Hasselblad XCD 4/28P: a wide-angle for street photography

The lightest and smallest lens of the Hasselblad X System as of August 2023, the XCD 4/28P, equivalent to a 22mm focal length, is only 245g, 43.5mm in length, and features an F4.0 aperture.

Hasselblad introduces the new XCD 4/28P, as a lightweight, wide-angle lens for street photography, but in fact, reading the whole information shared by the company – and looking at some of the sample images – one understands that this is more than a “street photography” lens, it’s a prime lens that both nature and architecture photographers will love to have in their bag.

With a 22cm minimum focusing distance and 1:6 magnification, rich close-ups of flowers, cuisine, and much more are effortlessly captured. The XCD 4/28P adopts an optical structure of nine elements in eight groups, including two aspherical elements and one ED element, which ensures excellent imaging while effectively suppressing chromatic dispersion. Hasselblad notes that “with a thoughtfully crafted arrangement, the lens has a compact size and a powerful performance, meeting the resolution requirements of 100 million pixels. The lens yields sharp imaging with high precision and high resolution from the centre to the edges, achieving stunning image quality across the frame.”

The metal lens features an engraved focus ring with a Hasselblad “H” pattern, a nod to the design of the XCD Series lenses, and holds to Hasselblad’s ongoing dedication to detail and craftsmanship. The lens sports a linear stepping motor and a lighter, smaller focusing lens group. When used with the PDAF technology of X2D 100C, the focusing lens group can quickly reach the focusing position and achieve a precise stop, resulting in fast, accurate, and responsive focusing.

Two Hasselblad XCD lens series

Those who regularly use flash in their photography will be glad to know that the lens’s small but powerful leaf shutter supports shooting with flash synchronisation at all shutter speeds, with flash synchronisation up to 1/4000s.

There are currently two Hasselblad XCD lens series, V Series and P Series. The P Series consists of entry-level thin, lightweight lenses that can meet daily photography needs. P Series lenses work with the X2D to offer more shooting possibilities for travelling photographers.

The V Series focuses on optical performance and control experience. The lenses have a larger aperture delivering a more pronounced background blurring effect. They also feature a depth of field scale, distance scale, and a focus ring that can be switched between autofocus and manual focus, with a customisable control ring. The V Series currently includes the XCD 2,5/38V, XCD 2,5/55V and XCD 2,5/90V.

The Hasselblad XCD 4/28P Lens has an MSRP of EUR €1,899, including sales tax, and USD $1,679, excluding sales tax. It is now available to order immediately. See details of the new product at www.hasselblad.com.