Fujifilm vs Canon vs Hasselblad vs Nikon - Does Your Camera Even Matter Anymore?

Unless you're living under a rock or not checking Fstoppers enough, you've likely noticed that image quality hasn't really changed much over the last couple of years. So what sets brands apart from one another, and most importantly, can you just make the images you want to make regardless of the camera?

One common talking point between camera brands is color science, which you will hear constantly when discussing things like skin tones, saturation, tonal contrast, and much more. I personally believe this applies more to video media than it does specifically to photography—not because there isn't a difference when you take photos, which you'll clearly see in this article—but there's so much color latitude from modern camera sensors that you can replicate just about anything regardless of camera brand.

The question is how much work it might take to get to a point where you are satisfied with the images you're creating. Hasselblad fans continually talk about the colors out of their cameras, Canon fans never shut up about skin tones, Fujifilm stands alone in their straight-out-of-camera profile options, and Nikon gets praised for its replication of true-to-life colors.

I wanted to put these questions to the test, and I've brought a wide range of sensor sizes, brands, and form factors for this comparison. Here is the equipment list:

• Canon R5 and Canon RF 14-35mm f/4

• Canon R7 and Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8

• Nikon Z8 and Nikkor Z 24-70mm f/2.8

• Fujifilm X100VI

• Hasselblad X2D and Hasselblad XCD 38mm f/2.5

A few things to get out of the way: this is not a scientific test. There are no charts, not every camera was on a tripod, the images were not taken at the exact same second, and even the focal lengths aren't perfectly matched (the Hasselblad is technically a 30mm equivalent). This is intended to mimic a real-world scenario rather than a manufactured one.

If you want to pixel-peep or know which camera has the best image quality—it's the Hasselblad X2D. That isn't what this comparison is for, though. All of the cameras in this comparison take images that are good enough for professional work. The question is: can you make the images you want to make on any of them, and how difficult is it to do so? This is more about what colors, contrast, or tones you tend to prefer.

Images Before Editing

All of these images are set to matching white balances. Most importantly, they are all using their own standard camera picture profiles. This means both Canon cameras are using their standard picture profile, the Nikon is using its standard picture profile, the Fujifilm X100VI is using Provia (which is considered their standard profile), and the Hasselblad is using its standard picture profile. Lastly, all the exposures were equalized.

Throughout all the comparisons I did, the two glaring things I see is that the Fujifilm (Provia specifically) has a very magenta color cast to it and the Nikon Z8 was always the most green-tinted image in the lineup. Another less obvious trend is that the Hasselblad images were always a little bit more blue than the rest—not necessarily a colder white balance per se, just that their shadows had a bit more blue saturation, which you can see in these images.

Speaking of blue, notice the saturation differences in the blue of the sky from the Nikon to the Canon images. Honestly, a pretty big difference when you remember that both of these are set to their manufacturers’ standard picture profile. As expected, both Canon images match very well to each other—almost perfectly—however, I did notice a slight magenta tint to the Canon R7 images in comparison to the Canon R5 image. This could simply be due to the lenses being different, but it's also possible the R7 has a slight red tint.

Keep in mind that a lot of this comes down to the picture profiles selected, which you can see examples of in the article's video. Many of these manufacturers have different profiles to change the images you're getting out of the camera. The Fujifilm brand is known for this and has 20 different profiles, whereas the Hasselblad, for example, only has one. I almost picked a different Fujifilm profile to use throughout these tests for a more neutral look but wanted to do my best to keep it consistent.

Images After Editing

My objective when I edited these images was not to perfectly match them together. Meaning, I didn't edit one of them and then try to perfectly match the others to that one. I tried my best to edit these independently, as if I sat down and edited each to my preference. Of course, by the fourth and fifth cameras, I had a good idea of what I needed to do to the images to get them to the look I was going for. Thus, you'll see some of the traits of the original images in each image—such as a red tint in the final Fujifilm image, or more blue saturation in the Nikon Z8 image. 

I didn't use a heavy hand in these edits. The look I wanted to go for was a lighter vintage feel, like a nostalgic travel photo. This means I made adjustments such as raising the blacks, decreasing a bit of clarity, and brightening the images overall. Something to keep in mind is that out of the five cameras, the look that I am attempting to achieve would be the easiest to do on the Fujifilm, yet it's not my favorite image from the set.

My personal preference after these edits is the Nikon Z8 image. Specifically, I like the tonal contrast between the shadow and light areas on the butte—likely something I could easily change in the edit of the other images, but once again, I tried to edit these and move on to the next one without trying to match them perfectly. All that being said, I could easily see myself looking at these images next week and preferring a different one. Do you have a preference?

If you want to see more images, be sure to watch the video in the article. In the next image, I end up fully editing to match and present them as a blind test to see if you can predict which camera made the images. Lastly, I capture a blue hour image that I end up preferring from the Hasselblad.

The takeaway from this test, at least in my eyes, is that you should be able to make the images you want to make from any of these cameras. Whether you want to spend $1,000 or $10,000, the flexibility is easily there. The question comes down to which images you tend to prefer that will naturally get you to the images you want to create. Which camera do you prefer?