Free course · 7 steps · Several weeks, a roll or two
Shooting medium format
Pick a medium format camera, load 120 film, and shoot, meter, focus and scan a roll with confidence.
For photographers who have shot a few rolls of 35mm, for example after Shoot your first roll of film. This course is about 120 film in cameras that take roll film.
What you need
Steps
1Understand the format and pick a camera
Medium format gives a larger negative, finer grain and a slower, more deliberate way of working. Cameras come as SLRs, rangefinders, twin lens reflexes and folders, and the frame shape changes how you compose.
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Read the guide and compare the camera types and frame sizes. Decide which handling and frame shape suit the pictures you want to make. The format comparison tool shows how the negative sizes relate.
Checkpoint: You have chosen a type of medium format camera and frame size, and you know why it suits you.
2Load 120 film
Loading 120 is different from 35mm. The backing paper protects the film, and you wind it to a start mark before the camera counts frames for you.
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Follow the 120 section of the loading guide for your camera, and read your manual for the exact steps. Practise with a cheap roll first, and check the paper is secure on the take-up spool before you close the back.
Checkpoint: You can now load a roll of 120 and confirm it is winding to the start mark.
3Meter without a built-in meter
Many medium format cameras have no meter, so you need another way to read the light. A handheld meter, a phone app or Sunny 16 will all work if you know how they behave.
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Choose one metering method and use it for a roll. Check your readings against the guide on bright, dark and backlit scenes, and note your settings so you can learn from the results.
Checkpoint: You can now meter a scene without a built-in meter and adjust for tricky light.
4Focus carefully
Ground glass and rangefinder focusing each have their own technique and limits.
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Read the sections that match your camera: ground glass or rangefinder focusing, or scale and zone focusing if you have a folder. Practise on a portrait, focusing on the near eye.
Checkpoint: You can now focus your camera accurately using its own focusing method.
5Shoot a deliberate roll
With fewer frames on a roll, each one counts more. The slower pace is part of the appeal, and learning your camera matters more than getting a perfect shot.
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Shoot a full roll, making each frame carefully. Use a cable release if you have one, and write down your settings as you go. Get the roll developed.
Checkpoint: You have shot and developed a roll of medium format film and can see how your habits affected the results.
6Scan 120 negatives
A scanner must be able to hold 120 film. The scanning and camera scanning guides cover the scanners and film holders that take it. Cleaning and flattening the film matter just as much.
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Choose a flatbed scanner or a lab scan that handles 120. Scan your roll following the workflow in the guide, then invert and tidy the images.
Checkpoint: You can now scan a roll of 120 and turn the negatives into finished images.
7Try camera scanning
Photographing your negatives with a digital camera can be fast and give excellent quality. It needs a macro lens, an even light source and a film holder that keeps 120 flat.
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Read through the guide and see what you already own. If you have a suitable camera and lens, try copying a few frames and compare the result with your first scan.
Checkpoint: You have compared camera scanning with your first scanning method and know which suits you.