# My Hasselblad X2DII Travel Setup

## Метаданные

- **Канал:** The Art of Photography
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvK_mC4dalM
- **Дата:** 28.11.2025
- **Длительность:** 12:07
- **Просмотры:** 24,485

## Описание

Heading to Japan this week and thought it might be fun to talk about the X2D II and what lenses I'm bringing along.

Sign up to the mailing list for weekly updates https://theartofphotography.tv/list
My Adobe Lightroom and Capture One Presets https://theartofphotography.tv/presets/
AoP T-Shirts https://aop.threadless.com/
Need a website? http://squarespace.com/aop

On my channel you will find videos about photography, cinematography, post processing tutorials for Capture One, Lightroom and Photoshop, photo assignments that YOU can participate in, the Artist Series and more. The Artist Series is an ongoing set of videos I produce as documentaries on living photographers. I am extremely passionate about photography and video and my goal in making these videos is to share my passion and enthusiasm with you! Don’t forget to subscribe and make sure to hit the like button and share this video if you enjoyed it!

Ted Forbes
The Art of Photography
2830 S. Hulen, Studio 133
Fort Worth, TX 76109
US of A

## Содержание

### [0:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvK_mC4dalM) Segment 1 (00:00 - 05:00)

Welcome back everyone. I am up here at the studio today actually packing because in the next couple days I'll be leaving for my Japan workshop this year. And I thought it might be cool to sit down and do a quick video and talk through what I'm going to bring in terms of my hustleblood setup for the X2D2. And I think this is kind of interesting because one of the things that's real tempting to do when one travels, especially a major trip like this, is to bring everything they own. And I've gotten to where I really pair this down for a number of reasons. And actually this is something that I try to impart on my students is that the more options that you have in front of you and you have every lens of every prime focal length so on so forth is that you have more options. And the problem with that is you spend all of your time waiting through those options and changing lenses and not actually shooting. And I found that the less that I bring and try to cover myself across the board, but less is more, I actually am more productive and I get better images in the end. Now, the other thing that's interesting about this is one of the questions that I get asked the most when I do Hustleblot videos, a lot of people are new to the system, getting into it, and they want to buy the body, know where to start with lenses. And so, they always ask, well, if you just had one lens you could bring with you, what would that be? And so, this sort of relates into what we're going to be talking about today with the travel setup and how minimal this really is. So, I can answer the question, if there is only one lens that I would recommend, what would that be? Well, Hasselblad answered that question for us this year with the release of the 35 to 100 E lens, which is a zoom lens, variable focal length, but it is outstanding. I absolutely love this lens. It has you covered pretty much through the entire range from 35 all the way to 100. So, you've got a wide angle for the most part, and then you've got a good portrait lens. And even though at the longest focal length, 100 millm, this is an F4 lens, I will still argue you're still going to get enough background separation. The bokeh looks great. You got enough depth of field to work with. And F4 is F4. I understand that. So, if you're worried about light, I would actually argue that with the X2D2 and even with the X2D, between the image stabilization being completely incredible and the ability to use Hustelblad's app with the Hustelblad natural noise reduction built in, that ISO is really not an issue anymore. I don't think it's a limiting factor. And I think that if you want a one-stop lens, I think this is your call. Now, I have heard people talk about the fact that they wish it was all internal in terms of the zoom. And that would be cool. I agree. But really, this was for size reasons. So, the whole zoom would be considerably larger if it had to be internal. And so, this way you can make it more compact. And then also, the variable zoom is an issue for some people, but I would argue if you actually use the lens and shoot with it, you'll realize that it's way less of an issue than you thought it would be initially. They've done a great job with this lens. I think even though it's a large lens, the weight is really good on it. I did a whole video on this and I talked about that and I think that it just it works well for a travel situation. and it balances well with the camera and it is quite good. So, one lens that is an absolute must for me is the 38V. It's an excellent prime lens for wide-angle work. I ended up using this in Japan last year way more than I thought I would. This ended up being kind of my go-to on the system and it really surprised me and one of the things that I wanted to do last year was something a little bit different. So, I ended up shooting a lot with the Xband crop. And the reason that I did that is that looking through a lot of traditional Japanese paintings, you see the canvas size, or rather the canvas aspect ratio is usually an extreme panorama or a really long horizontal. And it's something that I really had a lot of fun shooting with and kind of paying homage to that when I was there. And the 38V really lends itself well to that. And again, with 100 megapixels on the sensor, even with a crop, you still have a very high resolution image in the end. The other thing that I love about this lens is the size. It is extremely compact and if you're talking about a lens that you just want to take out and just be able to use that's very comfortable to walk around with all day, this is a really good candidate for that. The other thing that I think is important to talk about with this um is that when the X system came out or the XCD system, the original camera being the X1D, what set this camera system apart was the compact size. This was a mirrorless medium format camera. And when you compare this to what we saw with offerings from like Phase 1, let's say, or even the Hasselblad uh SLR medium format cameras, yes, the size was reduced slightly on the sensor, but this was what you were left with was something that was really compact and super easy to get incredible high-end results with just wherever you went. And I think that the V lenses, especially the 38, really fall into this nicely because they complement that system. It is really easy to carry around and is extremely lightweight. So, the 38V is an f/2. 5 lens, which actually I found to be a little too shallow most of the time, depending on what it is I was trying to do. Most of the shots that I ended up doing that you're looking at were shot at either f4 or usually f5. 6. Uh, it's medium format, so you're still going to get a lot of separation even at those smaller apertures. But, this is a lens that I just really love, and it just performs outstandingly. Okay, so my next go-to is the 75P. If we're talking about primes, I want to be able to have something that's a moderate wide angle lens. But then I also want to have something that you can use to do portraits or short telephoto links with. And I think between the two of those, I have probably 90% of all my situations covered. It's something I really love. Now, a lot of you may be asking me why

### [5:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvK_mC4dalM&t=300s) Segment 2 (05:00 - 10:00)

the 75P and not the 90V. The 90V is an incredible lens. However, it is a lot larger. Last year when I went to Japan, I took both lenses and I did use them both, but I ended up using the 75P more mainly because it is much more compact. It's much more portable. It's a lot lighter weight. It's also a quieter lens with the Leaf Shutter. And a lot of that has to do with the top sync speed. Um, but for my purposes this year, I'm actually going to take this and not take the 90V. I didn't use it enough last year to kind of justify another space in my bag to do that. Um, couple things about the 75P. don't have the controls and the choke collar on there to switch into manual focus, but it still works for everything that I need it to do. The other thing that I love about this is you probably know that 75mm lens on medium format is actually going to be wider than it would be on 35. But the cool thing is using the crop modes in the X2D and I use these a lot. Primarily the two that I use or I will use the Xband format or I will do the crop to 2x3 which is what I'm used to shooting with a fullframe. And you can also do a crop into 2x3 which is basically going to give you the same equivalent if you had a full-frame sensor. So the advantage to that is that I end up getting more versatility in the focal length with the prime lens than I would normally. So I can shoot this as a 75 mm lens or I can shoot it using the full width of the sensor which ends up being roughly a 59 let's go ahead and say a 60 mm equivalent. So this kind of gives me something that's a normal lens like almost a 50 somewhere in between and almost a portrait lens. And so I got a lot of versatility out of this lens. Last year I was really happy with the results that I had. And I know it's not an f2. 5, it's a 3. 4, but believe me, you're still going to get a great depth of field and a decent separation. These lenses are very well built. And the way they handle the contrast between what's in focus, which is extremely high resolution, and then dropping off to the out of focus, the bokeh areas, you're going to get a lot of resolution in that, and also a lot of separation. And so, uh, the 75 is another major recommendation of mine. And I'm going to throw a little bit of an oddball in this year. This is an older lens. This is the 135mm f/2. 8. And it's actually very funny to call it an older lens because I specifically remember reviewing this lens when it came out. It was brand new and it was in 2019, which doesn't seem like that long ago, but it's been a few years. And the reason that I'm making the distinction that it is an older lens is the fact that lenses before the VP and E series lenses when they just had focal length numbers for the names, uh the 135 is one of those. Um they do not or they are not compatible with the autofocus continuous tracking in the X2D2. And the main reason for that, and if you've ever used one, you know what I'm talking about. The motors are older motors. These are big lenses. There's a lot of glass to move in here. I have this and I also have the 80 mm. and I love both of them, but I think for traveling, I think this is the one I want to use as my go-to. I actually pulled this out and I used this when I did my dance workshop in New York City earlier this year. I end up using it a lot and I was so impressed with the results. Now, as I mentioned, this is not going to be compatible with autofocus continuous modes or any kind of tracking. However, I can get in focus. I've used it before, especially with dance where there is movement. And the reason I'm going to bring this year is I'm always impressed with the results that I get with this. It's a lot lighter than the 80 and I have set up some model situations. So, we have a no theater guy that we're going to shoot and a Buddha dancer and I want to be able to get something that is a considerably legit portrait focal length. And so, I think the 135 mm is going to be my go-to for that. I wish it were more convenient and it was compatible with autofocus tracking and I don't know what Hustelblood have planned in the near future and hopefully they will address some of these portrait focal lengths. This is one I would like to see updated into the V series or the E series or something like that, but uh it is an excellent lens optically. In fact, I will say, and a lot of people who have used the other lenses argue this too, they're excellent. The optical quality is outstanding on just about any one of these. Unfortunately, it's just the system of the autofocus motors. They're not compatible with the newer features in the X2D2. However, they're still very usable. It looks like a stove pipe when I've got it attached to the camera, but I do love it and the results on this lens are absolutely fabulous. Okay, so those are the three primes. The 38V, the 75P, and now the 135mm. Now, I know this is the point where a lot of people are going to ask, well, don't you like the 55V or the 90V? And yes, I love those lenses. However, I don't want to bring too much stuff, and I think this is a system that is going to fill all the various needs that I would have and I can do it in three lenses. Now, I also want to talk a little bit about accessories because I did take the X2D to Japan last year, and one of the mistakes that I made is I did not have enough extra batteries. One of the problems that you're going to have with any mirrorless camera is the fact that you have a full-time data readout coming off of the sensor and you have a screen that's on all the time and so it will draw on the battery. Now, one of the things that's really nice about the X2D and then also now the X2D2 is they do have a standby mode. So, if you just short press the power button, it will go into standby. So, you don't have to completely reboot up the next time and you're going to conserve a little bit of power. I was able to get I would say three quarters of a day if I was really conservative about my power consumption. This year I'm taking extra batteries. Pro tip, label your batteries. The one

### [10:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvK_mC4dalM&t=600s) Segment 3 (10:00 - 12:00)

that's in the camera is labeled X2-D2 and then I've got spare one and spare two. The reason I do that is because then I use them in order and it's really easy to know at that point what has been exhausted and what still has a full charge. That's something that's very helpful when you're out and about and just save you some time from putting a dead battery in the camera only to figure out that it doesn't have a charge on it. The other thing that I would recommend, I've actually got two of these. Uh, Hasselblad makes a little USB charger. And these are really awesome because it's got a USBC on one side and then it's just got two hubs for batteries in. I've got two of these that I bring. I will bring a USB smart charger that I'll plug into the wall in the hotel and it knows how much power it can give these and then I just let them sit overnight. You can charge from the camera which is really convenient, but because I'm bringing spares, I like to be able to charge everything and then it's all ready to go the next day. So, these are really awesome and they're not too expensive either. So, I highly recommend them. And another accessory that comes in very handy is the cable release that is compatible with the X2-D2. This is a really cool accessory to have. Basically, if you look back to the X1D when that came out, that camera actually was capable of doing video. And during one of the firmware updates, Hustleblood figured out that they could do this hack using the audio jack to actually have a remote cable release. And this is something that's really cool. If you're on a tripod, you want to be able to catch a moment, you don't want to use a selftimer for it. This is something that's really cool. Now, unfortunately, the X2D removed this option, so it was not compatible. Uh, but it is back now with the X2-D2, so I will be bringing that along as well for any tripod shots that I do. And if there's anything else you get out of this video is that less is more. And this is something that I teach at all my workshops is that, you know, it's fun to have all the options with you. And it's easy to think that, especially when you're doing international travel, you want all those options. For me, as a photographer, though, options are great if they're all the options you have in camera getting the picture. The more lenses you have create options that become confusing and I'm overexaggerating. They're not going to confuse you, but you're going to end up spending more time fooling around with trying to decide on things rather than just getting great images. So that's why I keep it to three lenses that are going to have my whole focal range covered. I would love to know what you guys think. I will talk to you from Japan possibly, but I will see you in the next video either way. Until then, later.

---
*Источник: https://ekstraktznaniy.ru/video/17889*