If you clicked on this, you’re probably at least a little interested in the Hasselblad XPAN—because I am too. It’s one of those holy grail cameras that’s gotten more and more popular, and the prices have absolutely skyrocketed. I’ve had a few chances to buy one over the years, but I’ve always backed out for the same reason: the electronics. I don’t want to spend $4–5K just to end up with a paperweight if something fails, and right now that reliability question is a big part of the “do you really need one?” conversation. Since I don’t own an XPAN, I decided to get familiar with the format in a practical way—by shooting and cropping to the 65x24 aspect ratio. I revisited older work and also shot in-camera using my Fujifilm GFX100S, including a walk around Nashville (Printers Alley, Broadway) and a trip to a local waterfall with some vintage Olympus OM lenses. Along the way I break down what makes the XPAN unique (it’s basically a medium format rangefinder that shoots 35mm film), how the crop factor affects field of view, and why the pano look is both awesome and honestly a little wider than I prefer. At the end of the day, I’d rather put that kind of money into experiences—like a trip—than tie it up in one expensive, uncertain camera.