A Tribute to XPan: Hasselblad X1D II's Wide View

October 18, 2026

A Tribute to XPan: Hasselblad X1D II’s Wide View

The Hasselblad XPan, a legendary film camera with an extremely distinctive way of rendering images. In the digital age, we play with that unique wide frame ratio for a fresh, interesting photographic experience.

By Daran Wu

XPan Panoramic View | A street corner with an old apartment building and palm trees, a white Beetle and other cars parked behind a wire fence, shot on a film XPan + 45mm F4 — Xpan + xpan 45mm F4

Origins

Has anyone heard of the XPan? In the film era, the XPan was a fascinating camera — it joined two frames of 135 film (36mmx24mm | 3:2) together, forming a special 65mmx24mm (17:6) wide frame ratio.

XPan Panoramic View | A Hasselblad XPan film camera with two lenses on a wooden desk, fitted with an external viewfinder and a strap (image from Hasselblad's official site) — Image from Hasselblad's official website

So what's the benefit? First, the XPan loads 135 film — and since larger film area records more detail and quality, the XPan could produce image quality approaching 120 film with just 135 film. You could say it combined the compactness of a 135 camera with the image quality of 120 film.

Note: The first XPan was born in 1998; the last XPan II ceased production in 2006.

But today we won't talk about the XPan camera itself — instead, let's talk about the cinematic sense of vision it brings.

The Sense of Vision

In ordinary 3:2 or 4:3 photos, we habitually look for one focus or subject in the frame. But in the wide-frame world, you can often arrange two or even three visual focal points — so more elements fit into a wide image, and the frame becomes richer.

XPan Panoramic View | Dry scrubland and a village, with mountains and blue sky beyond, shot on a film XPan + 45mm F4 — Xpan + xpan 45mm F4

XPan Panoramic View | Pedestrians with umbrellas crossing at a corner between a brick house and an ivy-covered wall, X1DII + XCD 45mm F3.5 — X1Dii + XCD 45mm F3.5

As mentioned, the wide frame better matches the range of human vision — it feels more like seeing with your own eyes, the image feels expansive, and the immersion is stronger.

XPan Panoramic View | A wide beach and coastline with a high-rise city skyline in the distance, shot on a film XPan + 45mm F4 — Xpan + xpan 45mm F4

Hasselblad X1D II's XPan View Mode

Although the XPan is discontinued, in the digital age we can relive the 65x24 wide photographic experience through the XPan crop mode of the Hasselblad X1D II-50C.

XPan Panoramic View | The back of a Hasselblad X1DII on a tripod, its rear screen previewing the XPan crop mode

With the XPan film camera's frame ratio (65mmx24mm), the focal-length field-of-view conversion to 135 is roughly (0.55x)

45mm = 25mm
90mm = 50mm

And with the X1D II's frame (44mmx33mm) cropped to the wide ratio, the actual sensor area used is about 44mmx16mm, with a 135-equivalent conversion of roughly (0.82x)

45mm = 37mm
90mm = 74mm

Although the imaging area medium format uses is far smaller than film, the digital age has the advantage of high resolution — good image quality still comes through after cropping.

The XCD 45 F3.5 is a great entry-level lens choice for shooting XPan view, giving roughly a 37mm field of view — close to the original converted focal length. Wide open there's still vignetting around the edges, but stopping down to F8 greatly improves it.

If you adapt medium format lenses — say HC or native XPan lenses — since they were originally designed for a larger frame, their image circles cover the X1D II's sensor well, so vignetting is noticeably improved.

Thoughts

Photographing in different frame ratios feels like shooting with different cameras — photographic thinking and flow get a new vibration, and along the way you see the world from new angles. Photography is still so interesting.

Some XPan views from daily life below.