Hasselblad announces distinctly RX100-esque 'Stellar' compact

Hasselblad has unveiled a rather familiar-looking compact camera – the Stellar. The very RX100-esque compact offers the same 28-100mm equivalent Zeiss-branded zoom and 20MP 1″-type sensor as the Sony, but comes with a substantial hand-grip made from a choice of exotic materials and, we suspect, a significantly higher price tag.

The Hasselblad Stellar will be available with a choice of hand grips.

The company has set up a dedicated website for the camera – due to ship this month – on which you can select your favorite grip material from a list of seven. This appears to be the only aspect of the camera that isn’t simply badge-engineered.

The Stellar is the second product to stem from the company’s collaboration with Sony, following the announcement of the NEX-7-based Hasselblad Lunar at Photokina 2012.

The camera’s specifications exactly match those of Sony’s DSC-RX100

The collaboration is also due to include ‘products for the DSLR segment’ (which could easily mean a camera based on Sony’s ‘SLT’ semi-transparent mirror technology). Oddly the Stellar appears to be based on the existing RX100 model, rather than the recently-announced RX100 M2.

Hasselblad was bought-out by private equity group Ventizz in 2011, which is attempting to derive increased value from the brand.

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Those travelling to Australia with this camera are sure to have their camera confisticated to be destroyed if they forget to declare it.

In Australia, they are very paranoid of allowing anything made of wood to pass through without quarantine.

Good luck if you have one.

~300 comments and counting….wow a reputed name company making a joke of themselves!

Someone from Hasselblad woke up from a bad dream…

Wow.

What a magnificent way for a company to loose respect, bigtime.

I believe this could be a bestseller if they have a good marketing. For example David Hasselhoff would be a great official face for this product.

Hasselblad please just come out clean, stop making cameras and say ”give us your money” and save us looking at horrendous objects with horrendous price tags like this one and the one before this. You can at least hire a designer right?

I wonder if this ‘Stellar’ will be “Sellar’ on ‘NonSellar’.
Definitely it is ‘Uglar’

The ‘H’ makes me think of Hewlett-Packard and the design reinforces that.

How low can a company get?

Here we go again! Well, let’s be nice; some people just feel more comfortable dressed in drag no matter the cost. I’m thinking about press on decals of all sorts (licensed of course) that we can paste on our favorite gear. The crowd that buys grills and fascias to make their Chrysler 300’s look like Bentley’s will surely go for this.

Stellar, eh? Stellar bad taste perhaps. The only Stella’ I like is from this clip (wait through the advert.):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1A0p0F_iH8

Other exciting news. Lexus has placed it’s decals on Colnago bikes. Great cars, great bikes – not so sure if it will do for me until I see a bike rack on an LFA:
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/lexus-luxury-road-bike-rolled-out-37886/

Even that big “H” looks horrendous!

Oh my God! That is butt Ugly!! Is it Pistol or a derringer! It looks like a redneck screwed on his pistol grips to it.

Will be an absolute flop! Gauranteed!

Isn’t this Sony predation on Hasselblads good name? Or How to trash a good name in photograpy in three simple steps. Lunar>stellar>Galactic Big Rip…

Nothing wrong with hardwood if done right. Unfortunately, they don’t even have a good designer.

5 year Guarantee against dry rot and woodworm.

I hope they go bankrupt soon!

Someone please tell me this is not real it’s a nightmare!!!

Blinged-up, outdated models at ‘stellar’ prices, targeted at technically clueless people with too much money is a market sector which is already well established in the mobile phone sector

Expect more of this sort of thing based on other manufacturer’s products soon

Im not sure who the prostitute is here- Sony or Hasselblad?

But you know, some foolish people spend a fortune on greater evils.

lazy designer!

I regret the times of the glorious Hasselbad 500 with the Planar 80mm. This new object has a look that wants to be original, but that finally is only baroque and not sober. Inside, I’m afraid, it’s a blend of third-party tecnology (Sony, first of all) which is likely not to be able to run to the fast pace that the market dictates. In other words, Sony already has better things in the drawer, directly with its own brand.

I would buy this if it was sony

At the Hasseblad price?

And even the ugly wooden ones?

Is this a ploy to make the Sony camera owners feel satisfied that their camera is as good as a very costly camera? Marketing trick? OR may be just an advertisement trick of Sony? Hassleblad is an advertising company for Sony. These expensive cameras are reported by various magazines etc..

Ohhhhhhh … good question. In the case of Leica/Panasonic, this might be a reason why Panasonic do it. It certainly gives some kind of credit to Panasonic cameras. You don’t get the red dot … but it is just as good image quality as a Leica.

But … in this case? I don’t guess so. Its quite obvious that Hasselblad is only pimping the cameras with some wood. It can’t possible affect Sony.

Yes, but there is a difference as Leica most time modifies the JPEG and other processing engines to their specs, though most other aspects of the camera remain the same. Atleast that lends some credibility to the Red Dot and buyers to feel satisfied. Honda Vs Acura maybe….

“Lunar”; “Stellar”…
It would be more appropriate to use the astronomical term “Black Hole” – toward which this company is surely heading.

I think the next name should be “Stoopar.”

The black grip looks OK, and suitable price being $99 extra for attaching it. But – the wooden ones looks as strange as it can be – just out of place.

3rd party grip for RX-100 inspiration

Oh no, not again!

I think it´s a nice functional grip.
Hasselblad is now a very-expensive-grip making company.
I think I´ll make this grip myself for coming RX100ll and for saved money I´ll go for a very nice holiday to take some photos.

The main problem doing this grip is bolting it to the camera. Do they take an already ready camera and drill some holes in it and use pop rivets? (pop-nit in Swedish). Or do they attach the grip to the actual case before Sony assembles the camera?

No, they just glue it to the body. The screwheads are fake.

@Johannes – you do know this? Or guess? BTW – its not screw heads – its pop rivet heads.

In the Leica-Panasonic partnership, at least Leica contribute the Leica designed lens. In this case, what does Hasselblad contribute?

Dare to imagine in the not so distant future Hasselblad may launch a wooden handphone with the Sony Xperia phone as its innard.

This kind of thing needs a new dedicated site “MORE MONEY THAN BRAINS” perhaps ?

Why do they do this?

Its just a third party grip on an already existing camera. Just a piece of wood with some screws. Nothing all that remarkable. Except maybe that it is ugly.

So – my question still stands. What are they doing? And why? What’s the plan?

I hope my RX100 never has to see this.

Did they get those grips from a child’s toy gun?

So sad with the demise of this iconic company! What’s next? An overpriced Sony Xperia phone with a wooden handle? Could be more visionary and meaningful though…

NEX7 is Hassy’s Lunar.
RX100 is Hassy’s Stellar.
What’s left?
RX1 is possibly .. Hassy’s Ebenezar? 🙂

I don’t get it.

fools and their money are easily parted

uglier than ugly….

anyone lucky enough to carry one will bring smiles from people on the streets 🙂
It gladden my heart to know, there are still a lot of such folks….

Sad, what has become of this company!

im gonna have many a sleepless night…

Anyone has the sales figure to their Lunar?

Given the names of the cameras, looks like this is a frantic half-dead flail of a former giant. Can’t compete with the Phase/Mamiya/Leaf superpower in the medium format market anymore, so they’re clinging to their “we were in space once” thing and leaving the camera manufacturing to someone else. Good call in my opinion, especially since Leica’s new medium format offerings are blowing their closed system out of the water in all the areas Hassy once thought they were great.
DPR really needs to start covering medium format.

Phase/Mamiya/Leaf are superpowers? In the market that accounts less that 7,000 cameras a year overall? Ahah … very funny.

Ever tried one? I’m sure you’d know what I’m talking about if you did. When it comes to bullet-proof image quality and all-around badassery, there’s no better.

Not to mention they’re offering better DR, better image quality, lower noise, better colour accuracy and higher-res SINGLE-SHOT sensors at like half the price of Hasselblad, in an open system where you can slap your sensor on a ALPA technical camera or a Hassy V or whatever whenever you need to. There’s a reason the apparently less than 7000 true professional photographers of the world are making enough to afford these cameras making their billboards and bus wraps and posters and UPSCALED prints rather than downsampled facebook covers. Anything looks good if you make it small enough. For example: http://motionblurdaily.com/2013/06/18/why-we-use-what-we-use-medium-format-vs-full-frame-vs-aps-c/

Yes!

Coffins are also made of wood.)))

That’s where Hasselbad would end up being soon!

“Attempting to derive increased value from the brand” was all we needed to hear.

Sad. This is so unworthy of the name it has been given. Dear venture capitalist, please stop this!!!

They are not venture capitalists. They are VULTURE capitalists.

this is embarrassing. Hasselblaah needs to commission an exclusive camera/sensor from sony. Not take a sony camera and tack wood on it for more.

Years ago, would you have the slightest imagination that a camera can turn into a piece of furniture?

Yes, it can.

Just had another thought, …. HusselThief should offer a range of:
Wooden SD Cards?
1/ Wooden work!
2/ Wooden loose it!
3/ Wooden sink!
4/ Grainy Image!
And some poor Sap will pay $$$$$$$$$$

Wooden be seen dead with it!

I paid only half for the price of a “Z” by going for an “L”. So.. how much is an “H” vs an “S”?

I think the FF DSLR from HusselBlunder should be named
“BLACKHOLE” That’s where your money will go and the Brand name in the not to distant future.

Translations in order:

“I think it’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen!”
(I can’t afford it)
“I’m laughing my head off!”
(I can’t afford it.)
“If Sony offered X X X X I would buy it in a heartbeat.”‘
(No I wouldn’t, because I can’t afford it, so much for the bombast)

UMM it’s an RX100 with a new finish, Hasselblad’s logo slapped on it, out of place wooden grip which in addition to ruinning the whole point of owning such a small camera also doesn’t match the rest of the camera and which looks like a third party accessory that someone bolted on a Sony RX100. Basically it’s just a re-branded RX100. The only reason to buy this instead of an RX100 is for the dubious prestige of owning a Hasselblad branded camera. That is the reason for the comments you refer too. It has nothing to do with if someone can afford it or not.

Lost in translation: This is a Sony compact consumer camera. Everybody can afford this camera. Nobody is jealous to have the Hasselblad badge on it. It’s a trick. Walk away.

– I bought the Hasseblad NEX and I don’t want to feel like I threw away the money?

I probably can’t afford a turd signed by Versace. I still don’t want it though.

@160631 – you are joking? You didn´t buy the Lunar – did you?

I’d say it was butt ugly but I don’t want to insult butts.

Butts come in two varieties – very ugly and very sexy. So – I always gets very confused when people say “butt ugly”.

Hasselblad announces distinctly RX100-esque ‘Stellar’ compact

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