New York, NY—Hasselblad Group, a leader in high-quality professional cameras, and DJI, an innovative aerial technology company, announced a corporate partnership. DJI acquired a strategic minority stake in Hasselblad and will also join Hasselblad’s board of directors.
The goal of the partnership is to allow opportunities and new ways of combining the technical knowledge and inventive spirit of the two companies. Known for its extremely popular drones, DJI develops and manufactures camera technology for commercial and recreational use. These particularly include aerial photography as well as filmmaking. Hasselblad is a leading manufacturer of medium-format cameras and also lenses.
“We are honored to be partnering with DJI. It is the clear technology and market leader in its segment,” said Perry Oosting, Hasselblad’s CEO. “DJI and Hasselblad are equally enthusiastic about creativity and excellence. We are looking forward to sharing technical expertise as well as paving the way for future innovations.”
The two companies will each focus on their individual strategic directions and related growth opportunities. Marketing and branding platforms will continue to delineate the two companies. Hasselblad cameras and equipment will continue to be handmade in Sweden. DJI will continue to make products in Shenzhen, China.
“Hasselblad and DJI share a passion to provide creative people with cutting-edge, inventive technology to help them take visual storytelling to the next level,” said Frank Wang, DJI’s founder and CEO. “With this partnership, we combine our strengths to further push the borders of what’s possible in imaging technology.”
The drone maker recently launched the modular Zenmuse camera system. It includes the Zenmuse X5 Pro and the Zenmuse X5 Raw, said to be the first Micro Four Thirds camera optimized for moving in space.
Hasselblad
Hasselblad also has a history of aerial photography. Its technology has been used in space on several NASA missions. This includes the first landing on the moon and several of the Apollo missions.
Over the course of the company’s 75-year history, the majority of its business has focused on traditional medium-format cameras and photography equipment. In recent years, however, the company has made meaningful investments and announced product launches within the aerial arena. In addition, Hasselblad recently launched a fully integrated, medium-format camera system incorporating the latest in CMOS sensor technology: the H5D-50c. hasselbladusa.com and dji.com
