Finally, I decided to pull the trigger and purchase a medium format camera system to take my photography into a new level. I was tossing up between Mamiya 645 AFD III and the newer version Mamiya 645DF. I have always wanted to shoot medium format film now and then and on the other hand, have the ability to add a digital back whenever I need to. The Mamiya DM22 gives me both world, film or digital, I know that I have one of the best systems to capture that special moment!

You may ask me are you crazy to go with a bit heavier and much much much more expensive camea system when a Canon 5D MK II offers a lovely 22 megapixel resolution, low ISO cabability, faster frame rate, choice of having super wide lens to telephoto lenses and very fast lenses wide open up to f/1.2 all for under AUS$3000!? Well here is my main reasons why I opted out for a medium format system;

• Image quality – a 645 medium format camera system like Mamiya 645 DM22 has a sensor almost 2.5 times larger than a 35mm camera like Canon 5D MK II. Therefore, the larger the sensor size, the more data will be recorded. When you have much more data, consequently the quality of photos would be higher. You would also loose less details when you do any post-processing.
• Lens factor – as I mentined before, because the sensor size of a 48x36mm system is 2.5 times larger than 36x24mm system, there would be lens factor meaning a 80mm lens on a 48×36 system has a field view similar to that of a 56mm on a 35mm camera. Therefore, depth of field would be shallower than a 35mm system. I believe that the reason why so many people claim medium format has more 3D look into it! There is an online calculator to do the conversion here.
• Shadow noise – again, larger sensor size captures more data specially in shadow areas. Therefore, less chroma noise.
• Low ISO –  on most medium format cameras, ISO goes down to 25. Lower ISO is benefitial to those who shoot long exposure landscapes or those fashion/portrait photographers who would like to shoot wide open during day time when the ambient light is too strong.
• Flash Sync – although the flahs sysnc on Mamiya 645 AFD III does not go higehr than 1/125s, you can sync up to 1/800s with the new Mamiya 645DF/Phase One 645DF camera and Schneider 80mm f/2.8 LS D lens.

I employed Mamiya DM22 system for one of my recent projects called, “Selfish Dreamer”. You can have a look at a short behind the scene video here. Final images have been sent off to some magazine for possible publication. They will be published on this website the soonest I hear from them.

By the way, I will write about some of the disadvantages of a medium format system as soon as I get some free time.

Thanks for reading my first post. I try to update this blog more often. Please keep those comments and questions coming!

Cheers,