Hasselblad 1000 F (1953–1957)
The Hasselblad 1000F is the second model Victor Hasselblad built. It is a medium-format SLR that shoots 6x6cm frames on 120 film. It replaced the troubled 1600F, and the name gives away the main change: the top shutter speed was dialed back from 1/1600 to a more dependable 1/1000. The camera uses a metal focal-plane shutter in the body, not the leaf shutters found in the lenses of the later 500 series. That made flash sync much slower, around 1/50s, and left the mechanics feeling more delicate than what came after.
The lenses are a completely different system from the 500 series, and all of them are rarer today. The mount is a Hasselblad screw type, and it happens to be the same thread as the old Ukrainian cameras - Salyut, Kiev 60, Kiev 88c. That quirk makes the 1000F a favorite among shooters who want to use those Soviet-era optics, though as one owner noted, the mechanical interface needs some adjustment before everything works properly. The bundled lens was typically a Zeiss Tessar 2.8/80mm. Film loads into detachable magazine backs, and the camera is a true system design with interchangeable components.
The 1000F is less common than the well-known 500 series, and it has real limitations. You can't change the focusing screen, and the lens selection was never large. It's also less reliable than a 500C/M. But the same owner who said that also rated the 1000F 5/5 for image quality and value, calling it much better than any Kiev and a gateway back to those old Ukrainian lenses. The American magazine Modern Photography tested the 1000F in 1952 and reported spectacular results, running 500 rolls through the camera and even deliberately dropping it. Original price was $379.50, and the camera sold new between 1953 and 1957.
Known specs:
- 120 film, 6x6cm (twelve exposures per roll)
- Metal focal-plane shutter, top speed 1/1000s
- Flash sync ~1/50s, adjustable
- Hasselblad screw mount (shared with Salyut / Kiev 60 / Kiev 88c)
- Interchangeable film magazine backs
- Meterless body
- Street price new: $1,000 (Eric Constantineau) / $379.50 (LENS-DB.COM)
Surviving examples are rare on the secondhand market. Many suffer from corrosion of the chrome rims, or are simply not in working order due to age, neglect, and a lack of spare parts and qualified repairmen.
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