Hi, and welcome to Episode 54 of the Photography Explained Podcast. I’m your host, Rick, and in each episode, I will explain one photographic thing in plain English in less than 10 minutes without the irrelevant details. What I tell you is based on my lifetime of photographic experience, not Google.
Well, in this case, it is Google, because I didn’t know enough about this to give you a proper answer. So there we go. I said there might be the odd thing that I had to look up. Let’s get into this.
This episode was meant to be about medium and large format cameras, but I’m sticking to medium format cameras. Large format cameras, basically, are even bigger, and more specialised. I think doing medium format is pushing the boundaries of erm, where I am at the moment.
Okay, so like I say, I didn’t know this one that well, like I thought I did.
So here is my answer. Ribbit. (Ribbit – what was that I said for the transcript to come up with that – was there a frog in the room?).
A medium format camera is a camera with a sensor which is larger than a full-frame camera. A medium format camera takes photos with higher image quality, resolution, and detail. As well as having a larger sensor, the pixels are larger, meaning more light is captured giving increased tonal information. Medium format cameras capture a wider dynamic range than full-frame cameras.
Blimey, sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
You can listen to the episode here
Or keep on reading. Or do both. Entirely up to you!
Okay, so why am I talking about medium format cameras?
While I spend all this time saying that the camera does not matter, I want to finish off this series of episodes with what for me are the ultimate cameras.
Nothing wrong with dreaming. And when I say the camera does not matter, the camera does matter. I need to qualify this and justify why I’m talking about medium format cameras.
I shall do that at the end (of this episode).
Let’s get into the nuts and bolts of what they are first before I justify my choice.
So how big are medium format camera sensors?
Well, this was the Google bit – I didn’t know this off the top of my head which you won’t be surprised to hear.
- The Hasselblad 907 X 50C sensor is 43.8 x 32.9 millimetres
- The Fujifilm GFX 100 sensor is 43.8 x 32.9 millimetres
Yes, they’re the same.
Now, if we go back to previous episodes where I talked about full-frame, cropped sensor and Micro Four Thirds cameras.
- A full-frame camera sensor is 36 x 24 millimetres
- A cropped (Canon) sensor is 22.3 x 14.8 millimetres
- A Micro Four Thirds camera sensor is 18 x 13.5 millimetres.
If we just look at those again
- Medium format – 43.8 x 32.9mm
- Full frame 36 x 24mm
It’s quite a big difference. In fact when you compare the overall sizes
- Medium format – 43.8 x 32.9 = 1,401.02mm2
- Full frame – 36 x 24 = 864mm2
So a big difference.
Why just the sensor?
I’m starting with the sensor because the sensor is the bit around which the rest of the camera is built in my opinion. So that’s what determines the lenses, the focal length, everything basically starts with the size of the sensor.
How much do these things cost?
I did a(nother) quick Google search
- Hasselblad 907X 50C – snappy name Hasselblad (and the transcript recorded hustle blood) about £6,000.
- Fujifilm GFX 100 – snappier name – about £10,000.
Ouch. Now, that’s a lot of money.
And that’s just the beginning. If you think about it. Lenses will be more expensive because they’re scaled up as well because you’ve got to serve the bigger sensor format. So the lenses are bigger, well everything’s bigger.
Everything’s costing more than for full frame and smaller.
So, do I need one?
No, I do not.
Do I want one?
I really do now having looked into it.
Why do I want one of these things?
Because I do.
Have I ever used one? No, never.
The closest I have come to a Hasselblad camera is having my British Institute of Professional Photography portfolio review done by my mentor, Bryn Griffiths, a Hasselblad master (and thoroughly nice chap).
Check out Bryn Griffiths photos from Chernobyl – they are pretty amazing, and they were taken, I do believe with a Hasselblad camera so you can see what you get.
So what are the advantages of these cameras?
Higher quality photos, higher pixel density, larger pixels, you get more detail. Because of the larger sensor and the larger pixels. There’s more light being captured.
You get a better dynamic range. That’s the range of light from dark to light – more than on a full-frame camera.
Shallower depth of field, which is great for portraits.
I have a bit of an issue with the depth of field and sensor sizes. I just can’t get my head around it. But let’s not worry about that here.
I could go on but I won’t.
What is the point of this? Why have all this amazing stuff?
Why have such a big camera, big sensor, and massive resolution? One thing that’s not on the notes is that the bigger the sensor, the bigger the file that is created when you take a photo – quite significantly bigger. This will be an interesting one, which hopefully I will experience at some point.
Hasselblad send me a camera, please!!
What’s the point of this?
If you’re doing big prints, I mean, big big prints. We’re talking posters, advertising, hoardings, fine art prints, that kind of thing.
If you enlarge a micro four-thirds photo, you’ll (probably) start to lose detail sooner because the sensor is smaller. And the bigger the sensor (obviously there are other variables like the resolution, quality and all that other good stuff), in general terms, the bigger the prints you can get without losing any quality or detail.
And that’s what these medium format cameras give you – the ability to print (much) larger.
They also have their own look.
Let me explain that they have their own look. An image taken with a medium format camera has this distinctive look – I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s like an immersive photo. You’ve got endless detail. It’s almost detail you can get lost in, there’s just something about them which is different.
Now I come on to cropping.
If you take a photo with a larger sensor, if you need to, you can crop in more than you can with a photo taken with a smaller camera sensor because the image is bigger. It’s just a basic fact really.
Why don’t I use one?
I can’t afford one – not gonna lie to you. And I’d love to have one – not gonna lie to you.
For the work that I do, I don’t need one because I get fantastic quality from my full-frame Canon 6D.
Full-frame cameras are amazing. The lens quality on the L series lenses is amazing.
Other cameras are amazing
We mustn’t forget that Micro Four Thirds cameras give you amazing photos, and cropped sensor cameras give you amazing photos. Full-frame cameras give you amazing photos. You put a quality lens in front of them and you’ve got amazing (picture taking capability).
It’s more like levels of amazing than anything.
So a full-frame Canon 6D gives me fantastic photos, fantastic quality, fantastic detail, fantastic tones, and fantastic dynamic range. And everyone loves the images that I give them, which is why I work again and again for the same people.
- Nobody has ever said to me – what kind of camera do you use?
- Nobody has ever said to me – why don’t you use a medium format camera?
- Digression here. Nobody has ever said to me – Why don’t use a tilt-shift lens? It’s one for another time.
It’s just going up another level. I think it’s like, I guess like a stereo, a high-end stereo? Would you spend 10 grand on a pair of speakers? I wouldn’t, because my hearing is so poor, I won’t be able to tell the difference. But if that was your thing, then you would.
So it’s just levels to me of amazingness.
And there’s this intangible detail thing that you get with medium format, which I would, I’d love to have. I wish I wish I hadn’t done this. Now. I’m really regretting it because the more I talk about it and the more I look into it, the more I want one.
But let’s not forget, I do not need one – I want one. Big, big difference.
Right then my one-line summary.
Medium format cameras have larger sensors than full frame cameras that capture more detail, tones, and a wider dynamic range.
And I don’t need one, but I want one.
Okay, next episode, I was going to do large format cameras in this episode, and then I put them into the next episode. And then I thought, no I’m going to go on about iPhones and cameras. And I thought, Oh, that’s very contentious, and I want to continue the series.
So in order to get to the endpoint of what is a mirrorless camera, (it’s a strange term, isn’t it?) I need to go through what does DSLR mean?
This is Episode 55. What does DSLR mean? More baffling stuff explained in less than 10 minutes.
Okay, so that’s the next episode. Looking forward to that one because that goes right back to the beginning of my getting into photography.
Don’t worry, I’ll be brief – about 12 and three-quarter minutes.
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This episode was brought to you very much by the power of caffeine, it being early on a Monday morning.
I’ve been Rick McEvoy. Thanks again very much for listening to me and for giving me 12 minutes and 45 seconds of your valuable time again, and I’ll see you on the next episode.
Cheers from me Rick.
OK – that was the podcast episode.
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Thank you
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Cheers from me Rick
