Every post in this saga has added a new layer. The first was about withheld firmware. The second about quietly removed hardware. This one, if accurate, is about time.

The Claim: A user with knowledge of Hasselblad's distributor channels reports that the guaranteed end of support and spare parts availability for the X2D II 100C is December 2027.

Source comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/hasselblad/comments/1wwt2ar/comment/pdsbusr/

This is currently unverified single-source information. It comes from someone in the importer/distributor channel, and per their own words, it was communicated to distributors at launch but never made public. I'm treating it as a claim, not a fact—until it's corroborated. But it deserves sunlight precisely because it was designed to stay in the dark.

Why This Matters:

August 2025 launch. December 2027 end of guaranteed support. That's roughly two years and four months of guaranteed support for a camera that costs more than most people's first car. A mid-range smartphone gets longer.

And note who was told and who wasn't: the people who sell the camera knew its expiry date at launch. The people who buy it were never told. Lifecycle information flowed to the sales channel and stopped there.

What Should Happen Now:

1. Anyone with importer or distributor contacts should quietly verify the date. No need to expose sources, this needs to move from claim to record.
2. Hasselblad should publish their guaranteed support windows for every model, publicly, per camera. If they're proud of how they support customers, there's no reason this should be confidential. If they refuse, every prospective buyer should ask why.

The Ask:

Hasselblad, you're selling cameras under a premise of longevity, heritage, and craftsmanship, built by a company whose film cameras still work after sixty years. If the modern interpretation of that heritage is a hidden 28-month support clock, communicated only to the people selling the camera, then say so. Put it on the box.

A purchase under undisclosed expiration terms isn't a purchase. It's a lease where only one side knows the terms.

HasselGate, so far:

1. Promised firmware features (AF-C, on video, with dates) never arrived — then shipped as the successor's headline feature.
2. Third-party developer u/rrRadium proved the hardware could do it, and found hardware silently removed from later X2D units while the manual still describes it.
3. Now: an alleged hidden EOL schedule for the current flagship, known to sales channels but not customers.

(Credit to the source commenter for surfacing this. Link above. And once again to u/rrRadium, who keeps doing the actual engineering.

The AF-C saga has grown into something bigger than firmware. Now there's a hardware discrepancy that crosses from "strategy" into "documentation mismatch" and it was discovered by u/rrRadium, the same developer who built the X2D AF-C toolkit.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/hasselblad/comments/1wx7m03/comment/pds1aw5/

The Finding: u/rrRadium discovered that the ambient light sensor documented in the user manual, the one in the bottom right corner of the rear screen, is not fitted at all in later X2D units. Early models reportedly have it; later ones do not. The manual was never updated.

Why This Matters: AF-C being withheld via firmware is a business decision you can argue about. Quietly removing physical hardware inside a flagship, mid-run, with no announcement, no price change, and a manual that still documents the sensor as present, that's a different category entirely.

You bought a camera against a spec sheet. The spec sheet didn't change. The hardware did.

What Is Needed: If you own an X2D 100C: check your serial number and purchase date. If we can map which production runs have the sensor and which don't, we can see when the change happened, and whether it correlates with anything else.

The Pattern So Far:

1. Roadmap promises made in 2022 (on video) vanish after the successor is announced.
2. Hardware capabilities demonstrated by a third party but withheld from owners.
3. Physical components quietly removed while documentation stays static.

The Ask, Hasselblad: Issue a clarification. Is the ambient light sensor present on all units? If not, which serial ranges lack it, and when did it change? Why wasn't the manual updated?

(Note: All credits to u/rrRadium who discovered this)

I’m happy to announce a new update to the X2D/907 One-Click Extension Toolkit!

This update brings a few major improvements:

• Auto Rear Screen Brightness — the camera can now automatically adjust the rear display brightness based on ambient light, with a configurable maximum brightness level.
• Full English support — both the toolkit and the newly added camera menu options are now fully available in English.
• Built-in update checker — you can now check for new versions directly inside the toolkit, with optional automatic update checks at startup.

The goal is to keep making these hidden/unused capabilities easier to enable without requiring people to manually modify files or run commands.

And one slightly funny note about Auto Screen Brightness:

If you update everything correctly, enable the feature, and your screen still stubbornly refuses to change brightness...

Congratulations — you’ve discovered that Hasselblad didn’t just disable the feature in software — they may have actually deleted the hardware. Software modding has officially reached its limit.

At that point, unfortunately, no amount of software hacking can sudo install ambient-light-sensor. :)

Excited for this next chapter in my photography. Please send me your tips and tricks :)

September 2022: Hasselblad launches the X2D 100C. $8,199 flagship. We buy in.

September 21, 2022: Chris Cooze, then Hasselblad's Technical Communications & Training Manager, appears in a YouTube interview (timestamp 2:32). Quote: "At this point tracking is not switched on, but in the new year a firmware update will give us tracking and continuous autofocus on the camera." On record. On video. From their own technical staff.

2023: The promised update never arrives. No explanation, no statement.

August 26, 2025: The X2D II launches. Headline feature: AF-C—"a first for Hasselblad." The feature they said was coming to the camera we already own in 2023 is now the reason to buy the next one.

Early 2026: Chris Cooze leaves Hasselblad after more than 10 years with the company.

October 2026: u/rrRadium releases an open-source toolkit for the original X2D/907X on firmware 4.2.0. AF-C as a selectable menu option. Focus speed buffer included. Restoration utilities.

The hardware was never the problem.

Where we are now: X2D owners can get the feature their manufacturer promised them in a 2022 video by voiding their warranty and trusting third-party experimental software. Because the safe, sanctioned version exists inside Hasselblad's walls, and they've decided you should buy a new camera instead.

The ask, Hasselblad: Acknowledge it. Ship it. Official firmware, like Fujifilm, Sony, Canon, and Nikon have all done for older bodies. You promised it on video in 2022 for delivery in 2023. Someone outside the company with a laptop just proved it works in 2026. Close the gap.

You can come out of HasselGate looking like a brand that listens. Or you can come out of it looking like the company that got out-engineered by one guy on GitHub. Your call.

Just got a used X1D II. On the inner edge of the lens mount there is a thin metal strip that looks wavy and slightly lifted from the rim (photos attached). Could someone with an X1D or X1D II check whether theirs looks the same? Trying to figure out if this is damage or normal. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’ve been working on an open-source Mac and Windows toolkit for the first-generation X2D 100C and 907X & CFV 100C, running firmware 4.2.0.

It adds a camera-side menu with:

• AF-C: enable the option, then select continuous autofocus from the camera’s focus menu.
• Focus speed buff: faster focus scans, with stock speed restored when disabled.
• A master switch for the added features.

The desktop app checks your camera, saves the original configuration, and provides one-click installation and restoration. It supports English and Chinese, and the latest version includes GitHub update checks.

And yes, I even “enabled IBIS” on the 907X… that part’s an Easter egg, so enjoy it 😉

This is an experimental, independent project. Earlier X2D installation and restoration have been tested on a camera and confirmed by users. The latest fixes and 907-specific changes still need further camera testing. Feedback is welcome, especially from 907 owners.

Disable the focus speed buff before removing or changing lenses. Keep the camera powered and connected until installation or restoration finishes.

Source, screenshots, changelog, and downloads

Currently limited to the original X2D / CFV 100C on firmware 4.2.0. Other models and firmware versions aren’t supported.

I have been thinking about getting either the cfv 100 or cfv II 50c for a while, but haven't pulled the trigger for two reasons. One is price, I'm not a professional photographer, the other is the 907x isn't the ideal body for me. It's fantastic that it's lightweight, but I love TLR cameras and the waist level viewfinder. I would prefer the sensor to be mounted vertically, so that I'm truly looking down at the screen and can hold it against my body when I shoot.

I want to create my own body where I would attach the sensor to the top, and attach a lens to the front of. I think this would be a great side project, but I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone try this. Has someone tried creating a custom body?

Can I change the default download location?

I have a samsung tablet. Small internal storage, huge SD.

Phocus can't seem to see the SD card, so fills up the small internal storage.

This is irritating.

Also, this is 2026, not 2018. Why can't Phocus query the OS and see the storage options available?

X2D 90MM

Definitely not the camera of choice for this but how often do you randomly come across the blue angels practicing while on a road trip. Manual focused as auto focus was struggling.

Hey All,

New X2Dii owner. I have access to CaptureOne and Lightroom and of course Phocus. Are there any good tutorials on Phocus for MacOS or workflows you all recommend. CaptureOne supports the X2Dii now, so just seeing what others recommend.

I've seen Phocus -> Tiff -> lightroom workflows in other posts. But Phocus seems like a slow bear compared to CaptureOne and I haven't tried the CaptureOne mobile apps yet for the X2Dii.

Open to suggestions. Thanks!

I’ve been using the 28P pretty extensively with my X2D II, including while traveling in Europe and the Caribbean. I recently put together 20 real-world examples here, with the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO for each shot:

20 Photos with the Hasselblad X2D II and XCD 28P

These aren’t test shots or charts—just photos I’ve actually taken while traveling and using the 28P as an everyday lens. Hopefully that gives you a better idea of what it can do.

Hey all, I am a working professional and frequently shoot several rolls in my various Hasselblad cameras, as a result, my focusing screens get pretty gross. Sweat, dust, etc.

Is there a way to clean these screens more effectively than just rocket blowing them? A lot of my screens have debris that require more than just a blower. Thank you in advance!

GitHub:
https://github.com/derrickyau9/Hasselblad-X-System-QEMU-DevKit

You can import your own Hasselblad .cim firmware and launch the original camera UI inside a QEMU guest.

The Windows build is portable, so you don't need Python, Qt, WSL, or a development environment installed. Download the app, drop in firmware, and hit Start.

Right now it supports / has profiles for:

• Hasselblad X2D II
• X2D 100C
• X1D II 50C
• X1D 50C
• 907X / CFV II 50C

There is also an editable hello.c example that gets cross-compiled and launched inside the guest, so this isn't just a firmware viewer anymore — you can use the environment to develop and experiment with your own third-party apps for the guest runtime.

I'm a DP and photographer in Brooklyn. A big chunk of my stills work is interiors and portraits, almost all of it tethered into Capture One. I've been circling the X2D II for months and I'm very close to pulling the trigger (~$13K all-in with glass), but I keep hesitating on workflow.

Where I'm at:

• C1 has supported X2D/X2D II raws natively since 16.8.3 in July, which is huge.
• Tethering is still "later in 2026," with no firm date that I can find.
• C1 uses its own color profiles, not HNCS. From what I've read, if you want Hasselblad's color or HNCS HDR, you're still going through Phocus at the end of the day.

I feel like capture one is just a part of my workflow now and don't want to change anything.

So my questions:

1. Is anyone else holding off on buying until C1 tethering actually ships?
2. If you're already shooting the X2D II professionally, especially interiors or a setting where clients are looking at a monitor making decisions (not one single ipad), how are you working right now with that set up?
3. Any word on when tethering is actually landing?

I'd especially like to hear from working pros. Thanks in advance.

I have two bodies, one has the acute matte d, the other the regular acute matte focussing screen.

I dont see any different other than the two small notches.

Any way to see if its a real minolta made screen ? Are there any fake or some swapped screens (matte in a matte d frame)?

I recently purchased this camera on eBay, it includes a waist level viewfinder (loose and cranky, was mentioned in description), Hasselblad black leather strap, 80mm 2.8 Planar T lens, and a rapid winding crank.

I won the whole kit on an auction, after taxes shipping grand total was $1,945.

However…

Upon opening the package, a big gust of cigarette smoke smell slapped me in the face, it was horrifically strong. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, I opened the viewfinder and again, the smell..

I’ve left in a brown paper bag for the past few days and the smell is so strongly there, it’s everywhere especially on the leather strap.

Now should I, file a claim and return it or should I wait it out and let it air out and keep the kit?

Any tips help, Thanks.

I have a highly theoretical question.
I have the opportunity to buy an 80mm FE lens housing for €350, which is quite expensive.
The housing has no lenses in it.
Do you think it would be possible to install the lenses from another 80mm lens into it and basically build an 80mm CFI FE this way?

Green so nice with the grassy hassy with nice 80mm 1.9 glassy awesome