Using my glass on MF camera

[chauncey]

With all the talk about Canon introducing a medium format camera, I'm wondering how my current
battery of FF lenses will convert to MF usage...are there conversion numbers?

Additionally, will the minimum focusing distance of my 180mm macro be affected in any way,
as well as potential use of extension tubes and a 2X TC?

[Manfred M]

Same issue as using a crop frame lens on a full frame lens; it won't work, unless you crop away back down to a full-frame image.

Nicely said, the image circle on a medium format is a lot larger than what your full-frame lenses can cover.

[Manfred M]

Just to add another quick thought. The same rumours about a medium format camera are running around regarding Nikon as well.

I personally suggest both of these are nothing more than wishful thinking from a few fanboys out there. Both Canon and Nikon are multi-billion dollar businesses and the entire market for medium format cameras is quite small. Players like Phase One / Leaf / Mamiya, Hasselblad, Leica, Rollei (DHW Fototechnik) / Sinar (Jenaoptik) - both of these companies appear to produce a variant of the Hy 6 digital medium format camear, and of course Ricoh / Pentax.

With full frame cameras competing with medium format ones in terms of image quality, I'm really not sure if another player (or two) trying to break into these niche markets makes any sense. With the exception of Ricoh / Pentax, these are all small scale, high end producers. If Canon or Nikon were in the third party lens business (and they're not) one could perhaps see this, but to have to develop a line of medium format lenses, the financials just don't look like they are worthwhile.

I've spent far too much of my life working on business cases to have a decent appreciation of what makes sense in a business world and what does not...

[tao2]

As said above, they won't work. Even if a mount could be made, a lens produced specifically for 35mm couldn't be used.

1) Lenses are produced, particularly, tae ensure a sharp image, without vignetting and completely covering the intended format. Outside the 36x24mm area, image brightness and definition would fall off hugely and probably disappear completely way before the edges of the MF area.

2)There would certainly be no infinity focus due tae the the greater size of the MF camera. Ye simply can't get the lens close enough tae the sensor/film.

3) MF format is square - 35mm rectangular. If ye crop the MF image tae a rectangle ye lose angle of view - so what would be the point of the MF?

Ye could mebbe achieve what yer thinking by using bellows or extension tubes. Trial and error may produce a result where the lens is far enough away tae cover the sensor/film.

Good news? Ye can use MF lenses on 35mm but that can produce its own problems. Many folk, using MF lenses, claim that the centre area is a "sweet spot", since the 35mm camera is capturing this area at its best . Personally ah'm not so sure. All lenses are built tae sets of compromises; big, wide (on 35mm) MF lenses are built tae extremes. Ah'd think, that the compromise tae ensure sharpness right tae the lens edge on wide lenses must produce a reduction in sharpness overall (but mebbe only obvious tae pixel-peepers). That would probably result in a lesser sharpness in the centre...swings and roundabouts

[GrahamS]

Why try and compete with this:
http://www.hasselblad.com/products/d...s/cfv-50c.aspx

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news...edium-format-c

[tao2]

Why try and compete with this:
http://www.hasselblad.com/products/d...s/cfv-50c.aspx

http://www.imaging-resource.com/news...edium-format-c

Ah could think of 10-12,000 reasons...

[Saorsa]

Going to MF turns the crop factor into the flop factor.

Look at what is considered a 'normal' lens on the various formats

DX - 35
FX - 50
MF - 80
4x5 - 135

Each of those requires a different body depth too, to provide for coverage. You can play with a few millimeters difference between cameras but generally, bigger is also deeper and he result is that you have an extension which means that lenses for smaller coverage lose infinity focus without an adapter.