RECOMMENDED: Hasselblad 500 series / 2026 📷 🇸🇪

The company was established in 1841 in Gothenburg, Sweden, by Fritz Wiktor Hasselblad, as a trading company, F. W. Hasselblad and Co.  In 1877, Arvid Hasselblad commissioned the construction of Hasselblad's long-time headquarters building, in use until 2002. In 1962, NASA began to use Hasselblad cameras on space flights, and to request design modifications, also using Hasselblad cameras during the Apollo program. The first motor-driven camera, the 500 EL, appeared in 1965. In 1966, with the increasing success of the camera division, Hasselblad exited the photographic supply and retailing industry, selling Hasselblad Fotografiska AB to Kodak.

The Hasselblad 500 series, particularly the 500C introduced in 1957, is renowned for its medium-format cameras that utilize a modular design, allowing interchangeable lenses and film magazines. With multiple prototypes in the works in 1953, the final Hasselblad 500C was launched in 1957. Replacing the previous design of a focal plane shutter from the 1000F, the 500C utilized a leaf shutter design with its range of high-quality Carl Zeiss lenses.

INFO: hasselblad.com