Sunday, June 5, 2011

The Hasselblad 'Moon Camera'



Launched by Hasselblad in 1957, the new 500C had lenses with a central leaf shutter. It was a true 'system' camera and became the bedrock of a line which became celebrated as the now-famous 'moon camera' used by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to record the first images of man on the moon, and perhaps more importantly, of earth from the moon.



The astronauts actually used a motor-driven Hasselblad 500EL/70 (70mm film back) Data Camera fitted with a Reseau plate and a Zeiss Biogon 5.6/60 mm lens with a polarization filter mounted on the lens. Conventional lubricants were replaced by a special low friction alternative and metal plating was used instead of the standard black leatherette covering. The thirteen cameras taken are still somewhere on the moon. To save weight, only the detachable film backs were brought back to earth. 









Soon to be Moon Man Testing out the Hasselblad


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