Skip to main content

Anticipation high as photography industry awaits Hasselblad’s ‘World First’ reveal

hasselblad teases mystery camera announcement teaser
Update on June 22, 2016: Hasselblad has officially unveiled the X1D. Click here to read our full story.

Update on June 21, 2016: PetaPixel just published leaked photos of the new medium-format mirrorless camera, called the X1D. We will publish official details when Hasselblad announces the product tomorrow.

Famed Swedish medium-format camera maker Hasselblad has been teasing a major announcement for this upcoming Wednesday, and it has sent the photography industry into a frenzy over the possibilities. The first sign of the impending announcement came via the official Hasselblad Facebook page on June 17 where the company  posted a heavily cropped image of the product, which most assume to be a camera, featuring a gold/platinum metal finish, an untraditional mirror box hump, and what sort of looks like an eye sensor next to what could only be an EVF (if the other bit was, in fact, an eye sensor).

Hasselblad dropped that teaser just ahead of the weekend, a holiday weekend at that, and like a lit cigarette to dry grass, the rumor mill fueled a wildfire of speculation over what this new product could be. Thanks to Hasselblad’s social hash-tagging, beyond what we visually see in the image we do know one thing, this is a medium-format device of some kind — who are we kidding, there is no way this isn’t a camera!  Which leads us to the prevailing rumor surrounding this out of the blue release from Hasselblad.

We won’t get too far into the rumors given that they are just that, but we will note that the rumor that has seemed to get the most traction suggests that this mystery camera from Hasselblad could be none other than a mirrorless medium-format-system camera — the first of its kind in the world, just as the Hasselblad Facebook post hinted at. The rumor gets more detailed than that, too; it’s said that the camera will feature a built-in EVF and a Sony built 50megapixel-sensor.

Hasselblad posted another teaser earlier this morning which seems to feature some sort of knob or dial on the top of the product. This would seem to corroborate the common thought that this is a camera. There were no more features that would have pointed toward it being a mirrorless offering, except maybe the size of the product in the frame, and we don’t have anything to judge its scale, so it’s hard to be sure.

Hasselblad Livestream Event June 22nd 14:00 (CET)

The announcement is set for 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday. If you are interested in seeing if this does turn out to be the world’s first medium-format mirrorless system you will be able to watch the full live feed over on Hasselblad’s YouTube.

Safe to say that Hasselblad has the photography industry’s attention, anticipation for the announcement is high as mirrorless fans and DSLR holdouts alike gather to witness Hasselblad’s product reveal.

But, seriously — what else do you have to do on a Wednesday morning?

Editors' Recommendations

Anthony Thurston
Anthony is an internationally published photographer based in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Specializing primarily in…
TP-Link reveals the world’s first WiGig router at CES 2016
TP-Link Talon AD2700

TP-Link, the Chinese computer networking giant, has officially showcased the world's first WiGig router at CES 2016 in Las Vegas. The Talon AD2700 is a cutting-edge piece of kit with an unusual design and some functionality that tests the limits of what we expect from the humble router.

WiGig is the terminology that's being used to refer to the 802.11ad protocol, a new wireless communication technology that's poised to offer much higher transfer speeds with the compromise of restricted range. However, the Talon also offers support for more widely used protocols, according to a report for Ars Technica.

Read more
Enlaps is the world’s first unlimited time-lapse photography solution
enlaps worlds first unlimited time lapse photography solution timelaps camera kickstarter featured

Time-lapse photography has generally been reserved for the professionals and the extremely patient, but now, the barrier to entry may have been lowered. It's all thanks to Enlaps, the world's first unlimited time-lapse photography solution. Weatherproof and self-contained, this purpose-built time-lapse camera claims to provide "a unique, complete and intuitive solution to create quality time lapses from pictures shooting to Web sharing." And if it raises about $80,000 more (double what it's already managed) in the next 29 days, it just may make it to market.

Nominated for the CES Innovation Award for Digital Imaging, Enlaps' claim to fame is its ability to render high-quality time-lapse scenarios. The actual camera, called the Tikee, "allows the user to capture slow changes and movements that are usually invisible to the naked eye for creative applications by both professionals and the general consumer." And because the Enlaps Tikee is cloud-connected and features an automated Web platform, it can merge images, thereby "creating fly-on-the-wall, time-lapse videos that can be shared online."

Read more
Drone maker DJI buys a stake in high-end camera maker Hasselblad
drone maker dji buys a stake in high end camera hasselblad inspire pro flight

The world's leading consumer drone manufacturer has just acquired a minority stake in Hassleblad, a firm best known for its medium-format cameras and, more recently, several insanely expensive repackaged Sony shooters.

DJI, maker of the popular Phantom line of remotely controlled copters, announced the partnership on Thursday, with CEO Frank Wang describing it as an opportunity to combine the companies' strengths "to further push the borders of what's possible in imaging technology."

Read more