Where were the last Hasselblad 503CW's made?

[Brian Hirschfeld]

Hi,

I'm just pondering this out of curiosity, since Hasselbald doesn't actually manufacture the H system, where were the last Hasselblad 503CW's being made? were they also built by Fuji in Japan? I'm not sure since I bought my 503CW second hand and it still has a patent listed in "W Germany" in it so I assume that hunting down production based on it's serial number would be useless since its dated. Thanks,

Best,
BH

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi Brian,

I am pretty sure that all V series Hasselblads were built in Sweden.

The H-series was built in cooperation with Fuji, but final assembly used to be in Sweden and it has been said that final assembly has been moved back to Sweden.

Best regards
Erik

Hi,

I'm just pondering this out of curiosity, since Hasselbald doesn't actually manufacture the H system, where were the last Hasselblad 503CW's being made? were they also built by Fuji in Japan? I'm not sure since I bought my 503CW second hand and it still has a patent listed in "W Germany" in it so I assume that hunting down production based on it's serial number would be useless since its dated. Thanks,

Best,
BH

[JV]

The H-series was built in cooperation with Fuji, but final assembly used to be in Sweden and it has been said that final assembly has been moved back to Sweden.

Two years ago Hasselblad centralized its Danish and Swedish production centers in one single manufacturing center in Gothenburg, Sweden.

[Brian Hirschfeld]

So they assemble and quality check the everything which is made in Japan?

[JV]

So they assemble and quality check the everything which is made in Japan?

No, the production of the camera is in Göteborg (Gotenburg), Sweden.

I am not sure about the 503CW but I would be surprised if it were anywhere else but Sweden.

[Hulyss]

The Hasselblad Sweden factory is abandoned. I think someone on this forum took pictures of this ghost factory. Even papers where laying on the desks.

This is a pity they stopped this factory. Now, I would say that Rollei is the last true innovative brand in the same vain.

[JV]

The Hasselblad Sweden factory is abandoned. I think someone on this forum took pictures of this ghost factory. Even papers where laying on the desks.

I believe you are referring to the old Hasselblad factory/house, a very beautiful building, which was shut down 8 or 9 years ago already.

[Douglas Fairbank]

All Hasselblad cameras have always been made in Sweden (Xpan and new Sonys excepted).
I know that is a big problem for some people to believe, can anybody explain why that is.
The Swedish people are intelligent, inventive innovators, they have a great reputation for quality engineering and modern design. I have been a visitor to the Hasselblad factory this last 40 years, the old and new factories, and had the pleasure of meeting many of the staff including the designers and workers. It is such a shame that in some peoples minds they cannot be given full credit for their part in the development of the modern camera.

Cameras can be like cars! Look under hood (so to speak) and the design can been seen to have cultural or national styles. The Japanese and Swedes both make great cameras but they are very different in design.