MANAGER INTERVIEW: Fujifilm manager Makoto Oishi said to thephoblographer (video above), that the Fujifilm GFX 50R went through at least 10 different designs.
One idea was to put the hybrid viewfinder into thr Fujufilm GFX50R, but it would have made the Fujifilm GFX50R bigger and heavier as well as parallax issues due to large G-mount.
Fujifilm still struggled with the size, though, especially because of the shutter mechanism and the battery.
So, week after week, they re-designed and re-developed the Fujifilm GFX50R in order to reduce the size.
At the end, they made at least 10 different designs and plastic models, until they reached the desired size.
ON THE FIELD WITH GFX 50R: William Chua brought the Fujifilm GFX50R in western Mongolia. The result is a series of wonderful images, you can check out at williamchua here.
“Of course the camera would work great in other kind of photography as well, studio, landcapes etc.. but I think it works best out in the streets, and for general travel photography. Probably not the best for fast action things though. […] Its very addictive to shoot with this camera.“
William Chua took the Fujifilm GFX 50R out for some street photography in Cologne. You can read the full blog post and see the samples at williamchua.com. Some excerpts:
Being a GFX 50s user, he was not too excited about this camera. But after using it for a few days, he has to say he loves it more and more
Its a great camera for street photography
might not be as comfortable to use with big glass like the GF 250mm
in a lot of his sample images, he used face detection, and he’s glad to say it works extremely well
Jonas Rask shares his impressions of the Photokina 2018 in the best way possible: by sharing wonderful images taken with Fujifilm GFX 50R and X100F. Check out his article “When the floor dust settles” at jonasrask here.
Kai Wong was at photokina and shares his walkthrough the various booths. Of course he also checked out the Fujifilm GFX 50R. Jump to minute 5:43 here, to check out the part about Fujifilm.
MediumFormat: First Impressions of the Fujifilm GFX 50R at mediumformat
PhoBlographer writes in his Fujifilm GFX 50R first impressions that the Fujifilm GFX 50R is the camera he’s been waiting for. They would like a 50MP X-Trans version and pay even more for it, and faster glass (such as the rumored GF 80mm F1.4) would also be appreciated. Read it all at phoblographer here.
Spanish: The Spanish site albedomedia (translation) goes hands on with the Fujifilm GFX 50R. They share their impressions as well as some media slides including an overview of Fujifilm’s camera history, which you can see below.
Fujifilm GFX 100 MP X-Trans
ThePhoblographer had a talk with Fujifilm USA manager Justin Stailey, mainly about the Fujifilm GFX 50R, but there was also a question about the Fujfiilm GFX 100.
Phoblographer: Why isn’t the GFX 100MP sensor an X Trans sensor? Justin: I don’t think we said that it was or was not X-Trans. but…In Medium Format, the Bayer Sensor has proven to provide excellent image quality
So, despite hinting that a Bayer sensor is more likely than an X-Trans sensor, Fuji Manager Justin did not exclude the possibility it could be a 100 Megapixel X-Trans sensor. Read the whole interview at phoblographer.
For planing and organizing your landscape/astro photography, this app is arguably one of the very best you can get.
PhotoPills has a youtube channel with lots of tutorials on how to use it. Down below you can see a video on how to plan your milkyway photography using PhotoPills.
ePhotozine published a couple of hands-on photos of the Fujifilm GFX 50R with GF 50mmF3.5.
I am pretty sure ePhotozine just did it just to trigger my GAS even further, because I kind of fell in love with the Fujifilm GFX 50R while trying it out at the Fujifilm booth.
They also shared hands on images of the GF45-100mm and GF 100-200mm here.
And despite all the reviewers make a brilliang job covering the Fujifilm GFX 50R, they have a hard job this time, since it has the exact same performance of the Fujifilm GFX 50S. The only difference is the design, and I strongly invite you to test it out by yourself, because what I loved to handle on the booth, you might hate it.
And in no case I would recommend this camera to left eye shooters, since you are going to cover the screen with your face, and you can forget to swipe the touch screen to access your custom functions while you have your eye on the viewfinder. The swipe function will be used a lot, since there is not D-Pad, where to assign custom functions.
With that said, if you are a rangefinder lover, then you probably already are right eye dominant and the corner viewfinder placement.
I just came home from another busy day at Photokina, and I played again around with the Fujifilm GFX 50R. It’s a really fine camera, and my GAS goes strong, but $4,500 still make it out of my reach. So my money is safe (I think :) ).
For rangefinder guys like me, the Fujifilm GFX 50R is surely more fun to use than the GFX 50S, also on the streets and for daily documentation of life.
Kevin Mullins and Jonas Rask also said on their live talks at Photokina, that the Fujifilm GFX 50R is a medium format they enjoy to pick up and carry around for daily shooting, much more than a bulkier Fujifilm GFX 50S, which is definitely a wonderful tool for professional work, but not as “casual” as the Fujifilm GFX 50R.
So keep in mind that performance is just the same of Fujifilm GFX 50S. What the real difference is, is the shooting experience. So I will share a few reviews down below, but none will tell you how the Fujifilm GFX 50R feels in your hands.
One thing I liked form the Fujifilm GFX 50R and GFX 100 live stream announcement, is that Fujifilm asked what full frame means.
“Full” indicates that some kind of limit is reached. So what is the Fujifilm GFX system? Well, then Fuji calls it a “super full frame” ;)
And just for fun I will tell you this: in German we often refer to “full frame” as “Kleinbild“, which means “small frame“, because it’s smaller than… guess what?… you got it, medium format!
So what now, is full frame actually a small frame?
In order to end the confusion, I will tell you this: every system is “full frame”. Fuji’s APS-C system is conceived and designed for APS-C, and so is their MF system. M43 is build around the M43 sensor and so forth.
Whatever you hold in your hands right now, from an iPhone to Phase One, it’s “full frame”.
– Incorporates a large sensor approximately 1.7 times the size of full-size 35mm image sensor
-New model with a rangefinder style design, a lightweight 775g* body and easy operability
-Produces ultra-high image quality with 51.4 million pixel sensor, ideal for both snapshots and portraits
