medium format

[mike_tee_vee]

With the 2 latest Full Frame cameras going up to 21+ megapixels, do you think that the traditional 35mm players (Canon, Nikon, etc) will step up to a larger than 35mm format like the Leica S2 or 645?  Some Nikon forums speculate a larger format being introduced, but is this economically feasible?

Canon and Nikon may have deep pockets, but I believe they would be over extending themselves if they reinvented the wheel with a digital medium format.  Production costs for an entire new line up would be so high and unit sales would be so low that it's hard to imagine this being a viable option.

Long live 35mm!

[Bob Atkins]

No, I don't think Nikon or Canon will enter the medium format field. Neither produced medium format film cameras and I think medium format was more popular with film than it is with digital.

For 95% of photographers, medium format digital is simply not necessary. Full frame digital can already give results as good as medoum format film did and most wedding photographers have switched from medium format film to full frame digital.

The cost of medium format digital is high (very high) and a whole new set of lenses is needed. There are very few applications which actually need the larger file sizes. If extremely large high resolution files are needed for product work, there are scanning backs for 4x5 cameras available which are probably cheaper than a amedoum format reflex system and proiduce even better image quality (for totally static subjects).

So my guess is that the traditional 35mm companies will stick with 35mm and leave the medium format field to the traditional medium format providers (e.g. Hasselblad). I'm surprised that Leica is trying to get into that field. They really don't have much presence in 35mm digital and they have a lot of competition and no track record in the medium format field. Perhaps it's a last attempt to keep the company in business?

[KeithB]

Heck, many wedding photographers were using 1.6x cameras for a while.

Remember too that medium format means all new lenses, while a FF lens will work on a 1.6x camera, an FF lens will not work on a  0.8x (The S2 form factor) camera.