The Newbies’ Guide to Choosing a Medium Format Film Camera

I decided to write this because the topic of how to choose a medium format film camera seems to be pretty popular these days, especially for those moving up from 35mm but not ready for large-format films. People ask “What camera?” and sadly, the answers are boiling down to “Get this one, because I use it and what’s good for me is definitely gonna be good for you,” which, I think we can agree, is bullshit.

Disclaimer: You don’t have to agree with anything I put down here.

Disclaimer 2: I’m talking about interchangeable lens SLR cameras here. You can apply some of those principles to selecting a twin lens reflex or a rangefinder, but you’d probably be better off asking someone who uses those types of cameras.

Let’s begin, then.

What to consider when choosing a medium format film camera?

There are several choices you have to make when you choose a medium format camera. I’ll list them in order of impact on the way you are gonna be shooting.

1. What’s your light?

This is paramount. What kind of lighting are you going to be using in your photography? There are two options – available/constant lighting, or strobe/flash lighting.

The choice here is between cameras with focal plane shutters and cameras with leaf shutters. There are pros and cons to both of those. A focal plane shutter camera usually means faster lenses, which allows for shallower depth of field and better low-light capabilities, and better maximum shutter speeds, up to 1/4000th of a second. What you sacrifice though, is sync time.

Focal plane cameras have atrociously long sync times, as long as 1/30th of a second with Pentax 67, for example. A leaf shutter usually gives you great sync speeds (1/500th of a second is the norm). But leaf shutters are small, and they normally cannot be used in fast lenses. So what you sacrifice for a leaf shutter is maximum aperture, which is important if your primary reason for getting into medium-format photography is a shallower depth of field.

Portrait lenses with leaf shutters are usually around f4.0-f4.5*. This is enough to get a shallow-ish DOF, but not enough to really show what medium format is about. There are cameras that work with both types of shutters, like the Hasselblad 200 series, for example. Usually, they’re expensive, but if versatility is your thing, you might want to give them a look.

*With a notable exception of Rolleiflex’s Schneider Kreuznach 180 2.8, which is possibly the biggest aperture leaf shutter medium format portrait focal length prime. It’s still limited to 1/500th of a second maximum shutter speed though, which means problems shooting in daylight wide open.

2. Lens lineup and availability

Most of the camera systems have pretty decent lineups, but before you buy, better be sure that the lens you want for what you’re gonna be shooting is readily available and within your price range. Pay not much heed to “the lenses for this system are super sharp and awesome” bullshit. Most medium format lenses are more than sharp enough due to the larger sensor size, making them great for portrait and landscape photography alike. In case you didn’t know, the bigger the film, the less important is the super-duper quality of the lenses for final sharpness. Yes, there are better and worse lenses, but even shabbiest Russian lenses are capable of great results, so no worries here.

3. Handheld/tripod

When shooting handheld, what you want to take into consideration is the weight and size, especially if you want to lug the camera body around for longer periods of time, and ergonomics, which is basically how easy the camera is to hold and operate at the same time. A compact camera usually means better here, therefore you might want to take a look at 645 or 6×6 cameras.

When shooting from a tripod, weight and size are largely irrelevant (provided you have a tripod sturdy enough). What gets more important is workflow – easy access to things like remote port, sync port or hot shoe if you’re shooting with flash, good implementation of mirror lockup (for example, the Mamiya RB67 has the most bizarre and quirky MLU I’ve ever seen on any camera), big knobs for operating the camera’s functions, etc.

4. Known problems

Each camera has its own set of problems you will encounter sooner or later. Keep in mind most of the gear on the market has been heavily used, usually by a pro photographer. And some cameras, mostly East German and Russian, can be problematic right out of the factory that made them. But even the best gear wears down in the end.

So, when you are buying a medium format camera that’s twice your age, you might want to test it first. And before you cough up the dough, read up on the Internet about typical problems with the camera you want to buy and test for those problems first. You might wanna check up on camera repair labs near your place, because most of those cameras won’t be serviced by their maker anymore. It’s good if the camera you are buying was serviced recently, although sadly, some sellers will lie about it.

5. And finally, the price

I’m not putting a number before this point, because this particular criterion is very personal. Price might be no object for some, paramount for others. Bear in mind that usually, you get what you pay for, so you might expect more expensive cameras to be better built and better handling than cheap ones (there are exceptions though, especially if the camera you want to buy has a cult following). Again, “you get what you pay for” rule is particularly true of Russian gear.

How to choose medium format film camera: Five options

To give you some idea about how to judge a camera by these points, take a look at the photo above (this isn’t by any means all of the medium format cameras I’ve owned or used, those are just the ones I had at hand at the time). Those are just examples of using the info that’s readily available on the web to get an idea of whether a particular model suits your needs.

There are five medium format cameras there, each with its own features, handling, and aspect ratio, and from left to right they go like this:

Pentacon SIX TL

This is a focal plane camera, with atrocious sync time (about 1/25th of a second), so mostly useful for available light shooting.

The lens lineup is decent, with most everything you might want to use, and one lens that shines – Sonnar 180 2.8. There is only one other medium format lens of this particular focal lenght and speed, Schneider-Kreuznach Tele-Xenar 180mm/f2.8, way more expensive, so if portrait is your thing and you’re thin on budget, you might want to look no further.

It handles well, like a slightly bigger SLR with simple and readily available controls. It lacks MLU, and the mirror packs quite a slap, so short exposure times preferable.

It has a lot of problems. Despite being built like a brick, it breaks easily. It is prone to overlapping frames, so be careful. You also have to be careful when winding it, because otherwise you might damage the mechanism. It needs CLA from time to time. You might want to check for front/back focus, especially if the camera was not used a lot, because straight from the factory they were usually off.

It is very cheap, so if price is the most important factor it might be what you’re lookin’ for.

Hasselblad 500c/m

Leaf shutter, so slow lenses, great sync time.

Perfect lens lineup, with lenses of every focal length and great quality, albeit slow.

Handles well, has well implemented MLU, no hot shoe. Can easily be shot handheld and from tripod. It has some quirks, so read the manual. Nothing particularly annoying, but gets some use to, especially if you’ve never handled one before.

The main problem is light seal in the back which has to be replaced from time to time. It’s easy to do, the seal is cheap so no biggie. Mostly the camera just goes forever.
Price for camera is reasonable. The lenses can be expensive though, so be sure you can afford what you need.

Fuji GX680

Leaf shutter, good sync time. Has fast-ish lenses though (f3.2) so it kinda mixes the best of both worlds, allowing you to capture images with a shallower depth of field. But with the fastest shutter speed of 1/400th of a second it’s hard to utilise those fast-ish lenses in daylight.

Lens lineup is very good, with lots to choose from, and the unique ability to make every lens into tilt/shift.

It’s definitely made for tripod work, though some people have been shootin’ it handheld. I’d not advise that though, unless you are really strong of biceps, as it’s a heavy and unwieldy piece of gear. On tripod however, it handles perfectly, with every control readily available, big knobs, big buttons.

There are three versions of this camera (four if you count the “S” version, but you don’t wanna count it. It’s a waste of money). There are two main problems. One is the battery.

You need to be sure that you buy one with working battery, or you know how to get a replacement. This can be done in many ways and the Internet will help you. The other problem is, this camera is nonserviceable. If it breaks, it stays broken. Fuji doesn’t service them, and good luck finding an independent service that will take it on.

Price is reasonable. Not particularly cheap, but not very expensive either, both camera and lenses.

Mamiya RB67

Mamiya RB67 offers leaf shutter, slow lenses, good sync.

The Mamiya RB lineup could be better, so check if there’s everything you need. Lenses are very good, sharp and well corrected, but did I mention they’re SLOW? They are.

Handles horribly. Very big and heavy (do not be deceived by the photo where it stands next to the GX680 – it’s actually heavier, because it’s mostly metal, whereas Fuji is plastic), definitely for tripod, though of course there will be many who’ll tell you otherwise. Even on tripod it’s not a straightforward operation camera. Quirky MLU, separate film advance and shutter cocking, the need for manual bellow extension exposure compensation make this camera a bitch to operate. You have to really get used to it.

The only problem I ever encountered (aside from operator errors stemming from complicated workflow) was that the film back developed a light leak. You might want to check it before you buy.

Price is very reasonable. Both camera and lenses can be had very cheap, so if price is a factor, and you can live with the quirks, this is serious contender.

Mamiya 645AFD

Focal plane shutter with semi usable sync speed of 1/125th of a second. It might be used in a studio in a pinch I guess, though mostly it’s an outdoor camera, with a respectable 1/4000th of a second maximum shutter speed.

Lens lineup is pretty complete, though it doesn’t have any outstanding piece of glass.

Handles very good. Imagine a modern SLR, only bigger. Has lots of controls, the PASM is there too. AF is primitive and not very reliable. Beautiful viewfinder, one of the best I’ve used. Might as well want to utilise this and shoot in manual focus mode.

Biggest problem of this camera is that it’s very failure prone. I’ve had three, all of them developed some problems, two with shutter, one with AF drive.

It’s expensive for what it offers. There are cheaper alternatives, with more flexibility and durability at the price.

Other great medium format options include Bronica cameras. If you’d like a digital back and want to go for digital cameras that aren’t mirrorless or DSLR’s, you can go for Hasselblad or the Fujifilm GFX series… But that’s a story for another day.

Choosing medium format film camera: A recap

If you want to choose a medium format camera, and don’t know how to determine if it’s a good choice for your needs, scour the web for the following info:

1. Check whether the type of shutter (focal plane or leaf) fits your lighting and DOF preferences—especially if you’re considering moving up to large format one day.
2. Check whether it comes with lenses you need to get photos you want.
3. Check if it’s made for tripod, or handheld work.
4. Check for known problems and fixes. If possible run a roll through the camera you want to buy.
5. Last but not least, check whether you can afford it.

Good luck :)

FAQ – Choosing a medium format film camera

---