Lunar camera with the new Distagon E-mount Zeiss! (Image courtesy: Alexander Radojski)
BJP reportsthat Hasselblad got “heavily denigrated” after the Lunar camera launch. And now Hasselblad is trying to explain why the price for the camera is correct. Business development manager, Luca Alessandrini said: “We are doing is buying different components from the best suppliers, and applying our knowledge and expertise to create a different camera. This is not a NEX 7 camera, just because we are buying components from Sony. The hardware is just a small part of the whole. It’s not because we’re using a Sony sensor that it makes the Lunar a Sony camera“.
The camera body is made of aluminium and Luca Alessandrini said that it takes five hours to machine the body. That alone costs $300.Luca also said that they are ready to launch more camera that may be more different from current Sony cameras: “if Sony were to release a NEX 9, Hasselblad would not automatically use the camera’s technology to unveil its own version”
Some Hasselblad video by Branding Value, FotoTVplus, Centrum Papieru (polish).
114 Responses
Pure unadulterated marketing CRAP. I can grab TWO RX1 for the single price of that APS-C.
Plus a NEX-6!
5,000.00 EUR = 6,524.00 USD
Fircond!
If Hasselblad wanted to create a $6000 rangefinder camera with sony NEX components to compete with Leica. The consumer expects the latest compoenents. (NEX-6 sensor with PDAF and trinavi). What Hasselblad is doing is Vertu’s re-branding of Nokia’s old phones.
What a load of crap. Seriously. Why then does it have the same exact layout for every single damn button? Five hours to machine the camera body? Is this machine powered by hamsters?
I’m completely convinced message boards are almost exclusively dominated by people whose lives really suck.
Nice to meet you here mate!
Constructive critics will always start first with what is good about something before tackling the negatives. Everyone else is just a poser or Ken Rockwell wanna-be (and ain’t that a pathetic goal to have in life).
I don’t come to these boards very often at all, wise ass, because at least 90% of the comments are cynical, bilious tripe proffered by rookies and amateurs who are clearly unhappy with something other than what Sony, Hasselblad, or anyone else is doing. Personally, I suspect they suck at photography because if they didn’t they would be out taking pictures or spending time on a computer doing their post work instead of hanging out here, hating ad infinitum, and deluding themselves into believing they’re the second coming of Alhazan; and should either start tinkering with imaging tech for real, improving their IC abilities, and/or seek counseling (I think the latter might be a higher priority).
It’s a shame. I’d like to have genuinely productive conversations on boards like these with real photographers but the few times I’ve tried I generally had to deal with the hate brigade or smarmy wisenheimers like yourself.
Seriously, you guys need to reassess your priorities – or just learn how to be constructive in your critiques. NONE of you are Derrida. Just reconcile the fact. You’ll be happier. Hell, you might even start taking better pictures.
Image-in that.
eerrrm, what are you if you criticize the critics? “suck at photography”, hypocrite any? proof any?
well theres no need for everyone to kiss ass. if it sucks then you will be sure to get an earful.
dont suck.
“I don’t come to these boards very often at all…”
Sure you do. Just not with the username JB.
Wow, that was quite the pompous rant coming from someone who doesn’t mingle with mere peons on message boards.
There is nothing good in the Lunar compared to the NEX-7, to start with.
erm…. looks like flies have came.
So let me be the first one: well said JB.
Well said JB.
Si
well said B.J. bl jb
From me as well: well said JB.
It’s just sad, that there is the only one “communication”-way for many volks here and there – to nag etherybody and everything constantly. And if you are saying something different from being critical – than you are just kissing asses (according to such ingenious valuation by “C” – thank you dude)
“The camera body is made of aluminium and Luca Alessandrini said that it takes five hours to machine the body.”
That’s a a mis-translation. What he really said was “It took us 5 hours to convert the CNC readings from Chinese to Sweedih, and set up the machine.
They’re now popping one out every 30 minutes, and will be done with their first 2 year’s production quota by late afternoon on Friday.
Dusty
Nex7 —–> Hassy recon —–> Hex7 😀
“The hardware is just a small part of the whole”
I’m interested in the $5000 worth of firmware in that case.
Don’t forget about the grip. It’s made of wood after all.
“The hardware is just a small part of the whole”
The hardware (sensor, processor..) is pretty much everything. What color the wood grip is should be secondary.
what if the wood is encrusted with diamonds?
in that case I would buy ten pieces
Great now we will have a Faberge edition SonyBlad NEX7 for $50,000.
😉
Well, you also have the software and whatever features/changes they have made to processing etc.
OMG, that’s ugly like bitch!
I like how it’s the “business development manager” who responds.
Great, the Lunar has even got the old NEX-7’s flash hot shoe that’s gone with the NEX-6.
“This is not a NEX 7 camera” <—- BS
The hardware may just a small part of the whole, but they use the same software and firmware, too…
Also; “I’ve been longing to talk to a younger audience of potential professionals, and I really believe the Sony name is familiar to this audience. Sony is in the gaming industry, the music industry – things that relate to a young generation.” Sounds like the words of a guy with a Zimmer frame trying embarrassingly to be down wit da kidz. I think the response they’re going to get is along the lines of “Epic Fail”.
Loon-ar
That was the lamest damage control I’ve ever seen. They’re using far more than a Sony sensor. This is from Hasselblad’s own press release…
“DSLR-like performance thanks to the highest technology APS-C 24.3 MP sensor with 25AF points… Ultra-bright 3” high definition display and revolutionary OLED viewfinder… One-touch instant full HD video recording to shoot in Auto or fully manual mode… connection for an external microphone and the option to use larger A-mount lenses for professional video creation… Instant shutter response (0.02 second release time lag) ten frames per second and an extremely Wide ISO 100 – 16000 range… The camera software includes an exceptionally comprehensive set of creative styles, picture effects, scene selections and the smart ‘intelligent face registration’ making the shooting experience even more fun… Auto HD, DRO and Anti-motion blur mode… An Innovative TriNavi system for DSLR-like tuning, two flash options and Anti dust system complete the Lunar state-of-the-art package.”
Any of that sound familiar?
Added Dr. Hansen: “This new model is the result of meticulous engineering research…”
Yes, and that research was conducted by Sony. All Hasselblad did was take the result of that research, and put a pimp suit over it. Hasselblad’s own statement says as much. The only response to the criticism they received was that it takes them five hours to machine the body, and it costs them $300. No mention is made of any contribution from Hasselblad to the guts of the camera. There’s not even a mention of how they may have tweaked the electronics, because I’m guessing they haven’t to any large degree. If they had, they would have used this information in their defense.
Even Photography Blog called it an NEX-7 – “… it has the internals, control system and lens mount of the Sony NEX-7 in a newly designed body.”
It’s an NEX-7 for people with more money than brains.
This is totally unfair. Leica does the same exact thing but it’s OK. Poor people suck, always bitching about money.
Nyahaha but poor people constitutes the majority 😀
In fact, everybody loves reach people who do not have a clue about how to spend their money. Well, at least jewel sellers love them (and Hassy loves them too, it seems…)
Who said it was OK when Leica does it? At least they only do it with their entry-level products though. This is the same price range as the M.
Lemme guess, you just pre-ordered one, didn’t you? Rich people always have more money than brains.
Joe – for hassel this IS an entry-level product.
And believe me – from reading the comments under leica products quite regularly I see by far more positive response out there. Seems like people understand that rebranded leica is a specific product not for them, but they completly don’t get it with hasselblad.
How are you going to understand the Hasselblad rebranding!!! If it’s the same skeleton of the nex-7 with a fucking ugly facade!!!
You think we are all idiots, no?
You work for them?
Not going to say I’ll buy it, but for all the complaints about looks, I bet the camera’s looks are going to be justified by having some great ergonomics.
Never understood the obsession with looks when it’s performance we’re here to see. Plus, with all that aluminum it’ll probably keep video on for awhile–not like it’ll matter much since it looks built for luxury over utility but just saying.
Leica DOESN’T do it on M serie. they do it on compact cameras sub 1000 and with original leica lens which is half the price.
And they are criticized for doing that.
If Leica would do the M serie with a Panasonic camera with just Leica housing they would recive the same load of laugh that Hassy is receiving now.
Having the exact same photographic quality of a 1000$ camera in a body costing 4000$ is quite ridicuolus.
You have exclusive market with rich buyers? Ok, that’s good for you, but please don’t try to make enthusiastic photographers belive that your camera has something more than the Nex-7.
UGLY!!!!!!!!!!
does it take better pictures? lol
Yes, if you’re shooting girls, because $5k camera makes girls to drop their clothes automatically.
It can’t be a re-branded NEX-7… Its a different color…
(BTW, orange rubber is VERY expensive to harvest – comes from deep in the Ukrainian forests).
I like how they even placed the video button in the same place.
They must have contracted out the design work to Sony also.
I wonder how badly this will affect the Hassy brand. Such an enormous misstep makes one wonder if they know what they’re doing? This is ugliest camera ever made. Ever.
I think all of the criticism is stupid. Let’s give them some time and see how things work out over the long hall. This is the starting point. There may be some great technology that Sony will be getting from Hasselblad in the future. It should be interesting to see how the aluminum body holds up under rough usage for example. I am willing to wait to see how this plays out. I would be willing to bet that Nikon and Canon aren’t as dismissive as some of the “experts” here who are always so quick to show there stupidity.
“their” stupidity.
Without criticism they won’t realize how badly they screwed up. At least this way they know it from the start and may even end up taking a different (better) course. So far though they seem to be in denial over it. Perhaps with enough criticism they will have to face the facts.
A digital XPan with a wider than APC-C sensor or a mirrorless MF camera would have been far, far, far more appealing in this price range.
Again, they smoke an A mount zized joint (and went to the moon!!) LOL
ugliest camera with a bunch of expensive material on it…Probably for soccer players or fashion models
Been following this site for a while, but have never posted.
I felt the need to today just to alert everyone of hassleblad’s competition:
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/product-announcement-lensrentals-looney
LOOK OUT!
BTW, thank you, Admin for all of the incredible work you do and your infinite patience for an insatiable group of followers.
SO they think still selling with this blah blah…
I’m not going to continue to hate on this camera — even though it deserves it — but I do wonder if Hasselblad is feeling some misgivings about their partnership with Sony at this point. I think it’s clear that the general public and press find the products of this partnership laughable at best. And they have to wonder what they’ve just done to their reputation.
I mean, how many people talk down about Hasselblad? It’s usually a brand that’s spoken of with reverence, even if it’s not spoken about very often anymore. Well, this certainly got people talking about Hassy again, but despite how the saying goes, not all press is good press.
Sadly, all they had to do to help mitigate this was at least give the semblance they were trying to make a different camera, not just a body kit on a NEX-7. It doesn’t even matter if the internals are the same, but styling it like a pimped NEX was bound to raise some red flags. If the control layout was different and they made statements to the effect of its weather-sealing and expanded shutter life expectancy, then they could actually back up their “durability” claims.
As it stands, though, if you are going to take hours to machine new bodies for the electronics, why not even attempt to make them different in layout than the camera they’re obviously based on?
And yes, maybe they do have more adventurous cameras planned down the road, but that’s assuming they make it that far. This isn’t a very ambitious start (except in ridiculously optimistic pricing).
it has the same stupid limited bracketing range as the nex-7. couldn’t they even fix that?
I guess just like Audiophiles who will pay $500 for exotic wood knobs for their all-tube amplifiers, to improve the overall “tonal and spatial characteristics of their hifi set”, there are people who will pay $2000 more for a butt-ugly NEX-7 clone that takes the same lens mounts, same hotshoe, has the same sensor, same button layout, and is 98% the same in all firmware and electronic internals.
W
The sketch design for the camera looks way more interesting that the prototype – I say “prototype” because it looks like a step towards the actual camera rather than the final product. If it is the final product, then they need to stop production right now and go back to the drawing board – both, to do new industrial design and to redefine what the product actually is (i.e., why is is worth a premium?). I don’t see the value in what we’ve seen so far – I mean, why wouldn’t I just buy a Sony and invest in lenses? My best guess is that they showed this off too soon before it was cooked – a big “no no” in marketing.
PQ will not get better Even the body is made of Titanium , gold , or even diamond…… It’s meaningful for the rich….. but it’s meaningless for the person which mainly shooting pictures..
If the Lens are much better then the NEX’s , then it worth. But on the other hand, I’ll buy the lens only and adopt it to a NEX-7 then…..
In fact, says Alessandrini,
“But Hasselblad doesn’t rule out adding more of its DNA into the camera’s internal components. “We believe the sensor we are using, made by Sony, is exactly what we want. This sensor is magnificent. For now, we don’t see any reason to modify this [apsc] sensor.”
…because sensors do not make the camera! Extravagent Bling Bling does?
I still think $5000 is way too much, nowadays, $3000 or more should get you a fullframe no matter what brand, lets see how this camera sale will be.
While the comments from hassy are funny…and the camera is ugly…it’s ugly in a kind of way that you want to look at it. In other words, it’s so ugly that it’s kind of cool in a way that may sell to the ultra rich.
But the main point is this: Sony gets their brand identity elevated by associating with Hassy…now Sony can say that their camera is good enough for Hassy, and that if you want the same as a Hassy, but at a lower price, you can by the Sony. This is a serious win for Sony.
Hasselblad apparently only caters to the most gullible of consumers.
🙂 +5000!
most of you guys above are really stupid, This is the reason Sony cant compete with the big guys. Its Hasselblad!!!!!!!!!!!!! not nikon, or Canon!!! its Hasselblad!!!! Sony knows Technology, but doesn’t know photography and Hasselblad knows photography.
Wait, that’s as close to an official admission of “NEX-9” as we have had?
Ugg boots are ugly and look how many stars buy them?
“…This is not a NEX 7 camera…”
Right… So Hasselblad has revived the iISO hot shoe when Sony drops it… OMG iISO LIVES!
This camera will go down in infamy as the Hasselblad with iISO. See ya’ll… iISO MUST be better! No you gotta pay $5G to get it…hahahahaha it’s just TOO GOOOD!
If it’s good enough for Hassy, then it’s good enough for me.
POP has truly eaten itself.
^_^ ROTFL 😀
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/product-announcement-lensrentals-looney
Saw it after someone posted that on dpr hahaha This is the most commented news ever on Photokina right now in dpr.
693 comments as of now… really impressive to say at least.
But it’s hardly most commented one. Here’s roughly a top 3:
EOS-M preview got 1229 comments – arguably more infamous camera then Hasselblad Lunar.
Canon PowerShot G1 X announcement got 790 – most of them some pointless arguing (“it has ugly bokeh!” lol) or Canon boys pissing of joy.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III review got 705 – most of these were from Nikon trolls. Pathetic.
🙂
This whole thing reminds me of the Aston Martin Cygnet. With the exception that Aston Martin did not make a big deal out of it. “Yes it’s a Scion/Toyato IQ with a Pimp Suit for double the price. Further questions?”. What Hasselblad is doing is fine and there is a target group for that.
But these excuses are just a shame.
Whatever you say …
…. most of you are not the clientele Hasselblad is addressing. We have to wait and see what HB has in the pipeline for the future – and Sony as well. We do not know their strategy. Maybe is wrong, maybe it has a bright future.
Cudos to JB …. a brilliant statement which I undersign !!
It must be that lots of communicators in these blogs adhere to exactly the profile he depicted. Not only in this one …
Ranting may be a hobby for some, but sure is not a valid business statement.
ArnikFFM it was hard for me to take you serious based on your comments before but now you pretty make it impossible to take you serious with this post.
Meanwhile at Lensrentals.com: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/product-announcement-lensrentals-looney
NEX-9 is now confirmed?
Lunar, Naix, Templar, Riki, Zues 😀
I consider buying one of their real medium format cameras where they have excellent software solutions. But certainly not this NEX-7 clone.
They’ve been hit badly in the flesh. That’s why they’re now whining and trying to convince people with BS. Maybe they were too sure we’re all a bunch of morons. Good luck with their sales! I am sure they will sell at least a couple of this toilets!!
This give a very bad image of a Designer!!!! Crap design and carp model!!!!
This so bad decision of the company, in this times can definitely cause a bankruptcy…..
And I hope it does !!!!
Cause it’s so cool when people get fired out of their jobs.
Idiot.
A company that try to cheat on costumer of course it is better to be out of the game!!! And if bad workers contribute to that!!!!! leave your work and let honest people to do your work!!!!
I sure believe it and will be ordering one for every extended member of my yacht club
*waiting for first reviewer to buy it and be brave enough to take it apart
No need.
See the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdrU0mAo0QE
Skip to about 0:30 there, or see the pic:
http://jar.smugmug.com/photos/i-x9zWj9H/0/O/i-x9zWj9H.jpg
Given how the body looks in the hand I’d venture to say that there is an outer shell around an entire NEX-7. If you take the shell apart you’re left with a brand new black NEX-7.
That’s what it looks like :S
Poor Hassie …
I’ve been on PK yesterday, and visited the Hasselblad fair stand.
The stand itself was very nice.
But coming to the Lunar…
They have a huge bunch of different models (color wise and grip material wise).
At the moment the Lunar looks quite awkward. Man can see that they put some housing around some NEX7 – the Sony hotshoe is uncovered and does not really fit into the overall design…
In direct comparison (size wise) the Lunar lokks a bit like a pregnant NEX7 🙂
However, I’m certainly sure it will find its way into many golfbags on this planet. 🙂
Hmmm…what if they will create richer proprietary fw for this camera and someone1.00 could transfer it on nex7?
the design is cool, this body will appears in many sci-fi movies, believe me.
it’s a re-styling of an existent hardware with few retouches.
no matter if the performances are better than the Sony model. Finally we got a different stylished camera, this is the Hasselblad target.
My god! it’s so darn ugly
It may not be a NEX7 with a Hasselblad badge (really?).
$300 body + $1000 Nex-7 internals = $5000?
Damn.
See at this HUGE CZ 12/2.8. It’s the price we (NEX users) will pay for bad Fuji sensor. With NEX we can afford closer to symmetric lens design. Fuji doesn’t. So the lens was designed with the weakest link in mind.
BTW, this thing is taller than both SE 18/3.8 ASPH or Distagon 18/4 ZM which are about the equivalent of 12/2.8 for 36×24 and which are actually better performers. (phrase removed by admin) It’s a nonsense when PURE SENSOR PROBLEM is solving via the lens design. Leica and co did everything properly with their CMOSIS designed sensor and now they can use compact WA lenses with quite a compact body. Why stupid asians are trying to convince everyone this problem cannot be solved? It was solved, and it is even simplier to resolve it with APS-C sensor.
+1!
Why are you expecting a no-compromise super wide angle CZ lens, with fully fledged internal AF, to be more compact than a 100% mechanical M-mount lenses? do you know other AF lenses from any German company who makes more compact no-compromize electornic AF lenses?
The NEX and Fuji X flangedistance is almost the same, what other confirmed factor makes it more difficult to make compact lenses for the Fuji X than NEX?
white man make same exact thing rebrand label, sell to white man for 1000% white happy
Admin, I notice that you removed a phrase but allowed the comment about stupid asians. With that in mind, does that mean I can call Denis a racist cock and not worry about my comment being edited?
I am actually disappointed at BJP for just allowing mr. Allesandrini to speak in propaganda mode. A good journalist will not let the opportunity pass to ask some pressing questions.
I would have asked:
“Apart from design and materials of the outer shell, what improvements have Hasselblad added to the original NEX7 design ?”.
“You speak at the same time about ‘luxury’ and ‘bringing Hasselblad to more people’. How can you aim for both ? What is really the target audience for the Lunar ?”
“Will Hasselblad bring lenses to the Lunar (and thus to E-mount in general) that are 100% designed in-house, and not based designs from other manufacturers ?”
NEW SENSOR IN LUNAR!?!
The swedish magazine/web site Fotosidan has visited Hasselblad at Photokina and tried the Lunar a bit. A very interesting detail in their report is that the 24 megapixel APS-C sensor has 25 phasedetect AF-points.
That was new for me. That would indicate that the Lunar has a new sensor. Anyone else seen anything about this?
Link (swedish): http://www.fotosidan.se/cldoc/vi-har-provat-hasselblads-fula-ankunge.htm
This would tend to refute that the Lunar is anything but a reskinned NEX-7:
http://jar.smugmug.com/photos/i-x9zWj9H/0/X3/i-x9zWj9H-X3.jpg
It just shows that the phasedetect sensors are coming on all Sonys cameras. Which is quite logical. So Hassy Lunar is based on an updated NEX7. That is all.
Not sure that Sony will be pleased with Hassy leaking this as it may hurt NEX7 sales until the updated NEX7 is released.
Omg….this is the BEST SAR forum/thread ever!
I don’t think I have laughed this much reading a camera topic ever!
I’m sure that even Sony is secretly laughing their asses off at this Lunar crap too!
Bang Olfson does the same thing. They buy Panasonic screens and slap there own branded frame around them and charge a shit load more for the Bang Olfson logo.
I truely despise this type of superficial fashion world thinking.
It’s Bang Olufsen
Hassie is for Lunartics! For sure. Really bad choice of name, given the ridiculous price. What were they thinking, or should that be SMOKING?
Hasselblad’s new business development manager, Luca Alessandrini will give an interview to Paul Genge at http://www.cameradinder.com today at 20h (19h london time)
What a ugly camerabody!
the jornalisht in AP dasnt dare to ask the 0bvius qestionns;
– hau meny pises you expekt to sel next year or so?
– wat perpoz this gkatzet servs?
– R&D Dept meens Rand & Degadance?
– wit hau meny pieses sold in e yiar Hazelblant wil be satisfiet? 10? 15?
Aniwey I wil stik with my olnt trashty H4D-40 (Firari Edision) + for segond kamera i wil tsouz bituin Sanyo DSC siries or Olybush Pin Sieries
Now they are contradicting themselves…
“Peter Stig-Nielsen form Hasselblad confirmed to Digitfotopro that the 18-55mm and two other Sony NEX-lenses wil be re-branded as Hasselblad. On the stand were some Lunars equipped with 18-200mm and 16mm’s, without Sony logo, and not with other Sony E-lenses. Looks like they are going to rebrand those three lenses. Peter didn’t say anything about Hasselblad glass.”
Is that still Minolta old hot shoe?
Lots of pictures including some next to an NEX-7 here:
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/0103877415/photokina-2012-hasselblad-stand-report
I’d rather have the cast magnesium body anyway!
I don’t see why all this negativity. Nobody is forcing us to buy Hasselblad, and on a positive note, we are getting multiple manufacturers that support Sony e-mount lenses, maybe a-mount and so forth. While most of us will never be able to afford one, it gives Sony’s mount clout as a high-end solution as well, and may well make it easier to push out more high end lenses (which most people on this board constantly complains we do not have enough of…)
Lunar module: “Houston, we have a problem.
We are out of film for the Blad.
Ground control: “Just take the Nex-7 and await further instruction.
Lunar module: “Copy that, Houston.”
Some 5 hours later the onboard 3D printer using rare lunar metals produced a new Nex-7 skin fit for astronaut gloves.
😉
I’m sorry but I don’t understand. Why do we need a full frame camera so badly?
And secondly, if I had $6k laying around for a camera…oh yeah I don’t so I’m not even going to go there. I just wish they would make a NEX5 sized camera with a view finder and the TRI-Navi but no LCD screen. I think that would be an Awesome pocket camera.
And who designed the outside of this? This looks more like a concept car than a camera.