Victor Hasselblad AB is a Sweden manufacturer of medium format , photographic equipment and based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company originally became known for its classic analog medium-format cameras that used a waist-level viewfinder. Perhaps the most famous use of the Hasselblad camera was during the Apollo program missions when the first humans Moon landing. Almost all of the still photographs taken during these missions used modified Hasselblad cameras. In 2016, Hasselblad introduced the world's first digital compact mirrorless medium-format camera, the X1D-50c, changing the portability of medium-format photography. Hasselblad produces about 10,000 cameras a year from a small three-storey building.)]]
In 1877, Arvid Hasselblad commissioned the construction of Hasselblad's long-time headquarters building, in use until 2002. While on honeymoon, Arvid Hasselblad met George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak. In 1888, Hasselblad became the sole Swedish distributor of Eastman's products. The business was so successful that in 1908, the photographic operations were spun off into their own corporation, Fotografiska AB. Operations included a nationwide network of shops and photo labs. Management of the company eventually passed to Karl Erik Hasselblad, Arvid's son (grandson of founder F. W.). Karl Erik wanted his son, Victor Hasselblad, to have a wide understanding of the camera business, and sent him to Dresden, Germany, then the world center of the optics industry, at age 18 (c. 1924).
Victor spent the next several years studying and working in various photography related endeavors in Europe and the US, including Rochester, New York, with George Eastman, before returning to work at the family business. Due to disputes within the family, particularly with his father, Victor left the business and in 1937 started his own photo store and lab in Gothenburg, Victor Foto.
The Swedish government realised the strategic advantage of developing an aerial camera for their own use, and in the spring of 1940 approached Victor Hasselblad to help create one. In April 1940, Victor Hasselblad established a camera workshop in Gothenburg called Ross AB in a shed at an automobile shop, working in the evenings in cooperation with a mechanic from the shop and his brother, and began designing the HK7 camera.
By late 1941, the operation had over 20 employees and the Swedish Air Force asked for another camera, one which would have a larger negative and could be permanently mounted to an aircraft. This model was the SKa4. Between 1941 and 1945, Hasselblad delivered 342 cameras to the Swedish military.
In 1942, Karl Erik Hasselblad died and Victor took control of the family business. During the war, in addition to the military cameras, Hasselblad produced watch and clock parts, over 95,000 by the war's end.
The first successful commercial camera for Hasselblad, was the Hasselblad Universal camera, which was made by Szilárd Szabad. This camera was produced in over 1500+ units over a span of a few years, and quickly became the preferred all-around workhorse of the majority of professional Scandinavian photographers. It is perhaps the most important Hasselblad camera made, as it was what got Scandinavian professionals to move away from Kodak and Agfa, which had more or less 90% of the professional market at the time.
Victor Hasselblad's real ambition was to make high-quality civilian cameras. In 1945–1946, the first design drawings and wooden models were made for a camera to be called the Rossex. An internal design competition was held for elements of the camera; one of the winners was Sixten Sason, the designer of the original Ursaab.
In 1948, the camera later known as the 1600 F was released. The new design was complex, and many small improvements were needed to create a reliable product; the watchmaking background of many of the designers produced a design which was sophisticated, but more delicate than what was permissible for a camera. Only around 50 units were produced in 1949, and perhaps 220 in 1950, of what collectors have now designated the Series One camera. The Series Two versions of the 1600 F, perhaps as many as 3300 made from 1950 to 1953, were more reliable but still subject to frequent repairs, with many units having been cannibalized or modified by the factory. The biggest problem was its shutter, a focal-plane shutter that was hard to keep accurate. Using 120 size film it was formatted to a square cm or 2 × 2 inches, which meant there was no more need to turn the camera on its side.
In 1954, they mated the groundbreaking new 38 mm Zeiss Biogon lens designed by Ludwig Bertele of Zeiss to a shallow non-reflex body to produce the SWA (supreme wide angle, later changed to super wide angle). Though a specialty product not intended to sell in large numbers, the SWA was an impressive achievement, and derivatives were sold for decades. Hasselblad took their two products to the 1954 photokina trade show in Germany, and word began to spread.
In 1953, a much-improved camera, the 1000 F was released. It too had a focal-plane shutter which led to its final replacement by the 500 C but nonetheless provided a big leg up in the medium format. It had a very fine 250 mm f4 Sonnar sport lens that made it a great wildlife camera. Lenses ranged from a 60 mm Distagon, standard 80 mm Planar, and on up to the 250 mm.
In December 1954, the 1000 F camera received a rave review from the influential American photography magazine, Modern Photography. They put over 500 rolls of film through their test unit, and intentionally dropped it twice, and it continued to function. But the 1000 F also had shutter problems and finally gave way to the lens-mounted, tried-and-true Compur shutter, retaining its focal-plane shutter/curtain only to mask the film until the Compur shutter closed, then opened to expose the film. This was a far more dependable system, even though it meant having a shutter in each lens.
In 1962, NASA began to use Hasselblad cameras on space flights, and to request design modifications. The first motor-driven camera, the 500 EL, appeared in 1965Wildi 2000 as a result of NASA requests. While Hasselblad had enjoyed a slowly but steadily growing reputation among professional photographers through the 1950s, the publicity created by NASA's use of Hasselblad products dramatically increased name recognition for the brand.
In 1966, with the increasing success of the camera division, Hasselblad exited the photographic supply and retailing industry, selling Hasselblad Fotografiska AB to Kodak.
In 1977, the 2000 series of focal plane shutter equipped models was introduced. The 2000-series cameras had been intended to provide full exposure automation. The 2000 FC however was rushed and introduced without the automated features, partly because of a rethink about the way the automation should be accomplished (electronic vs. electro-mechanical). It was the last new camera produced during Victor Hasselblad's lifetime.
In 1984, Victor Hasselblad AB went public, with 42.5% of the company being sold on the Swedish stock exchange. The next year, Swedish corporation Incentive AB bought 58.1% of Hasselblad, and in 1991, they acquired the remainder of the shares, taking VHAB back to being a private corporation.
In 1985 Hasselblad established the subsidiary, Hasselblad Electronic Imaging AB, to focus on digital imaging and transmission systems.Hasselblad 2007
In 1991, the 200 series of automated focal plane shutter equipped models was introduced. This was the last major technical development in the course of the classic (now known as "V-System", after Victor) Hasselblad camera.
In 1996, Hasselblad was sold, with the new owners being UBS AG, Cinven, and the Hasselblad management.
In 2002, they introduced the H-System, retroactively renaming their original camera line the V-System. The H-System marked an essential transition for the company. It dropped the traditional Hasselblad square negative format, instead using cm film and a new series of lenses. The then owners had no confidence in Hasselblad's already advanced digital project returning a profit, and, seeing the relative success in the market of the modern (i.e. fully automated) 645 cameras made by manufacturers like Pentax and Mamiya, closed down Hasselblad's digital department and directed all effort towards making this 645 film camera. The H-System is largely designed and manufactured by Hasselblad, with Fuji's involvement being limited to finalizing Hasselblad's lens designs and producing the glass for the lenses and viewfinders. Fuji was allowed under the agreement to sell the H1 under their name in Japan only.
In January 2003, the Shriro Group acquired a majority shareholding in Hasselblad. The group had been the distributors for Hasselblad in Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia for over 45 years.
The following year, in August 2004, Shriro Sweden, the holding company of Victor Hasselblad AB, and Swedish subsidiary of Shriro Group, announced the acquisition of high-end scanner and digital cameraback manufacturer, Imacon (established in 1995 to launch the Flextight scanners). The intent of the move was to correct the mistake the previous owners made when they thought there was no money to be made selling digital products and put a stop to Hasselblad's own advanced digital project, and to renew Hasselblad's ambitions in the professional digital photographic sector.
The move was perceived as part of an industry-wide move to respond to the trend away from film to digital. Christian Poulsen, chief executive of Hasselblad after the merger (previously founder and CEO of Imacon), said, "They finally realized there was no future. It was impossible to keep Hasselblad alive without digital".
This has secured their market position, with nearly all of their previous medium format camera competition going through sale (Mamiya), closure (Contax, Bronica, Exakta 66, Kiev), or greatly reduced market presence (Rollei, Pentax—which was also sold to Hoya Corporation), and other medium format digital back makers being faced with accordingly restricted markets. Despite this Hasselblad has struggled to turn a profit relative to the market share leader Phase One.
On 30 June 2011, German private equity firm Ventizz announced it had acquired a 100% stake in Hasselblad.
In late 2015, Chinese aerial photography and drone manufacturer DJI acquired a minority interest in Hasselblad. In early January 2017 DJI acquired the majority stake. In August 2018, DJI announced Mavic 2 PRO, the first drone to carry a camera featuring the Hasselblad branding.
The Hasselblad cameras were selected by NASA because of their interchangeable lenses and magazines. Modifications were made to permit ease of use in cramped conditions while wearing spacesuits, such as the replacement of the reflex mirror with an eye-level finder.
Modifications by NASA technicians were further refined and incorporated into new models by Hasselblad. For example, development of a 70 mm magazine was accelerated to meet the space program.
The first modified (in fact simplified) Hasselblad 500 C cameras were used on the last two Project Mercury missions in 1962 and 1963. They continued to be used throughout the Project Gemini spaceflights in 1965 and 1966.
EL electric cameras were used for the first time on Apollo 8. A heavily modified 500 EL, the so-called Hasselblad Electric Camera (HEC) was used from Apollo 8 on board the spacecraft. Three 500 EL cameras were carried on Apollo 11. An even more extensively modified Hasselblad EL data camera (HDC), equipped with a special Zeiss 5.6/60 mm Biogon lens and film magazines for 150–200 exposures, was used on the Moon surface on the Apollo 11 mission. This command module camera, carried on Apollo 11, was a simplified version of the commercial Hasselblad 500 EL motorized film advance camera. Used for color still photography, it could operate in the command module or in the vacuum of space.
All subsequent NASA missions also had Hasselblad cameras on board. The photographic equipment and films used on the five subsequent flights were similar to that taken on Apollo 11. On Apollo 15, the 500 mm telelens was added. During the Space Shuttle period cameras based on the 500 EL/M, 553 ELX, 205 TCC and 203 FE were used.Nordin 1997
There are 11 Hasselblad cameras currently sitting on the lunar surface, where only the film magazines were brought back to Earth.
Hasselblad camera timeline ! rowspan=2 | System ! colspan=10 | 1960s ! colspan=10 | 1990s ! colspan=10 | 2020s | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=84 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=72 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=17 | 500C | 500C/M (500 Classic, 1990–92) | 501C | 501CM | colspan=24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=48 | 503CX | 503CXi | 503CW (503CWD, 2006) | colspan=16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=26 | 500EL | 500EL/M | 500ELX | 553ELX | 555ELD | colspan=24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=37 | 2000 FC | 2000 FC/M | 2000 FCW | 2003 FCW | 205 TCC | 205 FCC | colspan=27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=54 | 203 FE | colspan=26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=55 | 201 F | 202 FA | colspan=27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=55 | FlexBody | colspan=26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=57 | ArcBody | colspan=28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=79 | 907X | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
colspan=79 | CFV | CFV II | CFV 100C |
The SKa4 has interchangeable film magazines, a key feature of later Hasselblad cameras.
The 1600F cameras did show a couple of problems (especially the first series) so a number of changes were introduced during the production period that lasted from 1949 to 1953. The 1600F was initially released with the Kodak Ektar 2.8/80 mm and the Ektar 3.5/135 mm lenses. Only prototypes were made of the Ektar 6.3/55 mm and the 5.6/254 mm lenses.
The successor of the 1600F was the 1000F (1953–1957). The 1000F was named after its reduced shortest shutter speed of 1/1000 s. The 1000F has a different shutter mechanism and proved to be more reliable and robust than its predecessor. During production of the 1600F, Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen had become a supplier of lenses for the 1600F/1000F cameras. Zeiss supplied the lenses Distagon 5.6/60 mm, Tessar 2.8/80 mm, Sonnar 3.5/135, Sonnar 4.0/250 and Sonnar 5.6/250 mm. Towards the end of the 1000 F production period a Dallmeyer 5.6/508 mm lens made by Cook and Perkins, England, was also available, but did not fully cover the full film format.
Hasselblad 1000F and especially 1600F cameras are very rare on the secondhand market and usually not in working condition because of age, neglect, and a lack of spare parts and qualified repairmen. Many cameras suffer from corrosion of the chrome rims. A lot of lenses suffer from scratches, fungus, discoloration and separation. Cameras in good condition can therefore fetch fairly high prices.
The 500C was produced to replace the F-series cameras. It changed the troublesome focal plane shutter for a leaf shutter in each C lens. The camera has continued for over 40 years with only minor improvements. A variation of the 500C was used by NASA for all their Project Gemini and Apollo program missions. Most lenses were made by Zeiss in Germany but the very early 1600F lenses were made by Kodak.
The V system of cameras are modular with interchangeable lenses and backs. The interchangeable film backs were originally designed to accommodate medium format film (220 & 120) and supported various aspect ratios, e.g. 6X6, 6X4.5, etc. and were also available as Polaroid film backs and for 70mm film. The viewfinders were also designed to be fully modular with interchange able focusing screens, waist-level finders, sports finders as well as eye-level prism finders that were offered in 90 and 45 degrees for ease of use.
Alongside the 500-series cameras, a series of focal plane shutter cameras was introduced. This 2000-series started with the 2000 FC, and progressed to the 2000 FC/M, 2000 FCW and 2003 FCW. Though much of the 20 years between the discontinuation of the 1000F and the introduction of the 2000 FC was spent designing an improved focal plane shutter, the 2000-series again used corrugated metal foil as material for the shutter curtains, though now titanium replaced the original stainless steel. As before, the metal shutter curtains proved to be quite easily damaged by clumsy fingers, which is why all 2000-series cameras except the 2000FC have a safety feature that retracts the shutter curtains as soon as the magazine is taken off. The 2000-series cameras were replaced by the 200-series cameras (with rubberized cloth shutter curtains), which included the 201 F, 202 FA, 203 FE, and 205 TCC/205 FCC. While the 201 F was a manual control camera, the other three 200-series models added a level of metering and exposure automation to the V series.
There were also two series of medium format view cameras developed related to the V series: the FlexBody and the ArcBody.
The last V System camera, the 503CW, was officially discontinued on April 29, 2013. In 2014, Hasselblad introduced the CFV-50c back, which uses a digital image sensor and is compatible with V system cameras; the sensor is the same one supplied with the H5D-50c digital SLR and has an active area of , so using the CFV-50c back with V system lenses will result in a crop factor for equivalent focal length. The CFV back subsequently has been updated with different sensors in 2019 (CFV II 50C) and 2024 (CFV 100C), retaining the same sensor size.
500 Series
2000 Series Cameras with Titanium Focal Plane Shutter
200 Series Cameras with Rubberized Cloth Focal Plane Shutter
Super Wide-angle (SW) cameras with fixed lenses
View Cameras
EL series
The XPan cameras are re-branded versions of the Fujifilm TX-1 and TX-2. The XPan II has every feature of the original, but grants the user the ability to record thirty-minute exposures compared to the old limit of three minutes. Electronic exposure information in the viewfinder is another additional feature of the XPan II.
The XPan reverted to the focal plane shutter, offering 8–1/1000 s, and flash sync from B (max. 270 s) – 1/125 s.
The intent in releasing the XPan was to provide medium format image quality on 35mm film. The XPan utilised the entire area of the 35mm film for either panorama or 35mm format, providing a panorama effect without masking the film or reducing image quality. This technique produced a panorama negative almost three times larger than traditional masking and over five times larger than that of APS cameras.
The XPan is now discontinued.
The camera used Fujinon manufactured lenses and prisms, thus departing from Hasselblad's long association with Carl Zeiss when it comes to lens manufacturing.
The shutter in the lenses was still manufactured by Hasselblad as well as the body. Hasselblad initially invited both PhaseOne and Kodak to develop digital backs for the H-System.
The H1 had a number of other innovations, including:
As with the V-series, most H1- and H2-series components were compatible with one another.
The current H3DII products include:
Along with the cameras, Hasselblad released a new "XCD" lens mount which is specifically designed for a smaller flange distance compared to the larger "HCD" lens mount. The company sells an additional adapter to mount HCD lenses onto XCD lens mounts while retaining autofocus capabilities. At the time of launch, two lenses were available, a 45mm and a 90mm option. there are fifteen lenses available ranging from a 21mm focal length wide angle lens to a 135mm focal length short telephoto lens. Hasselblad also produces a single zoom lens with a focal length range of 35 to 75mm.
In 2010, Hasselblad announced that future Windows versions of Phocus will not provide raw file support for 3rd-party cameras.
At the 2012 photokina trade show in Germany, Hasselblad announced it would release a new mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (MILC) using the Sony E-mount. The camera, called the Hasselblad Lunar, is based on the Sony NEX-7, including its 24.3 MP APS-C sensor, processing engine and user interface. The Lunar, which is marketed as an "ultimate luxury" model, was released in summer 2013.
On 23 July 2013 Hasselblad announced the Stellar, a "luxury" compact digital camera based on the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100.
On 3 February 2014, Hasselblad introduced a restyled Sony α99 as the Hasselblad HV. According to the company's press-release, their version of the α99 is "tough as nails", featuring more robust construction than the original.
On 26 November 2014, Hasselblad announced the Stellar II based on the DSC-RX100M2. No further rebranded Sony products have been released by Hasselblad.
Unlike Leica in a similar partnership with Panasonic, Hasselblad did not make claims of reprogrammed image processing. The company, however, used the same marketing strategy, selling the OEM cameras under their brand at the prices two or three times higher than those of the original Sony cameras.
In February 2022, Oppo announced a three-year partnership with Hasselblad, to co-develop industry-leading camera technologies for Oppo's flagship Find X series. The triple-camera 5G handset Oppo Find X5 uses Hasselblad technology for the first time on an Oppo device, followed by the series' successors the Oppo Find X6 and the Oppo Find X7.
500EL and its successors have been, and still are, used mainly as workhorses in photo studios. A heavily modified version was used in the U.S. Apollo lunar exploration program. In 1968, it was used by astronaut William Anders to take the image known as Earthrise. As an outgrowth of the experience with NASA cameras, a photogrammetric version of the Hasselblad 500 EL/M, the Hasselblad MK 70, was constructed with specially calibrated components.Nordin 1997.
XPan
H System
H1
H1D
H2
H2D
H2F
H3D
"In truth, the was a great film camera to which a digital back could be fitted, and...Hasselblad started to look at ways that image quality and functionality could be enhanced even more through better integration...The H2 camera has not, in any way, been diminished by Hasselblad's separate development of functions specifically for the integrated H3D. However, lacking the necessary integration of the new camera engine and Hasselblad Flexcolor software, these functions cannot work on the H2."
H3DII
H4D
H4X
H5D
H5D-50C
H5X
H5D-50C WiFi
H6D-50c, H6D-100c, and H6D-400c MS
Single-shot 100 MP
4-shot 100 MP
6-shot 400 MP
H6D-400c MS
X System
X1D-50c
CMOS, 51 MP (8272 × 6200 pixels, ), , 16 bit 100–25600 2.0 fps 60 min to 1/2000 s Flash usable at all shutter speeds 3.0'' Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC HD (1920 × 1080) USB 3.0 (5 Gbit/s) Type-C connector, Mini HDMI, Audio In/out CMOS, 51 MP (8272 × 6200 pixels, ), 100–25600 2.7 fps 60 min to 1/2000 s Flash usable at all shutter speeds 3.6" Dual UHS-II SD USB 3.0 (5 Gbit/s) Type-C connector, Audio In/out
X2D 100C
Lenses
Scanners
Phocus (software)
Phocus Mobile 2
Collaborations
Sony
Mobile phones (OnePlus and Oppo)
Company publications
See also
Sources
External links
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