(UPDATED) Hasselblad announces new 5.000 Euro E-mount camera and partnership with Sony!

Hands-on picture by Engadget. More pics at SystemKameraForum.
Wow, if you ever had the question how to make an APS-C sensor camera as expensive as possible than Hasselblad finally gave you the answer. They just announced a 24 Megapixel APS-C sensor mirrorless camera with Sony E-mount! The camera uses the same Sony NEX-7 sensor and costs…5.000 Euro! It will be available in black, silver or titanium colors and four types of wood grip (beech, olive, pear or mahogany). I can already see the long store lines of people to buy this….Saudi Arabians, Rich Golf Players, Hedge Fonds managers, Mitt Romney…
The good news is:
1) We finally have a second camera maker on board of the E-Mount system (Although the first camera is nothing else than a NEX-7 with a lot of expensive materials around it). Hasselblad said that there will be: “new products for DSLR and compact camera segments”
2) That’s the most intriguing point. Hasselblad leads the medium format market. And this could be a key partnership to develop FF or MF DSLR or Mirrorless cameras. Imagine a Hasselblad XPAN (here on eBay) alike mirrorless camera! That yes would make me grab a credit card…until I realize that I will never have the money to buy this.
—
And here is the official partnership press release (Source: Sony Press Center):
Hasselblad and Sony usher in a ‘new dawn’ with a long-term partnership that will enable the high-end medium format camera manufacturer to diversify for the first time into new market segments.
The Swedish company Hasselblad, pioneer and developer of the H System, the world’s most advanced medium format digital camera system – used by top professional photographers all over the world – has decided to work with Sony Corporation to cultivate new markets for photo enthusiasts and consumer digital imaging products. Hasselblad is keen to expand and develop its product portfolio to include a new range of advanced mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (a.k.a. compact system camera), which will be followed by new products for DSLR and compact camera segments.
Hasselblad and Sony have agreed further on plans for the two organisations to work together in efforts to achieve technical and engineering breakthroughs in various photographic technology challenges.
Said Dr. Larry Hansen, Hasselblad Chairman and CEO: “Following talks with Sony – the key player in the serious photographer and enthusiast market spaces – we are delighted to announce the emergence of a new dawn for Hasselblad. This partnership will enable us to access an area of the photographic sector, which we have never reached out to before, by tapping on Sony’s excellent state of the art technology and spirit of ground breaking innovation. Owning a Hasselblad, made in Sweden, will no longer be just a dream for many photographic enthusiasts.”
Shigeki Ishizuka, President, Sony Digital Imaging Business Group, added: “This is a very exciting partnership because Hasselblad’s loyal customers with deep attachment to this prestigious photography brand get familiarised with Sony’s industry-leading camera technologies. We believe that we can further enhance our digital imaging development and manufacturing expertise through this partnership, so that we will be able to offer increasingly attractive products to our customers for years to come.”
More pics: Courtesy of SystemKameraForum.







NIkola
9 months ago |Unexpected!
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Unexpected? I’d say: SHOCKING.
A great, positive surprise for NEX users.
Everyone thought that Sony will be the only one making bodies for E-mount, and yet… here it is! Hassel! Seems like they made E-mount an alternative equivalent to m4/3, a second system open for manufacturers. AMAZING!
documensony
9 months ago |Correction to SAR:
Hasselblad is no longer a camera manufacturer, they have no manufacturing capacity anmymore. It’s a brand management company.
All excisting Hasselblad cameras and lenses are rebranded Fujifilm cameras and lenses. Fuji is the manufacturer and sells this gear within Japan, whereas Hasselblad sell them outside of Japan.
This new camera is obviously made by Sony and looks unmistakably like a revamped and rebranded Sony Nex 7 camera.
Personally I do not see this thing flying.
Richard Harris (@RHarrisPhoto)
9 months ago |Hasselblad offered a glimmer of home in the mirrorless market. What a let down!
Patrick
9 months ago |first!
waldomarek
9 months ago |to fail, congrats.
Frank
9 months ago |Love it. What a cock!
Shot by scott
9 months ago |lol
waldomarek
9 months ago |holy crap, looks mad stylish but i wonder who has too much bucks to buy this thing…
i assume the specs are not the same as the nex-7 right?
waldomarek
9 months ago |so apparently the specs are the same…… gee.
Noah
9 months ago |Never mind the body, if they start producing E-mount lenses then great!
spaceman
9 months ago |I agree.
Sahaja
9 months ago |Hasselblad never produced lenses.
Poki
9 months ago |That’s… I don’t know what to say..
Is really somebody considering this? Either way, nice to know they’re also interested in the E-Mount.
spaceman
9 months ago |Hahaha, this is just like a Mercedes to Maybach upgrade, based on the NEX-7. Is this the firmware upgrade from Sony!?
Suddenly I want to keep my NEX-7
icie
9 months ago |Looks like a hybrid alpha and e-mount camera. More deets: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2206278/photokina-2012-hasselblad-to-launch-mirrorless-compact-camera
Patrick
9 months ago |It’s a NEX 7 with leather seats, titanium shell and what not… (missing diamonds)
Hasselblad did the same thing in the past with the HxD cameras. Outside of Japan, they were Hasseblad H. Inside Japan, they were Fuji GX645AF
https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=gXy&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=fuji%20gx645af&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&biw=1760&bih=1005&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=dm5YUPbiAqi30QW5_YGgBw
Same camera, different tag. Fuji was not allowed to sell these abroad because the Fuji brand meant they could cost less (and if I don’t badly remember, they were around 30% less) so it would hurt Hassy’s sales.
The difference now is that Hasselblad has redressed a NEX 7 and is charging 4.2 times accordingly.
But we all know whats going on here….
hexx
9 months ago |and hasselblad X-Pan was pretty much re-branded Fuji too
Patrick
9 months ago |True that!
spaceman
9 months ago |I am excited to know if Hasselblad have made some e-mount lenses now!
räven
9 months ago |Seriously? This is ridiculous… Fun and all… byt c’mon…
spaceman
9 months ago |It is a meh announcement, if Hasselblad has only come up with the body based on NEX. But if they have also lenses in store, then we are talking.
räven
9 months ago |Sorry my post wasn’t ment to be a reply to yours, I requested it for deletion.
John
9 months ago |Isn’t that just a NEX7 in a different “skin”? The control layout looks very similar.
Seems like a lot of money to pay for a wooden grip and a bit of aluminium.
Linh
9 months ago |Seems like it to me.
Douglas Grillo
9 months ago |I think is not wood but leather, still.. Is the must ugly digital camera i ever see, look like a coffin, but what i know i’m poor
Woodent
9 months ago |they didn’t even care to change anything but external design
Khuzul
9 months ago |Too much design over substance, I really hoped they would make it FF
hexx
9 months ago |LOL!!! but they’ve done something wrong, the tri navi system, look at the two knobs on the top, you can’t actually reach them
and REC button is probably even at worse place than on NEX7
Valdemar
9 months ago |Madness, although Hassy lenses in E mount sounds too good to be true. Hass e l blad BTW!
Martin
9 months ago |Yeah… no great shock to me. There was no way in hell Hassy were developing a hypothetical Digital Mamiya 7, so any announcement was always going to be a disappointment. The real surprise is that they didn’t collaborate with H-series partner Fuji on an X-mount camera.
Also, as Hasselblad don’t make lenses, I wouldn’t expect to see them add anything new or exciting to the wider system as a whole. This is a white elephant.
MacGyver
9 months ago |it’s a modified Nex-7…
have the same controls…
Luca Rossini
9 months ago |cool!
Eric
9 months ago |Looking at calendar … wait it’s not April first, is it?
who would spend 5000 euro to get a NEX7 with wooden handle?
Andreas Kyriacou
9 months ago |The kind of people who pay three times the price for a Panasonic if comes with a leather case and a Leica logo on it.
Patrick
9 months ago |+1 He’s got it!
emopunk
9 months ago |Ugggglllllllyyyyyyy!
Soum
9 months ago |Can I say “yuck”?
KZ
9 months ago |doesn’t give me a woody
Ray oody
9 months ago |wtf do people actually buy this??? i bet they r the same people who buy I am rich app from itunes for 999.99 $ which does nothing…
Khuzul
9 months ago |That’s what happens when an Italian gets product manager…design to stupefy over everything else. (I’m Italian…)
Kg
9 months ago |ugly !!!
zstan
9 months ago |Hasselblad lenses???
niiice
9 months ago |Nice camera for golf players
admin
9 months ago |Added the to the list of potential buyers
hexx
9 months ago |or as (i believe it was dgd) said on Huff’s formus regarding RX1 and called it compact camera for Donald Trump, this will be NEX7 for Donald
jchristopher
9 months ago |Are Hasselblad lenses good? I would assume if they made e-mount lenses that they would be premium priced but would they be premium lenses?
This may push Sony to do FF Nex sooner rather than later.
Martin
9 months ago |Hasselblad don’t make lenses. Historically they used Zeiss (who just announced a series of E-mount lenses yesterday, and already produce A-mount lenses) and more recently Fuji. They also don’t make sensors or flashes, so really they bring nothing to the table except camera body design. Anyone who buys this over the NEX-7 should talk to me first, as I have a few bridges in various cities around the world they might be interested in buying too.
spaceman
9 months ago |What do you mean, back in the days they did and today it seems they have got this range: http://www.hasselblad.se/products/lens-comparison.aspx
Patrick
9 months ago |These are Fujinon rebranded lenses, not Hasselblad.
Hassy lenses in the past also bore the Hasselblad logo but also had Carl Zeiss written on them.
See:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/simon_bates/4127938220/
dd
9 months ago |Hassy makes bodies, their lenses are made by Zeiss or Fuji… so no probably not getting any new lenses other than what Zeiss is doing already
Stewe
9 months ago |A lot of attention is concentrated on Sony. It makes me happy. I also found out that KMZ is going to restore production of their dslr lens…
TM
9 months ago |Andrea, form where did you get the info about the sensor being APS-C size? It doesn’t say on the BJP article.
Anyway, I still think that the Sony-Hasselblad alliance is good news for the emount.
admin
9 months ago |From the tweets of the live presentation!
TM
9 months ago |OK, thanks.
spaceman
9 months ago |I’m a little worried from looking at the sketches. Doesn’t the lens look a lot like the 18-55 kit lens. I mean nice lens, but I hope Hasselblad has made their own lens range (covering FF image circle
, then this could be very interesting.
Martin
9 months ago |I just noticed, that’s a mockup of an 18-55mm on the front.
Eric
9 months ago |I’d rather get a Swarovski version of F3
admin
9 months ago |LOL!
Geir E
9 months ago |Whatever this is, i just LOVE the idea of Hassleblad and Sony.
doraemonboi
9 months ago |Wooden DSLR. Seems legit.
Stewe
9 months ago |Zeiss, Schneider-Kreuznach and now Hasselblad…hmmm somebody is missing.
crazydoctor
9 months ago |lol this shit is ugly. I will never buy such an ugly thing even if it was 300$
spaceman
9 months ago |I wouldn’t call it ugly, avantgarde maybe
In reality it would probably look very expensive because of the materials used.
Carl
9 months ago |Too bad if anyone was hoping for a medium format mirrorless.
Fred
9 months ago |It will look great sitting on top of my pink marble desk nearby the polar bear blanket in my Armani designed office.
Too bad they didn’t make a gold plated version with assorted lenses i would have bought 2 of them.
hexx
9 months ago |I mean seriously???
“We want to go back to our customers. Fifteen years ago, 65% of our customers were not professionals photographers. Today almost 100% are professionals. My goal is to make Hasselblad cameras accessible to all serious customers.”
From: http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/news/2206278/photokina-2012-hasselblad-to-launch-mirrorless-compact-camera
by what, releasing NEX7 for 5000 euro?
Patrick
9 months ago |HAHAHHA
spaceman
9 months ago |If they don’t make Hasselblad E-mount lenses, then yes, they are taking the mik. If they do however, and the lenses will cover FF, then Leica should get worried.
hexx
9 months ago |hasselblad doesn’t make lenses, they don’t make cameras, they’re just a design house it seems
spaceman
9 months ago |What do you mean by the don’t do lenses??? You can find Hasselblad branded lenses since a century back, here is the current line: http://www.hasselblad.se/products/lens-comparison.aspx
hexx
9 months ago |but what lenses do they make these days? nothing one big square root of nothing. And Patrick replied to you already, those are Fuji re-branded ones. Hassy doesn’t make much these days, just milking their brand name.
hexx
9 months ago |it gets better and better, are they taking a piss??
“This new model is the result of meticulous engineering research, culminating in the creation of an unprecedented camera which underpins the Hasselblad mission to pioneer and produce supreme quality across all our products.”
Gabriel
9 months ago |I don’t know what they smoke or drink, but i want the same
hexx
9 months ago |yep, must be really cool team to work for, getting stoned day by day
Sahaja
9 months ago |To come up with a design like this, I think they were probably drinking bad moonshine.
Sahaja
9 months ago |@spaceman
Yes, they were “branded” lenses. They had a Hasselblad name on them but were designed a made by someone else (Zeiss, Fuji) – at one time I think even Kodak made some lenses for early Hasselblad cameras.
Gabriel
9 months ago |“serious customers” means pockets full of $$$ Any pro around to consider buying that pimped Nex 7 (too bad, they don’t put a 3000watts subwoofer in it)
Jim Peterson
9 months ago |Based on the Hassy announcement I’m pretty sure an RX1 luxury model will be forthcoming. They clearly said they want to offer cameras in each segment of the market. It’s good to know that Leica will have some competition!
Sahaja
9 months ago |If they had released the RX1 with a “Hasselblad” name on it instead of “Sony” and otherwise kept the design and price as it is – everybody would have thought it great.
Instead they come up with this fugly abortion…
unWesen
9 months ago |Disappointed. Still no camera for the left-handed …
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Hassleblad photo-masters are all right-handed!
Pascal645
9 months ago |Glueing leather and walnut on a NEX doesn’t give Leica competition. It probably gives them a good ol’ laugh, though
jDoe
9 months ago |Hasselblad lenses are made by Zeiss. Zeiss is currently making A/E-mount lenses so I suppose nothing will change as far as lenses are concerned.
I believe this partnership will result in Hasselblad entering the DSLR/mirrorless market with some $5000+ cameras, and that’s it. Sony will profit from making the sensors and the EVF and from adding the name Hasselblad to its list of partners.
I don’t see how Hasselblad can help Sony except by putting its big name next to the system. Sony already has about everything to make the system great, great lenses (Zeiss), great sensors and bodies.
It’s more like Sony helping Hasselblad here.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |They both help each other. Hassel luring pro photographers to Sony, and Sony providing sensors, expertise and system for Hassel’s entry into mirrorless market. IMHO: that’s the win-win for everyone.
Varn
9 months ago |Can’t help laughing when I read the news. By the way it is very good news with Hasselblad & Zeiss joining the E-mount, the drought in E-mount lenses soon will be over with many high-end glasses to choose from.
Andrei A
9 months ago |When RX1 is out who in this bloody world would buy a NEX 7 dressed in leather and wood with a Hasselblad tag?!
This is ridiculous! I expected a digital XPAN or some other digital rangefinder or new concept mirrorless system.
What’s even more ridiculous: it costs almost as much as a Leica M9!
Rick
9 months ago |Awesome, now maybe people will stop whining about how much the A99 and RX1 costs as they’re absolute bargain’s compared to this goofy camera.
WTF
9 months ago |What sort of daft idiot would buy this?!
It’s a repackaged NEX 7… for 5x the money. Plus it’s bulkier and much, much uglier.
The old saying, “more money than brains,” comes to mind.
Joe
9 months ago |Laugh at loud @ Mitt Romney (or R-MONEY if you’re dyslexic).
Javier
9 months ago |Well, it reminds me of the lamborghini TL700 android 2.3 phone selling at 2000€; is for rich customers, not for photographers (rich photographers into luxury overpriced stuff may like it too)
Sky_walker
9 months ago |From press release:
“”Hasselblad is keen to expand and develop its product portfolio to include a new range of advanced mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (a.k.a. compact system camera), which will be followed by new products for DSLR”"
- Guys, do I read it right?! HASSEL plans to release A-mount DSLR?! O_O
OH MY GOD….
this would be shocking… (especially in price, lol) seems like the final hope for A-mount camera with optical viewfinder??? *holds thumbs*
Or…. they plan to release A-mount lenses and studio accessories? There seems to be something going with the “DSLR” which mixed with “Sony” clearly implies A-mount.
hexx
9 months ago |nope, it will be alpha99 with wooden grip, latex dildo and carbonfibre shutter release button
Carl
9 months ago |It certainly seems like they plan to put a finger in as many pies as they can. Whether the SLR would be an A mount is to be seen.
But given that their E mount camera is basically identical inside to the NEX-7, I can’t see them reengineering a hypothetical A mount camera to have an OVF. The SLT cameras are built around their design, so it’s not as simple as sticking a pentaprism on top and calling it a day.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Yea, you basically need to redesign entire skeleton of the camera – yet I see it possible for them to use A900 as a base, put modern Sony components inside and sell it as their own new camera. I’m sure that something like this would be met with very warm welcome among A-mount shooters with lots of spare cash.
Another option would be for them to build an mirrorless A-mount camera for studio shooting – based on A99, with large EVF, huge screen (5″+ ?) in the camera back, CDAF assisted by on-sensor PDAF, Hassel brand – I guess that would sell as well.
Carl
9 months ago |I wonder if it’s really going to ship with an iISO hotshoe like in the mockups? Would be an act of extreme laziness on ‘Blad’s part, considering Sony has already dumped it.
Rick
9 months ago |But its still on the Nex7, which appears to serve as the organ donor for this frankenstein.
hexx
9 months ago |I like the report from LumLan, link: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/photokina_2012.shtml#has
and this bit here is priceless:
“Take a Sony NEX body and add a reticulated ostrich testical leather covering, and a Genuine Imitation Carpathian Burled Elm grip. Oh yes, and with a gold shutter release button.”
eths
9 months ago |OMG!
Carl
9 months ago |Perhaps Hassleblad will create some good lenses which Nex7 would greatly profit! The problem is that it will cost $$$$$… It looks like only sony fanboys will buy it…
windrincar
9 months ago |An expensive version of NEX-7, yet the firmware remains the same… lame…
I need a new firmware that fixes all the flaws on my “normal” NEX-7
George Evans
9 months ago |Hasselblad want to bring their camera to the masses …. at 5,000 Euros a throw. They’re having a laugh.
richsony
9 months ago |April 1st already!!! Time flies;)
redfern
9 months ago |Bahahaha! I go to sleep, I wake up, and Hasselblad has gone insane.
Please tell me that’s the old hotshoe, too. Let’s make this the perfect bit of ridiculousness in the morning.
eths
9 months ago |They put the video button in the wrong place, just like Sony did…
Steve
9 months ago |This is a joke right?
I don’t know…………up till now I always had the greatest respect for Hasselblad.
When a company believes it needs to pander to the lowest common denominator and debase itself to get attention I, can only see it as a sad day in the history of a once great camera maker.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |So… NEX 7 is the “lowest common denominator”? o_O ugh…. seriously?
Steve
9 months ago |No Sky, you said that……….trying to pick fights again?
I was trying to say that bling, and what I see as tasteless decorations are about marketing to the masses, like a gold plated Lexus.
My post had nothing to do with the NEX-7
zenza
9 months ago |Nexs are great cameras, but this??? a renamed nex with aprice tag of 542402304 euros?? no innovation here, only a nex with H name on top Shame on hasselblad to copy product in order to take some bread. They were able to take a 24 ff sony sensor and they didnt…
Jugem
9 months ago |It’s great news! We need more brands (and manufacturers) making stuff for e-mount. – this would mean more lenses for the platform (unfortunately i use a-mount lenses with my nex-5 – because i was thinking to move to a-mount body sometime later when they’ll make a nice mirror-less ff body).
hexx
9 months ago |yep, that would be nice, but hassy doesn’t make anything for e-mount, this is nex-7 with rotting kit at your pleasure
Jugem
9 months ago |Well, yeah, but at least we would get the old 16mm e-mount pancake made of platinum with sapphire lenses )))
emopunk
9 months ago |This camera looks like a toilet accessory. Something which sits well in the toilet of a yacht.
Kingrenas
9 months ago |Engadget is showing the camera. Looks and does exactly the same as NEX-7.
Maybe this the Hybrid version of Sony they were talking about few months ago.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/18/hasselblad-lunar-mirrorless-camera-hands-on/
Shot by scott
9 months ago |Steve
9 months ago |What happen to the post that was after this one about the Sony /Hasselblad Partnership?
It has about ten posts on it and it just disappeared after someone joked about the Russian dictator/president.
Did you update it away?
admin
9 months ago |Sorry, I merged the two posts in one. It was too much cluttered to have two long Haselblad posts. I am trying to move comments from one post to another one.
gamagama
9 months ago |Sony status uplifted!~ (in rocket speed)
hanugro
9 months ago |Any chance of a-mount FF classic dslr (with mirror and penta prism) re.appear under Hasselblad name?
Carl G
9 months ago |Excellent partnership, gross looking camera. Sorry. No matter how much you stick around a NEX7, its still a NEX7. It’s like dipping a Lexus in gold and selling it for Bentley prices.
NEX7 is so much prettier than that camera.
Hassy! Shame on you!
Carl
hexx
9 months ago |you mean toyota?
Carl G
9 months ago |Or Scion, which is probably more representative of what NEX is to Sony afterall
Varn
9 months ago |Just read the report at POPhoto, the kit lens 18-55mm will be Hasselblad glass, not the same as Sony kit lens, and there’ll be two more lenses coming. So there will be 3 more new E-mount lenses by Hasselblad, hope the prices will be reasonable.
waldomarek
9 months ago |that’s some cool news… better glass for some of the standard lenses! 18-55mm and 16mm, which 3rd lens did you mean?
Varn
9 months ago |The first one is 18-55mm, the other two didn’t mention the specs.
pancanikonpus
9 months ago |1st we see expensive digital camera RX1 $2799 – people talk it is expensive because use FF sensor
Now we see expensive aps-c camera greater than $5000 – so what is so special about this camera? let me guess…
-build quality last for lifetime, lifetime warranty?
-as tough as diamond?
-body is universal sealed, can use in other planets?
-can shoot thru to produce nake photo?
-can record video no time limit, never hang?
-camera that able to communicate with creatures in some shoot?
I am wonder how Sony position (if) Nex FF in the new lineup and wonder who will bought $5000 of recon-Hex7 initially known as Nex7.