How to Understand the Hasselblad X2D II Storage Setup

I was recently contacted by a client who was alarmed that their new X2D II showed only 0 shots available, when they had just formatted their internal 1TB SSD (capable of nearly 5000 shot raw file capacity). We went through several things, but ultimately, it was a puzzle.

So … more homework for this puzzle. And I think I solved it.

What matters most is what you have your Secondary Storage set to (choices are Backup or Overflow). Backup means that for every file captured, a duplicate file will be written to the secondary storage. Overflow means when you reach the full capacity of the Primary drive, files continue to write to the secondary drive (if media is present).

Sounds straight forward enough, yes? But then why does the available capacity not change when I have the 1TB SSD set to Backup instead of the 128GB? Because …. in a true backup situation, the maximum capacity is the lowest volume drive. Which makes sense. If you have the 1TB as primary, you can only take as many shots as the backup can accept. And if you have the 128GB set as Primary, then you can’t take more shots than that either, so it doesn’t matter if you have 1TB as a Primary or as a Backup, it’s not going to display the full capacity of the 1TB.

Now, looking at the Overflow setup, this will do the opposite, it will always display the maximum capacity of the highest volume drive, because regardless which is Primary or which is Overflow, once the Primary is filled, you will be able to continue shooting to the Secondary. And this is all mathematically proven by removing the 128GB CF eXpress media. The presented shot count will then match the number of shots if you subtract the Backup capacity from the Overflow shot capacity (when both disks are present).

Yay Math!

Dual Media present, Secondary Storage is set to Overflow

Top/Rear LCD shows 5386 shots available
1TB Internal SSD Set to Primary
128GB CF eXpress Set to Overflow

Top/Rear LCD shows 5386 shots available
128GB CF eXpress Set to Primary
1TB Internal SSD Set to Overflow

In this case, the display is presenting the total number of shots both drives combined are capable of.

Internal 1TB SSD is the only media present, Secondary Storage is set to Overflow

Top/Rear LCD shows 4795 shots available
1TB SSD Set to Primary
No Secondary Media

In this case, the display is only presenting the maximum number of shots from the only media that is present.

Dual Media preesnted, Secondary Storage is set to Backup

Top/Rear LCD shows 591 shots available
1TB SSD Set to Primary
128GB CF eXpress Set to Backup

Top/Rear LCD shows 591 shots available
128GB CF eXpress Set to Primary
1TB Internal SSD Set to Backup

In this case, the shots available are reflected by the maximum available capacity of the lower volume.

No Secondary Media, Secondary Storage is set to Backup

Top/Rear LCD shows 0 shots available
1TB SSD Set to Primary
No Secondary Media, Set to Backup

In this case, the shots available are reflected by the maximum available capacity of the lower volume. Since there is no media available for the Secondary drive, the display reflects 0 shots available. And indeed, it will not allow you to capture a shot, you’ll see an error message: “Backup Storage Missing: CFe”

CI Takeaways:

Once I parsed through what the X2D II was representing in terms of available shot counts, and thought through why it would be representing that, this all made sense. But it did make my head hurt a bit.

Rules To Remember:

• If you are not backing up, and do not have a Secondary media present, do not choose backup, it will show 0 captures available, and you won’t be able to capture.
• If you are choosing Overflow, the available capacity will always reflect the total number of captures you can make, regardless whether you have one or two media present.

This is also the case with X2D and also with 907x/CFV 100C. There is an anomaly in the case of the 907x/CFV 100C when Secondary Storage is set to Backup with no 2nd media involved, instead of displaying 0 shots, it displays two disk icons, the 2nd icon has a line through it.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! Your purchase strengthens our business, and we appreciate it!

steve@captureintegration.com – 404.543.8475

More From Steve:

https://www.captureintegration.com/steve-hendrix/