Hasselblad

Hasselblad has always been the camera that people aspire too. For years some of the worlds most successful photographers have worked with Hasselblad.

The Beginning

Victor Hasselblad’s vision was to create the finest camera in order to offer the best possible tool to help photographers capture their images.

In 1841 the Hasselblad name began as a trading Company only later did they start supplying photography products which hugely increased trade when Victors son, Arvid met with George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Hasselblad agreed on a handshake to be the sole traders for Eastman in Sweden.

In 1906, Victor, great grandson to the founder was born. He took the family business a step further due to his determination to improve the standard of photographic equipment that was available at the time. It was his destiny to take over from the family business when he was old enough, until that time his father encouraged him to discover a deeper understanding of the world of photography. This lead to him working in France, Germany and the United States, working in various areas such as labs, factories and shops.

Victor went onto produce exhibitions about his other passion, birds and began to make a name for himself as a photographer. After returning home Victor split away from the family business and set up a company of his own.

Following the war the Swedish government approached Victor with the challenge to recreate a camera that fell into their possession from a German plane.  As a result the HK 7, the first Hasselblad camera was made. In years to come Victor would gain owner ship of the Hasselblad company after his father died, this spurred him onto creating photography equipment for the consumer market as well as for the military.

It was not until 1958 that the first consumer Hasselblad was introduced, the 1500F. However it was the second camera to be produced that really put Hasselblad in the spotlight. The 1000F had great reviews for both its aesthetic and technical abilities. From then on Hasselblad began to be at the forefront of photographic engineering. Which is why Hasselblad is the preferred choice of many professional photographers today.