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'Affordable Medium Format' - Fuji Film and Hasselblad


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11 replies to this topic

#1
TheGlobalCitizen

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I own predominately Nikon cameras yet I love the experience of shooting with quirky and different-to-me kinds of equipment such as the Sony QX1 and my F-mount Petzval lens. When Hasselblad announced the X1D I remember gleaning through the specs, marketing and perspectives third party sources were dishing out. Intrigued by a camera with a unique shooting experience through its form factor and immediate touch screen controls. Then the camera was released, although it wasn't a bust, it really wasn't what I expected. I remembered after Hasselblad announced their budget medium format, so did Fuji Film three months later and I started to look into the GFX 50S - the problem is not much was covered on that camera at the time of release. It cost some $2500 less than the X1D and back in September of last year Fuji Film announced the GFX 50R and GFX 100. Do you think these will impact the market as both brands are pushing the megapixel game with yet to be released 100 megapixel cameras?



#2
Fletch

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Medium format is a much smaller market than DSLR.  I played around with a Mamiya 645J that I picked up at a pawn shop way back in the film days. I wasn't patience enough to really learn how to use it properly and ended up selling it after a few months.



#3
Nikon Shooter

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Affordable?   :D 

Then, not the Trichromatic XF iQ4!



#4
TheGlobalCitizen

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Affordable?   :D 

Then, not the Trichromatic XF iQ4!

 That's why the topic reads 'Affordable Medium Format,' in a way to say it isn't priced like a Fuji Film X-T3 but nor are these in the realm of a Hasselblad H6D or PhaseOne XF systems.



#5
TheGlobalCitizen

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Medium format is a much smaller market than DSLR.  I played around with a Mamiya 645J that I picked up at a pawn shop way back in the film days. I wasn't patience enough to really learn how to use it properly and ended up selling it after a few months.

What would say made it so different that you weren't willing to spend the time to get to know it?



#6
Fletch

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It about was 39 years ago, I don’t remember a whole lot about what my problems were but the biggest problem was dealing with the changing of the film. When I got the camera it only came with one film back, and no one in the area had spare film backs for sale and I didn’t feel like going into Boston . At the time I was using a 35 mm that had auto mode as well as full manual And I probably rarely ever got out of auto.

#7
Merco_61

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The 645J back was awful. Difficult to load and easy to get things wrong. Instead of interchangeable film backs, it had a quite flimsy film insert. The Pentax and Bronica 6x4.5 cameras were much more userfriendly, even if they didn't have interchangeable backs either if I remember correctly.



#8
TheGlobalCitizen

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How do you feel about the future of digital medium format? It seems like although the files are digital, shooting with them still seem slow.



#9
Fletch

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I've thought about renting one just to try it out for the panoramas that I like to do and see if it is worth looking in to buying.  As to the future, I believe there will be a small market for them in the advertising industry as they need the larger format for their billboards.  The newer High MP DSLR cameras can match the MP quality but you can only stretch a photo so far.



#10
Merco_61

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IMO the crop medium format systems offer too little advantage over the high-res FX 35 mm sensors. The full 645 sensor cameras are still too expensive.

 

The slow operation can be an advantage as seen with the Rollei SL66 and the Mamiya RZ in the analog days. Slow and deliberate is not a disadvantage in a studio or landscape setting as the results usually are better, which lets you charge more for your work.



#11
TheGlobalCitizen

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I've thought about renting one just to try it out for the panoramas that I like to do and see if it is worth looking in to buying.  As to the future, I believe there will be a small market for them in the advertising industry as they need the larger format for their billboards.  The newer High MP DSLR cameras can match the MP quality but you can only stretch a photo so far.

I am looking at renting a GFX sometime soon just to see what it is like in person too. Can't knock on it until you try it.

As for high megapixel full frame DSLR cameras, you're right, they are fantastic but those images can be taken so far. That's what prompted me to start this topic.

 

IMO the crop medium format systems offer too little advantage over the high-res FX 35 mm sensors. The full 645 sensor cameras are still too expensive.

 

The slow operation can be an advantage as seen with the Rollei SL66 and the Mamiya RZ in the analog days. Slow and deliberate is not a disadvantage in a studio or landscape setting as the results usually are better, which lets you charge more for your work.

The advantages of the cameras like the Fuji GFX 50S and 50R seem so minor in comparisons to the likes of the D850/Z7 and A7RIII, yet the format for me is so intriguing. Maybe because it seems like it is in its infancy where I wonder what are the theoretical limits of the 35mm sensors are. I am sure engineers will be able to extract more megapixels but at what cost?



#12
TheGlobalCitizen

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Inside look from the CP+ show!

 

CP+ 2019: Hands-on with the high-res, high-performance flagship Fujifilm GFX 100