ABOVE AND BEYOND HASSELBLAD CELEBRATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF APOLLO 11
Arguably the most significant photograph of the 20th century was recorded 50 years ago on a specially-prepared Hasselblad camera after the Apollo 11 lunar module, named Eagle, had successfully landed on the surface of the Moon. The date was, of course, 20 July 1969, and the camera used was the Hasselblad Electric Data Camera or HEDC, specifically modified for lunar photography – hence its colloquial title of the “Moon camera” – and based on the 500EL motordriven 6x6cm rollfilm SLR. It’s also referred to as the Hasselblad Data Camera or HDC.
The HEDC body was fitted with a Zeiss Biogon 60mm f5.6 lens and a 70mm film magazine which contained specially-formulated thin-base Kodak rollfilms – either Panatomic-X fine-grained ISO 80 B&W negative film or Ektachrome 64 colour transparency stock. Ektachrome 160 was also used. The colour films yielded 160 6x6cm frames per magazine and the B&W film up to 200 frames. The lens was fitted with a polarising filter which was also tethered to the lens barrel so when it was detached (as was required when using the Ektachrome 160 film), it wouldn’t just float away.
“The SWC was used on the Gemini 9, 10, 11 and 12 missions with one
