Cameras guide
The best medium format cameras
A bigger negative is the whole reason to put up with medium format, and you feel it the first time you print one. The grain melts, the tonal transitions go smooth, and a 6x7 chrome on a light table will stop you cold. The catch is that "medium format" covers everything from a brick-heavy studio SLR to a TLR you can carry all day, so the right body depends entirely on what you shoot.
I picked across all three families on purpose: SLRs for system flexibility and waist-level work, TLRs for quiet street and portrait shooting, rangefinders for sharp, hand-holdable landscapes. I weighted what actually survives on the used market today, what still has a repair path, and what gives you the most negative per dollar. There is a budget TLR here and a splurge here, plus the workhorses most film shooters land on eventually.
- 1Hasselblad 500 CM
Medium format Medium Format SLR, Hasselblad
The default answer for a reason. A fully mechanical 6x6 SLR with Zeiss glass, interchangeable backs, and a leaf shutter that flash-syncs at every speed, it is the most serviceable system camera you can buy. No meter and the square format are the tradeoffs, but a clean body and 80mm lens is still the best entry into the Hasselblad world.
Read the full Hasselblad 500 CM guide - 2Mamiya 7 II
Medium format Medium Format Rangefinder, Mamiya
The sharpest, lightest way to shoot 6x7. It is a rangefinder, so the lenses are tiny and you can hand-hold it at speeds that would smear an RB67, and those lenses are some of the best ever made. Prices are brutal now and you cannot do macro or fast portraits with it, but for landscape and travel nothing else comes close.
Read the full Mamiya 7 II guide - 3Mamiya RB67
Medium format Medium Format SLR, Mamiya
A studio tank that gives you huge 6x7 negatives for the least money of anything here. The rotating back lets you switch portrait and landscape without turning the camera, and the bellows focusing is great for headshots. It is heavy and entirely manual, so it lives on a tripod, but the price-to-quality ratio is unmatched for studio and portrait work.
Read the full Mamiya RB67 guide - 4Pentax 67
Medium format Medium Format SLR, Pentax
Handles like a 35mm SLR that ate a steak, which is exactly why portrait and landscape shooters love it. Through-the-lens metering, a bright finder, and a cult lineup of lenses (the 105mm f/2.4 especially) make it intuitive in a way most medium format is not. The mirror slap is real, so respect your shutter speeds or use a tripod.
Read the full Pentax 67 guide - 5Bronica SQ-A
Medium format Medium Format SLR, Bronica
Everything the Hasselblad 500 series does at roughly a third of the price. Interchangeable 6x6 backs, leaf-shutter lenses, metered prisms available, and the Zenzanon glass is genuinely excellent. It is more electronic than a Hassy so a dead battery stops you, but for a working 6x6 system on a budget this is the smart buy.
Read the full Bronica SQ-A guide - 6Rollei Rolleiflex 2.8F
Medium format TLR, Rollei
The splurge, and worth it if a TLR is your thing. The 2.8 Planar or Xenotar is luminous, the camera is near silent, and it is light enough to shoot all day on a strap. Fixed lens and a single 6x6 frame size are the limits, and good ones are not cheap, but few cameras are this rewarding to use.
Read the full Rollei Rolleiflex 2.8F guide - 7Fuji GW690 III
Medium format Medium Format Rangefinder, Fuji
The Texas Leica, and the cheapest road to a true 6x9 negative. The fixed 90mm lens is razor sharp and the whole thing handles like an oversized rangefinder you can shoot handheld. You only get eight frames per roll and there is no interchangeable anything, but for big landscape negatives on a budget it is a steal.
Read the full Fuji GW690 III guide - 8Yashica Yashica-Mat 124G
Medium format TLR, Yashica
The honest budget entry into 6x6. A built-in meter (find one where it still works), a sharp Yashinon taking lens, and a TLR body light enough to carry everywhere make it the classic first medium format camera. Build quality is a step below a Rolleiflex and the meter cells age, but it punches well above its price.
Read the full Yashica Yashica-Mat 124G guide