Bye-Bye Lunar, Solar and HV? Hasselblad’s Italian Design Center Is No More

Bye-Bye Lunar, Solar and HV? Hasselblad’s Italian Design Center Is No More

Two years after Hasselblad opened with all the fanfare its Italian Design Center to create such widely mocked cameras as the Lunar and Stellar, two years after a futile attempt to fool photographers into buying a former generation of pimped up Sony cameras, two years on it looks like Hasselblad has quietly closed down its […]

After Lunar, Hasselblad Goes Stellar Special

After Lunar, Hasselblad Goes Stellar Special

Thank you dear whatever for giving us Sony NEX clones dressed up by an “elite Italy-based Design Center.” That’s a quote from a Hasselblad press release announcing the launch of “three new Stellar Special Edition compact camera editions.” The original presser is too beautiful, so here it is in its full length — albeit I […]

A Pimped Up Sony NEX-7: What to Make of Hasselblad’s Lunar?

A Pimped Up Sony NEX-7: What to Make of Hasselblad’s Lunar?

Surprise, surprise. No one expected this one. But what to think of the latest mirrorless kid on the block, Hasselblad’s peculiarly different Lunar? How many trees do they chop down for it? A toy for the wanna-look-rich? Seriously, am kind of flabbergasted. One thing is sure, it’s a victory for Sony on many fronts. Because […]

New Hasselblad Release This Week

New Hasselblad Release This Week

It’s not yet the product release that will make not only Hasselblad loyalists feel over the moon (no sarcastic Lunar reference intended). Hasselblad is posed to release its first product this week, before a Berlin event on April 15, 2016. Let’s call this release a “no surprise.” Rumors have it they announce a new H6D […]

Phoenix Hasselblad?

Phoenix Hasselblad?

Not too long ago it was difficult to not make fun of Hasselblad. Lunar, Stellar, you know. Now there is hope the venerable camera maker, under new leadership, might rise like a phoenix from the ashes — BTW, did you know there are 12 Hasselblad cameras left on the surface of the moon? The lunar […]

Hasselblad Sees the Light

Hasselblad Sees the Light

By BENGT NYMAN The long disputed direction of Hasselblad into laughable rebranding exercises of marginally successful Sony camera products may finally be coming to an end. Mr. Ian Rawcliffe replaces Dr. Larry Hansen as CEO and chairman of the board of Hasselblad. Rawcliffe who? Businessweek, February 24, 2014: Mr. Ian Rawcliffe has been the Chief […]

Hasselblad HV — Finally a DSLR With Style, Spirit and Soul?

Hasselblad HV — Finally a DSLR With Style, Spirit and Soul?

Must confess I like the look of the new Hasselblad HV, a full-frame Sony A99 converted by the Swedes into a stylish, grayish and blackish “DSLR with style, spirit and soul,” as Hasselblad praises its pepped up A99 on luxurious steroids. The camera will be available in an ultra robust, special TTX01 (?!) resin case […]

Hasselblad to Launch World’s First Medium Format CMOS Camera

Hasselblad to Launch World’s First Medium Format CMOS Camera

This kind of confirms our earlier report that Leica this year will shift the medium format S from CCD to CMOS sensor technology, as introduced with the Leica M Typ 240 earlier on. Now Hasselblad confirms they’re about to launch world’s first medium format CMOS sensor camera, meaning medium format will offer — in the […]

Hasselblad’s “Rhino Conservation Awards”: How Socially and Environmentally Concerned Should a Photographer Be?

Hasselblad’s “Rhino Conservation Awards”: How Socially and Environmentally Concerned Should a Photographer Be?

Photography is, in many ways, like a sport. Many photographers feel themselves judged by their gear. Photographers are not generally known as the most socially engaged people who are also concerned about environmental issues. They’re rather busy with themselves, and if one witnesses an accident or crisis, one is rather not there to help, but […]

New Camera News — The Lighter Side of Capturing Light

New Camera News — The Lighter Side of Capturing Light

This is one of the lucky finds that happen about once every lifetime. You may argue that photography and humor don’t mix, not to mention satire! Right, photography’s a serious business. But only if we take ourselves way too seriously. That’s where New Camera News comes in, an ingenious photography site dedicated to “the lighter […]

The Road Least Traveled — Sigma DP Quattro Design Study: Masterstroke or Failure?

The Road Least Traveled — Sigma DP Quattro Design Study: Masterstroke or Failure?

If you were waiting like me for an update of Sigma’s outstanding DP Merrill compact cameras with Foveon sensor and fixed focal length equivalents of 28mm, 45mm and 75mm, then the wait is either over. Or you’re unspeakably disappointed. Not because the new dp1, dp2 and dp3 Quattro cameras will disappoint in performance. Used in […]

“Further Optimize Our Uniqueness” — Sony Betting on Electronics and Technology to Change Camera Development

“Further Optimize Our Uniqueness” — Sony Betting on Electronics and Technology to Change Camera Development

First: all Sony RX1 photos you’ve seen so far don’t yet show off the compact full-frame camera’s full potential. Even the ones on the Sony website. This is what Yosuke Aoki, Sony general manager Asia Pacific, digital imaging marketing, tells THEME. What they’re lacking? “Maybe they’re not yet full 24MP,” smiles Aoki*. Sony headquarters Tokyo […]

The Leica M Typ 240 File

The Leica M Typ 240 File

While the other traditional camera maker Hasselblad infuriates its last loyal customers with a luxurized NEX-7 hardly anyone understands, Leica seems to feel the pulse of what the market wants. After the highly successful M9, world’s smallest compact full-frame rangefinder camera, Leica achieves the feat to further develop the digital M line without renouncing what […]