Week 9 - 2016
Hasselblad Super Wide C, 1954 (photo: Andreas Harvik/Preus museum)
Perfect partnership
Normally the camera's body is built first, then lenses are adapted to it. But here Hasselblad had to construct a modified and shorter version of the body of the 1000F in order to exploit the fantastic Zeiss 38mm f/4.5 Biogon lens.
The largest visible difference between the Super Wide C and earlier Hasselblad cameras is that the body itself is shorter. This necessitated removal of the mirror, which was replaced by a viewfinder in the flash boot.
The camera was introduced at Photokina in 1954 and was made with a few changes as late as 2002. So the Super Wide C was one of the longest-lasting cameras available for sale, clear witness that no competitors were able to match the unbelievable combination of Hasselblad and Zeiss.