that time. So, I just left the flash with the good people at Hasselblad and headed into the city to see what we could get via natural light. 

Learning to Use the Camera

I won’t give you a detailed shot for shot rundown of what we did (for that please see the video here), but I will go through my personal impressions of shooting with this camera for the first time. 

First off, this type of look down shooting was a first for me, but I did find it quite interesting. With this camera you need to fully rely on the LCD to be bright, crisp, and easy to viewーeven in bright daylightーto be able to see and properly compose your images. And I am happy to say the LCD screen was great for this. 

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Even at the brighter moments of the day I had zero issues with the visibility of the screen. Furthermore, my style of shooting often has me lying on the ground to get the lowest angle possible, but with this fold out screen I just needed to squat down and place the camera on the ground to get these kinds of angels. Much quicker and cleaner for sure! I really think every camera should have a fold out LCD screen. 

During our shooting I was taking a mix of portrait and action shots, like I always like to do. For the relatively slower paced portrait shooting there were no issues with this camera at all. The auto focus was spot on and I was able to get many images I liked. And if I wanted to compose the image vertically, I just shut the LCD screen, turned the camera, and brought it up to my eye-line to shoot. Quick and easy. 

Adjustments for Action Shots 

It was I was shooting the action that I noticed a very slight lag from when I would push the shutter button to when the image was actually captured. Maybe this is just a difference between the timing of my usual camera and the 907X 50C, but it did take me a few tries to get the timing down. 

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With freestyle football, the peak of the action is such a quick moment that this timing can be quite difficult, even in the best of situations. Fortunately, after a few test shots we got the timing down, and really had no major issues for the rest of the shoot. 

One other aspect of using this camera I really liked was how the auto focus worked. Normally to focus an image I would be looking through a viewfinder, set the focus point, and half press the shutter to focus where I want. 

Since the 907X 50C has no viewfinder, all the focusing has to be done on the LCD screen, which is actually super easy! Just touch the screen where you want to focusーand it focuses. Want to focus for a portrait? Just poke your subject in the eye on the LCD and there you go, done. 

Checking the Final Product

After the shooting was done and I had (unfortunately) returned the camera to Hasselblad, I jumped on my computer to check out the images. 

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Having never shot a 50 MP camera before, I was curious to see how the images would look. To my delight they looked great. The weather the day we shot was not the best, but even with less than perfect light I was happy with how the images came out. And thanks to the massive size of the 50 MP RAW files, even if I were to do a harsh crop, the images would still look great!

All in all shooting with the 907X 50C was a unique experience that I enjoyed immensely. The difference in shooting style this camera requires (looking down and shooting only with the LCD) is not the obstacle I first thought it might be. It’s simple and intuitive design made getting used toーand using the camera a breeze. I was able to quickly focus on capturing creative images, and not worry about fighting with menus and buttons to find the proper settings. 

If more of my work was street photography or portrait photography, I would consider this a great camera and be tempted to open my wallet. But at this point in my career I shoot more action than anything, so I don’t think I will be picking up this camera now. 

You never know what a new year may bring, though. I will keep this camera in the back of my mind as a future possibility. 

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RELATED READS:

• [A Photographer’s Notes] Is the GoPro Hero9 Black a Viable Stills Camera for Action Sports?
• [A Photographer’s Notes] Test Shooting the Fujifilm 50mm f/1 Lens with B-Girl Ayu
• Other recent work by Jason Halayko.

Author: Jason Halayko

Jason Halayko is a professional photographer specializing in action sports. Follow him on Twitter (@jason_halayko), and on Instagram (@jason_halayko).