Medium Format camera guide

Medium format cameras are a type of camera that use larger film than those found in traditional 35mm cameras. The larger film allows for a number of benefits over their smaller counterparts, making medium format cameras a popular choice for professional photographers and keen amateurs.

While a standard 35mm negative measures 24x36mm, two popular medium format negative sizes are 6x4.5 (60x45mm) and 6x7 (60x70mm) which represent a big increase over 35mm.

Another advantage of medium format cameras is their ability to produce shallow depth of field. The larger film allows for a shallower field of focus, which can be used to create images with a beautiful, soft bokeh effect. This is particularly useful for portrait photographers, as it allows them to isolate their subject and create a more professional-looking image.

This means that medium format cameras are larger than 35mm, and need different lenses.

Medium format cameras tend to be simpler both mechanically and electronically, so you will not for example find a large range of exposure modes when compared to a modern film SLR. This makes medium format the purest form of photography, and you will understand the joy of carefully composing your image to create a photo of exceptional quality.

 

To provide extra flexibility, medium format cameras are generally very modular, so you can interchange parts of the camera to customise to your needs.

For example, the following can often be interchanged (depending on the camera model):

Film back: you can remove the box that holds the film (often mid-film) and load a box containing a different film. This would enable you to switch between black and white and colour film. You can also load different sizes of film.

Finder: the simplest type of finder is 'waist level' finder whereby you will look down into the camera. While simple this provides an unparalleled clear view of your image. You can switch this for a prism finder, whereby you look into the back of the camera (similar to an SLR camera). Different models of prism may have automatic exposure control built in, or may be manual. 

Focusing screen: when looking through a camera lens, you will generally be seeing the lens image projected on to a frosted glass screen, which allows you to focus. This can often be interchanged to different versions, which can help focusing an composition in specific situations.

The major brands of medium format camera are:

  • Mamiya
  • Bronica
  • Hasselblad
  • Fuji
  • Pentax (645 range)