Just as full-frame DSLRs and mirrorless cameras have become the norm, and APS-C sensors are now considered a more compact option for enthusiasts, medium format is finally coming into view as a potential option for even the non-professional photographer. Medium format options are shrinking in size, becoming easier and less intimidating to use, and are more affordable than ever, compared to flagship medium format options whose costs rival that of a new car. After years of slowly inching into the mainstream perspective, will medium format finally gain a legitimate foothold in an amateur-driven camera market?
Recently bolstered by enticing options from Hasselblad and Fujifilm, and seeing its original push by Pentax with the 645D and 645Z, medium format systems have become viable options for many photographers for whom full-frame is just not enough. Medium format is also gaining popularity among those photographers making the late transition from shooting film, as well as for those looking to own a professional system as opposed to renting medium format systems on a job-to-job basis. As medium format trickles its way into more working shooters’ bags, it’s inevitable that it will also eventually find its way into enthusiasts’ bags, too.
Pentax led the charge in bringing medium format to the masses with the 645D, which was released in 2010 and resembled the previous 645-system efforts from the film era. Unique among many medium format film systems, the Pentax 645, 645N, and 645N II favored a closed, contained system—opposed to more modular designs involving removable film backs and numerous parts and accessories to customize the camera functions. Pentax’s creations, instead, were championed for their simplicity and ease of use. This philosophy was carried over to the company’s first medium format digital camera, the 645D, and is seen again with the 645Z, which was released in mid-2014. Compared again to other popular medium format systems, Pentax had a uniquely closed system that kept the intimidation factor of medium format down. The camera handles like any other DSLR, except for the fact it is a good deal larger, with its 51.4MP 44 x 33mm CMOS sensor, compared to the 36 x 24mm size of full-frame cameras. The 645Z and D also gained popularity through their legacy support of older Pentax 645-series lenses, making it an enticing option for Pentax 645N owners to make the switch to medium format digital.
Along similar lines, however appealing in very different ways, Hasselblad also released the CFV-50c digital in mid-2014, and it, too, carries huge appeal to legacy users. The key similarity to Pentax 645Z is the use of a 50MP 44 x 33MP CMOS sensor, but beyond that, these couldn’t be more different options for those making the move to medium format. The CFV-50c is, obviously, just a digital back, and requires a camera system for use. Just from its looks, you can tell this back was made to be used with Hasselblad’s most famous 500-series V-system camera bodies, which can now solely be found on the used market. The back keeps the same key design traits of these camera bodies, including the chromed edges and leatherette covering over the majority of the back; however, instead of being an A12 back or A16 of the past, this is a forward-thinking digital back fitted with one of the best image sensors currently available. This back clearly appeals to those traditionalists or fans of the Hasselblad V-system, and sits in a unique position of appealing to those coming from film, those who still own a Hasselblad, and even those who have always wanted to experience the technical brilliance of the 500-series cameras, but couldn’t justify investing in a previously film-only system.
Moving forward to 2016, a shift is already beginning to happen in the new consumer-appealing medium format market, with the introduction of the first mirrorless camera systems. Much like the transition that is still working itself out between smaller format mirrorless and DSLR cameras, the appeal of a mirrorless system is its smaller form factor, whereas the appeal of a DSLR is its mirror, which allows for easier implementation of phase-detection focusing systems, as well as the use of an optical, through-the-lens viewfinder. Regardless of which way you swing, mirrorless is certainly here to stay, and Hasselblad was the first to bring mirrorless to medium format, with the X1D-50c. Featuring the same sensor as the CFV-50c, the X1D-50c fits the large-sized sensor into a very slim, compact frame compared to any other medium format option. The body features a minimalist, very Hasselblad-esque design, which is fitted with a 2.36m-dot electronic viewfinder, rear touchscreen LCD, and a new lens mount and lens system—Hasselblad X—was created for this new camera, with the lenses featuring a leaf shutter for flash sync at all shutter speeds, up to 1/2000-second. Three lenses will be available at the launch—a 90mm f/3.2, a 45mm f/3.5, and a 30mm f/3.5—the X1D-50c will also accept the entire system H-series of lenses via the dedicated XH Adapter.
Announced later in 2016, Fujifilm is also making its debut in the digital medium format arena with the mirrorless GFX 50S. This camera, which is set to be released in early 2017, doesn’t quite have the same slim form of the Hasselblad X1D, nor the leaf shutter lenses, but does have a decidedly more modular design with a removable electronic viewfinder and, due to the use of a camera-based focal plane shutter, will be able to accept a wide array of legacy lenses via lens adapters. Fujifilm also created a new lens mount for this system—the G mount–and will be releasing six dedicated lenses over the course of the system’s first year; ranging from the wide-angle 23mm f/4 to the 120mm f/4 macro, with four other primes and a zoom in between. The camera, like all of these similar options, also makes use of a 51.4MP 44 x 33mm CMOS sensor, and will offer the unique ability to shoot in various aspect ratios outside of the native 4:3, including film-based medium format classics such as 1:1, 6:7, and 6:17, as well as 4:5 and 3:2.
With these four current options, and with lots of room to continue pushing this new genre of cameras, medium format is making a big push to be a system for more than just the high-end working professional. In similar, but oppositional, fashion to smartphones cutting into the compact point-and-shoot market due to their convenience, medium format is taking aim at the high-resolution full-frame market with the offering of an even larger sensor size to produce a truly distinct and certainly beloved image quality. Medium format still has some catching up in terms of speed and multimedia versatility to make it a viable option for all working photographers nowadays, but for studio, landscape, portrait, wedding, and lifestyle photographers, or really anyone looking for that distinct smoothness only medium format can currently provide, the opportunity to step into a medium format system is becoming a very real possibility.
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