I have been following what Hasselblad has been doing for a while now. Hasselblad has long been known for its outstanding quality and high resolution top of the line studio cameras.
However – last year some “breaking news” was announced! Hasselblad had seen the success of these new mirrorless cameras and wanted a piece of that pie. This sparked up quite excitement within me… would this be the chance to get a :
- medium format or full frame camera which was pocketable?
- small camera that could still interchange with the awesome hasselblad lenses?
- something of high end studio quality, but so light, it could be easily taken on a climb / run / mountain bike?
Anyhow whatever criteria it filled on the above, I was sure that with Hasselblad’s great reputation and superb instruments of the past, this new mirrorless was going to be something very special indeed.
I could not have been more wrong!
Hasseblad, have basically decided to do a deal with Sony (I’m not knocking Sony – who make great camera’s btw). They will take the machine from Sony and create a fancy housing around it, branded with the Hasselblad logo. So all of the workings, the sensor, the quality is exactly the same as if you had bought the Sony camera (also the camera has the same lens mount as the sony – no hasselblad lenses can be attached)
What do you think they would charge for this pretty, more bulky, shell and the Hasselblad logo? Maybe an extra couple hundred bucks? $500 extra? Nope.
Hasselblad are adding on several thousand $dollars to the standard Sony camera they are using. Prices below are approximate depending which retailer you buy from.
Sony NEX7 = $1000 to $1500 …….. Renamed to Hasselblad Lunar = $7000
Sony RX100 = $500 to $650 …….. Renamed to Hasselblad Stellar= $3000
To add insult to injury… Hasselblad are only doing this with Sony camera model’s which are at the end of their life – soon to be replaced by another model. When the NEX7/Lunar was announced last year – already the Sony NEX6 had come out and NEX7 replacements were in full flow. The RX100/Stellar has only just been announced and already the RX200 is certain to be on the market within the next few months.
So if you want to buy a super overpriced and also very soon to be outdated Sony camera… look no further than… Hasselblad Lunar and Hasselblad Stellar!
The Lunar since launching has seen hardly any sales we will see if the Stellar takes the market by storm 😉
NOTE : Well done to Sony by the way, who see a great target customer for their old stock… no – not you guys – Hasselblad!
Would you buy one? Do you like this idea or not? I would love to hear your views – leave a comment – I promise I will reply…
This is the supidest partnership ever. I shoot Sony (a900 now, before a300 and a700 and rx100) and this is a win for Sony as they are getting royalties for old stock like you said. People really have to be stupid not to realize how old the lunar is and the stellar just got old because of the rx100 II is coming and the stellar was announced after Sony announced the rx100 replacement. I just don’t understand how they can charge these prices for cameras which are a 5th of the asking price when new. They better stop or they will become laughing stocks and their reputation will be hit hard. It’s just dumb.
Hey Twah – Thanks for your views. I think anyone shooting already with either Sony (as you do) or Hasselblad will not find a single attractive reason to go with one of these Sony/Hblad hybrid cameras. They seem to be directly targeting buyers who 1. Have lots of money and 2. Have no clue they are getting sold a lower cost product, with a different logo stuck on – for an extortionate price!
It is still pretty fucked up though. It DOES matter that H is producing different stuff for different markets. On the one hand there will be continued production of top stuff and then the expensive junk. A company that produces expensive junk, for whatever reason it can come up to justify this, cannot be trusted. I mean, why would they need PR and Marketing trying so hard to differentiate the product? The quality, reliability, opportunity cost and other factors derives from the product itself, not from a company’s representatives. Also, when you go on http://www.hasselblad.com, the first thing I see is the Stellar banner, so how the hell is everyone supposed to differentiate the good stuff from the junk? This sends a clear signal to consumer that H has decided to milk its brand that was built over quality and now raises serious confidence issues over its entire line of products; in other words, if H is willing to screw over (I can’t think of a better expression, I mean, isn’t it screwing over?) non-professional customers with this model, what guarantees do we have that they won’t try to do the same with their professional customer base? As a professional, to what extent will you now have to go to ensure that you are not sold a re-packaged point a shoot? What level of transparency and straightforwardness will H establish, and how, to ensure that all clients are not mislead? Also, should we understand that H feels like it does not have to respect non-pro customers? That is my impression – which leads me to wonder if H still respect pro consumers? Also, what does he mean analyzing the product for the wrong market? It does not matter what they think is the market. What matters is what is the company doing, what they are selling, what direction are they taking, what can we expect, and what is it worth; all these questions cannot be answered by others than consumers through forums, magazines, social media, meetups, etc. Consumers are the final deciders, always. Ultimately, the direction H chose to take is for me a clear signal that customers from now on cannot trust the company like they used too.
Thanks Olivier – you have made some very valid points.
Welcome. Yeah it’s just for rich people without a clue and that will jut drop down the money because of the name slapped on it. It seems like a desparation move on the part of Hasseblad
Good for Sony. lol.
I am not a professional photographer but I do enjoy photography and am aware that Hasselblad has had the reputation for being one of if not the best in the business. How sad then that they have to resort to these measures to get business, just cheapens the whole process. A bit like the Queen taking in lodgers when there is a big event in London!
We have to remember the saying ‘buyer beware’. It is our responsibility to check these things out before we buy and thank goodness we have you Sam to keep us informed of what is happening.
As for the people who have money to spend on ‘designer’ labels, well they will continue to spend. The danger of course is that Hasselbland are going to shoot themselves in the foot! (excuse the pun)
Thanks for your comment Davina. Of course Hasselblad may manage to sell a few of these to uninformed buyers who have extra cash and think they are getting value for money (i.e. the best camera available). Hopefully this post will help others realize the reality of the rip off.