The Hasselblad name dates to 1841, when F.W. Hasselblad & Co. was established as an importing business in the highly trafficked port town of Gothenburg, Sweden. Years later, Victor Hasselblad, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, became an apprentice in the optical production industry in Dresden, Germany.

During World War II, Victor was approached by the Swedish government to produce a camera identical to one recovered from German forces, and soon had his own small factory producing military cameras. After the war ended, Hasselblad manufactured its first civilian camera, the medium format 1600F. Its name indicated the highest aperture speed setting (1/1600th) and shutter type (focal-plane), a classification system Hasselblad continued to use throughout its history.

Though these first cameras were critically acclaimed, their interior mechanisms were delicate and broke easily. The 1000F of 1952 fared much better, receiving a rave review from ...the influential American magazine "Modern Photography."