MF advantage lost in Macro?

[j._s.]

Is the MF advantage lost when it comes down to macro work? I'm

guessing that the only advantage is one can shoot larger critters at

1:1. I'm probably missing something, but hopefully someone will tell

me.

[stephen_poe1]

No. As far as I understand it, this "advantage" you refer to is bigger film.<p>

One disadvantage is that f11 with an 50mm lens on 35mm is going to have a lot more apparent depth of field than f11 on a 80mm lens on 6x6 --- but you can use more powerful strobes or longer exposures to get to f16 or f22 on the 80mm lens and offset this disadvantage.<p>

Since you refer to "critters" I assume you photograph insects. My 35mm cameras are a lot more ergonomic and fast handling than my MF camera -- advantage if I were to be chasing some little bug I guess --- and have TTL flash metering and motor drive in the 35mm cameras. But the 6x6 has interchangeable backs, can use Polaroid. Two tremendous adantages for 6x6 system cameras.<p>

Why don't you rent a MF camera with Polaroid back and Macro lens and extension tube and try it out for a weekend?

[patrick_drennon]

I don't think you are missing anything. a bug @ 1:1 on 35mm will be exactly the same size on the negative as the same bug @ 1:1 on MF. You'll have a bunch more background in the photo but the enlargement magnification requirement for a particular 'bug' size should be identical. You would obviously go to a greater than 1:1 ratio to fill the frame, thus reducing enlargement magnification requirements but aggravating depth of field issues and making your photographic life miserable (just kidding).

[paul_wilson2]

Patrick has this exactly right. However, one other this is lost and that's the variety of excellent macros available for 35mm. There's only one macro available for MF that will go to 1:1 to my knowledge. That's the one for the Mamiya 645 and you'll lose a lot of working distance over a 200mm macro for 35mm. Plus the Mamiya lens is more expensive.

[greg_lawhon]

The 120mm macro for the Pentax 645 also reaches 1:1 unassisted (without extension tubes or supplementary lenses), doesn't cost much more than a 105 Micro-Nikkor AF-D, and is a particularly good performer (judging from personal experience, and confirmed by the lens testers at www.photodo.com).

 

I dropped the 35mm macro setup several years ago in favor of a Pentax 645, and haven't missed 35mm macro at all. The Pentax even provides a built-in winder and TTL flash to boot. And all the advantages of the larger negative for general photography apply here too - the improved tonality (which I use to describe the seamless transition of subtle colors in a flower petal, for example) and lack of grain set my 645 closeups apart from my older 35mm ones.

[alan___2]

The Kodak publication 'Macrophotography' (I think it's out of print, but a goldmine of information on the subject if you can find it) recommends that the larger the camera, the better: they show people working with 10x8 cameras. The same factors apply in macro work as in any other type of work. The point that a previous corresponent made about the lack of macro lenses in MF is not totally true. Assuming you have a focal plane shutter and can fit a bellows unit, you can use any manual focus 35mm macro lens. The Kodak book actually recommends 16mm movie lenses for LF macro work. At close distances, ie long lens to film distances, these lenses easily cover larger formats than they were designed for.

 

Hope this helps

 

Alan

[bernard_lai]

you have nothing to lose but gain more by using MF

say for same 1:1 in MF you can photograph a 60mm bug in full

while in 35mm you can only show part of the bug

other advantages have been answered by other already

[david_goldfarb]

The advantage of larger film area is still there. What you would shoot at 1:1 on 35mm you might shoot at 3:1 on 6x6. I've had an adapter made so that I can use my 35mm macro lenses on my medium format cameras (they cover the format, because the magnification factor is larger), and I can also use enlarging lenses for this purpose, so there are many lens options. You could also adapt large format macro lenses or lenses like the Luminars or Photars quite easily for medium format.