Hasselblad 1600 F

The Hasselblad 1600F camera was introduced in New York in October 1948. Production commenced in 1949, but very few were made the first years due to technical difficulties. It was manufactured until 1953, when the model 1000F with a modified shutter replaced it.

It is a focal-plane shutter SLR camera taking 6×6 images on type 120 film. It was a revolutionary concept at the time of introduction, being of a modular design having interchangeable lens, viewfinder and film magazine. The shutter curtains was made of corrugated stainless steel foil which is light and durable enough to withstand the high acceleration forces present in this fast shutter. The interchangeable magazine allows fast film changing, also in mid-film, without loosing a single frame.

• The First ~269 cameras were known simply as "Hasselblad Camera". These are extremely rare since 153 of them were destroyed because of an internal flaw.

• Starting 1950 these cameras were renamed to 1600F ("1600" for the highest shutter speed 1/1600s and "F" for "focal plane"). Currently, functional cameras are also somewhat rare on the market because of the fragile shutter.

The Hasselblad camera was initially sold with the Kodak Ektar 2.8/80mm lens supplied by Kodak and, for the US market, fitted at arrival, but later also Zeiss lenses became available. The Kodak Ektar 3.5/135mm was also available from early on.

Hasselblad 1600F with Kodak Ektar 2.8/80mm lens

Links

Hasselblad 1600F at Medium Format Photography Megasite [1]
Hasselblad 1600F Recent Auction Prices at CollectiBlend.com [2]