The Early Era: Box Cameras and Folding Designs (1901-1928)

The first decades of medium format photography were dominated by simple, affordable cameras designed for amateur photographers. The Kodak Brownie No. 2 (1901-1935) was produced in several versions, all featuring the characteristic box design with a simple meniscus lens and rotary shutter. These cameras produced 6x9cm images (eight exposures per roll) and introduced millions of people to photography.

Folding cameras soon followed, offering improved portability with bellows designs that collapsed flat for carrying. Companies like Kodak, Zeiss, and Voigtländer produced increasingly sophisticated folding cameras throughout the 1910s and 1920s, many featuring better optics and more precise shutters while maintaining the 6x9cm format or introducing the half-frame 6×4.5cm “semi” format.

The Twin-Lens Reflex Revolution (1929-1960s)

The introduction of the Rolleiflex in 1929 by the German company Franke & Heidecke marked a watershed moment in medium format photography. The twin-lens reflex (TLR) design featured two lenses of identical focal length arranged vertically: the upper lens for viewing and focusing, and the lower lens for capturing the image.

This ingenious design allowed photographers to view their composition on a ground glass screen at waist level while the camera remained ready to capture the image instantly. The 6x6cm square format eliminated the need to rotate the camera for vertical compositions, and the bright viewing screen made precise focusing possible even in dim conditions.

The Rolleiflex won the Grand Prix at the 1937 Paris World’s Fair with its Automat model, which introduced automatic frame counting. Throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and into the 1960s, the Rolleiflex became the camera of choice for professional photographers worldwide. Legendary photographers including Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus, and Vivian Maier created iconic images with Rolleiflex TLRs. The camera’s combination of exceptional build quality, superb Zeiss and Schneider optics, compact size, and intuitive operation made it the gold standard for portrait, fashion, and documentary photography.

The Rise of the Modular SLR: Hasselblad (1948-Present)

In October 1948, Swedish inventor Victor Hasselblad unveiled the Hasselblad 1600F in New York City, introducing the world’s first modular medium format single-lens reflex camera. Unlike the TLR design, the SLR allowed photographers to view exactly what the taking lens saw, eliminating parallax error and enabling the use of interchangeable lenses of different focal lengths.

The Hasselblad’s modular design was revolutionary. Photographers could swap lenses, viewfinders, and film backs, creating a flexible system adaptable to almost any photographic situation. The interchangeable film back proved especially valuable, allowing photographers to switch between color and black-and-white film mid-roll or to shoot multiple exposures on a single setup.

Early 1600F cameras suffered from reliability issues with their complex focal plane shutters, leading to the improved 1000F in 1953 and ultimately the iconic 500C in 1957. The 500C moved the shutter into the lens (leaf shutter), dramatically improving reliability and flash synchronization. This design proved so successful that the 500 series remained in production for over 56 years.

Hasselblad’s most famous moment came with NASA’s Apollo program. Modified Hasselblad cameras documented every manned lunar mission, capturing the first photographs of humans on the Moon in 1969. This association cemented Hasselblad’s reputation as the pinnacle of photographic excellence.

Japanese Innovation: The 6×7 Format (1960s-1990s)

Japanese manufacturers entered the medium format market with innovative designs that expanded the creative possibilities of roll film photography. Mamiya, Pentax, and Bronica introduced cameras that challenged European dominance with advanced features and alternative formats.

The Mamiya RB67 (1970) and RZ67 (1982) became workhorses of commercial and portrait photography. These cameras offered revolving backs that allowed switching between horizontal and vertical compositions without rotating the camera, bellows focusing for close-up work, and a 6x7cm format that enlarged perfectly to 8×10-inch prints.

Pentax introduced the 6×7 (later 67) system that looked and handled more like an oversized 35mm SLR, making the transition from small format more intuitive for many photographers. The legendary landscape photographer Galen Rowell famously used the Pentax 67 to capture some of his most celebrated wilderness images.

The Digital Revolution (1992-Present)

Digital photography came to medium format with the development of digital backs in the early 1990s. Leaf Systems released the first digital camera back in 1992, a 4-megapixel unit nicknamed “the brick” for its substantial size. These backs could be attached to existing medium format camera systems, allowing photographers to transition to digital while retaining their investment in lenses and accessories.

Early digital backs used CCD sensors and were limited to studio use due to slow operation and the need for computer tethering. Phase One and Hasselblad emerged as leaders in this market, progressively increasing resolution from 6 megapixels in the late 1990s to 39 megapixels by 2006 and 60 megapixels by 2008.

A major technological leap occurred in 2014 when Phase One and Hasselblad introduced the first medium format cameras with CMOS sensors instead of CCD. These sensors offered dramatically improved high-ISO performance and faster operation, making medium format digital cameras practical for location and outdoor photography for the first time.

Fujifilm disrupted the market in 2017 with the GFX 50S, offering medium format quality at a fraction of the traditional price. The camera featured a 51.4-megapixel sensor measuring 43.8×32.9mm in a mirrorless body that was significantly more compact than previous medium format systems.

In 2019, Phase One launched the IQ4 series with sensors reaching 150 megapixels on a 53.4×40.0mm sensor, the largest digital sensor available for photography. Hasselblad followed with mirrorless cameras offering 100-megapixel resolution with in-body image stabilization, making hand-held medium format photography practical.

Historical Medium Format Camera Chart

The following chart presents a chronological overview of significant medium format cameras from 1901 to the present day, spanning the transition from film to digital technology.

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