Life is full of surprises. Shit like the NBA tittle ending up in Canada. Portugal playing Euro 2004 at home with a super team and loosing it to Greece. Better still, Portugal claiming the Euro tittle in 2016 against the mighty French with a so-so team, Ronaldo injured and a goal from a guy named Eder that disappeared from the map ever since.

Then you have the Hasselblad X1D II 50c. I mean, this one I really didn’t see it coming and I assume most of the so called rumour sites also missed it.

Yes, there were rumours from the moment the X1D got discontinued back in February – for which I even dedicated a post venting my frustration – but those so called rumours had no factual support, were based on the single rationale that Hasselblad would obviously, somewhere in time, launch a successor.

The pleasant surprise here is that this somewhere in time happens to be next month, July 2019, i.e. 5 months after the official discontinuation of the original X1D.

And the other jaw dropping surprise?

Amazingly, the Hasselblad X1D II is improving and fixing the flaws of its predecessor (quicker startup time, faster AF, higher fps…) and upgrading the specs (higher resolution EVF and LCD…) as one would expect from a newer model, but will sell at a lower price!

What???

Yes, at a lower price, USD$ 5750 to be precise.

How and why Hasselblad is doing this we better ask their marketing department. Perhaps they want to bring it closer to the Fujifilm GFX 50R?.. Or compete with the latest crop of full frame cameras? Who knows.

But frankly, that’s really not a problem for us who suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome. The X1D II is a very interesting prospect, period.

I’m stopping now because my mouth is watering and I need to get some tissues. I can see a big hole in my pocket sometime soon. Oh my.

For more information just check Hasselblad’s website.

This is for real.