Pentax K-3 vs Medium Format film
I performed a little impromptu test between my new Pentax K-3 APSc DSLR and my Rolleiflex 2.8 Medium Format TLR. I used the DA 35 macro LTD on the K-3 to match the field of view of the 80mm Schneider Xenotar lens on the Rollei.
I wasn’t surprised by the results having used the K-3 for nearly a month now but it is interesting to see that I was able to capture more detail with the K-3 than with the Rollie despite taking great care with both. It does leave me wondering what more could be wanted from a camera and reaffirms for me that my attention should move away from the camera gear itself and back to making images, although I’m sure I will do a little more as I work with my new camera.
In each of the following images the Pentax K-3 image is on the left and the Rolleiflex on the right
To be fair with the image above the plane of focus is clearly different making the Rolleiflex shot the prefered one in my eyes. That is not the cameras though that is all me.
I scanned the film at 3200 DPI which created 5200 x 5200 27Mpixel files against the K-3’s 6000 x 4000 24Mpixels but even cropping the K-3 down to a square 4000 x 4000 16Mpixel it still was a more detailed image although shooting square format natively has its advantages with some compositions.
When all is said and done though I still have an affinity for the look of film and often find that I prefer those images over the digital.