Shopping for Hasselblad glass is not a casual decision. These lenses sit at the top of medium format photography, and knowing exactly what each one delivers in real-world shooting can save you from a very expensive mistake.
Coming to you from Tyler Stalman, this thorough video puts nearly the entire Hasselblad XCD lens lineup through its paces, both in studio and on location. Stalman traveled to Valencia, Spain for the Fallas Festival and to Thailand, giving these lenses a genuine real-world workout across a range of shooting conditions. The lineup spans three series: the P series (built for portability), the V series (compact fast primes), and the E series (the exclusive, higher-end zoom lenses). The Hasselblad XCD 35-100mm f/2.8-4 gets particular attention as the standout performer of the group. At f/2.8 at the wide end, it's remarkably fast for a zoom covering that much sensor area, and Stalman calls it the one lens he'd pick if he could only choose one.
On the prime side, the Hasselblad XCD 55mm f/2.5 and Hasselblad XCD 38mm f/2.5 are Stalman's personal favorites, not because they outperform the others in every metric, but because of how they feel to carry and shoot with. The 38mm, equivalent to about 30mm on full frame, is his pick for a daily carry lens. The Hasselblad XCD 90mm f/2.5 earns its place as the go-to portrait lens, and it's notably smaller than comparable full frame glass. One practical detail worth knowing: Hasselblad kept the filter thread identical across all V series lenses at 72mm, so you can swap filters without step rings.
One finding that deserves attention is the vignetting. Every lens in this lineup, especially when shot wide open, shows strong vignetting in the corners. This is a direct trade-off for the compact size Hasselblad engineered into these lenses. In Lightroom, enabling lens profile corrections clears it up immediately, but if you're previewing raw files on the back of the camera with corrections off, those dark borders will be visible. At high ISOs, the corner dimming can reach nearly a stop of light loss. The Hasselblad XCD 28mm f/4 from the P series also shows noticeably softer corners wide open compared to the E series zooms, a real gap that shows up clearly in Stalman's side-by-side tests. The Hasselblad XCD 20-35mm f/3.5-4.5 is also tested for sharpness and distortion, and the results in that ultra-wide range are worth seeing for yourself.
Check out the video above for the full sharpness comparisons, real-world samples, and Stalman's complete breakdown of every lens in the lineup.
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