A Digital Camera Designed with Permanence in Mind

The majority of digital cameras are plagued by planned obsolescence, doomed to become here-today, gone-tomorrow artifacts. This makes sense to some degree, what with today’s every-changing sensors and processors. But Hasselblad, long an industry leader, has continued to somehow avoid this trap. Continuing its 174-year-old tradition of making objects designed with permanence in mind, and working with Sony and Zeiss, Hasselblad has put longevity front and center with its latest release, the Stellar II. Though its technical specs—which include WiFi, NFC, 20.2 megapixels, and 1920-by-1080 pixel video—give it ammunition to be a leader in the field, the Stellar II’s chief raison d’être is its high-quality, thoughtfully designed hardware. “With the Stellar II, we wanted to create an exceptional object of desire by combining a beautiful aesthetic with uncompromising performance,” says Anna Gudmundson, Hasselblad’s premium product manager. Made with a combination of metal and a variety of four different grip finishes—olive wood, walnut, paddock, and carbon fiber, which appeals to “more dynamic, high-tech savvy photography enthusiasts,” Gudmundson says—its design will stay relevant long after its inner workings are obsolete.

Ethan Wolff-Mann is an editor at the website Supercompressor.