Medium Format has been around for a very long time.  If you were a professional photographer in the film era, medium format wasn’t an option.  For me, as a portrait and wedding photographer starting in the late 70’s, the quality of those big negatives from a Hasselblad or a Mamiya RB67 was a necessity - 35mm just didn’t cut it. 

I can remember frequently when I traveled to places such as Jackson Hole and Yellowstone I would take my medium format gear along. On more than one occasion another tourist would stop and admire my camera, and frequently ask the question “are you a professional?”  After confirming that I was, I rarely offered the disclaimer that my professional expertise was in portraits and weddings.

During the development of digital capture, medium format was still king.  dSLR’s were very expensive and didn’t have the resolution to compete with larger formats.  In my opinion the line was crossed when Canon introduced the original 1Ds camera, although cameras before then were approaching that threshold.  Many thought this was to be the end of medium format, but several companies were busy building backs that would fit on these cameras.  The main drawback was they weren’t self contained ... they required lugging heavy batteries or tethering to a computer when being used.

“Zabriskie Point”

Phase One 645 DF with Mamiya 55-100 at 90mm, 1/90th at f/9, ISO 50

Then Kodak introduced a new digital back which would fit on a traditional film medium format camera that was completely self contained.  While it was expensive, because of the size of the sensor the quality was rather remarkable, even for a 16mp camera.  The effective resolution was actually quite close to the 11mp Canon 1Ds - since it was a square sensor by the time you cropped it to a traditional format you were only using 11 to 12mp of the sensor area.  But the difference in quality between the Canon 1Ds and the Kodak DCS back was still significant.

Digital backs and medium format have progressed since then.  It seems each time dSLR makers up the ante and begin to approach the quality of medium format, better digital backs are introduced which again raise the bar.

Unfortunately since good dSLR’s can now produce images equal to and better than than medium format film, the need for medium format has dwindled.  It is rare to find a portrait photographer using a medium format camera system today, yet 10 years ago nearly all of them did. The commercial and fashion industries still have a fair amount of medium format users, but even some of them have moved to dSLR’s.  The small market size combined with the demand for perfection means the products are expensive and at this point the digital back business has consolidated and is pretty much down to two companies, PhaseOne/Mamiya and Imacon(Hasselblad).

“The Dune”

Phase One 645 DF with AF 28mm f/4.5 Aspherical, 1/13th at f/12, ISO 50

The capabilities of a medium format back is spectacular.  Even though I’ve been using medium format since that original Kodak DCS back, I haven’t written about them much ... they just aren’t a mainstream tool.  I moved from that back to a PhaseOne 22mp back, later upgraded to their p45 which is a 39mp back, and most recently to their p65+(59mp) complete with the Mamiya camera system which they now control and are working hard to improve. 

Many misunderstand all of the advantages of medium format compared to dSLR’s, assuming it’s just about resolution.  Don’t get me wrong ... resolution is probably the most significant advantage.  After all, 60 megapixels spread out on the very large 645 format is a  pretty good jump over the current crop of 21-24mp dSLR’s.  Considering the p65+ uses a CCD sensor without an anti-aliasing filter (blur filter) improved resolution goes beyond the ratio of megapixels.  But an often overlooked advantage is the p65+ captures 16 bit images, which provides greater detail especially in the shadows as well as improved dynamic range.  This provides the ability to record more subtle tonal gradations.

You can’t demonstrate the astounding quality differences of these precision photographic tools on a web page.  Sure, side by side comparisons with dSLR’s at 100% will show pretty clearly the difference in resolution, but to really appreciate these cameras it takes prints.  By using the best capture techniques, the best raw processing and image processing techniques, and then printing on the highest quality printers, prints from these cameras have a quality that is impossible to describe but visually apparent.

“Badwater Sunrise”

Phase One 645 DF with AF 55-100mm at 55mm, 0.7 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 50

I just returned from a workshop in Death Valley presented by PhaseOne called PODAS.  (Phase One Digital Artist Series).  They brought together four world class instructors with a very limited group of attendees for 4 days of shooting and instruction in Death Valley.  I’ve wanted to attend a workshop in Death Valley for quite some time just to help understand where the good places to shoot are, and this seemed like a great opportunity.  Each attendee was provided a PhaseOne DF camera including a p65+ back, and each group of 5 attendees had at their disposal a chance to use many of the lenses from the Mamiya/PhaseOne line, including the 28mm  wide angle up to the 300mm.

The experience was everything I had hoped for ... absolutely first class. All I had to do was get to the Vegas airport and they took care of everything else ... transportation, lodging, and food.  It was amazing to stand in a group photo knowing there were over thirty 60mp cameras in the picture ... over a million dollars worth of very high end photography gear.  Those in attendance were all very skilled photographers and the images in the final slide show (each attendee submitted 4) displayed a wide variety of shooting styles and a wonderful assortment of terrific images.

I won’t do a review on the system since most reading this don’t really need it or can’t justify it.  There is a nice review by Michael Reichmann on the Luminous Landscape site if you want to read more about the actual system ... “Moving Medium Format to the Next Level”.

“Artist’s Pallette”

Phase One 645 DF with AF 55-100mm at 105mm, 1 second at f/11, ISO 50

The bottom line is the PhaseOne system with the p65+ back is approaching the resolution abilities of the 8x10 view camera.  Anyone that has held a negative or transparency from one of these cameras, or seen a contact print or enlargement knows there is a quality about them that is hard to describe. I’ve always likened it to music.  We can only hear a certain range of frequencies and the higher frequencies by themselves are difficult to hear and quite annoying.  However, if these higher frequencies that result from harmonics in the more audible range of music is removed, the music becomes lifeless and not very pleasant.   I think this is similar to viewing extremely high quality images ... there is something about them that is hard to isolate and define but makes them “different”, and you don’t have to print them large to see it.  Of course if you do print them large the difference is astounding.

Many of the world’s finest landscape photographers now use medium format systems and PhaseOne backs for some or all of their work.  Bill Atkinson, Mark Dubovoy, Charles Cramer, Peter Lik, Joseph Holmes, Alain Briot are a few that come to mind.

Well, enough about that ... I just wanted an excuse to put up a few images from the trip.  These web jpegs are nice, but nothing compared to what I can get from the printer.

You really have to see prints to see what these cameras deliver.

“Golden Canyon”

Phase One 645 DF with AF 110-220mm at 110, 0.5 second at f/9, ISO 100