The Fujifilm GFX100RF is collecting general praise all over the internet for just how incredibly small and light it is for a medium format camera, and also for its excellent build quality.
But of course they also address the fact that it does not have IBIS.
Now, you can read more about it below, but in general it seems the consensus is that at 1/30th you can still get away with sharp images, but below that it starts to get tricky. That’s according to Luca Petralia (review below) and docma (article in German below) and also to the Vistek video we shared in our live blog. Of course I have not tested it myself (I am just a mere mortal like you and I don’t get anything from Fujifilm unless I pay full price for it), so for now I will just report what reviewers have to say about it.
Out of curiosity I checked the shutter speeds of my last few hundred images, and I found one at 1/33th, one at 1/50th a few at 1/60th and 1/80th but mostly I am well over that. So if the statements of reviewers so far holds true, if I were to use the GFX100RF with my style of shooting I could live very well without IBIS. Of course I have shots at even slower shutter speeds, but for those I used a tripod anyway, as I was working either in blue hour landscape/cityscape or with filters and I needed exposures of multiple seconds.
With that said, here are the reviews I mentioned above as well as a few more, including interviews with Fujifilm managers that while nice to listen at, do not really disclose anything new, hence I did not dedicate them a specific article but I decided to include them in this roundup.
Fujifilm Equipment for Wildlife Imaging: An Evolving and Compelling Choice for Serious Photography
My photographic journey began many years ago with Fuji’s GX617 6x17cm panoramic and GSW690 6x9cm cameras, using ISO 50 medium format 120 Velvia film. I then moved on to Canon EOS equipment for several years. However, in 2016/17 I moved back to Fuji and have been using their equipment ever since the X-T1. You can find out more about me and my photography at www.marklucock.com
Up until recently my photographic life was very straightforward, I used Fuji gear for all my landscape photography of the natural and urban worlds, but fell back to my Canon equipment for wildlife photography. The Canon 300mm, 400mm and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II lenses were my staple for birding.
Welcome swallow in flight; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/9.0, 1/2500sec, ISO 1250, pre-shot mode at 13 FPS
Photographic life for me and many others has now changed thanks to Fujifilm’s new repertoire of high-end telephoto optics, and I’m really grateful to Patrick at FujiRumors for inviting me to write this Guest Post on how Fujifilm has adapted its equipment portfolio to arm nature and wildlife photographers with some truly remarkable glass.
From the inception of the Fuji-X system, the company has succeeded in producing some really high-quality, industry leading lenses. The acid test is always how good large prints are and while Fuji-X is only APS-C format, prints can be astoundingly good and are as good as you are ever likely to need. Add to this that the X system is a small and light weight set up, unobtrusive, and unashamedly retro, and you have a winning combination. BUT, while this kind of set up is ideal for lifestyle (portraits, weddings etc), landscape, macro and certain other genres, it is quite a departure to use this system for bird photography, a genre that is associated with huge, ridiculously expensive, heavy white lenses. True, the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is a great lens for birding; however, it is also a big, fairly heavy lens, and 400mm (even on APS-C) can be limiting in terms of reach for smaller birds.
Superb fairy wren; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, ISO 500White-faced heron; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/8.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 500
Everything changed for Fujifilm users who have a passion for wildlife/bird photography with the release of the Fuji X-H2 and X-H2s bodies and the Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens followed more recently by the remarkable Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lens. These four items are “manna from heaven” for serious wildlife photographers. Suddenly, Fujifilm was offering a true, fully fledged professional system that takes seriously good images. Most importantly, the pre-shot mode and electronic shutter (40 FPS) made Birds in Flight (BIF) photography reasonably simple. My aim with this article is therefore to show how these four items are a game changer for bird photographers and therefore through being a compelling choice for serious wildlife/bird photography, are in themselves a game changer for Fujifilm itself. You can read my individual reviews on the Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lens and Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens on my website.
The 500mm lens clearly shows the exquisite detail on a red-browed finch; Fuji X-H2S, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 500, 500/750mmGreat cormorant portrait; Fuji X-H2S, f/5.6, 1/680 sec, ISO 500, 500/750mm
One of the main objectives of this article is to compare these two amazing Fujifilm optics- the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR and XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lenses. I can imagine many people will be scratching their heads trying to decide which one they need for their particular type of photography. I have now been using both for several months and hope that I can offer some useful advice. I have already done a direct field and technical comparison of the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II lens for those that are interested, but I feel sure that the biggest appeal is likely to reside in a direct comparison of the two Fujifilm lenses.
Kolarivision has disassembled the Fujifilm X100VI that they pre-ordered back in February and have just received recently.
You can see the teardown in the video above and access the article at kolarivision
The “Surprise”
Three screws fastened the sensor cover to the frame
This turned out to be a huge surprise. We thought we would be able to access the sensor after removing those screws, but we found that this part, the sensor cover, was just another layer of removal that needed to be done. What’s more—there is a PCB right behind the sensor! We have never seen this in a camera before
Lo and behold, the PCB part was simply a part of the sensor itself
The Simplicity
Fujifilm mirrorless cameras are typically hard to disassemble due to complex internal designs.
The Fujifilm X100VI is an exception, with a quick and easy teardown process.
Modern fixed-lens mirrorless cameras are generally simpler in design compared to older fixed-lens models.
