This is not a buying guide to the best medium format cameras at all levels. It does not include high-end modular systems from Hasselblad and Phase One. It covers a new generation of much more affordable medium format cameras designed for portability and handheld use, and higher-quality and perhaps more desirable alternatives to full frame cameras.
There will be plenty of photographers currently using APS-C or full frame cameras who are looking at medium format cameras and wondering if that’s the logical next step in a pursuit of image quality.
Medium format cameras are getting cheaper and better, while full frame cameras are getting more complex and specialized and more expensive too. The cheapest medium format cameras now cost a good deal less than the best full frame models.
A guide to medium format sensors
Not all medium format sensors are the same size. ‘Full frame’ medium format sensors correspond roughly to the old 645 film format, with a sensor area just slightly smaller than 60 x 45mm. These are used in high-end Hasselblad and Phase One systems.
The ‘medium format’ sensors used by the cameras in this list are smaller, measuring approximately 44 x 33mm. Their relationship to ‘full frame’ medium format cameras is rather like APS-C cameras to full frame models.
But you still get a substantial increase in sensor size over full frame cameras, with a corresponding improvement in image quality thanks to larger photosites (the 50MP models) or much higher resolution with no compromise in dynamic range or noise (the 100MP models).
Fujifilm vs Hasselblad
There’s much more variation in design and function with medium format cameras. In the full frame and MFT market we’ve got used to cameras all being broadly similar, but here they are very different.
Fujifilm GFX cameras are the closest to the mirrorless camera technologies we know from other markets. Indeed, they look, handle and work like scaled up versions of regular mirrorless cameras. They are very practical, well-specified, versatile and familiar.
Hasselblad X cameras have a much more stylized, minimalist design. They are not as technically sophisticated as Fujifilm GFX cameras, but have a key difference. They use in-lens shutters rather than focal plane shutters. This makes the lenses more complex but the operation quieter – and allows flash sync at any speed. The Hasselblad models might suit connoisseurs, fine art photographers and perhaps fashion, portrait and editorial photographers too.
Both systems offer a decent selection of lenses. They’re not cheap, but that goes with the medium format territory. Those I’ve tried, though, have delivered extremely high image quality and edge to edge sharpness.
The best medium format cameras for full frame upgraders
This list is not in order of merit. It starts with the cheapest medium format cameras in this group and works up to the most expensive. These are not full reviews. I have used almost all of these cameras for reviews, however, so as well as quoting the specifications and features, I do have first hand experience too.
Fujifilm GFX 50S II
- Design: Mirrorless
- Megapixels: 51.4
- Lens mount: Fujifilm GF
- IBIS: 6.5 stops
- Autofocus: 117-point contrast AF
- Video: FHD up to 30p
- Dimensions: 149.9 x 104.1 x 86.4mm, 900g
- Price (Nov 2023): $3,199
At the time of writing, the GFX 50S II is the cheapest medium format camera you can buy. With Fujifilm’s basic but effective 35-70mm kit lens, it costs little more than a mid-range full frame camera. The image quality is very good indeed, and while the contrast-AF and FHD video are pretty low-tech by current standards, I don’t think this is an issue for the kind of photographers it’s aimed at. The autofocus is much improved in this mark II version and perfectly usable for single-shot photography, and if you’re a pro video shooter you’ll be using a separate and dedicated camera anyway. The handling is great and you even get a good-sized status panel on the top plate, which is rare these days.
Pentax 645Z
- Design: DSLR
- Megapixels: 51.4
- Lens mount: Pentax 645
- IBIS: No
- Autofocus: 27-point phase detect
- Video:
- FHD up to 30p
- Dimensions: 155 x 117 x 122mm, 1550g
- Price (Nov 2023): $3,996
The Pentax 645Z has been around so long that it’s often overlooked, and yet it was arguably the first ever affordable medium format camera. However, this is a big old beast that weighs 50% more than its rivals and uses an old-school DSLR design with a flip-up mirror. It does have phase detect AF, but this is via a separate sensor which is disabled when the mirror flips up, and while the 645Z can shoot 1080 video, this is not a camera you would choose for filmmaking. The 645Z uses Pentax’s own medium format lenses and there’s a pretty extensive range to choose from, surprisingly. The Pentax 645Z is pretty cheap to buy these days, but users are likely to find it heavier, slower and noisier than its modern mirrorless rivals.
Fujifilm GFX 100S
- Design: Mirrorless
- Megapixels: 102.0
- Lens mount: Fujifilm G
- IBIS: 6 stops
- Autofocus: 425-point phase detect
- Video: 4K up to 30p
- Dimensions: 150 x 104.2 x 87.2mm, 900g
- Price (Nov 2023): $5,199
The Fujifilm GFX 100S caused a sensation when it first came out for offering 102MP resolution at such a low price. Nothing has changed. It still looks spectacular today, even after the release of the GFX 100 II (below). The GFX 100S has everything – the highest resolution you can get at this price or anywhere near it, in-body stabilization, fast phase-detect autofocus and even 4K video. Once, medium format cameras meant all kinds of compromises in features and performance, but the GFX 100S is a match for almost any all-purpose full frame camera. Professionals might be drawn more to the GFX 100 II for its handling, operation and video features, but the GFX 100S remains a remarkable camera at an equally remarkable price.
Hasselblad X1D II 50C
- Design: Mirrorless
- Megapixels: 50.0
- Lens mount: Hasselblad X
- IBIS: No
- Autofocus: 117-point contrast AF
- Video: 2.7K up to 30p
- Dimensions: 148 x 97 x 70mm, 766g
- Price (Nov 2023): $5,750
To many, the Hasselblad X1D II 50C might look like a triumph of style over substance, an overpriced and underspecified alternative to better, more mainstream cameras from Fujifilm. I can’t subscribe to that view. I used the original X1D and found it a bit flaky, with very slow autofocus, but with a fabulous interface, spectacularly good lenses and a unique color rendering (16-bit raw, by the way, not the regular 14-bit). The newer X1D II 50C has improved autofocus, I’m told, and 2.7K video (why?) via a later firmware update. This camera has contrast AF, no IBIS and poor video capture, but don’t write it off. It’s a thing of beauty to look at and to use, and for deliberate, considered photography it’s just great.
Hasselblad 907X 50C
- Design: Mirrorless
- Megapixels: 50.0
- Lens mount: Hasselblad X
- IBIS: No
- Autofocus: 117-point contrast AF
- Video: 2.7K up to 30p
- Dimensions: 102 x 93 x 84mm, 740g
- Price (Nov 2023): $6,399
I said that the products in this medium format list were diverse, and the Hasselblad 907X 50C is definitely different! If you think it looks more like the modular design of Hasselblad’s high-end H system then you would be right – but this is the mirrorless version. It’s actually a two-part camera, consisting of the 907X ‘camera’ part and a 50C back that clips to the rear – just like film backs on old medium format cameras. In fact, though, the camera and back are sold as a pair, so it’s not as modular as it looks – but it still has that iconic square Hasselblad looks and operation. It takes regular Hasselblad XCD lenses, and effectively has the same tech as the X1D II 50C. I’ve used it, I love it, and there’s nothing else quite like it. I’m not sure how practical it would be day-to-day though.
Fujifilm GFX 100 II
- Design: Mirrorless
- Megapixels: 102.0
- Lens mount: Fujifilm G
- IBIS: 8 stops
- Autofocus: 425-point phase detect
- Video: 4K up to 60p
- Dimensions: 152.4 x 117.4 x 98.6mm, 1030g
- Price (Nov 2023): $7,499
The first 100MP GFX model was the GFX 100 at around $1,000. The GFX 100S came along a little later and beat it at just about everything for little more than half the price – so for a while the cost of the GFX 100 was hard to figure out and it’s hard to imagine Fujifilm sold many. But now we have the GFX 100 II, its successor, with a new, lower price, 8-stop IBIS, Fujifilm’s latest AI subject detection and a leap in video features that puts it on a par with the best hybrid full frame cameras and some cinema cameras. But should you get this or the even cheaper GFX 100S? If you’re a working pro, the GFX 100 II almost certainly does enough to justify its slightly higher price.
Hasselblad X2D 100C
- Design: Mirrorless
- Megapixels: 100.0
- Lens mount: Hasselblad X
- IBIS: 7 stops
- Autofocus: 294-point phase detect
- Video: No
- Dimensions: 147.3 x 106.7 x 73.7mm, 895g
- Price (November 2023): $8,199
If you had to make a list of everything that was lacking in the original X1D you would probably say phase detection AF, in-body stabilization and a 100MP sensor. Well, surprise surprise, the X2D 100C fixes everything. It’s more expensive than the X1D II 50C but most would say it’s easily worth it for the higher resolution, snappier operation and in-body stabilization – because you will definitely want to make the most of that 100MP sensor and Hasselblad’s excellent XCD lenses. What you don’t get is any kind of video capability, but will you care? On paper, the Fujifilm GFX 100S and GFX 100 II deliver more for the money, but the X2D 100C has that Hasselblad styling and interface, in-lens shutters and 16-bit raw image quality. I really want one!