OnePlus collaboration with Hasselblad: Camera used to capture first photo of the Moon

Hasselblad is one of the premium brands that makes cameras for professionals. If you’ve ever seen photos of the Moon and Earth or Earth from the moon, chances are some of them are clicked by specially modified Hasselblad cameras. It is the camera used for the Lunar mission. If that’s not interesting enough, Hasselblad cameras are not for any professionals, they are used by the best firms and photographs across the globe. Those billboard signs of top brands hire talented photographers to work with Hasselblad cameras to capture pixel-perfect images.

OnePlus, a very successful and growing smartphone company recently acquired the Hasselblad brand name in their camera form-factor. Typically, a camera from Hasselblad costs about €6000 minimum. Now that is even without the kits required for add-ons functionality. But on a phone, how much improvement will that bring to the table?

OnePlus & Hasselblad

OnePlus previously was the brand name for quality smartphones in the mid-range market. But recently they emerged to the 1K class, alongside the iPhone 12 pro & Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. The range jumped to a higher tier and we think it’s because of the brand name they attached. General idea is to boost quality in mobile photography. But the data acquired from examining the latest market says that the changes are not yet hardware-based. They attached Hasselblad software and UI on top of the OnePlus camera UI.

A formal contract has been placed between the companies that will last for about three years. In the primary stage of acquisition, OnePlus seemed to just implement software properties, HassleBald click sound, and UI on their system. It is quite disappointing since they are strictly marketing on-the-moon missions and promised to overdeliver. Chances are, there will be some hardware implementations from the HB system to the OnePlus phones shortly or for the upcoming models. It’s confirmed that the flagships will only get the Hasselblad branding besides its sensors that they acquired for 150 million. We’ve seen bigger sensors and lens density as the primary implementation.

After reviewing videos captured by the same sensor, there seems no major improvement. Hasselblad strictly works on still images. But the newer models will support videos in the future, it's already implemented on the software. Just need a firmware upgrade to enable it once ready. Hasselblad is a popular Swedish camera brand. The first batch of collaboration contains color tuning, sensor collaboration, extended dimension in mobile photography. OnePlus named the collaboration as “Natural Colour Calibration with Hasselblad.” New revamped camera interface, ISO focus, exposure times, white balancing are a few typical changes that are followed by Hasselblad ethics.

Hasselblad is not known for its superfast focus and captures, rather primitive ethics with the latest technology. Clicking moving targets are not optimal but for still photos, they are the crowned king. Even the latest models of Hasselblad cameras are based on older Hasselblad specifications to the smallest detail. With a classic taste and a famous wide-angle lens, Hasselblad perfected the V System from the H System.

The new OnePlus comes with a Sony IMX789 sensor in a 1/1.43-inch form factor. It also has dual native optical image stabilisation (OIS). This 48 MP main camera is 23mm wide with 1.8 OIS. The secondary ultra-wide camera is 50 MP with Sony IMX766, a 1/1.56-inch form factor with a focal length of up to 2.2, and a freeform lens of 7P. It also has an 8MP Telephoto camera with 3.3x zoom included OIS. The two-megapixel mono camera is for clicking photos in black and white with a focal length of 2.4 and 3P.

EndNote

OnePlus has branded many quality products before this collab and it's not only for the smartphone. Smartwatch and charging features are also improved. They introduced a dual-cell battery in their flagship model that charges both cells at the same time. Requiring less time to fill up the bar.

The bar has been set very high by the partnership with the camera flagship brand. Currently, OnePlus is branding the Hasselblad moon photos as a business promotion. And it's getting kind of a mixed emotion from the fanbase and thus companies invested behind it. OnePlus is trying to achieve global leadership in mobile technology and this new leap is a step in the same direction.