Using Medium Format Film in Photography

You have probably heard of “Medium Format” film before (sometimes written as “MF” by people on the internet), but what is it? Is it something to be scared of and ignore every time someone brings up the subject? No way! It’s quite a great format to work with, especially once you find out how much more resolution you’re getting out of a single frame!

Catch this: a single frame from a Medium Format (square) negative is 60mm x 60mm (usually written as a 6×6 or “6cm x 6cm”, but we’re labeling it in “millimeters” to avoid confusion in this article), while a 35mm negative is 24mm x 36mm. That means the Medium Format negative is roughly 4 times the image resolution of a 35mm negative.

If you’re transferring your Medium Format over to digital, you should be able to get at least 50 megapixels (7072 x 7072 pixels) of image resolution out of your image! In comparison, a Canon 5DM2 has a maximum resolution of 21 megapixels (the 5DM2 sensor is 5,616 x 3,744 pixels). But wait – think you want more megapixels? Medium Format doesn’t have to be square. You can get Medium Format film cameras that also shoot 60×45 mm (a 4:3 ratio), 60×70 mm, 60×90 mm, and 60×170 mm (the latter is for panoramic shots). Or you could bump up to large format photography (a discussion of large format will be in a future article).

It’s not only Medium Format, it’s film. Film has a wider dynamic range. What’s that? It’s the difference between what is completely overexposed and what it completely underexposed in the picture. Film can attain 14 stops of light range, while a Canon 5DM2 can only acquire about 8.5 stops. Getting hotspots on your subjects face when shooting digitally? That’s often due to your digital cameras smaller dynamic range…

Medium Format also makes a great picture because of the longer lenses. Why longer? In order to attain the same area (let’s say a medium shot of a person, from his belt buckle to his hair), from the same location (let’s say we’re in a confined room and have only one spot to set our tripod), the equivalent focal lengths to attain the same area of picture are typically longer, meaning much less distortion. This is the real place where Medium Format shines the brightest. A typical portrait lens for a 35mm is about 80mm, but a typical portrait lens for a Medium Format camera is about 120mm! We’ve all heard the terms “crop factor 1.3x”, “crop factor 1.6x”, “crop factor 2.0x”, and so on. This is usually associated with formats smaller than the average 24mm x 36mm of 35mm film, like APS-H, APS-C, and 4/3rds. For instance, the subject area of an 80mm lens on a 35mm or full frame camera is considered equivalent to the subject area of a 50mm lens on an APS-C. Basically, 80mm / 1.6x = 50mm. If you’re figuring for a 1.3x APS-H sensor, like on the Canon 1DM4, then it’s 80mm / 1.3x = 61.5mm (grab a zoom, because you won’t find that focal length in a prime lens from Canon). A 4/3rds system is 80mm / 2.0x = 40mm. Note that using a 40mm, you’re getting some wide-angle distortion, whether you like it or not.

So, let’s say the room we’re shooting in is a little tighter than normal. In order to get the area we need from our Medium Format camera, we have to use a wider lens – let’s saw we can only use an 80mm lens on our Medium Format camera to get the subject’s belt buckle and hair in the shot. To get an equivalent area of coverage, the 35mm would have to use a 50mm lens. The APS-C would have to use a 32mm lens. The 4/3rds camera would have to use a 25mm lens. At this point the APS-C and 4/3rds cameras are going to be getting serious wide-angle distortion. I think you can see where this is going.

A 50mm lens on a Medium Format camera is considered a wide angle lens, but it’s not considered to be distorted. And for all of the above tests, I can use the exact same lenses (with adapters) to do my tests. Remember, a 50mm lens is a 50mm lens is a 50mm lens. Some are made for smaller cameras, some are made for larger. A smaller camera can use a larger camera’s lens (which is bigger and heavier), but a larger camera usually can’t use a smaller camera’s lens (which is smaller and lighter).

Coming soon: We’ll discuss the look of Medium Format in comparison to the look of APS-C and full frame. The difference may startle you!

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