Haven't check in on this forum for a few months. Surprised to see this thread still going. (I posted back on page one.) I've owned the X1D for about a year now so I've got as much experience with it as anyone. I love the files and the light weight and slim build. I've hardly picked up my overweight H5 camera since I bought the X1D. The images are comparable but the H5 feels just too clunky now.
Just a couple of days ago, I was chatting with a knowledgable salesman at a (the) pro camera shop in New York City. They've been selling digital backs for years. The X1D is the biggest selling digital MF camera they've ever carried. Their experience with it has been similar to mine however: It's a buggy camera. It's not uncommon to have to reset the camera by turning it on and off or removing the battery. Getting a setting to change or work often requires several taps (or a reset). I use the adapter for my HC lenses. Usually I have good luck but on one occasion I couldn't get it to work with my 120mm lens no matter what I did. Another time, it was fine. Worked great out in the snow with my 28mm HC lens. Basically, us users are all beta testers for this camera.
The other thing is that Hasselblad customer and repair service is not good. The salesman I talked to mentioned having to regularly battle with Hasselblad to get repairs covered under warranty. My own experience hasn't been positive. My X1D was flawed on delivery. I felt that it should have been replaced with a new one, but instead Hasselblad insisted on sending it back to Sweden. Took from April to July to get my camera back. I was not happy. (BTW, the salesman had nothing but high praise for Phase One.)
All this isn't to say that I don't love my X1D. Once I'm shooting, it keeps going without complaint. I may even buy another for a backup. But... if I didn't need the leaf shutter, I'd go with the Fuji.
my first time handling the X1D was actually when i went to look into digital MF (after having given up on it for a few years) and it was amazing to handle the H6 and the X1D side boy side....i understand that some people prefer an optical viewfinder but it just seems like something from another century....clunky....and to me in the end it comes down to IQ...
i ended up going with the GFX and really could not be happier.....i just got the XH1 and thought it might change my opinion of the GFX a little....speed is always addicting but i actually find myself enjoying the GFX more...probably used to the slower AF and i for the most part control my shooting situations anyway....kind of makes me look forward to the next gen of these cameras....where the sensor os not an off the shelf older component but just like in the latest FF and smaller bodies, an integral part of a whole system.....
either way, to me these files are just addictive, i know the A7RIII and the D850 and they are awesome, but this is something different....
i have had these horror stories with my leica stuff...."this needs to go to germany"....i know that i should have backup and i do but i usually have a favorite lens or body i shoot with most of my stuff, and being without to for 2 or 3 months is just not realistic to me......
i just had to send the GFX evf tilt adapter in to fuji (seems like there might be random loose contacts) and all in all this looks like it will be a total of 2-3 weeks without the part, half of that in shipping.....it's ok, not great, overnighting would have spend it up, i could also join the pro service, but i just don't see myself using repairs enough.....when i think of my combined sony, canon, nikon, fuji, mamiya, phase repairs in 25 years, it comes out to about 3....when i think of my combined leica, rolleiflex, broncolor repairs over the same time it comes to at least 30....and i had a lot less equipment....so much for my experience with premium brands and reliability.....
now the GFX and X1D are about the same price now, hasselblad lenses are a little more....if anyone is invested in hasselblad the X1D is pretty much a no brainer.....for anyone coming from FF, either system will be a change in handling, and i would advise to consider the work one does.....
