Fujifilm GFX100 II Explained by Fujifilm Managers and Talking Firmware Updates for X/GFX – CineD Interview

Share

CineD sat down with product planning manager Makoto Oishi-san and product planner Taiji Yoneda-san to talk about the GFX line and what makes the Fujifilm GFX100 II special.

You can and should watch the 24 minutes video above. But if you are in a hurry, I will provide also a quick summary below.

There is also a little section about firmware udpates, where Johnnie from CineD asks for one feature available on X-S20 to come via firmware update to GFX100II, and one available on GFX100II to come to X-H2, X-H2S, X-T5 and X-S20.

In short: if the request from users is strong, Fujifilm might make it happen. So guys, you know what you have to do in the comments now ;).

Summary

  • biggest challenge when designing the GFX?
  • two 100MP GFX camera, original GFX100 and GFX100S
  • GX100S challenge was to develop smaller than full frame cameras as medium format camera
    [admin note: the GFX100S is smaller than some mirrorless Full Frame cameras for example this one here]
  • this time the challenge was to make the most out of the huge potential offered by the new sensor and processor and put it all into 1 camera
  • they discussed a lot, and decided to develop new flagship model GFX100 II
  • Fujifilm wanted to do lots of things with all this potential, sometimes there have to be made compromises
  • new sensor has big speed capability
  • Fujifilm manager says “that’s because WE developed a new sensor to achieve faster speed for stills and movie“
  • Fujifilm needed 4K/60p with minimal rolling shutter and no crop
  • 4K/60p will give best balance between speed and quality
  • you can also pick 5.8K without crop for best resolution (8K has crop)
  • they explain the video various formats (G, 35mm, Premista and anamorphic)
  • depending on the selected format, the camera automatically switches to which sensor area to use
  • anamorphic already de-squeezed inside the camera
  • 8K and 35mm open gate offer 24p but not 25p due to reading speed limitation
  • fully articulating screen? Fujifilm discussed a lot. But GFX has lots of photography fans, so at the end they decided for 3 way screen
  • for overheating, the GFX100II is compatible with the Cooling Fan
  • Frame.io C2C now possible with camera body only
  • 12 bit reading in all video resolutions and frame rates (X-H2S has in some resolutions and frame rates 14 bit)
  • F-Log2 D-range priority: pick that in the menu for wider dynamic range. Camera reading is “a bit different” and this is actually confidential technology but it gives wider dynamic range
  • if you use SD-Card only, you can use all types of formats, except for ProRes internal (needs CFexpress Type B for that)
  • Johnnie Behiri says the video output is too smooth and if there is a way to reduce noise reduction to have a more organic image
  • the manager says you can adjust noise reduction (-2, -3, etc) but you can’t completely disable that
  • some brands offer a noise reduction OFF mode, but the manager, who was an engineer developing noise reduction, says it’s never really totally off
  • you can record to SSD directly (with ProRes support)
  • FIRMWARE REQUEST 1
  • X-S20 has fully auto subject detection mode, GFX100II not, because product position of GFX100II is different than X-S20
  • X-S20 is made more for vloggers and casual video shooting, that’s why it has auto-detection function
  • GFX100II more about shooting documentary and cinema, and they did not implement that feature
  • if there are many requests from users, Fujifilm will consider to implement this X-S20 feature also on other cameras
  • FIRMWARE REQUEST 2
  • touch-to-track video tracking is something they worked on for a long time and it is now completed and GFX100 II has it
  • Fujifilm can not confirm it now, but they will consider bringing touch-to-track in video also for already existing Fujifilm cameras

The latest gear

Share

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases