Kai Wong Fujifilm GFX100 Hands On Review: “You Do Get Quite a Bit for Your Money”

Fujifilm GFX100

Kai Wong went hands on with the Fujifilm GFX100. Here is what he thinks about it:

  • medium format is ment for tripod still subject shooting, but not with a body like the Fujifilm GFX100
  • feels good in the hands
  • like a Canon 1DXII in terms of size and weight, but the GFX100 has a much bigger sensor inside [and I’d also IBIS]
  • it functions like an oversized Fujifilm X, at least almost. No D-Pad, no retro dials
  • skin smoothing effect smooths out ever imperfection. Works only for the JPEGs
  • autofocus is pretty damn good. Same AF algorithm of X-T3, but lenses have bigger glass to shift, hence not as fast AF as X-T3
  • Fujifilm X-T3 and X-T30 eye-AF is right up there with Sony
  • Kai’s GFX100 struggled to detect faces, but on other GFX100 samples face and eye detection worked well
  • Eye AF is accurate and fast enough, although feels a little bit slower than on Fujifilm X-T3
  • the GFX100 sensor is 4 times bigger than the sensor on the X-T3
  • tracking mostly does a good job, although, understandably, sometimes it doesn’t shift the glass in time when the subject is moving at decent pace towards you
  • EVF is sooo good
  • shutter really well dampened (shock absorber), and you need it, with medium format 102 MP
  • nice soft shutter button, like on Fujifilm X-H1
  • using IBIS, works easily down to 1/125
  • no fancy dials, and Kai missed them, since turning a dial is easier and quicker than pressing a button and looking at the LCD
  • not too many negatives
  • electronic shutter means bad rolling shutter, but no surprise with a big sensor like that, and probably you are not going to use electronic shutter on the GFX100
  • works well enough on the streets, but not the obvious choice for street photography
  • a camera for landscapers, who need more resolution and more details
  • you can push it 4 stops and still get nice clean, crisp images
  • nobody buys the GFX100 for video, but it deserves credit since Fujifilm has done video well on the GFX100
  • uses 4K with no crop. Footage looks great. AF works great. Rolling shutter contained and video is still usable
  • IBIS works superbly to shoot stable video
  • You do get quite a bit for your money
  • Props to Fujifilm and well done to all those lucky buggers that can afford one

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Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera

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Fujifilm GFX100 Customer Reviews: “100 MP is Phenomenal, if You can Afford it, Get it”

images shared by Richard Ng at our Fujifilm GFX group - link below
images shared by Richard Ng at our Fujifilm GFX group – link below

Fujifilm GFX100

The Fujifilm GFX100 is experiencing a shipping shortage, but there are some, who are lucky enough to already have one in their hands.

If seems like all Fujifilm GFX100 owners are also members of our galactic Fujifilm GFX group. So here is some of the feedback they shared there.

Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera
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Fujiflm GX100 Reviews

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Why Fujifilm GFX Medium Format System is Future Proof and Tony Northrup’s GFX Pessimism is Unjustified

The Future of GFX

And then it became clear to me: Fujifilm medium format has a glorious future ahead. :)

Just two thing before we start:

  • Tony Northrup shared a video (see below), where he didn’t sound very confident about the GFX future. I thought about it, and the result is the article below
  • This article is based on the assumption, that in future only higher end cameras are 100% safe from the smartphone attack, since professional photographers won’t ever switch to smartphones for their Pro work

2 minutes reading time (or just 15 seconds if you jump directly to the conclusions ;) )

  • Fujifilm 2016 – The Statment

In 2016, Fujifilm Managers Makoto Oishi and Fuji Guy Billy said in this interesting interview:

When the global shutter sensor comes to be, it will be a big change just to the whole camera industry, taking away all the limitations of current electronic shutters. […]

If the GFX has global shutter, so we can imagine something new. A smaller body.

So let’s talk about it.

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Fujifilm GFX100: One Last Roundup Before Shipping Starts

Jonas Rask Fujifilm GFX100 image shared at the GFX facebook group
Jonas Rask Fujifilm GFX100 image shared at the GFX facebook group

Fujifilm GFX100

The Fujifilm GFX100 is about to ship, and what we have for you is one last glorious Fujifilm GFX100 roundup, before it starts falling into hands of mere mortals (with pockets a bit bigger than mere mortals ;) ).

The Slanted Lens tested the Fujifilm GFX100. Problem? They didn’t use the latest firmware that adds support for phase detection AF on GF lenses, and Lightroom still officially marks the GFX100 as preliminary supported. Sadly this makes every review so far incomplete.

With that said, here is what they think about the GFX100 (video below).

  • details are amazing
  • in medium format at f/2 you have so just very little DOF
  • dynamic range test
  • at -5 EV he is still able to recover the hightlights with no problem
  • he thinks it could have been underexposed for at least two more stops, and he’d be able to recover that
  • at +1EV he is able to hold the highlights, with just a little bit pink color shift
  • at +2EV the highlights are gone, with yellow color shift
  • at +3EV the details are gone, skin tones are yellow
  • at +4EV it’s basically blown out. No way to recover that image
  • if you work in very contrasty situations, this camera will work extremely well, because of amazing shadow recovery
  • pretty amazing dynamic range
  • ISO test
  • ISO 100 very clean
  • ISO 200 there is a little bit of grain
  • ISO 400 also a little bit of grain
  • ISO 800 grain builds up more
  • ISO 3200 grain starts to become very pronounced
  • ISO 6400 major grain. He thinks it’s unusable for stills
  • ISO 12,800 becomes pixelized
  • ISO 256,000 grain is extremely strong
  • He’d not go over ISO 400 for clean images in stills and in general up to 1600. For video up to 3200
  • even at higher ISO, the colors remain consistent, no shift
  • Autofocus
  • in stills he is not as impressed as he hoped for [I noticed when the subject was far away, the tracking was not so reliable, but more close, super sharp. I personally wonder about his AF settings. Also, pre-production, you know :)]
  • in video holds the focus well on the subject, and AF is as good as anything else on the market
  • IBIS
  • Impressive. Might be a great camera to put on a drone

And More

Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera, CalumetDE, ParkcamerasUK, JessopsUK, PCHstore

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GFX100 Cameralabs Podcast & More

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Fujifilm GFX100 Birth of Camera: Assembling the GFX100 and Launch Party

Fujifilm GFX100

Cinema5D shared the second part of their “Fujifilm GFX100: Birth of a camera” series.

Part 1 here, focussed on talks with Fujifilm managers, while developing the Fujifilm GFX100.

The second part today, brings you inside the Fujifilm factory in the GFX100 assembly line, on the streets of Tokyo to test a prototype GFX100 and in the backstage of the GFX100 launch party room.

  • you see how the sensor and IBIS are assembled together
  • one person assembles the entire top part
  • a person checks the response of dials and buttons
  • 18 tapes of tape are placed on the camera before they glue the rubber on it
  • some quick Fujifilm manager interviews ahead of launch, just to document their tension
  • The day before GFX100 launch, Toshihisa Ilda is visibly tense and he says that after GFX100 launch we will get completely drunk
  • at the end he keeps his promise, and he celebrates the launch of the GFX100 in a traditional Japanese way, by drinking Sake

Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera

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Let’s Get Serious: Hasselblad X1D II 50C not a Fujifilm GFX 50 Killer, and GFX100 vs X1DII with 3 Lenses Cost the Same

So, Hasselblad did it, and they announced the brand new Hasselblad X1D II 50C.

It comes with a good price tag of $5,750.

That’s still more expensive than the Fujifilm GFX50R and Fujifilm GFX50S, but not that much. And it is certainly much cheaper than the Fujifilm GFX100, but the latter features a 100 MP BSI sensor and IBIS.

I am very happy that Hasselblad is going aggressive when it comes to pricing on the Hasselblad X1D II 50C.

But from here to say that the Hasselblad X1D II 50C is a Fujifilm GFX killer (as some said over at facebook and elsewhere) is a bit an exaggeration.

Usually, when you buy a camera, you also buy some lenses to go with it. And you always have to factor lenses into your investment, too.

So let’s do it now:

Let’s buy the Hasselblad X1D II 50C as well as the GFX 50R with 3 comparable GF and X1D lenses (not counting the current GFX discount).

with

with

with

The Fujifilm GFX kit will cost you $10,896, whereas the Hasselblad X1D kit $ 17,425.

You basically save about 40% by investing into the GFX system, and if you would buy today, with the current GFX deals, you actually save almost 50% over the X1D system.

And what about the Fujifilm GFX100?

Let’s try the same combo:

  • GFX 100 + 3 lenses above = $ 16,396
  • X1D II 50C + 3 lenses above = $ 17,425

So even by buying the Fujifilm GFX100 and 3 lenses at full price, you still save $1,000 with the Fuji GFX system and you also get:

  • IBIS
  • much faster autofocus
  • 100 megapixel
  • 4K/30p video
  • twice as fast continuous shooting frame rate
  • BSI sensor with full phase detection pixel coverage
  • & more

There is one fundamental design choice Hasselblad made, that makes the X1D system always substantially more expensive over the GFX system: the lack of focal plane shutter.

This has 2 downsides:

  • you can’t use cheap old legacy glass on the Hasselblad X1D
  • you have to pay for the leaf shutter every single time with every lens purchase

Guys, I am the first one to be happy about another player in the medium format market, that competes with Fujifilm. That’s what we customers need: competition!

The Hasselblad X1D II 50C is a much needed and welcome upgrade to the orginial X1D. The faster processor will sort out quite some issues the first generation cameras had.

But the GFX system remains the by far most affordable option to go into medium format, and the new Hasselblad X1D II 50C hasn’t changed that.

Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera

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Fujifilm Manager Says Fujifilm GFX 100 Enjoys Strong Pre-Orders and Video RAW Recording May Come via Firmware Update

Indie Shooter interviewed Fujifilm manager Michael Bulbenko at CineGear 2019. Above the video and down below the main takes:

  • true 16 bit sensor
  • ISO 6400 is really really good
  • 14 stops dynamic range
  • you get 5 stops IBIS also with third party lenses
  • IBIS does not crop in the sensor
  • 4:2:2 via external monitor, but engineers have not yet decided if they are going to implement RAW or not. They are working on it and it would be simple matter of firmware udpate. It is something Fujifilm is looking into
  • PL to G mount adapter available by Alpa, Kipon and Fotodiox is working on it
  • pre-orders are piling up fast

Fujifilm GFX 100: B&H Photo, AmazonUS, Adorama, Focuscamera

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Inside the Fujifilm Factory, Eye AF Demo and a Confusing Fujifilm GFX 100S Rendering

Fujifilm Factory

The Straits Times posted a short video, with clips from inside the Fujifilm factory in Sendai.

Interestingly, at some point they display a rendering of the Fujifilm GFX100S, basically a Fuji GFX50S marked as 100S. I don’t know if they were confused and just made an incredible error, or if they just wanted to hint something to us :)

Anyway, here are some facts we hear in the video:

  • 227,000 sqm
  • 2,000 workers
  • 18,000 cameras manufactured each month
  • 30,000 to 50,000 lenses manufactured each month
  • the first room they visit is a room, where the “image sensor is produced“, as well as some of the lenses assembled
  • the IBIS of the GFX100 consists of 110 pieces. It takes surprisingly little space around the image sensor
  • the camera is assembled from close ot 900 pieces [to be precise, 860 pieces, as we reported here]

When he says about “image sensor being produced” he probably means “assembled on the GFX“, since it is produced by Sony.

Fujifilm GFX100 First Looks: 95% Eye Detection Success Rate, Great Skin Tones and $10,000 is Actually a Good Price

Fujifilm GFX100 Hands On Reviews

Matt Granger went hands on with the Fujifilm GFX100.

He starts by saying that he does not get any attention by Fujifilm, and was not invited to Japan for the launch. So he needed to wait for the Fujifilm GFX100 to be displayed at a photography fair, and all he could do is to talk to Fuji reps there and go only shortly hands on with the camera. So what he can share for now is only a quick first look.

Other major youtube channels also complaint about Fujifilm not flying them to exclusive events around the world (which is what Sony does all the time). If this is good or bad, I leave the judgement to you.

  • keithwee – Availing The Future | Fujifilm GFX100 review Part II

Back to Matt and his first impressions:

The Good

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