Compared to other medium format viewfinder cameras or reflex cameras, photography with medium format folding cameras offers the significant advantage of smaller dimensions (when folded up) in conjunction with lower weight. Folding cameras can therefore be transported more easily and can easily fit in a coat pocket or as an additional camera in a corner of the camera bag. However, these advantages are also offset by a whole series of disadvantages and limitations:

• Folding cameras usually are equipped with non-exchangeable lenses whose focal lengths are in the range of the normal focal length based on the respective film format. Smaller image angles can therefore only be achieved by enlarging the detail.
• Folding cameras are usually not equipped with an internal light meter. An external light meter is therefore required to measure exposure, unless you use exposure tables or the Sunny-16 rule.
• Folding cameras are generally purely mechanical cameras and do not require batteries. However, this also means that various convenient features such as automatic exposure, autofocus and automatic film transport are missing.
• Folding cameras are often equipped with leaf shutters integrated into the lens, which limits the shortest exposure time to 1/500 sec. This shortest shutter speed is usually only possible via an activated extra spring, which prohibits the shutter speed from being changed after the shutter has been cocked.
• Folding cameras are mechanically more sensitive than rigid cameras when it comes to the exact alignment of the lens parallel to the film plane. The movable lens mount must have no play and must lock securely to avoid partial blurring.
• Folding cameras are equipped with thin plastic or leather bellows that are mechanically sensitive. Plastic bellows can crack in the cold and leather bellows should be protected from rain (the leather will become brittle and can tear).
• Folding cameras are often equipped with smaller viewfinders without compensation for viewfinder parallax, which affects the exact composition. If an integrated or coupled rangefinder is missing, the distance must be estimated or an external rangefinder used.

However, these disadvantages do not mean decisive restrictions. Although they generally involve a slower way of working, this also forces you to work more carefully and can certainly increase the yield of good images. Limiting yourself to the angle of view of the normal focal length requires more legwork, but it also means that the potential of this focal length is better exploited. Using an external light meter is actually more conducive to accurate exposure measurement. The method of measuring incident light instead of reflected light is only possible with a separate light meter.

Posted: April 23, 2024