Medium-format cameras typically are the choice of wedding and portrait photographers.
The term "medium format" comes from the fact that these types of cameras are, essentially, in the middle of film cameras produced between the mid-19th century and the beginning of the 21st century. The large-format cameras, called view cameras, produce negatives between 4 by 5 inches and 8 by 10 inches. Small-format cameras produce 24 by 36 mm on 35mm film. Medium-format cameras produce 2.25-by-2.25-inch or 6-by-4.5-cm negatives. While this is not exactly in the middle, it led to the designation of medium format.
Single-Lens Reflex Box Style
Medium-format cameras were designed in two basic formats. Both were single-lens reflex cameras, meaning the same lens you see the image through takes the photograph. The more common is a box of a camera that contains the flip-up mirror, a secondary shutter, focusing screen, film wind knob and mounts for both a lens and film magazine. This design can produce either square 2.25-by-2.25-inch or rectangular 6-by-4.5-inch negatives depending upon the film magazine. This is the way the Hasselblad and Bronica cameras work. Pentax and Mamiya allowed the 6-by-4.5-cm size. The Hasselblad and Bronica use in-the-lens shutters. The Pentax and Mamiya use a focal plane shutter in the camera body. The main advantages of these cameras include switchable focusing screens, film backs, wind knobs and lenses, as well as different viewfinders. The Pentax and Mamiya have built-in prism viewfinders.
Single-Lens Reflex 35-mm Style
The other type of medium-format SLR looks like an oversized 35 m SLR. The camera system works the same way as a 35mm SLR, too, but uses 120 or 220 size film to produce the bigger negatives. This kind of camera has the look and feel of a 35mm film camera but weighs more. The lenses are larger. The "Normal" lens on a 35mm camera is 50 mm, which shows you a scene the same way as your eyes. On a Pentax 67, for example, the "normal" lens is 105 mm for the same view. This form of camera typically takes 6-by-7-cm images.
Twin-Lens Reflex
The twin-lens reflex or TLR classifies as medium format. Yashica and Mamiya once made the more popular models, with Rollei and Mamiya at a higher end. These TLRs used 120 film, producing 12 2.25-by-2.25-inch negatives. Some could handle 220 film for double the exposures. The Yashica and Seagull use fixed lenses. The Rolleiflex and Mamiya had interchangeable lenses. You look down into the viewfinder while holding the camera at waist level. TLRs have two lenses. The top lens is the viewing lens. The bottom lens captures the image. The "normal" lens for a TLR is 75 mm.
Lomo
Lomography also classifies as medium format. Cameras that help you create lomography are some of the cheapest models made. They are nearly entirely plastic, including the lens. The Diana and Holga cameras typify lomography and use 120 film. The major difference is quality of both the camera and the final photographs. They produce low-contrast images that vignette. They are popular for these reasons. They produce unusual images.
Digital
Hasselblad, Mamiya and Pentax all introduced digital cameras. These look and feel like traditional medium-format cameras except with digital sensors. Like their film counterparts, they tend to produce better images. Where the average 35mm-style digital camera has a resolution of 15 megapixels, the Hasselblad H4D-60, for example, captures 60 megapixels with its sensor.
Tags: 25-by-2 25-inch, cameras produce, medium format, Pentax Mamiya, 35mm film, 6-by-4 5-cm