Out of the 14 Hasselblad cameras used on the moon during the Apollo Missions the only one that made it there and back in one piece is expected to sell for a staggering €150,000!
This has by far got to be the most exciting camera to have ever been auctioned off! On the 22nd of March the Hasselblad 500 EL DATA HEDC used by astronaut Jim Irwin during the Apollo 15 mission in 1971 will go under the hammer at the next WestLicht Camera Auction.
The camera was one of 14 cameras used on the moon during the Apollo missions 11-17. However, it’s the only one to have made the trip back to Earth – the other 13 cameras were left on the moon, “as the astronauts only took the film magazines back home in order to take lunar rocks in the equivalent of the weight of the cameras,” explains the auction house in a prepared statement to BJP.
Jim Irwin took exactly 299 pictures with the Hasselblad during his three-day stay on the lunar surface and 96 more on the way to the moon and back again. “This historical camera comes with an extensive documentation and photographs taken by Jim Irwin, assembled by its former owner Alain Lazzarini, author of the book Hasselblad and the Moon,” adds WestLicht.
This historical camera comes with an extensive documentation and photographs taken by the astronaut himself, assembled by its former owner Alain Lazzarini, author of the book ‘Hasselblad and the Moon’. The camera is expect to go for far more than €150,000, we’ll just have to wait until the 22nd of March to see what will happen!
UPDATE:
There is some very interesting information over at Pop Photo which will make you seriously question the information given out by WestLicht, we just hope NASA will be able to sway in and give us all some insight on this camera and the joinery it made.
Information: British Journal of Photography
Further information: Westlicht / Image © Westlicht. Related information: Apollo 11 Mission – what camera to take?
