The little-discussed downside of using medium-format digital...

[GrahamWelland]

There is an alternative compromise here btw ... have you considered a Leica M9? You'd get all of the convenience of size & speed along with as good an image quality as the lenses you put on it.

 

[ustein]

>this never produces good work, and only gets in the way mentally.

Maybe better phrased: this never produces good work "for me", and only gets in the way mentally.

>I am absolutely an opportunistic photographer, as the only pre-planning I ever do is to put myself in an interesting place and hope that something catches my eye while I'm there.

Same here.

 

[SergeiR]

Not sure if forcing people to think on what they shoot is downside, really.

I mean personally - it doesnt matter what i am shooting with - Nikon D700 or any of my medium format gear (film or digital), i'd still walk away with about 40-50 shots from 3-4 hour shoot with model (which is roughly 7-10 images from outfit/scene). Which i consider rather normal output. I'd rather have unique shots.

Never been click-happy, never wanna be. Of course when i used to do sports shooting that was different (and still is), but its other field, where medium format isnt exactly proper choice anyway.

 

[Audii-Dudii]

There is an alternative compromise here btw ... have you considered a Leica M9? You'd get all of the convenience of size & speed along with as good an image quality as the lenses you put on it.

I have no experience with the M9, but I did try an M8 and, for me, it didn't work very well for this type of photography. For a start, I don't like the 3:2 format at all and cropping to 4:3 cost me ~15% of the pixels, which was problematic. Then there was the very approximate framing, which also doesn't work for me, as I prefer to compose my images in-camera rather crop afterward in order to preserve as many precious pixels as possible.

I did consider a Sony A900 and Nikon D3X as alternatives to the Contax / P30+ combo, but they both have the same problem with regard to format and neither of them are appeciably smaller or lighter (or less costly, as I got some very good deals buying my gear secondhand.) And the A900 lacked Live View to boot.

 

[darr]

I do not think much has changed for me when comparing digital camera formats to film camera formats. In the past when I shot film, I used a 35mm + prime/zoom for walk-around grab shots. If I was doing professional portrait work, it was Hasselblad on tripod, and if the client's needs were 4x5" chromes, it was a monorail + tripod. Different techniques for different tools is how I always saw it. Kind of like driving an automatic and then driving a stick-shift.

Today with my digital tools, it is about the same with the exception of a MF replacing my 4x5". I do however make use of my D700 more than I ever did with my F3, and this puts it also on top of a tripod most of the time for landscape shots. I guess for me, things have gotten easier and that was one welcomed reason I made the switch to MF digital. When I learned my initial MF technique, it began with the box sitting on top of a tripod and I have shot like that ever since.

Maybe this is more about technique in ways. No matter how lightweight the gear is, when I want to design my shot, I need to have it all buttoned down on the tripod so I can leave the gear-gymnastics and give my vision the freedom to develop. I do use a Canon G9 and the thought of putting that on a tripod would make me wonder why I purchased it in the first place.

Darr

 

[Jan Brittenson]

Maybe better phrased: this never produces good work "for me", and only gets in the way mentally.

Oh yes, of course! Lots of people do great work shooting from the hip (sometimes literally) - it just doesn't work for me...

I also greatly like to be alone when I have a camera in hand...

 

[ustein]

>- it just doesn't work for me... I also greatly like to be alone when I have a camera in hand...

I understand that very well. Alone for me means photographing with Bettina. We want to be at our own pace and decide what and what not.