Another Fujifilm GFX roundup… and it all comes from our wonderful and extremely lively Fujifilm GFX facebook group. It’s one of my daily joys to surf through the work and knowledge shared over at the group… feel free to join, and enjoy.
*Note* This is a long post – I have a summary of pros and cons in my conclusion
As soon as the Hasselblad X1D-50c and Fuji GFX 50s were announced, I wanted one. The promise of Medium Format in a cheaper, and smaller package was incredibly alluring. For the past year my main camera has been a Fuji X-Pro2. I love it. I love the image quality, the colors, the size, and the Rangefinder styling. I also love Fujifilm’s Kaizen philosophy of constantly updating their camera lineup via firmware. All of these things influenced my decision toward the GFX. Luckily, my wife (Kelly Williams), and I were also given the opportunity to demo the Hasselblad X1D. The svelte styling, leaf shutter (ability to sync strobes at 1/2000s), and simple menus were all big pluses in the Hassy’s favor.
When we opened the boxes, we were woefully unimpressed by the Fuji GFX. Even though it kind of looks like a bigger X-T2, it’s actually kind of ugly in person. It almost looks like three different teams designed parts of the camera, and then they Frankenstein’d it all together in the end.
In stark contrast when we opened the X1D box, my wife said,
“We may have to buy two of these so we don’t fight over it.”
Similarly, we conducted two fashion shoots with these cameras. When we brought out the X1D, both models said
“Oh! A Hasselblad!”
Neither commented on the GFX.
Should this matter? My left brain says no. However, it does matter. What is this industry about? IMAGE. These tools are used to take images, because the world has placed value on images of pretty things. Don’t kid yourself, image is paramount in this business – especially in fashion and portraits.
Fujinon XF 18mm F2 Reviews? Not so bad… at BHphoto
No Love for the Original XF18mmF2?
When Fujifilm started with the interchangeable X-series line (the X-Pro1), they launched 3 lenses: the much-loved and bestselling XF35mmF1.4, the often underestimated XF60mmF2.4, and the Fujinon XF 18mm F2… a lens, that IMO, should deserve a higher reputation than it currently has.
The original XF18mmF2 is a nice pancake solution for a wide variety of photographs. In fact, the XF18/2 was also Nate’s choice for his One Year, One Lens World Travel, where he shot street, landscape, architectures and even portraits with it (although he says that for portraits “I have to get right in peoples faces to do the portrait style I like – it’s not always a comfortable situation.”)
And there are more people out there, who like the XF 18mm F2. For example, peterpoete prefers it over the XF16mmF1.4 and it is also one of the top 2 lenses for everydaygetaway. Full stories linked below:
“This lens is a perfect companion for almost any type of documentary work. Since its purchase the XF18 was attached to my camera almost all the time and I have done a very wide variety of photographs with it. Many of the pictures I have taken with it simply were snapshots – some were more serious work, sometimes even very sad and heartbreaking like those for a short documentary about the memorial and museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. […]
This lens brought back the delight and joy to make pictures back in many of my days strolling around and searching for things worth to be seen – at least for me.”
Like most Fuji shooters I didn’t give much thought to the XF 18mm when I first got into Fuji. Most of the mainstream reviews had luke-warm to downright bad opinions about it, some even calling it Fuji’s worst lens.
Thankfully I listened to a few of the quieter voices out there and gave the 18mm a shot because I loved the 28mm FL on my 6D and a7S and I wanted something similar in size to the XF 27mm that I already had, but with an aperture ring… the extra stop of light was an added bonus.
So what is it about this lens that makes it rank in my top 2 favorite lenses for my kit? Well, let’s break it down…
The XF18mmF2 MK II Rumors
When we launched our monumental future X-Series Lens Poll, the Fujinon XF18mmF2 MK II was one of the most wanted lenses (currently #5 out of 30 lenses). Check out the results here.
So it happens, that almost 7 months after its launch, the Fujifilm GFX 50s is ranked as the #69 best selling mirrorless camera. To me, that does not sound bad at all.
The Fujifilm GFX 50s is just the beginning of something new and awesome in the medium format world, just like the Fujifilm X100 and X-Pro1 were the beginning of something new and awesome in the APS-C world.
But while it took Fujifilm a couple of years to finally launch a mature product and have huge success in the APS-C world (X-Trans2 cameras and especially X-T1), I think that the next iteration of Fujifilm’s medium format cameras, the Fujifilm GFX 100S (or however they will call it) will already be a 100% mature product, especially if it will feature Sony’s 100MP BSI sensor that Sony officially announced at the CEBit here.
But until then, the Fujifilm GFX 50s is already a great tool, and a whole lot of fun to use today.
Ichigo Sugawara, photographer from Japan, visits northern part of Sakhalin to capture portraits of people in the area with the GFX at Fuji Guys Youtube
Fujifilm GFX 50s test at the Italian web magazine tomshw
And now… one of the most appreciated sections of the GFX roundups: the images.
I know it means a lot to you guys if I share your work on FujiRumors. As photographers, you can need any visibility (and improved SEO google search results) you can get on the web, and I know I can help with it.
More visibility can also mean more clients for you guys.
This is why I keep it up, of course giving you all the credit you deserve for your great work, even if these image roundups are a really very time consuming activity for me. But I really want to support your as much as I can.
