Fujifilm GFX100S Size Reduction Explained by Fujifilm Engineers – Fujifilm X Lab

January 28, 2021
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Fujifilm has uploaded its latest Fujifilm X lab episode. As usual the episode is in Japanese and we rely on the automatic translation tool.

But I don’t want my readers to go through this pain, so I have summed it up for you below, as well as shared all close up images of the internals of the Fujifilm GFX100S.

Most of the size reduction was achieved thanks to the new shutter mechanism. But also the IBIS got smaller and even the Fujifilm X-T4 battery played a role in this.

Everything is nicely summarized for you down below ;).

Fujifilm GFX100S: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / Focuscamera
Fujinon GF80mmF1.7: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / Focuscamera

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Summary + Images

lots of hurdles to make GFX100 smaller
shutter occupies most of the space inside the camera
the GFX50 shutter mechanism is so big, it would extend into the battery compartment of the GFX100S
but the GFX100S has a much smaller shutter (see images below)
22% lighter and 16% smaller shutter
they had to reduce the parts needed for the shutter
until now there were two motors, but GFX100S has one motor only
durability has not changed and there is no loss in terms of performance
the GFX100S battery compartment is also a little bit tilted (7.5 degrees)
the use of Fujifilm NP-W235 battery (the one in the X-T4) was needed to accomplish that type of design.
when they designed the NP-W235 they discussed to make it flat, but they went with the curved design and it’s useful now with the GFX100S
new joystick design to improve operation
IBIS is a bit smaller too
IBIS on GFX100S is better than on GFX100, which helps to take even sharper images and take full advantage of the 100 megapixel handheld even at shutter speeds of 1/20s
from now on the goal will always be to make the GFX even smaller

Interesting to note how he says that the shutter mechanism takes the biggest space inside the camera. And this is exactly why I told you that the Fujifilm GFX system will profit from the global shutter more than any full frame or APS-C system.

With the arrival of the global shutter, you can shrink camera size substantially. But the real limit here is not technological, but natural: the size of human hands!

Current high-end APS-C and FF cameras, such as the Fujifilm X-H1, Fujifilm X-T3 or Sony A7III, have already reached the size limit, beyond which they would simply become too small for many professional photographers.

So the day the global shutter hits the market, high end APS-C and FF cameras won’t really get any smaller than they are now.

It will be medium format, who will take the biggest advantage in terms of size reduction thanks to the global shutter revolution.