Photographers still on the fence are waiting to see whether "bridge" cameras like the 37.5MP Leica S2 will provide a happy medium.

Though it has been building for the last several years now, Photokina 2008 was the show that really blew the doors off the debate over whether digital SLRs or medium-format digital cameras would assert their dominance in studio photography over the next decade. Along with a recent fleet of full-frame DSLRs including the 24.6MP Sony A900 and the 21.1MP Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Photokina saw the introduction of the first true, DSLR-Medium Format hybrid model: the 37.5MP Leica S2. The S2, which uses a huge 30 x 45mm imaging sensor while offering the design and handling of a DSLR, has been viewed as an attempt to bridge the gap between the two formats.

It remains to be seen whether the S2 is an anomaly—at the time of this writing we have yet to get our hands on a testable model and Leica has not released official pricing—or the first glimpse of the wave of the future.

Photokina 2008 also showed that medium-format digital cameras are alive and well and still pushing the resolution envelope into the stratosphere. Hasselblad released its 60-megapixel H3DII-60 at the show while Phase One showed off its 60.5-megapixel P65+ digital camera back. Meanwhile, Mamiya has been touting its lower priced – for medium-format cameras—DL28, which uses a 28MP Leaf Aptus-II 6 digital back and sells for $14,999 with an 80mm f/2.8 lens.

On the digital SLR front, at the time of this writing Nikon started shipping its $8,000, full-frame, 24.5MP D3X digital SLR which is also aimed squarely at the studio photography market.

To gauge what actual camera buyers think of all these options, we talked to several studio photographers who use either digital SLRs or medium-format digital cameras or, in many cases, both types, to get a sense of what the future might hold for studio gear in 2009 and beyond.

Photo Credit: © David Prince Though some studio photographers—such as David Prince—crave the image quality, resolution and sharpness you can get from a medium-format camera, others say the slow speed and high price of these models are a hindrance.

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CASE STUDY 1: MEDIUM FORMAT
(BUT SOMETIMES DIGITAL SLR)

David Prince, a Manhattan-based commercial photographer specializing in still life, food and interiors, does most of his studio work with a Mamiya RZ67 and 39MP Phase One P45 digital back. For Prince, the appeal of medium-format is simply about his clients.

"The format is so much closer to a magazine spread or ads when I'm shooting with the Mamiya, I get much more usable space," he says. "With a digital SLR image, you're compromising a lot because you're cropping it down to fit the page format."

Image quality and resolution are also major factors in why Prince continues to use the Mamiya and Phase One back in the studio, despite the ever-escalating megapixel counts of some of the latest digital SLRs.

"The quality is better even though the lens I'm using with the Mamiya is not a digital lens. And I do think clients notice. I think they can tell the difference between a 35mm digital SLR image and a 'two and a quarter,' medium-format digital image."

When he's outside the studio, however, when shooting personal work or scouting locations while "sketching ideas," Prince says he typically turns to his Canon 5D and, more recently, to his new Canon 5D Mark II.

"One of the great things about that camera is that it's freed me up to go out and shoot. You're taking pictures of things you wouldn't have taken pictures of before and, on that level, it helps my two and a quarter studio work."

Prince has also found that while "scouting" a location with the 5D or 5D Mark II, he'll occasionally end up using those image files as finals. "Sometimes I'll scout the entire house I'm shooting with the Canon and then we'll run out of time but we've already done it."

In the studio though, he turns to his medium-format system and not just for quality but also for the perception the camera projects to clients.

"When you're shooting with a 35mm camera, clients feel like 'I could shoot that.' So part of it is the perception of how professional you look and, quite frankly, how big the camera looks," Prince says. "And it's the same game that's been played for years. It's like when a fashion photographer will bring thousands of dollars of lights and plant them around the studio and they just end up using window light."

Prince quickly adds though that this idea of perception is not just superficial, it's also about the quality of the image you're presenting the client.

"It's all about how people perceive you and perceive your work," he says. "They hire you for your personality, not just for what camera you use. It's perception plus what you're actually giving them."