Can You Use Medium Format Cameras for Astrophotography?

Medium format cameras offer incredible image quality, and in recent years, they have become far more affordable. That being said, astrophotography has some pretty specific and extreme gear requirements. So, can medium format work for shooting the night sky? This insightful video takes a look at how it holds up. 

Coming to you from Alyn Wallace, this interesting video takes a look at using medium format cameras for astrophotography. No doubt, medium format cameras offer some of the most impressive image quality available, but that is not the problem here. Astrophotography deals with less available light than pretty much any other genre, and as such, photographers do everything they can to soak up every last photos, which, of course, means using lenses with the widest possible apertures, often f/1.4 or ever wider. Generally, medium format lenses lag behind their full frame counterparts, often by 2-3 stops, which can be a serious hindrance. There are a few third-party options that reach wider apertures, but they are often too long in terms of focal length to be useful. As such, it looks like full frame may offer the best balance for astrophotography work. Check out the video above for Wallace's full thoughts. 

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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2 Comments

The earths rotation presents an exposure limit depending on the sensor size best case senerior is a very capable motor.
Did a little study and this formula will give max exposure for H6D 100c

I just don't see the advantage of any of the Fuji GFX50 cameras over many of the 45mp FF cameras.
Now the 100mp sensors, that I would like to see.