I began with film photography as most people do, with a 35mm SLR camera. The first one I ever shot was an Olympus OM-1 purchased by my father before I was born. I love that camera and still shoot with it today. It is light, small and the lenses that are available for it are spectacular in quality. After a bit of time, I wanted to try a larger format. Much like in the digital world I began chasing megapixels, I began looking for better image quality by moving up in film format.
I purchased a Hasselblad that I love and I thought I was in heaven. This camera felt solid, large and powerful. A serious camera for a serious format. The viewfinder gave everything a 3-D effect and I was eager to try to capture some of that magic. In terms of image quality I had more than four times the detail that I was able to capture on 35mm. This was fantastic, until it wasn't. Let me explain.
Changing film format is not the same thing as moving to a larger digital sensor. Everything changes when you move from 35mm to medium format. Now that I have 7 MF cameras I can say with certainty that everything must change when you change formats. Your perspective must change, composition changes, and the time you must dedicate to your craft to be able to get a nice image increases.
On a typical 35mm camera, you will buy a roll of film which will give you 36 exposures. You will load your film, walk out and start shooting to your hearts content. You will waste film, not a bad thing to be honest, you will shoot from the hip, you will take random shots of nothing, until the shots start becoming something. This is a wonderful journey for photographers to make. There is still nothing I like more than taking a walk in London, Paris or New York with a 35mm film camera in one hand and a bag of film in the other. It is the closest thing to paradise I have found.
Medium format is different. To begin with you will spend twice as much for a 120 film roll. It will give you around 12 exposures. Loading the film take 2.5 hands, which means you need to take your time when doing it. You will begin by burning through a few rolls of film, and then realize that this is a very expensive way to get good images. You will then start to plan your shots, think about what you are after, prepare the scene before taking the picture. Gone are the days of being a light hearted, foot loose and carefree photographer. Now you must visualize your shot, measure your proper exposure, contemplate how to compose given a square format (on most MF cameras), look for people who can potentially get into your shot, take careful aim and fire before your arm falls off from all the weight.
Is that process enjoyable? Well yes, in its own way it is. You will get many more keepers and you will begin to approach your photography in a very serious way. But you will turn your back on street, sports or animal photography. MF is just too slow. It is a contemplative format where you must think first, re-think second and prepare for your shot third.
I purchased a Hasselblad that I love and I thought I was in heaven. This camera felt solid, large and powerful. A serious camera for a serious format. The viewfinder gave everything a 3-D effect and I was eager to try to capture some of that magic. In terms of image quality I had more than four times the detail that I was able to capture on 35mm. This was fantastic, until it wasn't. Let me explain.
Changing film format is not the same thing as moving to a larger digital sensor. Everything changes when you move from 35mm to medium format. Now that I have 7 MF cameras I can say with certainty that everything must change when you change formats. Your perspective must change, composition changes, and the time you must dedicate to your craft to be able to get a nice image increases.
On a typical 35mm camera, you will buy a roll of film which will give you 36 exposures. You will load your film, walk out and start shooting to your hearts content. You will waste film, not a bad thing to be honest, you will shoot from the hip, you will take random shots of nothing, until the shots start becoming something. This is a wonderful journey for photographers to make. There is still nothing I like more than taking a walk in London, Paris or New York with a 35mm film camera in one hand and a bag of film in the other. It is the closest thing to paradise I have found.
Medium format is different. To begin with you will spend twice as much for a 120 film roll. It will give you around 12 exposures. Loading the film take 2.5 hands, which means you need to take your time when doing it. You will begin by burning through a few rolls of film, and then realize that this is a very expensive way to get good images. You will then start to plan your shots, think about what you are after, prepare the scene before taking the picture. Gone are the days of being a light hearted, foot loose and carefree photographer. Now you must visualize your shot, measure your proper exposure, contemplate how to compose given a square format (on most MF cameras), look for people who can potentially get into your shot, take careful aim and fire before your arm falls off from all the weight.
Is that process enjoyable? Well yes, in its own way it is. You will get many more keepers and you will begin to approach your photography in a very serious way. But you will turn your back on street, sports or animal photography. MF is just too slow. It is a contemplative format where you must think first, re-think second and prepare for your shot third.
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Most MF cameras shoot in square format. The film is 6cm by 6cm. Some will shoot wider as in 6cm by 9cm which means you will get fewer exposures per roll. Some shoot 6cm by 4.5cm giving you more exposures per roll. But by and large, MF shoots in square format.
This poses a composition challenge that is not easy to overcome. We are used to seeing the world in a wide perspective and to limit our view to a square is very difficult. I find that the best options are to either center your subject, a traditional headshot portrait or layer your scene. The picture to the left shows a composition on a Pentacon Six where I have elements in the foreground, middle ground and background. |
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Regardless of your solution, you will struggle with new composition concepts. If you shoot it too long, moving back to 35mm will cause a similar challenge as you adjust to the change in perspective.
MF cameras are usually much larger and heavier than 35mm cameras. The negative is larger so you need more camera built around the film. This means that you need a larger camera bad to put it in. And it will weigh you down. Again this is not the camera you toss into your backpack just in case. You pull out a MF camera after you have given your subject a great deal of thought. You have packed specially for the occasion and have planned accordingly. |
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