Many people have all but forgotten that cameras used to rely on film to capture, preserve, and transfer an image into a printed format. The concepts of small, medium, and large format photography came out of the film era, and today’s digital cameras are designed to mimic the different formats.
Digital cameras have a device on the back that serves the same function as the film holders of yesterday. It contains an image sensor that records the digital image appearing through the lens of the camera and stores it on a memory card.
What are the Advantages of Medium Format Photography?
The reason for keeping the old formats alive is simply because medium and large format photography offers higher resolution photos, which translates to better quality. The images from medium format cameras can be blown up to a large size for prints and billboards and still retain a high degree of clarity.
How is Medium Format Different from Other Formats?
Today’s digital cameras are designed around the physical dimensions of yesterday’s film types. The standard frame size of small format digital cameras, including most DSLRs, is designed around the old 35mm film, which produced an image size of 24 x 36 mm. The digital versions of the small format cameras are great for fast-action shots and are often used by press and sports photographers for their small size, maneuverability, and quick adjustability to various levels of lighting.
However, once you enlarge these small format-images, they lose clarity and definition. The image looks best when it’s kept small. Using a medium format digital camera produces an image of 43.8 x 32.9mm to 53.7 x 40.2mm. This is between the size of the small-format camera and the 100 x 130mm image of a large format camera. Photographers of yesterday often kept several cameras of each format to bypass the enlarging problem quickly when working on a shoot.
What is Medium-Format Photography Used For?
While the majority of digital cameras feature the convenience and speed of small format photos, professional photographers often choose the medium format camera for their work in:
- Fashion and commercial shoots
- Landscape photography
- Studio portraits
- Fine art photography
Resolution is important in these types of photography. Medium-format photos can be enlarged to produce much larger images that are still sharp and clear. They also offer a greater variety of cropping options.
Photo shoots that feature close-ups of faces almost always use medium-format cameras. Many of the images you see in print advertising, billboards, and posters are shot with medium-format cameras. These cameras are often referred to as ‘system cameras’. They feature interchangeable lenses, camera backs, viewfinders, and remote shutter triggers. They also offer a much wider variety of options, inspiring more creativity than small-format cameras.
How are Medium-Format Photos Edited?
The images from medium format cameras can be adjusted just like images from small format DSLR cameras. When the memory card is accessed by a computer with any type of photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, or Capture One Pro, it simply appears as a file on the computer monitor. You can adjust the size of the file to suit your needs. The difference is that medium-format images can be enlarged to a much greater degree without losing any definition or clarity.
Introducing the Photo Services of Digital Media Tech (DMT)
Digital Media Tech (Group D.M.T.) in Bangkok offers professional photo editing services, including:
- Color correction
- Clipping path and soft clipping
- 360-degree photo editing
- Ghost mannequin services
- Vectorizing services
- 3D modeling services
We offer a short turnaround time, low prices, and a consistent level of service. Many of the businesses that rely on our services are in the e-commerce, real estate, and magazine industries, where exacting specifications and a quick turnaround are vital.
Besides our offices in Bangkok, Group D.M.T. also has offices in Phuket and Chiang Mai, ensuring a convenient and available production flow. We have over 20 years of experience providing editing services and prepress solutions to industries in Thailand. With a workforce of 575 skilled employees led by a management team of experts from Austria, Germany, India, and Switzerland, we can offer the highest level of expertise in photo editing available in Thailand. Experience the outstanding outsourced photo editing services available from Group D.M.T. today.
