When you think of Hasselblad, you probably picture beautifully crafted medium-format cameras, legendary portrait photographers, or perhaps even the cameras that accompanied astronauts into space. What you probably don't imagine is taking one underwater.
However, Instagram photographer @wetnegz is doing exactly that, using an incredibly rare underwater housing originally designed for the iconic Hasselblad 500C/M more than 50 years ago, and judging by the photographer's latest Instagram reel (see below), this remarkable piece of engineering appears to be working just as intended, continuing to protect a mechanical film camera beneath the waves and allowing its owner to capture beautiful analog photographs underwater, just as it would have done when it first left the factory.
The housing itself dates back to the 1970s and was manufactured by underwater equipment specialist Hugyfot, which produced dedicated housings for Hasselblad's legendary 500-series cameras. Constructed from heavy-duty metal, with a distinctive blue finish and yellow handles, this extraordinary piece of photographic equipment was designed to withstand the challenges of underwater photography while keeping the camera completely protected from the surrounding water.
External controls allow the photographer to adjust shutter speed, aperture, and focus, while dedicated mechanisms operate the shutter and advance the film. There's even an integrated viewfinder for composing photographs beneath the surface. It's a fascinating example of precision engineering from a time when underwater photography required considerably more preparation, patience and mechanical ingenuity than it does today.
What makes this particular example so interesting is not simply its age, but the fact that Wetnegz is still actively using it for its original purpose. Rather than leaving this incredibly rare piece of Hasselblad history sitting on a collector's shelf, the photographer has been taking it into the ocean and producing genuine medium-format film photographs. In a recent trip to Tonga, the photographer paired the vintage housing with a special 25th-anniversary Hasselblad 500C/M, one of just 1,500 reportedly produced, and shot on Kodak Ektacolor Pro 800 film, later converting the photographs to black and white. There are no batteries, no autofocus, and no built-in light meter to rely on, with exposure judged by eye and just 12 frames available on a standard roll of 120 film. Considering the housing's age, the fact that it continues to function underwater is a remarkable testament to the craftsmanship behind its original design. These housings are exceptionally difficult to find today, especially in complete, working condition, making this surviving example all the more extraordinary.
Interestingly, Hasselblad's relationship with underwater photography didn't end with the arrival of digital cameras. In 2020, the Swedish manufacturer partnered with AquaTech to introduce the REFLEX underwater housing for its X1D II 50C, bringing 50-megapixel medium-format photography underwater. Unlike its much heavier mechanical predecessor, the modern housing weighed just 1.6kg (3.5 pounds), protected against depths up to 10 meters (33 feet), and supported Hasselblad's XCD lens range through interchangeable lens ports.
Originally priced at $1,695, the housing demonstrated that there was still an appetite for taking medium-format cameras underwater, even if the technology had changed dramatically since the 1970s. More recently, Nauticam introduced its NA-X2DII housing for the Hasselblad X2D II 100C, an $8,000 professional underwater solution capable of taking the company's 100-megapixel medium-format camera to depths of up to 100 meters (328 feet).
But while today's underwater housings offer remarkable technology and access to some of the finest digital cameras ever made, there's something rather wonderful about watching Wetnegz continue to use a piece of equipment that has already survived more than half a century.
This isn't simply a collector's item or a forgotten relic of photographic history; it's a fully functioning tool that is still producing images in precisely the environment it was designed for. And in an industry where cameras and accessories can feel outdated after only a few years, seeing a 1970s Hasselblad underwater housing still doing its job is a refreshing reminder that great engineering really can stand the test of time.
More than 50 years later, this incredible piece of photographic history is still capturing moments beneath the waves, one carefully considered frame of film at a time.
