Hasselblad 907X Optical Viewfinder (28mm, 38mm & 55mm)

Only useful of the few

Unless you happen to be one of the probably 5 people in the world who are considering purchasing one of these things it’s probably a complete waste of your time to read any further. If you are legitimately in the market, you are probably going to discover as I did, that there’s very little actual owner experience published about this viewfinder. In that case it might potentially be of some interest to know my opinion, but I hasten to add that’s it’s just my personal observations and I make no claim otherwise I have the 21/30/45mm frame line version and am using it with the Mark I versions of the XCD lenses. It is also available as 28/38/55mm. First off, I didn’t pay retail price. Adorama had one they described as Open Box, which I interpret to mean it is likely a customer return from somebody who was disappointed with it. Full retail is currently $499 at all the major retailers. I would have never paid full retail. My Open Box version, aside from having the exterior of the factory box roughed up from having some sort of sticker removed, appears unused. I paid $250. Actually, my wife paid $250 for Father’s Day, as she is astonishingly supportive of my expensive hobbies.  As you would expect, the construction is first rate. The chrome trim ring around the objective seems to kind of pimp it up unnecessarily but whatever. It’s been a very very long time since I’ve use a SuperWide, but it kinda reminds me of that. If the vintage vibe works for you that might be a plus. When I used a SuperWide it was exclusively on a tripod. I was assuming everyone else did also, but don’t know from experience. In any case, I find that I use the 907x with its CFV 100c back handheld in most cases. I like the CFV 100c on Hasselblad film camera a lot. That may give you some indication of my orientation regarding vintage bling sort of stuff. One of the things I enjoy about the Hasselblad film cameras and the 907x is the way they hang lens down. The shape makes them very easy for me to carry and tends not to get bumped against stuff when I’m not holding it in my hands. Adding he Optical Viewfinder changes that. Now there is something sticking out on top that makes the camera, in my mind, a bit more clumsy to carry. If you’ve ever used a 5xx body with anything other than the folding viewfinder attached you know what I mean. The center of gravity moves up and the camera is no longer as steady when hanging from a strap. In this case I find another wrinkle. The arching supporting device is sturdy enough to prevent movement, but it’s attachment to the 907x strikes me as a bit flimsy. The metal thickness of the 907x looks like it would be pretty easy to catch the viewfinder on something and distort the metal at the body attachment point. Which brings up another issue. You don’t really “attach” the viewfinder to the camera. Rather you “assemble the components”. Separate the back from the camera, slide out the little Hasselblad branded trim plate, insert the viewfinder support, store the trim plate someplace where it won’t get lost (which may be the hardest part), clean the sensor since it probably got dust on it when you removed it, reattach the digital back to the camera. If you don’t need it anymore you have to reverse this sorta cumbersome process. If you’re old enough you might remember some English sports cars where you didn’t “put up the top” when it started raining as much as you “erected the top” from bits stored behind the seat. Kinda feels like that. This not something you are going to carry in your pocket and attach “as needed”. There’s also no provision to store the silly thing other than put it back in the box. Nor does Hasselblad supply anything to protect the front and rear viewfinder optics. I happened to own the world’s largest collection of useless camera cases, so I already had a suitable container. And I found a couple of really cheap soft rubber lens caps on eBay that protect the optics nicely. So, after erecting the camera/viewfinder system, I first tried it out on an overcast day. Eye relief was not an issue with my glasses on, but eye positioning was fiddley to have the frame lines and center cross at their best visibility. They appear very faintly. It’s not at all like the experience of using a Leica rangefinder. If you point it at a brighter area, like the clouds, they jump out very nicely. Direction of the illumination also appears to make a difference. In this instance I suspect you will find the viewfinder useful for pointing the camera in the general direction of your subject but probably not much better. It’s particularly important to be able to see the center cross. And of course, it’s necessary to have your camera’s center focus point selected. Otherwise, the entire concept breaks down. As center point is generally how I use the camera anyway I didn’t find that too much of a hinderance. Having said that, it may be a non-issue as you likely wouldn’t have any good reason to use the thing on an overcast day. In bright sunlight, which is the only occasion I can think of where the Optical Viewfinder would be remotely useful, frame line visibility is fine. If you’re even considering this viewfinder, you have likely already dropped the concept of accurate framing from your vocabulary. Think shotgun rather than sniper rifle. The lenses also protrude into the field of view as do some Leica lenses on the rangefinder models. I didn’t care but some may find it annoying. I have also been using the Optical Viewfinder with lenses for which there are no frame lines. I did this by first observing the rear screen to get a feel for what the actual frame would look like and then using my imagination looking through the viewfinder. Whether this works for you is just gonna depend. I was pretty much OK with it. I also discovered that I missed the display of the focus confirmation when using the viewfinder. I created a Custom Profile with the focus confirmation sound turned way up and the larger available focus box and that seems to work for me. I think I’m probably going to have occasional use for this device, and the price was right, but I wouldn’t recommend one for most photographers. If you had a used case where you thought you really needed an optical viewfinder and we’re going to be using one all the time, I think it might be well worth your while to consider buying one of the other brand optical view, finders, and putting it on a Lanhorse cage rather than directly on the camera. The Lanhorse cage has a built-in hot shoe that would eliminate any concern about the factory, designer attachment, bending something. On the other hand, if you already have a 907x you’re probably not in the “most photographers” arena anyway and may already be accustomed to some uncommon equipment wrinkles.