DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Shooting Brenizer method portraits on medium format film to simulate a large format look

Feb 20, 2022 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

YouTube video

The Brenizer method has been around for a while. In fact, it’s been around since long before it was called the “Brenizer method” – he was just the guy who made it popular so the name stuck. Essentially it’s a way to simulate the look of medium format film when shooting a small sensor camera like an APS-C or full-frame DSLR or mirrorless camera.

It’s a popular and well-known technique these days, but what happens when you shoot it with medium format film? Will it look like it was shot on large format? That’s what photographer Steve Schultz wanted to find out, so he shot some with his Mamiya 645 AF medium format film camera to see what happened.

The Brenizer method essentially involves shooting with a longer focal length and a wide aperture and creating multiple images that you can then stitch together in post. This is instead of simply shooting with a wider lens that typically wouldn’t provide the shallow depth of field that you’re after.

When doing this with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, and if it’s done well, it creates that wide angle of view and shallow relative depth of field that’s synonymous with medium format. Steve’s theory is that if you shoot it on medium format film, scan it in and sitch those images together, then it should allow you to get an even shallower depth of field for a given field of view. From the results Steve shows in the video, it certainly seems to have worked – on at least some of the shots – giving the portraits that large-format look and feel that even 645 medium format is too small to create on a single frame alone.

Depending on the lens you’re using, you can still get a more large-format look with a full-frame DSLR or mirrorless camera, but you’re typically going to need some very wide aperture lenses and you’ll be shooting a lot more images to stitch together than you would for the typical medium format look. The images should offer some pretty incredible detail when they’re all assembled, though, especially given the resolution of today’s cameras!

When it comes to film, though, I think I’d rather just shoot large format than to try to simulate the look with medium format and a bunch of post-work. Cool to see it being done, though.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

A primer on shooting 35mm, medium format and large format film How to simulate a medium format camera with a DSLR Get that 4×5 large format look by photographing the ground glass of a large format camera Shooting a 300MP photo of a Hotrod – full frame digital vs large format film

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Film Photography, large format

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« How to build your visual identity as a photographer
NONS SL660 – Medium format Instax camera with a built-in frame-filling adapter for 35mm SLR lenses »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • The smallest full-frame anamorphic ever – SIRUI Saturn review
  • Crank it up! (Or how I stopped fearing the noise monster)
  • How I converted a 103-year-old Zeiss lens to autofocus M-mount
  • Adobe Stock sharpens rules over AI images illustrating real events
  • You will finally be able to use Nikon screw-drive AF lenses on mirrorless cameras

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy