You possibly can’s say Fujifilm is boring. It caught to APS-C sensors as a substitute of going full-frame like everybody else, whereas releasing cool and peculiar fashions just like the X100 VI. That technique has been refreshing in a conservative trade and undeniably profitable.
It additionally went huge by introducing its first medium-format digicam seven years in the past, the GFX50S. After eight fashions, they’ve confirmed to be in style amongst professional portrait and scenic photographers, a market Fujifilm by no means actually had earlier than. Every has develop into more and more extra subtle, with higher picture high quality, sooner capturing speeds and improved video.
Now that the corporate’s flagship $7,500 100-megapixel GFX 100 II, has been out for awhile and had a number of firmware updates, I used to be eager to check the brand new AF speeds and extra. So I went to London to strive it out alongside two professional photographer pals who’re pondering of shopping for one.
Physique
The unique GFX 100 is a big digicam, weighing over three kilos with the viewfinder. The GFX 100 II is extra manageable at 2.27 kilos, the identical as Panasonic’s full-frame S1. Photographers are nonetheless prone to be carrying a heavy bag, although, as medium-format GFX lenses are typically larger and heavier than full-frame glass.
The GFX 100 II additionally feels extra like a full-frame digicam than an old-school top-down viewfinder medium format mannequin. It has an up to date, trendy management structure, with a pair of management dials, a mode dial, a joystick, 14 buttons and a film/picture change.
1 / 14
The rear show tilts up, down and to the facet, however doesn’t flip out — not an enormous deal, as this can by no means be a vlogging digicam. It shines the place it counts, although, with a excessive 2.36 million dot decision and sufficient brightness to make use of in daylight. The viewfinder, in the meantime, is without doubt one of the greatest on any digicam, with an especially sharp 9.36-million dot decision and 100% magnification.
It’s straightforward to deal with, because of the well-placed controls and huge grip. The highest show, which stays on even when the digicam is switched off, exhibits all the principle settings at a look. I’m not an enormous fan of Fujifilm’s overly difficult menu system, however it’s effective when you get used to it.
As with different latest high-end cameras, you get each an SD UHS II card slot and a a lot sooner CFexpress B possibility. The latter is required for quick burst capturing, as I’ll focus on quickly. Battery life is strong, with as much as 540 pictures on a cost, or about an hour of 8K or 4K 60p recording.
Efficiency
The GFX 100 II is the quickest medium-format digicam up to now. You possibly can hearth bursts at as much as 8 fps with the mechanical shutter enabled and seize about 300 lossless RAW frames earlier than the buffer fills. That’s about 36GB of information, so it requires a quick CFexpress card.
Autofocus wasn’t a powerful level on the GFX, however it’s an enormous step up on this mannequin. The vast majority of pictures in our burst testing have been in focus, although it turns into much less correct when the topic is near the digicam. This isn’t a sports activities digicam, clearly, however it nonetheless has the perfect AF I’ve seen on any medium format digicam.
Face and eye detection have additionally improved, normally locking onto the attention and never, say the eyebrow because the older mannequin did. Fujifilm additionally launched AI topic detection from latest fashions, so it now has settings for animals, birds, vehicles, bikes, bikes, airplanes and trains.
The GFX 100 II has a brand new 5-axis stabilization system with as much as eight stops of shake discount, in comparison with 5.5 stops earlier than. That is helpful for portraits and scenics, letting you shoot right down to 1 / 4 second or slower and blur water or folks, whereas retaining the background sharp.
Rolling shutter was fairly abysmal on the unique mannequin, and isn’t quite a bit higher right here. When you’re taking avenue photographs and need to stay silent, it’s effective if the topic doesn’t transfer a lot. For the rest, use the mechanical shutter to keep away from some unhealthy skewing.
Picture high quality
Picture high quality is that this digicam’s forte. Naturally, photographs are pin sharp because of the 102-megapixel sensor. And with 16 bits of colour depth in RAW mode, dynamic vary is excellent, proper up there with Sony and Nikon. All of that makes it splendid for portraits and landscapes, on prime of duties that profit from high-resolution, like artwork preservation.
1 / 43
The GFX 100 II now goes right down to ISO 80 as a substitute of 100 to additional enhance dynamic vary. All of that enables photographers to get inventive with RAW photographs, or tease element out of highlights and shadows.
It’s not unhealthy at excessive ISOs both, because of the sensor’s bottom illumination and dual-gain design. There’s little or no noise seen at ISO 6400, and photographs are usable as much as ISO 12800 if publicity is right.
The medium format sensor provides extremely shallow depth of discipline if you happen to want that for portrait capturing. Mixed with a quick lens just like the 80 mm f/1.7, it permits for unbelievable bokeh and topic separation.
For many who desire to make use of JPEGs straight out of the digicam, it delivers color-accurate photos with the proper quantity of in-camera sharpening. That’s splendid for previews or for folk who need to use Fujifilm’s spectacular movie simulation modes. For the GFX 100 II, Fujifilm launched a brand new one known as Reala Ace that’s based mostly straight on certainly one of its outdated unfavorable movies. With a punchy, saturated and barely nostalgic really feel, it has develop into certainly one of my new favorites.
There’s one high quality challenge — the GFX 100 II drops from 16- to successfully lower than 14-bits when capturing 8fps bursts so as to cut back throughput. That in itself isn’t an enormous drawback, however Fujifilm has been cagey about the way it markets this, which has rubbed a number of professional photographers the flawed method.
Video
I’m beginning to sound like a damaged file, however the X100 II can be Fuji’s greatest medium format digicam for video. It has a bunch of recent modes, most notably 8K. It additionally provides 6K, 4K/60p and 1080p at 240fps. All these codecs might be captured in 12-bit ProRes, together with 10-bit H.265 codecs. You additionally get entry to Fujifilm’s wonderful F-Log2 seize that enhances dynamic vary.
There are some appreciable compromises, although. 8K is captured with a 1.53 occasions crop, lowering the efficient sensor measurement to lower than full body — which negates one of many predominant medium-format benefits: shallow depth of discipline. Different resolutions use the total sensor width, however pixel binning reduces sharpness.
Rolling shutter can be a difficulty at 8K, so ensure to not transfer the digicam a lot at that decision. It’s much less bothersome at 4K resolutions, probably as a result of pixel binning.
All that apart, video from the GFX100 II has a unique high quality than I’ve seen from most mirrorless cameras. The bigger sensor makes it cinematic, particularly with a few of Fujifilm’s prime lenses. And the 8K video is extraordinarily sharp when downsampled to 4K in DaVinci Resolve.
Realistically although, video is extra of a nice-to-have characteristic for infrequent use, as the vast majority of patrons will definitely be utilizing it for pictures.
Wrap-up
The $7,500 GFX100 II is a powerful medium format digicam with enhancements in each space in comparison with the earlier mannequin. Extra importantly, what did my professional photographer pals suppose and can they purchase one? “What’s most noticeable is the evolution of the autofocus compared to the GFX100,” mentioned Nathanael Charpentier. “In our studio we usually work with Sony, and the GFX100 II autofocus is still far from Sony’s level, but it’s a big improvement.
“It’s not a sports camera, it doesn’t have super-fast burst speeds. It’s more for studio portrait work. For certain types of ‘reportage’ like candid wedding shoots, if we really need the extra dynamic range offered by a medium-format camera, I could see using it.” At this level, they’re not planning on shopping for one as a result of excessive worth (and the truth that they simply laid down 6,000 euros for an A9 III), however it’s excessive on their checklist of future tools purchases.
Its predominant competitor is the $8,200 Hasselblad X2D 100C, which has maybe barely higher colour science and picture high quality — whereas additionally bringing a sure status with the Hasselblad identify. Nevertheless, the GFX100 II is superior in most different methods, together with speeds, autofocus and video. If you actually need to nail autofocus in busy or tough conditions, although, full-frame remains to be greatest: Sony’s 45-megapixel $6,500 A1 or Nikon’s $3,800 Z8 or $5,500 Z9 (each 45MP as effectively) are higher decisions.
This text comprises affiliate hyperlinks; if you happen to click on such a hyperlink and make a purchase order, we might earn a fee.