When Hasselblad decided to discontinue its popular V-System with the definitive retirement of the 503CW camera, a large part of the photography world felt it as the end of an era. If my memory serves me right, the V-System remained on the market for nearly 60 years, but everything seems to indicate that it will make a special return, at least under the concept label. The new Hasselblad V1D is, according to the manufacturer's words, a “black box” that can be customized in multiple ways, adapting to all user requirements.
Times change even for the most traditional manufacturers, and photography has not escaped this fact in any way. There are many who believe that the market is too slow to respond to new trends, and then there are those who have already declared the general consumer camera “dead”. That term seems an exaggeration, although it arises from a very wide gap between casual photography and the “hi-end” hardware intended for professionals. I imagine no one is interested in using a 10,000 euro camera to upload photos to Instagram, considering the “massacre” that service does with compression and effects... but the point is that if someone tries, they will discover that they have no way to do it. Photography platforms, services, and applications are already aiming all their guns at mobile devices, and the best thing classic names can do is gain dynamism and versatility. Those two words are reflected in the new concept camera from Hasselblad, the V1D.
A Classic, Yet Modern Design
Classic, and at the same time modern.
The Hasselblad V1D certainly pays greater tribute to the popular V-System with a very similar aesthetic, and of course, its ability to receive all kinds of accessories. Hasselblad decided to go up a step with modularity in the V1D, and its main objective, assuming it reaches stores officially, is to attract as many users as possible to pure customization. The aspects that can be modified on the V1D are so varied that a left-handed user will have the possibility to move the controls to their dominant side. A black box full of enormous opportunities, and whose only firm technical data seems to be the resolution, carrying a 75-megapixel sensor.
Concept, experiment, market study... call it whatever you want. The Hasselblad V1D is shaping up to be a camera ready to face the demands of the 21st century without sacrificing or ignoring the heritage that the Swedish manufacturer has defended for so many decades. At this moment it is impossible to talk about availability or price, but if Hasselblad comes to the conclusion that the conditions are right, we will see more about this camera soon.
