Photography Blog

General. Medium Format cameras are often viewed as a big step up from 35mm format cameras. They are certainly the domain of the serious photographer, whether professional, aspiring professional or experienced amateur. Price is often the most significant factor that stops people stepping up to this format, with fully featured, automatic cameras regularly coming in at well over £2000. Before you are put off for life though, at the other end of the market, for around £200, you can find an entry level camera. Obviously cameras in this price range will not be overloaded with all the latest state of the art features, but you will be able to explore the medium format world. For many former aspiring professionals the step up to this format has led to increases in income quickly offsetting the initial expenditure. Benefits.If you wish to sell your photographs in the commercial world then you should seriously consider a medium format camera. Your chances of success are considerably higher when you are able to present to art directors and picture editors the larger slides and negatives produced by these cameras. It is easy to understand why when you consider the fact that the negative size is typically 350% larger that a 35mm negative. Not only do the images look more impressive, but because of the level of details that can be captured in a Medium Format image, enlargements are of a far greater quality. If you are a picture editor this is exactly the level of quality that you demand. Components.Medium Format cameras have four major components. All components are interchangeable. Although it should be noted that components are not always compatible across different manufactures. There has been a move towards lighter components making Medium Format cameras easier to use for work out in the field. A number of the features now available also provide these cameras with some of the functionality you have come to expect from an SLR. The Body.The body is the control centre and forms the hub of the camera. Once the components are fitted to the body you are ready to start shooting. The body has a maximum format size that it is capable of producing, so when you see a camera quoted as a 6×6, then the camera can produce images up to 6 by 6cm. A 6x6cm image is 350% larger than a 35mm image, so you can begin to see the power of this type of camera and why they are the choice of professional photographers. The actual picture area is a shade under the format size, for example a 6x7cm format can give a 56×69.5mm picture. The Back.The camera back holds the film. Different format sizes and film types can be used, with the interchangeable backs allowing for mid roll change. If you are using a camera body with a maximum format capability of 6x7cm, then you will normally be able to use backs with film sizes 35mm, 35mm panoramic, 6×4.5cm, 6x6cm, up to 6x7cm. A popular additional back is the Polaroid instant film back. This back allows you to take a test picture and see an instant print. If you are satisfied with the instant print then you can reselect the back and shoot your image confident of the end result. There is also an increasing range of digital backs available. These allow you to maximise your investment in Medium Format equipment by adding digital capabilities. The first Medium Format cameras built for digital photography are now becoming available. Some cameras also offer a revolving film back making it possible to change from portrait to landscape shots without moving the camera. The Lens.As with any camera the lens is a vital piece of equipment. A lens of inferior quality will lead to poor quality final results. The choice of available lenses is wide and varied, including fixed and zoom. Lenses can commonly be found in the range of 40mm to 500mm. At the lower end of the range tend to be a series of wide angle lenses, with the upper end providing telephoto effects. Also included in the range are a number of special application lenses, fish eye, macro and soft focus, being among those available. There are also a number of further attachments available, affording you total control over each different shot. These include fisheye lenses, auto extension tubes for close up photography, additional close up lenses, focusing levers for rapid focusing, tele-converters and bellows attachments for continuous variations in magnifications. For lenses if the standard range you are also likely to find matching lens hoods for removing stray rays. The Finder.Cameras can come with a choice of finder. Waist and eye level finders are available. Prism finders are available for laterally correct, upright images. Top of the range finders provide additional functions such as, a choice of spot or average metering, exposure compensation, TTL automatic exposure systems and LCDs indicating the different modes currently selected, appropriate shutter speed and the exposure compensation setting condition. The finders work in conjunction with focusing screens. There is also a wide choice of focusing screens. The screen for general purpose photography is the Matte screen. Others available include the Checker for close ups, copy work and architectural applications, Rangefinder Spot for rapid, accurate focusing and the Cross-Hair for close ups and astronomical work. A series of correction lenses are also available. For precision focusing you can attach a magnifier to a eye level prism finder. These work by magnifying the centre of the focusing screen. Once focusing has been achieved they can be raised to check the overall composition. Points to Remember.Image Size.The primary reason for stepping up to the Medium Format range is the size and therefore quality of the image produced by this type of camera. Editing and Retouching.The large image size makes it easier to edit and retouch an image. Images are also perfect for cropping and enlarging. Finders.Whatever type of camera you are buying the quality of the finder is always an important aspect to consider. Medium Format cameras offer larger finders than their 35mm competitors, making it easier to see the exact image that you are about to capture. Film.With typically 15 exposures or less per roll, film is also more expensive to buy and develop. The number of exposures per roll depends on the format of the pictures that you are planning to take. If you take 6x7cm pictures you will get less exposures per film than if you take 6×4.5cm pictures. Standard films are 120 and 220. A wide range of film speeds are available, similar to 35mm film and slide. Multi Format.By using interchangeable backs, cameras will shoot different size images. Mid Roll Change.It is possible to change film in the middle of a roll, returning to the original when required. Flash Units.There are a wide range of flash units are available for Medium Format cameras. Compatibility needs to be checked to ensure your chosen flash unit will work with your camera. TTL Metering.Highly accurate exposures can be achieved through cameras offering Through The Lens (TTL) direct light measurements at the film plane. Speed Grips.For hand held shots, out in the field, speed grips are available. Lenses.A wide range of lenses and complementary attachments are available to suit every photographic opportunity. Motor Drives.Motor Drives are available making continuous sequential shooting a possibility. Bulb Shutter Mechanism.Some cameras now have a Bulb Shutter Mechanism for long exposure work. Rental.Stepping up to Medium Format can feel like a leap in the dark. So if you are not sure what to buy or uncertain about the merits of Medium Format photography, then try some cameras on rental. Rental rates can be very reasonable and this can help you decide which features you consider a must and which features you can add on later. Second Hand Market.There is an active second hand market for Medium Format cameras and accessories, although you may not get all the latest features there are some very good deals to be found. Always ensure that you get a guarantee for any used equipment.

27/08/2008  http://mediumformatcamerasite.com

With the use of digital cameras there are a few things that come into play when you’re taking your photographs and one of those things is the photograph image format you take your photographs in. For example, with the film cameras you had the option of using color positives, color negatives, black and white positives or black and white negatives.

This was a photograph image format that your photographic data was stored in. The same applies with digital cameras as well, and there is a photograph image format in which you can store your photographic data. It has nothing to do with positives or negatives this time, and everything to do with bits and bytes and how the little micro processor that reads the data from your memory card.

When you take a photograph, the information that the camera sees through the lens is stored on the memory card in a language that the computer understands.

For our purposes there are few different photograph image format that we can choose from, in which to store the details of our photographs, and we need to decide on what it is.

Having now hopefully, successfully navigated past that I can now go on to tell you that of the different types of photograph image format in which you can save your data, there are a few that most photographers use more often than not.

The RAW photograph image format has a great many advantages to be had, and these I have to say quite negate the disadvantages, if there are any. You know for a fact that nowadays memory cards are more and more inexpensive, allowing you to own more than one or two cards. Yes, sometimes RAW photograph image format files can be larger than the JPEG photograph image format, but the advantage of having a lossless file format far outweighs the fact that RAW photograph image format files are larger.

Whereas JPEG photograph image format files compress and therefore are prone to some loss of data, RAW photograph image format files aren’t prone to this loss of data.

But the biggest advantage as far as I’m concerned is the fact with RAW photograph image format files the image data that gets saved is the most basic data of all and when you transfer this to your computer, it makes it easier to work and change things around in your photograph using the photo editing software.

Innovation is not necessarily the time saver and the great simplifier people try to make it out to be. Take for example the picture frame and the gradual conversion to the digital frame, and the added complications it has added to our lives.Like digital cameras, the digital frame has cut down the cost of photography (remember how much money you used to drop on the cost of buying and processing films every month). However, the digital picture frame hasn’t helped people whose basic grasp of photography is limited to not much more than ‘the big button is the one that makes the picture’. And let’s face it, that group includes you, me and much of the human race. This doesn’t make life easy for anyone selling wholesale digital photo frames.The size doesn’t seem to be a factor in how confused we can get when it comes to digital screens and getting the images that are right for them. Someone with a 7 digital photo frame can be just as confused as someone with a 8 inch digital photo frame and heaven help the poor person with the 10 digital frame.And as gadgets gradually converge into one and people can do more and more with one thing things are going to get more complex too with people having to grapple with photo frames that are also a digital TV receiver, might work as a digital video frame or could even play music. So before we get into the wiz-bang wizardry that has turned cell phones and media players into incomprehensible devices let’s have a look at a couple of questions:Do you need to re-size the pictures?What formats do pictures need to be in?What should I do to photos look good on digital picture frames?How can I transfer old pictures to digital frames? Do you need to re-size the pictures?This question can be especially tricky for people trying to source wholesale digital photo frames. The answer to this question very much depends on what type of digital photo frame you’ve got. Home digital frames and larger-sized electronic picture frames won’t be a problem, regardless of whether they’re 7 digital photo frame or 10 digital picture frame. However, keychain digital picture frames tend to be a little more difficult and you may need to resize these. What formats do pictures need to be in?Depending on what digital picture frame you buy and the digital picture frame you have the format could be quite different. Regardless of whether it’s a 7 inch digital frame, or any kind of digital frame most of the common picture formats should work on it. These are usually JPEG, as well as the occasional digital picture frame that plays Tiff and BMP as well. While JPEG is the most common digital photo format a digital photo frame will show there’s no need to get concerned as this is the digital format used by most digital cameras and image devices. If you’re trying to get wholesale digital photo frames then you might want to make sure it at least displays the JPEG format, as it is the one that most people are most likely to be operating in.However, where some people run into trouble is when they use their cell phone or their MP4 to take a photo in an unusual format and then put it onto their LCD digital frame.Thankfully there are several sources of open source converters that are free to download and will get most formats working. These include sites like CNet and Sourceforge. So it’s even possible to get a digital photo from your unlocked cell phone onto your LCD digital frame.What should I do to photos look good on digital picture frames?Again this question depends very much on the digital photo frame that you’re using on how to make your digital photo look good. And it’s always good to take a closer look at the digital photo frames digital or paper instructions and manufacturer tips. However, as a general rule the best way to get the best effects out of your digital picture frame is to make sure the picture is close to the same size, if not bigger than the frame you are trying to put it on and to make sure you have a decent resolution on the photographs. So what does all of that mean when it’s at home, why does it help if the picture is bigger and picture resolution… whaah?I think, even people trying to find wholesale digital photo frames would be going huh…It wouldn’t come as a surprise to many people that you get a better result of making something bigger smaller than you do of making something smaller bigger… with the possible exceptions of bureaucracy and the most common form of plastic surgery of course. So as a result if you try to take a picture from a keychain digital photo frame, one that might be sized 128 pixels by 128 pixels, and throw it on a 7 digital picture frame then there’s a good chance that that on the 7 digital photo frame that digital photo might look, at best like a Georges Seurat work. Or, at worse, a ‘find the hidden picture’ image or color blindness test.Same goes for pictures being shifted from a 7 digital picture frame to a 10 or 15 inch digital picture frame, but with less severe results.The second important consideration to factor in when trying to get the best results for your images on a LCD frame is the frames digital resolution compared to that of the image you’re getting the picture off.If the image is from a website, it’s a cell phone creation or some digital creation that looked fantastic on the computer screen then get ready for a shock when you throw it on some high res digital frames. While a large number of digital photo picture frames still work on the 72 pixels per inch resolution more and more work are working on the 300 pixels per inch resolution. What is more when it comes time to print them out to give to Cleatus your computer illiterate cousin “It’s not gonna look all cloudy and muddy like”. This is likely to apply more to larger frames than digital frames that are smaller. A 7 inch digital frame shouldn’t give you too many problems for example.But it still is a worthy question for people sourcing wholesale digital photo frames as it will help you give your customers a better experience and stop customer complaints and questions before they happen.How can I transfer old pictures to digital frames? This question is turning up more and more online as people start to realize the benefit of having a LCD frame that can show off 50 or so photos at once as opposed to a wooden photo frame that will only show one, and which may cost a considerable amount to fill. Thankfully it’s fairly easy to get older photos from their non digital frames into digital formats that can be loaded onto your computer or onto a 7 digital photo frame. The first thing to be done is to convert your picture from the physical to digital. This is done with a scanner.These are fairly common and quite cheap. If you’ve got a computer then it can be a useful tool but even if you’ve decided to go without then photo shops and computer shops will have one that they’ll let you use for a nominal fee (usually just a couple of bucks or a handful of corn or, in some circumstances, a fluttering of the eye and a raising of the lips). Once the pictures are digitalized they can be put onto a TF card or USB and transmitted to the digital photo picture frames directly or put onto a CD and transferred from the computer via a USB cable.The normal rules apply when it comes time to save these images, make sure they’re the right dimensions, file type (JPEG nine times out of 10 but check you photo frame) and resolution. So, it appears that putting images onto digital frames isn’t as hard as you’d normally expect and even shifting a physical picture from a photo frame to LCD digital frame isn’t as hard as you’d think it would be.

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