Camera Formats

Pinhole Camera

• Basically a box with a hole• The hole is usually about

the size of the tip of a straight pin

• The most rudimentary camera

• Can be made in any configuration

• Some photographers have made an entire room into a pinhole camera

Pinhole Photograph

Pinhole Photograph

35 mm

• Your run of the mill SLR(single lens reflex)

• Allows you to look through the lens using internal mirrors

• Can be louder and heavier due to mirrors

• Great portability• Ability to change lenses• 35mm refers to the size

of the film frame

Digital SLR

• Equivalent to 35mm SLR in digital form

• Made basically the same as the 35mm but with digital processors and sensors instead of film

Medium Format SLR

• Works like a SLR but contains a larger sensor or allows for larger film

• Film sizes are referred to as- 465 a rectangle frame- 4x4 or 2 1/4 square frame

• You can choose which film ratio you want by changing film backs

• Larger frame size allows for higher quality images

• Can have a waist level viewfinder or a prism eye level viewfinder

• Can be converted to digital with a digital back

Medium Format Twin Lens Reflex (TLR)

• Minimal internal mirror system

• Waist level viewfinder• You are looking through the

top lens, while the camera shoots through the bottom lens

• No black out period (no waiting for the mirror to move like in a SLR)

• Great for mildly confusing your subject

• You are not able to choose your film ratio

Rangefinder

• No mirror system• You look through a hole in

the camera while your camera shoots through the lens

• Parallax issues when shooting up close

• No blackout time• You focus the double image

and the camera will give you the distance of your subject from the camera

• Lightweight and quiet

Film Comparison

Medium Format35mm

Medium Format Film Ratios

645 rectangle

2 1/4 or 4x4 square

Medium Format Photograph

Large Format (4x5)

• Large and cumbersome• Very high quality images• Can shoot with a film back or

a digital back• Can be swung and

manipulated to give different effects to your photo (moving of the film plane and focal plane)

• Most widely used format is 4x5, but other sizes are possible 8x10 16x20

View Through Ground Glass•Everything appears upside down And backwards since there is noMirror

•A dark cloth is needed to focus

•Once you have focused and set Set your camera you can no Longer see your image•Your film back will cover the

Ground glass

Large Format Film Ratio

Van Dyke Print

Toy Cameras

The Diana

The Holga

Holga/Diana

Holga/Diana

Holga/Diana

Holga/Diana

• Beware of light leaks• Sometimes the

camera body is not light tight

• You can fix this by taping the seems with black masking tape or specialized black photo tape

Holga/Diana

Double Exposure

Fisheye Camera

Sequential Cameras

Sequential Cameras