Why medium format companies like Hasselblad, Mamiya and others have faced such tough times since the rise of digital imaging.

3. Ever since the rise of digital
imaging, the Medium Format
segment of the camera
segment of the camera industry has has
been in decline.

4. Medium format cameras are bigger
than ’normal’ cameras. During the
normal cameras. During the
analogue era, they were defined as
products which used a larger fil
d hi h d l film
format than the standard 35 mm.

5. Instead they used 4 5*6 6*6 or 6*7
4,5 6, 6 6 or 6 7
centimeter film, thus enabling a
much hi h i
h higher image quality.
li

6. In the digital era, medium format
In the digital era medium format
cameras use larger image sensors
than the standard 35 mm sensors.
h h d d 35

7. Those cameras were often used for
wedding and portrait photography.
and portrait

8. This segment has always
This segment has always been very small
small
in comparison with 35 mm cameras.

9. With the introduction of autofocus and other features in
small format cameras, the segment kept declining
during the 1980s and 1990s
the 1980s and 1990s.

10. Medium format players like Hasselblad,
Mamiya, Contax, Pentax and Bronica were
fighting each other in these years to obtain an
increased share of a shrinking market.

11. Mamiya went bankrupt once in the 1980s and had to
be reconstructed. Tough competition and a shrinking
market were the main reasons for the decline.

12. In the early 1990s, digital imaging started to prosper in
this segment in the form of digital backs. The film
magazine was removed and instead a device which
and instead, a device
contained an image sensor was attached.

13. It is striking to what
It is striking to what extent
those products were
supplied by companies that
were not manufacturing
medium format cameras…
di f t

14. Leaf

16. Imacon

18. Phase One

20. Kodak also
Kodak also
made some
digital backs
digital backs

23. Cameras are after all about precise mechanics rather
than electronics – that’s probably why none of them
succeeded in developing a digital back.

24. Digital imaging initially
increased the value of
medium format cameras…

25. The camera companies
h i
made sure that their
sure that their
products were compatible
with these new devices.

26. This setting also enabled
g
photographers to choose whether
they
th would shift t di it l
ld hift to digital or not.
t
It was a hybrid that worked
It was a hybrid that worked
reasonably well until no one really
demanded fil
d d d film any llonger.

27. Once that was the case, very few
photographers were willing to buy
to buy
one camera and one digital back
which together b
hi h h became very
expensive and bulky. The high‐end
p y g
models from Canon and Nikon were
good enough for most applications
for most applications,
much cheaper and lighter.

28. Around 2002‐2003, the medium
d h di
format players faced huge problems.
p y g p

29. Hasselblad had to lay
Hasselblad had to lay off about 50 percent of its work force in
50 percent of its in
2004, and was forced to leave their office (the building on the
picture) two years after having moved there.

32. Contax was busted
later on…

33. … And so was Bronica.

34. Mamiya was also in a lot of trouble.

35. It became increasingly obvious that the medium format
companies had to move closer to the manufacturers of
digital backs in order to deliver a complete digital solution.

36. Hasselblad merged with Imacon, and Mamiya started to
collaborate more with Phase One.

37. This strategy kept the companies alive…

38. … but nevertheless, the climate did not
favour medium format photography.

39. Who wants to
pay 25 000
25 000
USD just to
USD just to
have 39
Megapixels
i l
instead of
of
’only’ 20?

40. As DSLR cameras become better and better, the medium
format segment becomes smaller and smaller.

41. And trying to compete with the big guys in their segments
isn’t really an option for a company with 150 employees.

42. Hence, these firms don’t really have an option.

43. The medium format has been declining ever since the early
1980s and will continue to do so until there’s nothing left.

44. Image attributions
I ib i
Hasselblad photos: Christian Sandström
Hasselblad photos: Christian Sandström

45. Christian Sandström is a PhD
student at Chalmers
student at Chalmers
University of Technology in
Gothenburg, Sweden. He
Gothenburg, Sweden. He
writes and speaks about
disruptive innovation and
technological change.
Find out more:
www.christiansandstrom.org