Some new camera gear

For some time now, I’ve been pondering whether or not to upgrade my studio camera (a 35mm equivalent DSLR). And now I’ve done it – and purchased a medium format body & lens.

Medium format cameras have long been used by professional photographers mainly for landscape and studio work, and the perceived benefits have been the subject of great debate on internet forums – even more so with the advent of mirrorless cameras. The main selling point of medium format is the size of the photosites on the (larger) sensor that captures those all-important megapixels. The bigger the photosites, the more light (or data) the sensor collects.

Some say that medium format has a ‘look’ that makes it distinctive and refers to aesthetic qualities such as depth-of-field, sharpness and colour – but this is all subjective and is difficult to prove given the inherent variations in comparative camera systems.

This is all something that I’ll be investigating over the coming months. I have used 35mm cameras (film followed by digital) ever since I became seriously interested in photography in my teens. Medium format was just a dream because of the relative expense of the systems. Now it’s time to fulfil that dream, and I’ll report back with my thoughts.