The World of Expression Expanding from Film Size

While most people typically shoot with 35mm or digital cameras, the world of photography also includes larger formats known as “medium format cameras” and “large format cameras.” This time, we’ll introduce their appeal, focusing on **image quality (resolution, tonal range, and color rendering)**, in a way that’s easy for beginners to understand.

Comparing Film and Sensor Sizes

First, please take a look at this diagram.

• Large format 4×5 inches (approx. 120×100 mm)

• Medium format 6×7 (approx. 70×60mm)

• 35mm format (36×24mm)

• APS-C (23.6×15.6mm)

The larger the area of the film or sensor, the more information is recorded in the photograph. In other words, resolution (detail) and color gradation (smoothness) are significantly improved.

The Appeal of Medium Format Cameras

Medium format cameras excel at expressing “texture” in landscapes and portraits. While they don’t capture as much detail as large format cameras, they offer far greater mobility and make photography much more accessible and enjoyable.

• High-resolution rendering

  Even the leaves of trees and rock surfaces, which tend to lose detail in 35mm, can be faithfully reproduced down to the finest textures with medium format.

• Rich gradation

  From bright skies to the shadows of dark forests, smooth gradations can be expressed. This minimizes blown-out highlights and crushed shadows, resulting in natural-looking images.

• The depth and nuance of color

  The larger film area captures color transitions with greater subtlety. Particularly, skin tones and the gradations of dusk possess a beauty unique to medium format.

Benefits

• Even large prints maintain sharp resolution. Full-sheet size prints can be produced at sufficiently high resolution.

• Rich colors and gradations for a natural finish

• Soft and three-dimensional bokeh

Disadvantages

• The equipment is large and heavy.

• Film and development costs are high.

• Due to the shallow depth of field, focusing is critical.

The Appeal of Large Format Cameras

Large format cameras are a step above the rest. As such, they have absolutely no automatic functions. Everything—exposure, focus, loading and changing film—must be done manually. Yet they possess an appeal that outweighs this.

• Overwhelming sense of resolution

  From small trees along mountain ridges to every single window in city buildings, it can depict details finer than the naked eye.

• Remarkable gradation expression

  With monochrome film, the gradation from black to white is exceptionally rich, and the depth of shadow is overwhelming.

• The richness of color

• Landscape photographs taken with a large format camera give the impression that the colors are deep and capture even the “layers of air”.

• Free expression with the tilt function

• You have optical creative freedom to control the depth of field or correct building distortion.

Benefits

• World-leading resolution and color reproduction

• Free expression through tilt-shift manipulation

• Mastering a single piece as a work of art

Disadvantages

• The equipment is extremely large and heavy.

• Preparation and costs are involved. Each photo shoot costs several thousand yen.

• The number of sheets is limited, and failure is not an option.

Summary ― Choosing a Camera Based on Image Quality

• APS-C and 35mm: Perfect for casual shooting, snaps, and everyday use

• Medium Format: High resolution and rich color reproduction, ideal for fine art production and large prints

• Large Format: The pinnacle of photographic expression, offering ultimate resolution and tonal gradation.

Large-format and medium-format cameras are “inconvenient,” but the overwhelming appeal of their image quality remains something digital cameras cannot yet fully replace. However, due to reasons like the equipment being heavy, tripods being essential, shooting costs being ridiculously high (probably hundreds of times more than digital cameras), and the emergence of digital cameras with sufficiently high resolution, I believe the necessity for medium- and large-format cameras has diminished to an almost negligible degree.

I find the color tones and fine detail in medium and large format camera images captivating in a way digital photography cannot match. While I no longer carry a film camera these days, I have included photographs taken with medium and large format cameras on this site. Works shot with the PENTAX 67 medium format camera and the Horseman 4×5 large format camera are featured and categorized under tags of the same names. I encourage everyone to experience this “richness” for themselves at least once.

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