Do I need to change my lens/camera to scan medium format?

[Digitizer]

@Dazzling

I think I’m probably not explaining my query properly. Say you do a 35mm scan and the output is 6000x4000, or whatever the max is. Then, when you do a 120 scan with the same setup, aren’t you going to get the exact same number of pixels but for a larger negative? It will still be 6000x4000 but for a bigger negative. I think that’s what I’m asking.

No matter how large your negative is, if your camera has a 4000 x 6000 pixels sensor, your output will be a 24 Megapixel image file. Scanning 120 film simply means that you’ll have to reduce the imaging ratio (move the camera away from the negative) to cover the wider format.

Depending on what aspect ratio your negatives have, you can loose quite a few Megapixels in the process. If you cover the whole, uncropped negative area with one shot of a 24 Megapixel sensor camera…

• a 6x6 negative can produce an output of no more than 4000x4000 pixels (16 Mpixels)
• a 6x7 negative can produce an output of no more than 4000x4666 pixels (18 Mpixels)
• a 4.5x6 negative can produce an output of no more than 4000x5333 pixels (21 Mpixels)
• a 6x9 negative can produce an output of no more than 4000x6000 pixels (24 Mpixels)

24 Mp camera is good enough for prints of up to 20-30 inches wide. If you want bigger or finer prints, you’d probably want to stitch a few shots - if the quality of the original justifies the extra effort.