hasselbald XPan II, The review

Hasselblad XPan II Review

Hasselblad broke routine a few years back when they introduced the XPan. Having been a stalwart of the 6x6cm roll-film camera for decades it was a surprise to see a 35mm camera, but the XPan and its latest version, the XPan II, are no ordinary 35mm models.

Built with the assistance of Fujifilm Japan, the XPan II shoots 21 extended 24X65mm "panoramic" frames on a 36 exposure roll of film. It's also the world’s only truly dual-format 35mm camera which can be set to take normal 35mm shots too. In the panorama shooting mode the camera produces an image just as high, but nearly twice as long as 35mm. Its length is much the same as the 6x7cm format film so the XPan could rightly be classed as medium-format.

Hasselblad XPan II specification

• Dual-format - 24x65 mm and 24x36 mm.
• Integral viewfinder LCD.
• Shutter speeds from 8sec to 1/1000sec and B (max 540sec).
• Frame rate 1.2 (0.9) frames-per-second for 24x36mm (24x65mm) format.
• Flash sync speed up to 1/125sec.
• Front or rear exposure flash sync.
• Aperture-priority center-weighted TTL metering system.
• Auto-bracketing.
• The viewfinder LCD shows the shutter speed and exposure information.
  
• You can take up to nine multiple exposures.
  
• The self-timer has a choice of 2sec or 10sec delay.

Some SLRs, such as the Pentax MZ, and APS cameras offer a panorama mode, but they crop off the top and bottom of a standard frame. You could do this manually and ask your film processor to print accordingly. The diagram to the left shows the size of each type of panoramic frame. These are not to actual size but are proportional so you can see how much extra area a 35mm has over APS and how domineering the XPan format is.

This interchangeable lens camera has a stylish look and a robust feel that you'd expect from Hasselbald, The LCD panel on the back indicates the automatically selected speed. This also appears through the viewfinder. If you need to override you have the option to either switch to manual or use exposure compensation. You can also bracket your image by Pressing the mode button again and you reach the auto-exposure bracketing mode where you can set the camera to shoot a series of three shots in half or one stop exposure increments.
multiple exposure?? multiple exposure mode with up to nine exposures per frame; then normal or rear curtain flash sync; this is followed by ISO settings.

Overall the XPan II is a joy to use, but a touch expensive, and that's partly because it has no real competition. If landscape photography is your main subject and you've been considering medium-format you should add this to your shortlist. You have a much more cost effective system here with a wider choice of film and the format soon becomes easy to work with.