Hasselblad Lunar to be sold from April!
Lunar camera with the new Distagon E-mount Zeiss! (Image courtesy: Alexander Radojski)
A Hasselblad spokesperson today Amateur Photographer that ‘The Hasselblad Lunar will be officially launched in April 2013“. And “We will, within a short time, launch a new and dedicated website section for the Lunar with all the information.”
The Lunar will have the same specs as the current Sony NEX-7 and cost above $5,000. And guess what, Sony may launch the new NEX-7n in April too and the Hasselblad may not even be “Up To Date” with the Sony NEX range.
news found via Photorumors.
FreXxX
3 months ago |1st of April, I hope?
Jacques
3 months ago |yes 1st april!!!
Hmmm
3 months ago |OMG, if it does come out April 1st I will laugh SO HARD.
I wonder, how many rich people are dumb enough to buy this thing?
Godsakes
3 months ago |You’d think Hasselblad would insist the Sony gave them the newer flash hotshoe?
SQLGuy
3 months ago |Although it’s certainly harder to find things to fit the Minolta shoe. After using it for a while I like it better than the old “standard” one. Much easier to quickly mount and unmount a flash with this setup.
Neo NiGHTS ®
3 months ago |And it even uses the old hotshoe. Oh, my.
CTPhotographX.com
3 months ago |That makes it NOT the “old hot shoe”… but instead, one of the current hot shoes. And the only one that doesn’t have major problems.
Neo NiGHTS ®
3 months ago |By “old hotshote” I meant the Minolta hotshoe. Which Sony abandoned.
So Hasselblad not only is going to release a camera a generation older but will also release with a hotshoe that will no longer be used. They could’ve updated at least that, I think.
Neo NiGHTS ®
3 months ago |*hotSHOE
CTPhotographX.com
3 months ago |Can’t say it’s no longer being used… when it obviously is still being used by someone. That makes it current.
Neo NiGHTS ®
3 months ago |So film and M42 mount cameras are still very much current technlogy since there are people using them. I see now.
CTPhotographX.com
3 months ago |Perhaps I should have said sold new, which makes it current.
Can’t say iISO is old, because ISO is even older. Can’t say iISO is discontinued when new cameras are being sold with iISO.
Nik
3 months ago |Difficult to change a single feature of the camera when all you’re doing is building a shell around it
commsbloke
3 months ago |Those dials! They look like they are from an Amstrad HiFi
Frank
3 months ago |Don’t be daft, the Amstrad ones were way better.
JoeNoName
3 months ago |that is gonna be such a fail. Marketing research megafail.
Frank
3 months ago |Yeah it’s like they got Sony to do their marketing…
Mno
3 months ago |Surely this is the ultimate example of style over substance!
However, reading between other lines seen here on SAR suggests hasselblad may want to release an OVF FF camera maybe based on Sony A mount. Son perhaps some people might be pleased. Especially is they retain the old iISO shoe which was just beginning to gather some third party TTL support..
Frank
3 months ago |It’s far more likely that it’ll be Sony’s NEX full frame.
Sky_walker
3 months ago |That’s bound to happen too, but one project doesn’t exclude another.
Sky_walker
3 months ago |Yep. Personally: I can’t wait to see what they’re up to and how this camera will perform. Regardless if I’ll be able to afford it or not
john
3 months ago |At least it’s amusing.
CTPhotographX.com
3 months ago |Well, maybe Hassy isn’t so crazy after all… They did keep the iISO, which is the only one that professionals can use for full functioning radio slaves (Phottix Odin and Pixel King) retaining HSS and TTL.
Allan Olesen
3 months ago |I am pretty sure that this camera will just have the shoe of the Sony camera it happens to be based upon. So if it is based on the old 7, it will have the iIso, and if it is based on the new 7, it will have the ISO.
Don’t think too much into it.
Blue
3 months ago |Maybe they have waited for the new 7n insides to use them with the Lunar?
This way the release date would make at least a little bit sense…
On the other hand, it may be a good way for sony to sell off their outdated NEX-7 parts
Cliff
3 months ago |Hassy prolly has a few thousand NEX 7s sitting in their storage right now waiting to be incased.
If the new 7n dosnt have a body size change than maybe Hassy can easily cover up the 7n without a major rework.
God….this is the funniest thing I have ever seen in the camera industry.
Rob
3 months ago |Michael Reichman at Luminous Landscape used a Nex 7 with Leica lenses over the winter while waiting for his evaluation copy of the Leica 240, and had some good things to say about the Nex. Link to the article below:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/m_waiting.shtml
Now, if the Nex 7n is a significant upgrade the new Leica will seem less sensible (although it will be FF 24 megapixels). A Nex 9 with 24 – 32 megapixels will be problemmatic for Leica – if it even comes close in IQ, Sony seems to have the edge in handling, EVF, Liveview, etc. etc. etc.
Morten
3 months ago |Only thing though is that the new Leica actually beat the RX1 at higher iso:-)
Zohee35
3 months ago |or does it. ….
Hendrick
3 months ago |I dont think Leica’s new CMOSIS sensor may be better than Sony’s 24mp RX1/a99 sensor. No reviews out yet but even if does actually beat it, lets say by a stop, how many people actually will say “oh wait, the Leica M 240 has one better stop of ISO for me, def gonna go for that!” and pay $5000 more just for the body?
3dit0r
3 months ago |Yeah, if they don’t back off on the design due to a plethora of crappy votes and comments here the other day, mainly from people who seem to want/expect an NEX-FF for the price of a high-end compact, the NEX-9 will cause Leica huge problems for sure. If it has a great EVF and is set up/handles like an RX-1, with some decent lenses available, that Leica-M is suddenly going to look like an awful, awful lot of money, even to die-hard Leica users.
As to the Lunar… I’m almost speechless. It looks like a prop from Logan’s Run, except it’s in no way retro cool. I mean, seriously. Seriously.
Gave me a good laugh though!
Frank
3 months ago |Actually the comments were saying that a FF NEX should cost no more than the more complex Nikon D600. A NEX is far simpler to manufacture than a flipping mirror dSLR.
Neo NiGHTS ®
3 months ago |Yes, because smaller hardware are always easier and cheaper to make. Hence laptops, netbooks and ultrabooks are cheaper than those big, clunky and complex desktop PCs.
ageha
3 months ago |You are too smart for Frank.
Frank
3 months ago |So how come NEX-7 cameras are smaller but cheaper? A full frame sensor doesn’t add THAT much cost to a camera.
Physical size has nothing to do with this, it is Sony trying to be an aspirational brand, they WANT it to cost “X” amount more.
Sky_walker
3 months ago |Hahaha, Neo – WIN!
MM
3 months ago |Er, no. Frank wins because this comes down to common sense. A NEX7 contains the necessary circuitry to support a 24mp sensor. Sony actually make a bloody 24mp FF sensor. How hard can it be to put it in a NEX7 body? Even if it doubled the cost, it’s still in the ballpark of D600 pricing. Anything more than that is price gouging
Neo NiGHTS ®
3 months ago |Well, I think it’s not that simple as “just put a FF sensor in it and we are good to go”. There must be other hardware differences. Different processor(s) which may cause more heat, diferent microlenses on sensors to compensate that very short flange-to-sensor distance and so on.
But I’m no engineer, so I don’t really know. Unlike most of the people here.
(which I really REALLY have no idea why they are hanging around here at SAR instead of developing cameras, since it’s so easy)
Rob
3 months ago |BTW, just playing around with my new RX 100 – here’s a pic I took today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41310115@N06/8542711893/in/photostream
ruffy
3 months ago |No wonder why RX100 was one of innovations of 2012 by Time Magazine, what a great quality for a pocket camera, I’m really impressed!
Rob
3 months ago |Yeah – would a dslr have produced an image substantially better than that (where no pixel peeping would have been done)? I really don’t think so.
3dit0r
3 months ago |Reminds me of a favourite film from a while back- ‘Hello, miss? I believe I ordered the *large* cappuccino? Hello!?’
Nice pic
Rob
3 months ago |Oh, pls be kind about the pic (it’s my wife, and we’ll be together 19 years in May).
Hmmm
3 months ago |She’s beautiful. Be nice to her!
Rob
3 months ago |Thank you for her. I am nice to her – she insists!!
She’s very nice too – where the hell have the years gone, I can’t believe it.
OneTrackMind
3 months ago |@ Rob
Did you get into photography to take pictures of those eyes? Beautiful! Great job, mate.
Rob
3 months ago |That’s so very kind One! I was really just showing off the RX 100 – it’s pretty nice! However, my gal has served as inspiration for many years – here’s a pic from 2007 http://www.flickr.com/photos/41310115@N06/8542711893/in/photostream
Best to you!
Rob
3 months ago |Ooops, meant this link http://www.flickr.com/photos/41310115@N06/4925345126/in/photostream/
SonyCuberPunk
3 months ago |She’s pretty and looks loving. What more can I say to make you feel good! Enjoy life, your photos are what it’s all about!
boong
3 months ago |Can i just say that that is possibly the most massive “cup” of coffee I have ever seen, or should I say bucket?
Frank
3 months ago |That’s no cup. It’s a space station…
Rob
3 months ago |It’s a skim latte.
Mr Hassel B Looney
3 months ago |I could just get my old camera, drop it in a pile of mud, and it would look better than this piece of junk. Save some money, too.
cactusgeorge
3 months ago |This is the ugliest camera I’ve seen in a long time.
bobob
3 months ago |Yes but Hey, look at the awesome lunar grip, the nex 7n can’t beat it
Sythrix
3 months ago |This is a joke right? That thing is hideous, I would not pay 5000 dollars for it. This is doubly true when it has the same specification as the Nex 7. Even if they manage “slightly” better pics somehow, I wouldn’t be caught dead holding that thing. It looks like a freak show of a camera. UGLY…
Ferdinand
3 months ago |This is fucking ugly indeed. It will not end well for Hasselblad….
Ario
3 months ago |It’s definitely not for me but I wish for them the best of luck and success with this uncommon (re)design and pricing – bhoooeeeekkk (vomiting)
Steve
3 months ago |Well……… I hope they do something to advance the platform, like optics.
Mistral75
3 months ago |Hasselblad never designed any lenses. V series lenses were designed and built by Carl Zeiss and H series are designed and built by Fuji.
SonyCyberPunk
3 months ago |The Lunar is a mess, we all know that and so does Hasselblad.
SonyCyberPunk
3 months ago |When I have digital dreams I think about Hasselblad focusing on my cold metal NEX 7 and zooming in on my focal plane and RAW images lapping over JPG. Yes, yes, yes!!!
Nexnex
3 months ago |This thing is a travesty, an insult to intelligence.
But the nex line sure can pump out bodies.
Twaddler Belafonte
3 months ago |How to tank the classy Hasselblad reputation with one crappy product:
Alex
3 months ago |What’s really going to be amusing is all the “new” reviews of this “unique” work of art…time to stock up on popcorn!
daenur
3 months ago |This is one ugly-looking camera!
Mattias
3 months ago |This is not good for Hasselblad, kind of sad to see.
RA
3 months ago |Hmmm… NEX-7N + 2 Zeiss primes or Hasselblad Lunar. Hard choice.
Mattias
3 months ago |But Hasselblad already has something called H4D-40 Limited Ferrari Edition that is even uglier. I think they are aiming their marketing at rich people without taste. Then maybe the Lunar is spot on.
Claire
3 months ago |It’s the fugliest camera ever released and the price is ludicrous. GOOD LUCK.
Kiril
3 months ago |I think the last sentence is speculation at this point. We do not really know what Lunar is except the prototype bodies shown last year.
Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. There is probability that many of the write ups on this topic will become source of shame.
1) The timing means Hasselblad can use the 7n internals
2) the hot shoe on the prototype may or may not be final
3) for all we know the lunar may be 24MP full frame in slightly bigger than nex-7 body… this guy fits all rumours about NEX full frame add that a full frame E mount camera at 5000$ can only sell under Hassy brand, sony brand will spell disaster
It is few eeks until we see the dedicated web site right?
mict
3 months ago |it could be newsbreaking if Hasselblad could make NEX9 before sony nex9. Supported by fujis line of ff primes. such scenario is fake but sony could benefit from such a famous name.
Ironchef
3 months ago |Although I would never buy this camera, I don’t think this camera will fail. It’s made for people who buy $5000 handbags and $20000 watches. If I think about it that way, it’s probably too cheap.
roger48
3 months ago |I saw the camera in the metal at the Focus on Imaging show at the NEC in Birmingham. It does look (a little) better in black, but it does look very odd. Leaving aside price and technology, perhaps it might just work if Hassy have found a radical new shape that handles better than existing designs? Just a thought.
Tonis
3 months ago |It’s sad to see that the Zess primes were disigned to mate with Lunar’s design – on corporate level and on paper it makes sense but the reality is a b!tch…
Sky_walker
3 months ago |These primes you see on a photo above were designed to match new Zeiss styling for SLR lenses. And these (supportingly) come from their Cine lenses design.
They wanted to “look as modern as the quality of optics is”.
IMHO: New design is a one HUGE miserable FAIL.
Reminds me of cheap 3rd party lenses made in ’90. Rather horrible reminiscence.
!vo
3 months ago |OMG, I’m sooo buying this! How can I preorder it?
Bob J
3 months ago |I doubt the camera will look exactly like this (it is ugly big-time as shown).
If Sony are releasing the update at the same time, I wonder if they are planning something a little more radical – maybe removing the AA filter? The new glass out from Zeiss might be able to exploit that rather nicely…
GreenLens
3 months ago |Regardless Lunar, this collaboration looks extremely interesting to me. Hasselblad can make things Sony can’t afford, e.g. medium format, modular design, a 4-bolt RED-like universal mount, square sensor, manual focusing and, of course, no video… Add Swedish funktionell design and you have a winner!
They can start with two mounts, A and E, and a not-so-full-frame sensor like 30×30. If you have problems with corners — cut them off! Hopefully this would help to adopt M mount too, later.
E
3 months ago |C’mon, why do you all presume it will be based on NEX-7?
Of course it will be based on the 7n to be announced the same time.
And of course Hazzie cannot show a new bode with spec’s that match a camera Sony haven’t released yet.
And don’t let the design prototypes and public teaser scare you all to much, they arethere to gather feedback.
This one will find its buyers for sure.
/E
bobob
3 months ago |Well, it’s seems that it’s a fact : The Lunar will have the same specs as the current Sony NEX-7 but with a vulgar flashy design.
- A marketing trap for misinformed rich folks, an epic fail for Hasselblad brand.
midsummer
3 months ago |Hassy is not Hassy anymore. It is owned by an investment company since a year or two. It’s all bankers and they have no clue about cameras but try to pump up the turnover to quickly sell the company for more than they paid. That’s all. And since bankers run the company now, I truly understand all these shiny buttons with the H’s logo all over the place. That’s how they work, isn’t it. LOL!
ageha
3 months ago |You’re spot on.
Klaus The Vampire
3 months ago |This is a bit of a joke not a serious product at all.
Tim
3 months ago |They only need to sell 100 of them
Claire
3 months ago |Which is fortunate because it’s probably about as many as they’ll sell, lol.
ageha
3 months ago |They need to sell a lot more, the camera isn’t expensive enough.
CK Dexter Haven
3 months ago |The person responsible for this ought to be sacked. Valuable development resources have been diverted toward this piece of ridiculousness….
I can’t wait until i see one of these on the street, so i can point out and mock its owner. It’ll be like Junior High all over again.
Seriously, Hasselblad? You’re going through with this? Call it off. Admit your mistake. Get back to work on stuff an actual photographer might use.
Catalin S.
3 months ago |I really hope Hasselblad Lunar will be based on the new NEX-7n and not on the old NEX-7. Otherwise they would further dis-consider their customers. They are already charging them an arm and a leg, at least give them the latest technology.
!vo
3 months ago |Are you talking about Hassi or Sony
Aren’t we all overcharged from Sony holding on latest technology?
Rooru S.
3 months ago |admin, what happened to the A-mount Hasselblad camera?
SonyCyberPunk
3 months ago |Maybe this is where the term “lunatic” originated?
byazrov.com
3 months ago |Still very funny
Leo Edwards
2 months ago |Lunar or Lunacy?
http://leoedwardsphotography.com/hasselblad-lunar-or-hasselblad-lunacy/