Smartphone News

Hasselblad has joined forces with Motorola to try to bring some of the Swedish company’s legendary imaging knowledge to smartphone cameras. Called the Hasselblad True Zoom, the Hassy-branded Moto Mod device snaps onto Motorola Z smartphones using magnets and adds a 10x optical zoom and Raw image capability.

The Hasselblad True Zoom also offers a physical shutter, subtle handgrip and a Xenon flash in an attempt to make the Motorola phone behave more like a traditional camera. According to Hasselblad, the optics and image processing in the Moto Mod have been “optimized by Hasselblad engineers." The Raw images from the phone can be edited using Hasselblad’s Phocus software.

Hasselblad True Zoom is compatible with Moto Z Droid, Moto Z Force Droid, and Moto Z Play Droid smartphones. It offers a 12MP, 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor that can also shoot 1080p HD video with sound coming from two built-in microphones. The 10x optical zoom is equivalent to a 25-250mm lens with a f/3.5-6.5 aperture. ISO range is 100-3200.

The Hasselblad True Zoom goes on sale in September 2016 for $250. More info here. No word yet on whether there will be a medium format version. ;-)