How One Camera Changed NASA and How We Saw the World

The photographs that came from the Apollo missions have become some of the most famous and influential ever taken but these were done with mostly just one make of camera that only came about due to one of the early Mercury astronauts taking a low price commercial camera on board a mission to photo what they saw. So this is the story of how Hasselblad, a small Swedish manufacturer became the pivotal player in showing the world what it was really like in space and on the moon and our place in space.

Written, researched and presented by Paul Shillito
Images and footage : NASA, Hasselblad, Mike Thomas

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[DavidKutzler]

During a Gemini space walk in 1966, astronaut Mike Collins accidently let go of a hand-held Hasselblad camera and it floated out of reach. The joke at Hasselblad was that they had built the first Swedish satellite to orbit the Earth.

[DavidCowie]

Some years ago, the BBC showed a series called "A History of Art in Three Colours." In the episode about blue, the presenter said about the Earthrise image "Speaking as a historian of art, I think that the entire Apollo program was worth it for that picture."

[thegreat]

Curious Droid, you're one of the best channels on YouTube hands down

[brianarbenz]

Jim McDivitt, who took those spectacular pics of his friend Ed White's Gemini IV space walk, died Oct. 13 at 93. RIP, Jim.
He probably did more than any other non-lunar mission astronaut to make the lunar landings successful.

[martinda]

Just to add for those who think its not like today's cameras.. the medium format is likely equivalent to 80 Megapixels plus. The 16mm data acquisition camera easily 2k. Film has only recently been equaled and even then not for specialist film types.

[greyone]

I had not heard of the photo of Armstrong from the back. I had always thought that the only photo of him was when he took a head on photo of Aldrin, and Armstrong appeared as a reflection in the face visor.
Fascinating video. All the little details like the lubricant and the static just shows how much went into these missions. I still remember watching the first landing on the television as an 8 year old boy.

[johnpetry]

Excellent! As a young teen, I was fortunate that my father obtained prints of a half dozen of the best shots, and we had them framed and displayed in my bedroom for a number of years.

[gabrielfriedel]

The amount of thought that must have gone into the photography...astounding

[ELMS]

It’s always a treat when you see a video that explores a topic you have never seen before. Something completely fresh and original. And so well written and presented, too. Great work, Paul! Hope all is well.

[agrofindastation]

As both an engineer and very amateur photographer, this video makes me so happy. Incredible to learn how these amazing images were captured.

[srefugee]

I watched the First Moon Landing blurry video as a teen, and I've watched many documentaries. And still, STILL, half a century later, I still get choked up by things like this.

[ReadTheShrill]

As a kid, I had a huge print of "Earthrise" covering one whole wall of my bedroom. It was incredible.

[JohnMichaelson]

For anyone wanting to see every single photo, a good site is ASU's "March to the Moon" site with extreme quality scans of every negative taken during Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. The images are just amazing, and freely downloadable in a number of sizes including the raw max resolution tiffs at 1+ GB each.

[ADVBear]

Paul, you are a treasure. Nobody does that kind of deep dive on those subjects. Thanks mate!

[wills.]

Back when I was studying photography at university, the department had 3 500 C's and one El. We had to sign up for a waiting list to use the cameras. They were so expensive that most students couldn't afford their own.

Interesting that they engineered the EL to use 70mm film with perforations (sprockets) rather than the standard, smooth edged 120/220.

Another thing that's worth noting is that with Hasselblad lenses, each lens has its own leaf shutter and aperture built in. The camera body is actually pretty simple having only the reflex mirror, ground glass for the viewfinder, the viewfinder itself, and the gearing that drives the film back via the hand crank.

Aside from the camera body, each lens is it's own camera - which (aside from the superb optics) is why Hasselblad Zeiss lenses are so expensive.

[johngeverett]

I remember those cameras on their chests. In the wisdom of my late teens, I thought it was dumb, but it was a great example of NASAs engineering skill.

[covertovert_]

one of the best cameras ever made. built like a tank, as precise as a swiss watch, and really fun to use!

[markjosephbudgieridgard]

Excellent.... I once saw an advert for Hasselblad Cameras in a high end photography magazine ... it read would you like a Hasselblad for free ? .... Well just go to the moon and pick one up ! CLASSIC !

[CrazyPetez]

Excellent! As a camera buff for many decades, I found this video fascinating. I’ve never held a Hasselblad on my hands, but certainly knew them be reputation. Thank you for this high quality, informative video.

[davidstepeck]

Nothing better than Monday Night Curious Droid! Paul’s videos are so good that I give it a “thumbs up” right after hitting the play button. One of the best channels on YouTube!