Announcing the Hasselblad Lunar
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You'd think that the Hasselblad company had gone out and run over the family dog based on the vituperance about the announced Lunar.
Hasselblad hasn't lied about the Lunar at all. They say it is a style oriented camera and benefits from special materials including carbon fibre, wood, leather, titanium and precious metals including gold. They have made no claims at all about making the electronics or the sensor or even the glass.
Internally the Lunar is a Sony NEX-7. In my opinion, at time of writing, the NEX-7 is the best Compact System Camera, Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera, Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Format, fill in your own name here camera on the market.
The NEX-7 is easy to use and well suited to committed photographers with dual control dials, a built-in viewfinder, blazing autofocus and superb exposure control. Sony E lenses are pretty darn good and we've recently learned that they are full frame capable.
So Hasselblad isn't making the guts. They are doing the physical casement. It will cost around $5,000 more than an NEX-7. If all you need is delivered by the NEX-7, then go out and buy one. If you have the coin, and the desire, as well as the willingness to drop $5K on what is, imho, basically bling, then go rock your world. It's not going to make better images than an NEX-7, but you might feel that your image is enhanced.
There are folks out there who like this sort of thing. They put gold emblems and giant spinner rims on their cars. They self-adorn with jewelry. Those "into photography" have been buying Hermes limited editions of Leicas. So don't really hammer Hasselblad. You and I may not buy a Lunar, but if this product generates revenue to help Hasselblad to keep doing amazing "real" (my word) cameras, good for them. And to their credit, when they went outboard for the guts, they picked the best choice out there.
Specifications courtesy Victor Hasselblad AG
| Recording system (still image) | |
| Image quality modes. | RAW, RAW & JPEG, JPEG Fine, JPEG Standard |
| Media | |
| Media | Memory Stick PRO Duo, Memory Stick PRO HG Duo, SD memory card, SDHC memory card, SDXC memory card |
| Slot | Multi slot for Memory Stick Duo/SD memory card |
| Exposure control | |
| Exposure modes | IAUTO, Programmed AE (P), Aperture priority (A), Shutter-speed (S), Manual (M), Sweep Panorama, 3D |
| Exposure Compensation | Sweep Panorama, Anti Motion Blur, Scene Selection |
| Bracketing | 3 continuous exposure in 0.3 or 0.7 EV steps |
| LCD monitor | |
| Brightness control | Auto, Manual (5 steps between -2 and +2), Sunny Weather mode |
| Display contents | Graphic Display, Display All Info., Big Font Size Disp, Info., Live View Priority, Level, Histogram, For viewfinder |
| Flash | |
| Type | Built-in flash |
| Flash compensation | +/- 3.0 EV |
| Flash modes | Flash off, Autoflash, Fill-flash, Slow Sync., Rear Sync |
| Shutter | |
| Type | Electronically controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type |
| Shutter speed | 1/4000 to 30 sec., Bulb |
| Flash sync. speed | 1/160 sec. |
| Electronic front curtain shutter | Yes, On/Off |
| Drive | |
| Modes | Single-shot, Continuous, Speed Priority Continuous, Self-timer (10/2 sec. delay), Self-timer (Cont.) (with 10 sec. delay: 3/5 exposures), Bracketing, Remote Cdr |
| Interface | |
| Pc Interface | Hi-speed USB (USB 2.0): Mass-storage, MTP |
| HD output | HDMI® mini connector (type-C), PhotoTV HD |
| Others | Auto-lock Accessory Shoe, Microphone jack, Remote sensor |
| Weight | |
| Body only | Approx. 420 g |
| Dimension | |
| W x H x D (including protrusion) | Approx. 140 x 83 x 67 mm |
