Sony A7rV vs Fujifilm X-H2 vs Fujifilm GFX100S – The Complete Specs Comparison

Sony just announced the Sony A7rv, a 61 megapixel camera without stacked sensor.

In the Fujifilm world the non-stacked high resolution competitors would be the Fujifilm X-H2 and the Fujifilm GFX100S.

You can check out the complete specs comparison at the B&H comparison page here.

With the Fujifilm X-H2 costing just half the price of the Sony, to me this shows once again that the best balance is offered by APS-C. Also considering that the 40MP Fujifilm X-T5 will come in at an even lower price.

But if price does not matter and resolution as well as ever so slight increase in dynamic range is what you need, then you can also pay 50% more than the A7rV and get 67% more pixels and plus better dynamic range on the Fujifilm GFX100S.

It’s just nice that we have so much choice these days.

But Specs…

But specs alone don’t tell the whole thing and in some cases they can be even a bit misleading.

The Fujifilm GFX100S might beat the Sony A7rV when it comes to resolution and dynamic range, but the Sony A7rV and of course the latest Fujifilm APS-C cameras have superior autofocus and better video features.

Another example… the Sony A7rV has a 9 Million dot viewfinder as opposed to the 5 million dot EVF of the Fujifilm X-H2. But the EVF of the X-H2 has all new optical elements that give an incredible corner to corner sharp view.

And once you go at 5+ million dots and beyond, it gets harder and harder for the human eye to notice any difference. In fact, I have read statements of journalists who used both viewfinders, the one of the new Sony A7rV and the Fujifilm X-H2, and they said that they honestly can’t see any difference. So I guess it’s up to companies to decide if customers have to spend more money on even higher resolution EVF’s that bring no real life benefit, but that allow them to brag on the specs sheet, or use a more affordable EVF that gives just the same results.

What on the other hand makes much more influence on the real life shooting experience of the Sony A7rV is the new tilt screen, which is similar to the one Fujifilm already used many years ago on the Fujifilm X-T100, and here on FujiRumors we said that this is actually one of the two features Fujifilm should take from their entry level line and implement in higher end cameras.

So, as in everything, there is much more than just specs that define a camera. But specs are a good start, and you can compare them here at BHphoto.

Photons to Photos Fujifilm X-H2 Dynamic Range Data Shows Best Base ISO Dynamic Range on X series

Photons to Photos just published its data regarding the sensor performance of the 40 megapixel Fujifilm X-H2.

We see that at base ISO the Fujifilm X-H2 has the best dynamic range of all Fujifilm cameras thanks to its new native ISO125.

Dual conversion gain is at ISO 500.

An astonishing result for a camera with significantly more megapixel than any other X series camera. And remember, the Fujifilm X-T5 will have the same sensor of the Fujifilm X-H2, so the results of the X-T5 will be pretty much identical to the one of the X-H2.

Well done, Fujifilm!

You can check out the results at Photons to Photos here.

Camera Model

Maximum PDR

Low Light ISO

Low Light EV
Fujifilm X-H2 10.75 2854 9.83
Fujifilm X-H2S 10.04 2884 9.85
Fujifilm X-T4 10.45 3298 10.04

Fujifilm GFX100S vs Hasselblad X2D Dynamic Range Test

The web is full of professional reviewers suddenly discovering how amazing the Hasselblad X2D is, how gorgeous its dynamic range, the flexibility of those files. It’s all so amazing. Forget full frame, medium format is the future!

Sadly many of those reviewers have since now totally ignored that the Fujifilm GFX100S exists. And by the way, they also ignore the Fujifilm X-H2 and X-H2S. Fujifilm simply does not exist.

Luckily for us, Bill at Photon to Photos did not forget that Fujifilm makes digital cameras and has them all in his database.

And he also added the Hasselblad X2D now.

How you can see, the Fujifilm GFX100S matches the Hasselblad dynamic range at base ISO, but starting from ISO 400 and beyond there is not competition and the GFX100S beats the X2D in terms of dynamic range.

So Fujifilm is able to take out more of the sensor than Hasselblad.

You can access the data here at Photon to Photos.

UPDATE: Jim Kasson, a very respectable and competent fellow GFX shooter, has a different view on the chart. He writes:

Bill’s PDR tests don’t take sensitivity into account. My tests show that, at base ISO (64 for X2D, 100 for GFX 100S), the two cameras are within 0.2 stops of having the same sensitivity. Once you correct for that, Bill’s curves for the two cameras are nearly on top of each other. So the Fuji Rumors claim is at best misleading, and at worst just plain wrong. C’mon folks, these cameras have the same sensors, albeit operated slightly differently. How far apart can the DR be?

You can read more at blog.kasson here.

So What, Did FujiRumors Fall in Love with Fully Articulating Screens? Would a Fujifilm X-T5 with Selfie Screen be a Dealbreaker for You? POLL

3 Times I Loved the Selfie Screen

I lately shared a couple of posts on my Instagram page, showing images of myself making good use of the Selfie Screen on my Fujifilm X-T4.

So what, did I join the “dark side” and fell in love with fully articulating screens as some have suggested?

Well, not really.

The whole point of these posts was just to show that, in rare cases, a fully articulating screen really simplifies the composition of an image.

So here are 3 times I loved the fully articulating screen on my X-T4 as it allowed me to take a picture that would have been much more complicated and cumbersome to take with any other screen.

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Don’t be XF Obsessed: Let’s Look Beyond Fujinon Glass

Third party lenses are fantastic!

I have manual focus X and G mount lenses and one day I’ll also get some third party AF lenses (especially this upcoming one sounds sweet to me).

But truth be spoken: I almost exclusively use XF/GF lenses, so much so that one could call me almost an “XF obsessed” or “Fujinon purist” if you want.

And there is one main reason for me using almost exclusively Fujinon lenses.

What I am most addicted to on my Fujifilm systems are:

  • retro look/controls (love aperture ring on the lens and dials on the camera)
  • Fujifilm colors (the film simulations)

And while I own some wonderfully vintage looking third party glass, what is really hard to emulate and to perfectly match for third party lenses, is the color rendition of my Fujinon lenses!

And as a film simulation lover myself, this is a big deal!

In practical terms this means that for example an image taken in Velvia on my Samyang 12mmF2 just does not look like the Velvia I am used to get with my Fujinon lenses.

But don’t get me wrong.

I like Samyang and shot some of my most loved images with it. And I can always tweak the colors in post to get closer to the look I want.

But in my experience XF/GF lenses are just incredibly consistent in terms of colors and I know they will deliver the best results in terms “film simulation rendering” over any third party lens (this also helps my editing workflow).

With that said, I am also convinced that third party lenses massively enrich the Fujifilm X and GFX system.

And I’d dare to say that third party glass is even vital and essential for the Fujifilm system.

Third party lenses can be much more affordable, offer interesting focal range not covered by Fujifilm glass (like this lens), have different design choices that some might prefer (like clickless aperture ring) and have their own lens character that might appeal to some (like the lovely sunstars of this lens).

And because I am convinced about how important third party lenses are for the Fujifilm X/GFX system, I am going to do two things now:

  1. next week I am going to take picture only using my third party X and G mount glass
  2. I will share this roundup dedicated only to third party lenses

So let’s rock it now :)

Third Party Lens Roundup

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