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ISSN 1449-0137 © 2019
The main photograph on this
issue’s front cover is, of course,
one of the many historic images
taken during the first Moon
landing in July 1969. It shows
astronaut Buzz Aldrin in front
the lunar lander, photographed
by Neil Armstrong using a
specially-modified Hasselblad.
The story of the Hasselblad’s
space cameras starts on
page 22. Photo courtesy NASA.Nevertheless, even the cheapest camera you can
buy right now, Fujifilm’s GFX 50R, doesn’t come
within a whisker of matching the rollfilm GS645S
Pro for portability-versus-performance-versus-
price. It’s not likely to be a ‘play camera’ for very
many either, even if you just stick with one lens.
The game-changer could well be Fujifilm’s
GFX 100, which we’ve tested extensively for this
issue. No, it certainly isn’t cheap. You’ll easily
spend upwards of three or four times more on a
workable kit compared to a full 35mm mirrorless
camera. But it does have 102 megapixels
resolution, can shoot at up to 5.5 fps, and has
the flexibility inherent in on-sensor PDAF and
in-body image stabilisation and great high-ISO
performance. In other words, it’s basically an
X-T3 that’s been overdoing the steroids so
it delivers close to four times the resolution
without compromising the signal-to-noise ratio
because, of course, the sensor is bigger. It’s
been easy to dismiss 100 megapixels resolution
as being “too much” in the past because the
cameras were basically beyond most of us
financially and limited in application. Now Fujifilm
has addressed all these issues so the GFX 100
can do a helluva lot more, we have to look at
100 megapixels resolution in a new light...
because the performance benefits are plain to
see. And this pixel count, ironically, on this size
sensor, is much more convincing an argument
for digital medium format than 50 MP. Suddenly,
you’re wondering, “Should I be using anything
less than 100 MP?” Fujifilm would, of course,
tell you “no” and, in fact, it’s not hard to see its
102 MP camera becoming the best-selling GFX
model before too long, because this is where
the future of digital medium format photography
lies. Ever higher resolutions on smaller sensors,
even full-35mm size, eventually have a run-in with
the law of diminishing returns, but with medium
format imagers there’s room to move. With the
GFX 100 priced as it is and as capable as it is,
100 megapixels has to be in the frame for a great
many more photographers.
The bad news is that us medium format
‘players’ are going to have to stick with rollfilm for
our fun. I’m just going to have to step up my hunt
for a good, affordable Hasselblad SWC.PaulBurrows,EditorWORK
AND PLAY
OVER TIME I’VE HAD A FEW MEDIUM FORMAT
cameras, including two trusty Hasselblads (a
500C/M and a 500EL/M... of course, I’ve still
got them) and a number of Fujifilm’s fixed-lens
rangefinder models, in the 6x9cm, 6x7cm and
6x4.5cm formats.
The Fuji GS645S Professional I bought new
back in the late 1980s and, these days, it’s the
only film camera I still shoot with on a regular
basis. Why? Because it’s exceptionally compact
and lightweight, and a basic manual, rangefinder-
type camera (but with the convenience of a
built-in light metering), yet it still delivers superb-
looking 6x4.5cm frames. When you’re shooting
transparency film in particular, the bigger frame- 2.7 times bigger than 35mm to be precise
- simply pops off the lightbox at you. In the
‘old days’ there was also the economic benefit
of getting 16 frames on a 120 roll or 32 from
the 220 length so you saved in both film and
processing costs. This probably less important
now, although perhaps not given the price of
darkroom materials these days.
I’ve also coveted a few medium format
cameras over the years, with a Hasselblad
super wide – probably the 903 SWC model –
heading my list of cameras I have to own before
I pop my clogs. I’m clearly not alone here,
because these things are still fetching serious
coin, even the earliest models, and it’s definitely
too much to pay for what would only be a ‘play
camera’. And here’s the thing. While I did shoot
a few jobs with my ’Blads, usually just about
everything was done with whatever 35mm SLR
kit I was using at the time. It was more flexible,
more capable, more efficient and definitely a
whole lot easier to use.
Digital imaging arguably had a bigger impact
on the medium format camera business than any
other, due mainly to the stratospherically-high
costs of bigger sensors. The early digital medium
format capture backs could only be afforded by
the top-end studios making big money out of
catalogue work or big advertising campaigns.
Consequently, it was a struggle for the camera
makers too – Bronica didn’t even bother to get
involved while, subsequently, very high R&D
costs and very low returns have accounted for
Contax, Rolleiflex and Mamiya (which today
essentially exist in name only). It’s only with the
comparatively recent arrival of the mirrorless
camera systems from Fujifilm and Hasselblad
that digital medium format has become
more affordable and less of a niche product. PaulBurrows Editor