Latest news with #FujifilmGFX100RF
Man of Many
01-07-2025
- Man of Many
Fuji GFX100RF Review: Two Weeks with a $9,000 Camera
The Fujifilm GFX100RF is an enthusiast-level camera that comes packed with some fantastic features is an enthusiast-level camera that comes packed with some fantastic features It does offer great on-device filtering options, as well as a lot of time-saving features for photographers to test new shot compositions The device isn't super comfortable to hold for long periods of time though As someone who works primarily as a cinematographer rather than a photographer, I was curious to see what the AUD$8,688 Fuji GFX100RF, an apparently revolutionary camera, was all about. I had the camera for just two weeks and, up to that point, had never really used a Fujifilm system. Despite the short testing period, the experience was eye-opening. It'd be remiss of me not to point out that this camera is one of Fuji's most refined. The Medium format (44x33mm) 102MP sensor is one of the best fixed lenses I've ever used at 35mm (28mm equiv) F4 with leaf shutter, a speedy subject autofocus and built-in ND filter. Compared to competitors, it's smaller, cheap and potentially more enjoyable to use. It is lacking in a few areas, but we'll get there. I trialled the camera for video – a decision that in hindsight wasn't optimal. The footage came out overly contrasty, and it didn't blend well with my main cam, the Sony A7IV. Still, the exercise was valuable and gave me an appreciation for what the GFX is and isn't built for. With 4k video up to 30fps, it isn't a bad camera for video, but it definitely feels like something that was added to the camera 'just cause'. In short, this is a basic review of a very complex camera, approached from a filmmaker's perspective. I spent a good portion of my time not just testing the specs, but answering: 'what does that actually mean to me, a novice photographer?' Tech Specs Brand Fujifilm Model GFX100RF Type Medium Format Digital Camera Image Sensor 43.8mm x 32.9mm Effective Pixels 102 million pixels Image Processing Engine X-Processor 5 Battery Fujifilm Li-ion Battery NP-W235 (included) Battery Life Approx. 820 shots Weight 735g Price AUD$8,688 Scroll horizontally to view full table The Aspect Dial of the Fuji GFX100RF | Image: Beatrix Boon/Man of Many The Good: Innovative Ways to Make Photography More Exciting Aspect Ratio Dial I absolutely love that the Fuji GFX100RF has a physical aspect ratio dial above the screen – rare to have something that changes the aspect ratio at all, a hark back to old film cameras. And not just having it in the menu, but being able to physically change it on a dial is next level satisfying. It's not just a novelty though, and forces you to compose more intentionally and creatively. It also offers nine crop options and gives live previews in a few ways: through black borders, bounding boxes, or translucent overlays. And if you change your mind? The camera saves the full RAW file underneath, so you can revert or reprocess later: a trick the Fuji keeps using through its feature-set, and which I grew to love for how easily it allowed me to experiment. Crop Zoom This feature was surprisingly useful. One push of the crop zoom lever effectively turns your lens into a 'full-frame' camera with a 35mm equivalent (at f/4). While you lose some image quality with the deeper crops, the ability to previsualise different focal lengths without swapping lenses was both practical and creatively inspiring. Again, the RAW remains untouched, which means JPEG previews become ways to rethink shot composition and new ideas without going through the ritual of swapping bits and pieces out, one by one. It genuinely sped up the process, which was a welcome boon. Testing the ND Filter of the Fuji GFX100RF | Image: Beatrix Boon/Man of Many Testing the ND Filter of the Fuji GFX100RF | Image: Beatrix Boon/Man of Many ND Filter and Film Simulation Though video isn't the GFX100RF's strong suit, I appreciated the built-in 4-stop ND filter, a big plus for anyone coming from the video world. As someone who also hasn't played around a tonne with Fuji's film simulation modes… I can wholeheartedly say because of this, I am now a Fuji convert. The GFX100RF comes stock with 20 'film simulation' modes, which effectively allow you to recreate certain types of Fujifilm film stocks. If you want something to look like it was shot on Classic film, or on the new REALA ACE style, which is based on Fuji's colour-negative film, there's a setting for that. You can also make your own simulation settings, which I played around with to make my own 'recipes' and was really happy with the results overall. As someone who does not enjoy editing my photos, this unlocked the ability to create striking and unique images without spending ages behind my laptop. Considering this was my first time using these modes, I chose a pretty good camera to start with it. The extremely high quality output gave me free reign to play, and make mistakes. The Fuji GFX100RF | Image: Beatrix Boon/Man of Many The Bad: Practical World Oversights Build & Handling The GFX100RF body is not the most comfortable to hold, it's a little too flat. And its size, while small for its category, is still not quite small enough to forget about. Plus, adding the lens hood with its adapter adds a good amount of depth to the thing. Considering this would be mainly a travel cam for people, that isn't great. It is definitely stylish, but sometimes practicality has to come before that. In-Body Stabilisation In my experience, while the Fuji has some great in-body stabilisation, I think the Leica Q3 wins out here. That camera features some impressive optical image stablisation that does a good job at minimising camera shake, which the Fuji doesn't quite manage to compete with… Maybe it's because I pushed it too hard in low light without a tripod for stability. To be fair, it is quite a bit better than others in its price range, with the Leica coming in at about AUD$11,000. The Fuji GFX100RF | Image: Beatrix Boon/Man of Many Man of Many's Final Verdict The Fuji GFX100RF is a deeply inspiring creative tool that has users in mind from the get-go. High image quality, aspect ratio dial, crop zooms and its renowned film simulations make this camera worth buying for anyone deep into the hobby. Are there better medium format cameras? Yes, but at much higher price points, which isn't necessarily what budding or intermediate photographers like myself are looking for. It's the easiest camera I've ever used, and created some of the most impressive shots I've ever taken.
Japan Forward
11-05-2025
- Japan Forward
The Fujifilm GFX100RF, Daring to be Different
Fujifilm has recently released the GFX100RF, a medium format, fixed-lens camera. Its unique features have divided many comment sections on the internet, with people both loving and hating the direction Fujifilm took with this camera. I was fortunate enough to borrow a GFX100RF for a week and thought I would share my experience of actually using the camera and testing out the various features (or lack thereof) that have the internet so excited. Black and white with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) First, Fujifilm's GFX system of cameras is known for having massive sensors, and the GFX100RF is no exception. With a 102MP sensor, this camera produces images that are unbelievably larger than you would get from your ordinary modern-day DSLR camera. It allows superb image quality. But it also enables the ability to crop images to an extent I would never try with my current cameras. Not that I would want to rely on this too much, but knowing you can crop as needed without losing image quality is a great help in chaotic situations like event or street photography. Shooting with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) Cropping with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) As mentioned above, the GFX100RF is a fixed lens with a 35mm focal length and an f/4 aperture. A focal length of 35mm on a medium format camera is equivalent to about 28mm on a DSLR. So, it is actually quite a wide lens. I don't hear too many complaints about the focal length. However, the choice to go with an aperture of f/4 seems to have a lot of photography enthusiasts scratching their heads. Personally, I mostly shoot with f/1.4, 1.8, and 2.8 lenses wide open. I like to blur my backgrounds (bokeh) to allow my subjects to stand out as much as possible. So I was honestly a little disappointed that Fujifilm decided to go with f/4 for this camera. Shooting street photography with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) However, I found the bokeh the GFX100RF produces to be quite pleasant when actually trying the camera for portraits, street, and even breakdance photography. Portrait photography with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) It was something I got used to quite quickly. In fact, I even forgot about the issue after a couple of hours of shooting. Of course, a wider aperture would be nice, especially at this price point. Nevertheless, I don't think f/4 is the deal breaker that so many people seem to be saying it is. Shooting breakdance with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) One new feature that Fujifilm has brought to the GFX100RF is a physical dial that allows the user to switch between various aspect ratios directly in the camera. I have never seen a camera with a physical dial dedicated to this. Therefore, I was quite interested in seeing how I could integrate this into a day of shooting. Unfortunately, after trying the camera for a few days, I was pretty confident I would not use this ratio dial in my day-to-day shooting. Changing ratios with the Fujifilm GFX100RF ー example 1. (©Jason Halayko) Changing ratios with the Fujifilm GFX100RF ー example 2. (©Jason Halayko) Changing ratios with the Fujifilm GFX100RF ー example 3. (©Jason Halayko) When using the dial and shooting in RAW+JPEG mode, the camera will produce a JPEG cropped to the selected ratio. And it will also add a crop to the RAW as well. The crop to the RAW can be taken off using any photo editing software. However, for my style of shooting, it just feels like an unnecessary extra step to take when editing. The only time I could see myself needing cropped JPEGs is when shooting for social media at an event. And even then, I would prefer to edit the RAWs first, then pass on those images as JPEGs if and when needed. There is one missing feature in the GFX100RF that seems to have upset a lot of people. It is the lack of any internal stabilization (IBIS) when taking photos with this camera. With an aperture at f/4, you are required to either slow down your shutter speed or increase your ISO more so than if you were to be shooting with a lens with an aperture of f/1.8, for example. If the camera had IBIS, this could be okay. However, because it is missing, many photographers online have complained that they can't get sharp images, even at a shutter speed of 1/250. Sharp images with the Fujifilm GFX100RF, in this example 1, despite the lack of IBIS. (©Jason Halayko) During my shooting, at night in Okinawa especially, I was lowering my shutter speed to 1/60 and 1/30 and still getting sharp images. Of course, I was being careful when taking the photos. But what I got turned out great time and time again, even without IBIS. Therefore, I am not exactly sure what these other photographers are doing when taking pictures at lower shutter speeds. In example 2, without IBIS, I was able to shoot sharp images with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) In this example 3, despite the missing IBIS, I got sharp images with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) Lastly, the Fujifilm GFX100RF not only takes great photos, but it also captures 4k/30fps videos as well. This is not uncommon for modern cameras. But what is unique is that the GFX100RF houses a 4-stop internal ND filter that can easily be turned on and off in the menu. Shooting video at 30fps requires a shutter speed of 1/60, which is quite slow, and allows a lot of light to reach the camera's sensor. This can be somewhat negated with camera settings, but there is a limit to this method. This is why many videographers use ND filters to shoot at wider apertures in bright light. Basically, they are like sunglasses for your camera. Shooting with the ND filter ON using the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) Shooting with the ND filter OFF using the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) I loved how this was internal in the GFX100RF and found I was using it for all the video I was taking (except at night, of course) during my test shooting. Having it as a separate accessory means you have yet another thing to forget when heading out shooting. Therefore, having it always inside the body is super helpful for people like me! All in all, the GFX100RF has been surprisingly polarizing in the photography community. Unfortunately, many people are expressing strong opinions about the camera without actually trying for themselves. Although I don't think I would use the ratio dial in my own shooting, the camera itself is light and small for a medium format option. The auto focus was bang on, and the images it produces are amazingly large yet easy to edit. I hope I can play with the Fujifilm GFX100RF again in the near future! Shooting with the Fujifilm GFX100RF (©Jason Halayko) Author: Jason Halayko Jason Halayko is a professional photographer specializing in action sports and portrait photography. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram .
