I mean, I am a very happy owner of the Fujifilm GFX100S myself, and my heart would say the GFX100S is never a bad pick, especially not at this price.
But Fujifilm really smashed the price on that model with the GFX100SII, bringing it dangerously close to the one its now heavily discounted predecessor.
It’s probably best to go for the GFX100SII at this point over the GFX100S.
Things change of course if we throw the Fujifilm GFX100II in the mix. Of course that one costs more, but it is also the flagship and it will beat the new GFX100SII in terms of specs and features.
Personally, if budget was not of concern, I’d go for the Fujifilm GFX100II right away.
But since budget is something most of us take into consideration, if I had no GFX camera and wanted to jump into digital medium format, I’d very likely wait go for the Fujifilm GFX100SII.
Why?
It’s part of Fuji’s 5th generation family, hence we can expect it to get more firmware love over the years. And it will have Reala Ace, better autofocus and many other good stuff that comes with the 5th generation platform.
Things would drastically change though if Fujifilm were to offer the GFX100S at $3,000. At this point it would be a deal too good to be true, and quite frankly a price where also plenty of full frame camera makers would start to worry.
I mean, 100 megapixel medium format in a camera body that is even slightly smaller than some full frame mirrorless cameras out there such as this one, would become a serious temptation for many out there. And it would also be my pick as a first GFX camera.
But as it stands now, I recommend to buy the Fujifilm GFX100SII or, if budget allows for it, go straight for the GFX100II.
Anyway… let us know in the survey below what your top pick would be.
You can read the full review at ePhotozine here. And down below I will share more GFX100II reviews which include more superlatives like “pure insanity”, “game changer” and what not!
And when FujiRumors started to share the first Fujifilm GFX100SII rumors, suddenly “rumors” about the GFX100SII started to appear pretty much everywhere.
One of them was shared here, and it was given to us 100% rocksolid. The rumor said the Fujifilm GFX100SII will certainly have a retro layout like the X-T5.
Of course I was super excited about it and at the same time hopeful that our sources would confirm it.
Well, now our sources have spoken. Trusted sources. And here is what they have to say about.
Don’t get me wrong: PSAM cameras are easy and fast to operate. Nobody denies that. And I can live happily with my PSAM styled GFX100S cameras. It would just be even more fun (and better looking) if it would have retro dials.
Cinema rental house Old Fast Glass made a custom Fujifilm GFX100 II cinema camera. For now it’s for rental only but there are good chances there will be units for sale in future.
KEY FEATURES:
Nearly 65mm Format Sized Sensor
14+ Stops of Dynamic Range
12-Bit ProRes RAW recording: 8K Up to 30 fps, 4K Up to 60 fps
Dual Stainless Steel LPL / PL Combo Mount
Custom Aluminum Housing & Cage
ARRI BUD-1 Base Plate and Accessories
Gold Mount Battery Plate with Remote RS
3-Pin Fischer, 2-Pin LEMO, D-Tap Power Distro
3 x SDI and 2 x HDMI Outputs
4-Pin XLR AC Power Input
2 Cooling Fans
Down below is the announcement from their IG page as well as a video introduction made by CineD.
ANNOUNCEMENT
NEW GEAR! We are thrilled to announce the latest project from @old_fast_glass and @ofgcustoms – The OFG Customs 65.
With the release of the @fujifilmx_us GFX100 II, we knew we wanted to develop a camera system that would harness the full potential of this camera. It has one of the largest available sensors for cinematography approaching the size of the Alexa 65.
We modified the camera, and designed a new housing that completely integrates the camera, RAW Recorder, video/power distro, cooling system, cage, handle/EVF, and baseplate systems, ready for the demands of professional sets. We wanted to remove the mess of cables, rods, adapters, and messy builds that come with using compact mirrorless cameras. In short, we wanted you to pull the camera out of the case, attached a battery and lens, and you’re ready to shoot.
Why make a GFX100 II bigger? It’s already a capable, compact camera ready to shoot professional video. But we wanted the full size, “studio” version of the camera with more functionality. Now you can go into the field with an OFG Customs 65 as A-Cam, and take a couple standard GFX100 II as your B and C-Cams, and they will all give you the same gorgeous images, but in different form factors for different needs. The 65 is on sticks, dolly, crane, or handheld, while the stripped down GFX100 II can be on a gimbal, car mount, or even crash cam. And they will all be giving post production the same look, and the same codec, making both set and post production easier.
If you are curious to get first looks at the camera, we will be at NAB Sunday and Monday, Central Hall near the Fujililm exhibit. We hope to see you there! The camera is available now for rentals!
CineD is at the NAB show and has the GFX100II cinema camera covered on YouTube (see below)
Old Fast Glass says in the interview they would not have made the effort to make such a camera if it had only a full frame sensor. But when the GFX100II came out the specs where amazing and the sensor is much larger than full frame, so they decided they want to make it. They also love Fujifilm color science.
Old Fast Glass also said that Fujifilm was very excited about this project. It’s a win-win for both, as it validates their GFX camera for cinema use.
You can check out the full interview below as well as see the camera covered on the CineD website.
Photons to Photos has published its dynamic range results for the Fujifilm GFX100II.
As to expect, the GFX100II now takes the lead as the mirrorless camera that will give you the highest dynamic range with a slight boost over the Fujifilm GFX100S due to an optimized sensor design, as we explained here.
So, if you want to have a bit more margins in terms of dynamic range, the Fujifilm GFX100II is the way to go. And all this by delivering substantially more megapixel over its high resolution full frame competitors.
There are only 3 digital cameras that are better than the GFX100II listed on Photons to Photos:
Phase One IQ4
Phase One IQ3
Hasselblad H6D-100c
But the above are not mirrorless cameras. And they are huge, heavy and cost more than my car.
You can access the comparison we made above at this link (and also make your own one).
Now the first batch of firmware updates has been released for the first cameras, and it includes autofocus improvements, touch to track AF in video, red frame indicator in video and more. All details below.
To see what else will come for which cameras in the near future, check out the dedicated article here.
Fujifilm has released firmware updates for Fujifilm GFX100II, Fujifilm X-H2S and the Fujifilm FT-XH file transmitter grip.
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