Camerlabs Fujifilm GFX100S vs Sony A1 Full Comparison

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When Gordon from Cameralabs reviewed the Fujifilm GFX100S (and he was impressed by it), he promised an in depth comparison of the Sony Alpha A1.

Well, the review has now been published! You can find a summary down below.

Summary

Intro

Resolution Power

  • he used the Sony FE 35mmF1.4 GM on the Sony A1 and the Fujinon GF45mmF2.8 on the Fujifilm GFX100S
  • in theory, the GFX100S should enjoy 50% more vertical resolving power
  • in his test you can certainly see more finer details on the GFX100S in practice
  • pixel shift on Sony A1 should deliver 100 megapixel images on the A1
  • when used with pixel shift, the Sony A1 goes a tad beyond the GFX100S in sharpness, probably thanks to the full color sampling
  • when used with pixel shift, the Fujifilm GFX100S clearly leapfrogged the Sony A1 pixel shift file
  • for pixel shift you need a controlled environment, with static camera and static subject
  • if you shoot single frames, the GFX100S gives you more resolution than any camera at this price
  • the technically 50% linear resolution increase from the GFX100S translates into visibly finer details
  • when he used pixel shift outside, the Sony A1 showed a bit more details than single frame GFX100S, but the Sony A1 pixel shift file is not looking as natural as the single frame GFX100S file. Also, everything that moved (persons, birds, clouds etc) is blurry
  • if you need high resolution on a single frame for real life subjects, then megapixel count

Noise Test in Jpeg

  • Fujifilm GFX100S is a bit cleaner and more detailed right ouf the gate even at ISO100, and it maintains this advantage even at 12800 ISO

Noise Test in RAW

  • Fujifilm GFX100S pixels are smaller, which means the grain from noise looks finer, too
  • by 1600 to 3200 the difference between the Sony A1 and Fujifilm GFX100S becomes clear
  • the Sony A1 has still a lot of details, but you need to process carefully with noise reduction to get the best from the files
  • the physically larger sensor of the Fujifilm GFX100S has delivered cleaner results even with its higher pixel count

Bokeh / Shallow DOF

  • lenses used: Sony FE 35mmF1.4 GM and Fujinon GF45mmF2.8
  • when shooting the Sony at f/1.4 and the Fujinon at f/2.8, the results are actually quite similar. The bokeh balls are slightly larger form the Sony, but their are still respectable from the Fujifilm combination
  • similar rendering, with clean blobs and minimal outlining
  • the Sony lens can focus closer, allowing even bigger blobs
  • for shallow DOF, there are more lens options in the full frame Sony Alpha system than there are for the Fujifilm GFX medium format system

Autofocus

  • the overall speed of the GFX100S combination is faster than you’d expect for a medium format system
  • for bursts and continuous shooting, the Sony A1 is simply better than any other camera right now
  • but if you photography static subjects in single AF, both models are actually fairly matched
  • focus in video shows confident Sony autofocus, whereas the GFX100S is not as smooth and confident with pulls and hesitations
  • face/eye detection using Sony FE 50mmF1.2 vs Fujinon GF80mmF1.7 is also better on the Sony

Movie Resolution

  • Sony shoots 8K, so it has the advantage over the Fujifilm GFX100S
  • considering the line skipping, the GFX100S 4K video isn’t bad at all

My personal conclusion: if you mostly shoot single AF and not sports or wildlife, the Fujifilm GFX100S is not only the cheaper camera, but also the better one.

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