diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/blocks.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/blocks.py
index 1042440fa..4617f701b 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/blocks.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/blocks.py
@@ -324,7 +324,7 @@ class FieldBlock(Block):
         })
 
     def value_from_datadict(self, data, files, prefix):
-        return self.field.widget.value_from_datadict(data, files, prefix)
+        return self.to_python(self.field.widget.value_from_datadict(data, files, prefix))
 
     def clean(self, value):
         return self.field.clean(value)
@@ -343,42 +343,44 @@ class RichTextBlock(FieldBlock):
     def render_basic(self, value):
         return mark_safe('<div class="rich-text">' + expand_db_html(value) + '</div>')
 
-class PageChooserBlock(FieldBlock):
+
+class ChooserBlock(FieldBlock):
+    """Abstract superclass for fields that implement a chooser interface (page, image, snippet etc)"""
     @cached_property
     def field(self):
-        from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page  # TODO: allow limiting to specific page types
-        from wagtail.wagtailadmin.widgets import AdminPageChooser
-        return ModelChoiceField(queryset=Page.objects.all(), widget=AdminPageChooser)
+        return ModelChoiceField(queryset=self.target_model.objects.all(), widget=self.widget)
 
-# =======
-# Chooser
-# =======
-
-class ChooserBlock(Block):
-    class Meta:
-        default = None
-
-    @property
-    def media(self):
-        return Media(js=['wagtailadmin/js/blocks/chooser.js'])
-
-    def js_initializer(self):
-        return "Chooser('%s')" % self.definition_prefix
-
-    def render_form(self, value, prefix='', error=None):
-        if self.label:
-            return format_html(
-                """<label>{label}</label> <input type="button" id="{prefix}-button" value="Choose a thing">""",
-                label=self.label, prefix=prefix
-            )
+    def to_python(self, value):
+        if value is None or isinstance(value, self.target_model):
+            return value
         else:
-            return format_html(
-                """<input type="button" id="{prefix}-button" value="Choose a thing">""",
-                prefix=prefix
-            )
+            try:
+                return self.target_model.objects.get(pk=value)
+            except self.target_model.DoesNotExist:
+                return None
 
-    def value_from_datadict(self, data, files, prefix):
-        return 123
+    def get_prep_value(self, value):
+        if isinstance(value, self.target_model):
+            return value.id
+        else:
+            return value
+
+class PageChooserBlock(ChooserBlock):
+    @cached_property
+    def target_model(self):
+        from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page  # TODO: allow limiting to specific page types
+        return Page
+
+    @cached_property
+    def widget(self):
+        from wagtail.wagtailadmin.widgets import AdminPageChooser
+        return AdminPageChooser
+
+    def render_basic(self, value):
+        if value:
+            return format_html('<a href="{0}">{1}</a>', value.url, value.title)
+        else:
+            return ''
 
 
 # ===========
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/widgets.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/widgets.py
index 946f5987e..5c283b26e 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/widgets.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/widgets.py
@@ -53,6 +53,17 @@ class AdminChooser(WidgetWithScript, widgets.Input):
         except model_class.DoesNotExist:
             return None
 
+    def get_instance_and_id(self, model_class, value):
+        if value is None:
+            return (None, None)
+        elif isinstance(value, model_class):
+            return (value, value.pk)
+        else:
+            try:
+                return (model_class.objects.get(pk=value), value)
+            except model_class.DoesNotExist:
+                return (None, None)
+
     def value_from_datadict(self, data, files, name):
         # treat the empty string as None
         result = super(AdminChooser, self).value_from_datadict(data, files, name)
@@ -82,10 +93,10 @@ class AdminPageChooser(AdminChooser):
         self.target_content_type = content_type or ContentType.objects.get_for_model(Page)
 
     def render_html(self, name, value, attrs):
-        original_field_html = super(AdminPageChooser, self).render_html(name, value, attrs)
-
         model_class = self.target_content_type.model_class()
-        instance = self.get_instance(model_class, value)
+        instance, value = self.get_instance_and_id(model_class, value)
+
+        original_field_html = super(AdminPageChooser, self).render_html(name, value, attrs)
 
         return render_to_string("wagtailadmin/widgets/page_chooser.html", {
             'widget': self,
@@ -96,7 +107,11 @@ class AdminPageChooser(AdminChooser):
         })
 
     def render_js_init(self, id_, name, value):
-        page = Page.objects.get(pk=value) if value else None
+        model_class = self.target_content_type.model_class()
+        if isinstance(value, model_class):
+            page = value
+        else:
+            page = self.get_instance(model_class, value)
         parent = page.get_parent() if page else None
         content_type = self.target_content_type
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailimages/blocks.py b/wagtail/wagtailimages/blocks.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e06ef28d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailimages/blocks.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+from django.utils.functional import cached_property
+
+from wagtail.wagtailadmin.blocks import ChooserBlock
+
+class ImageChooserBlock(ChooserBlock):
+    @cached_property
+    def target_model(self):
+        from wagtail.wagtailimages.models import get_image_model
+        return get_image_model()
+
+    @cached_property
+    def widget(self):
+        from wagtail.wagtailimages.widgets import AdminImageChooser
+        return AdminImageChooser
+
+    def render_basic(self, value):
+        if value:
+            return value.get_rendition('original').img_tag()
+        else:
+            return ''
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailimages/widgets.py b/wagtail/wagtailimages/widgets.py
index e628ed4e9..e2e104d26 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailimages/widgets.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailimages/widgets.py
@@ -19,10 +19,9 @@ class AdminImageChooser(AdminChooser):
         self.image_model = get_image_model()
 
     def render_html(self, name, value, attrs):
+        instance, value = self.get_instance_and_id(self.image_model, value)
         original_field_html = super(AdminImageChooser, self).render_html(name, value, attrs)
 
-        instance = self.get_instance(self.image_model, value)
-
         return render_to_string("wagtailimages/widgets/image_chooser.html", {
             'widget': self,
             'original_field_html': original_field_html,