Medium Format Camera News

Phase One kept pushing the megapixels at the photokina show in Cologne, Germany this morning, announcing the new IQ1 100MP medium format digital back. Phase One also announced two new Schneider Kreuznach Blue Ring lenses today: the 150mm f/2.8 IF and 45mm f/3.5.

Hasselblad kicked off the photokina 2016 show with a bang today, announcing two new snazzy-looking medium format cameras. The new Hasseblad V1D 4116 is just a “concept” camera, at this point, but it sure looks enticing. It’s an updated version of Hasselblad’s classic Hasselblad V camera, with a modular design and a 75-megapixel, square-format image sensor.

If you’re one of those photographers with shoe boxes full of medium format negatives and can’t afford an expensive film scanner to digitize them, here’s a simple solution: Dump out one of those shoe boxes and turn it into a scanner using the ingenious (and cheap) method provided in the following video.

Tom Oldham has been shooting portraits for 20 years and is today widely known for his expertise in medium format photography, notably with Hasselblad camera systems. He began his freelance career at the age of 29, having worked as a technician at the Plymouth College of Art for a few years after completing his studies there.

The Goods spotlights the hottest premium photo gear out there. If you have a product you’d like considered for The Goods, e-mail images and info to editorial@shutterbug.com.

When people asked legendary editor Herbert Keppler why he sometimes wrote about cameras costing more than the average photographer could afford, he told me it was because of the Maserati factor. “Most people,” he said, “can’t afford a Maserati but like reading about them.” And I get that. My personal dream car is a 1961 Maserati 3500 GT, which sells for north of $450,000. Fortunately, medium format cameras, while expensive, cost less than that.

The Phase One XF 100MP is a medium format camera with extremely high sensor resolution. It is a modular concept comprised of the Phase One XF camera body, which was introduced in the summer of 2015, and the brand-new IQ3 100MP digital back. The body has a 90-degree prism viewfinder and includes a Schneider-Kreuznach 80mm LS f/2.8 lens. As expected, this does not come cheap: the total price for this kit is $48,990 USD, as of this writing, and is the most expensive camera system we’ve ever tested.