First Look Review: Fujinon GF250mmF4 R LM OIS WR

Reaching Out: GF250mmF4 R LM OIS WR

The new GF250mmF4 R LM OIS WR and the optional GF1.4x TC WR teleconverter lens bring genuine telephoto capability to the evolving Fujifilm GFX medium format system. Featuring impressive detail resolution and three-dimensional subject rendering, the rather moderately priced GF250mm equals a 198 mm lens in 35 mm “full-frame” terms, and its reach can be stretched to 350 mm by attaching the new 1.4x teleconverter. Fujifilm’s GF product introductions are completed by two macro expansion tubes that work with almost all existing GF lenses and can turn the GF120mmF4 into a true 1:1 macro lens.

So is it all worth it? You should be able to decide for yourself after reading this first-look review based on pre-production samples of the GF250mmF4 R LM OIS WR, GF1.4x TC WR, MCEX-18G WR and MCEX-45G WR.

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Fujinon GF 250mm F4: BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS
Fujinon GF 1.4x Teleconverter: BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS
18mm Macro Extension Tube: BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS
45mm Macro Extension Tube: BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS

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by Rico Pfirstinger

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Fujifilm X Half Product Designer Has a Message for You

Fujifilm has published a video called “Message from the product designer of the upcoming X Series camera” which you can see above.

The video is of course about the upcoming Fujifilm X Half, and unlike the previous teaser video, this one was also shot using the Fujifilm X Half.

  • the product designer uses both, digital and film cameras in various formats, from point and shoot to medium format
  • but specs and tech aren’t always everything
  •  “I designed this camera so that you can express yourself in a different way
  • “Ih ope you will enjoy telling your story with this camera”

The Fujifilm X Half will be announced on May 22 at 1AM New York time.

Fujifilm GFX100RF Starts Shipping: Customer Feedback and Slowest Shutter Speed for Sharp Photos

The Fujifilm GFX100RF has started shipping in some countries. In the images you can see above, you can see the brand new Fujifilm GFX100RF shipped to FR-reader Mark in Germany.

His first feedback about the camera:

First impressions: It is beautifully light for a medium format camera. Doesn’t look as bulky in real-life as in some photos. EVF is nice and big for a rangefinder-style. Dials are a bit stiff for my taste, but better than accidentally changing them I guess.

Speaking of feedback, down below I will link two videos from Italian YouTube channels (Marco Fazio and Riflessioni Fotografiche).

They tested the Fujifilm GFX100RF for 2 days at an event of Fujifilm in Venice and Burano and they both, independently, came to the same conclusion: you can shoot at as low as 1/20th and still get sharp pictures.

This is in line with what Vistek, Luca Petralia, Docma and many other said: at about 1/30th or even 1/20th you still get sharp images.

I guess it depends on your style of shooting, but out of curiosity I checked the shutter speeds of hundreds of my last images as I reported here, and I found only one at 1/33th, a few at 1/50th to 1/80th, but the almost totality of my images is well above that.

So for me 1/20th is a mark that I basically do not reach for handheld shooting anyway hence I could live very well without IBIS on the GFX100RF with its 28mm equivalent lens and leaf shutter for minimal vibrations created by the camera.

Anyway, Fujifilm has published its own chart showing at which point IBIS would be beneficial for the Fujifilm GFX100RF. In that chart, Fujifilm seems to play on the safer side, giving about 1/40th as the minimal mark for sharp images. In real life, though, people seem to be able to shoot at 1/30th or 1/20th.

As said, the 1/20th and even 1/40th mark is very hard to hit for me. But check your images and see if you regularly shoot below 1/20th.

Video Reviews

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Fujifilm GFX100RF Fujifilm Manager Interviews and Additional Reviews

The Fujifilm GFX100RF is collecting general praise all over the internet for just how incredibly small and light it is for a medium format camera, and also for its excellent build quality.

But of course they also address the fact that it does not have IBIS.

Now, you can read more about it below, but in general it seems the consensus is that at 1/30th you can still get away with sharp images, but below that it starts to get tricky. That’s according to Luca Petralia (review below) and docma (article in German below) and also to the Vistek video we shared in our live blog. Of course I have not tested it myself (I am just a mere mortal like you and I don’t get anything from Fujifilm unless I pay full price for it), so for now I will just report what reviewers have to say about it.

Out of curiosity I checked the shutter speeds of my last few hundred images, and I found one at 1/33th, one at 1/50th a few at 1/60th and 1/80th but mostly I am well over that. So if the statements of reviewers so far holds true, if I were to use the GFX100RF with my style of shooting I could live very well without IBIS. Of course I have shots at even slower shutter speeds, but for those I used a tripod anyway, as I was working either in blue hour landscape/cityscape or with filters and I needed exposures of multiple seconds.

With that said, here are the reviews I mentioned above as well as a few more, including interviews with Fujifilm managers that while nice to listen at, do not really disclose anything new, hence I did not dedicate them a specific article but I decided to include them in this roundup.

Fujifilm GFX100RF Reviews
& Manager Interviews

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Fujifilm Equipment for Wildlife Imaging: An Evolving and Compelling Choice for Serious Photography

guest post by Mark Lucock
www.marklucock.com

Fujifilm Equipment for Wildlife Imaging: An Evolving and Compelling Choice for Serious Photography

My photographic journey began many years ago with Fuji’s GX617 6x17cm panoramic and GSW690 6x9cm cameras, using ISO 50 medium format 120 Velvia film. I then moved on to Canon EOS equipment for several years. However, in 2016/17 I moved back to Fuji and have been using their equipment ever since the X-T1. You can find out more about me and my photography at www.marklucock.com

Up until recently my photographic life was very straightforward, I used Fuji gear for all my landscape photography of the natural and urban worlds, but fell back to my Canon equipment for wildlife photography. The Canon 300mm, 400mm and 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II lenses were my staple for birding.

Welcome swallow in flight; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/9.0, 1/2500sec, ISO 1250, pre-shot mode at 13 FPS

Photographic life for me and many others has now changed thanks to Fujifilm’s new repertoire of high-end telephoto optics, and I’m really grateful to Patrick at FujiRumors for inviting me to write this Guest Post on how Fujifilm has adapted its equipment portfolio to arm nature and wildlife photographers with some truly remarkable glass.

From the inception of the Fuji-X system, the company has succeeded in producing some really high-quality, industry leading lenses. The acid test is always how good large prints are and while Fuji-X is only APS-C format, prints can be astoundingly good and are as good as you are ever likely to need. Add to this that the X system is a small and light weight set up, unobtrusive, and unashamedly retro, and you have a winning combination. BUT, while this kind of set up is ideal for lifestyle (portraits, weddings etc), landscape, macro and certain other genres, it is quite a departure to use this system for bird photography, a genre that is associated with huge, ridiculously expensive, heavy white lenses. True, the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR is a great lens for birding; however, it is also a big, fairly heavy lens, and 400mm (even on APS-C) can be limiting in terms of reach for smaller birds.

Superb fairy wren; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/8.0, 1/100 sec, ISO 500
White-faced heron; Fuji XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens, XH2, 600/900mm, f/8.0, 1/500 sec, ISO 500

Everything changed for Fujifilm users who have a passion for wildlife/bird photography with the release of the Fuji X-H2 and X-H2s bodies and the Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens followed more recently by the remarkable Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lens. These four items are “manna from heaven” for serious wildlife photographers. Suddenly, Fujifilm was offering a true, fully fledged professional system that takes seriously good images. Most importantly, the pre-shot mode and electronic shutter (40 FPS) made Birds in Flight (BIF) photography reasonably simple. My aim with this article is therefore to show how these four items are a game changer for bird photographers and therefore through being a compelling choice for serious wildlife/bird photography, are in themselves a game changer for Fujifilm itself. You can read my individual reviews on the Fujifilm XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lens and Fujifilm XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens on my website.

The 500mm lens clearly shows the exquisite detail on a red-browed finch; Fuji X-H2S, f/5.6, 1/500 sec, ISO 500, 500/750mm
Great cormorant portrait; Fuji X-H2S, f/5.6, 1/680 sec, ISO 500, 500/750mm

One of the main objectives of this article is to compare these two amazing Fujifilm optics- the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR and XF 500mm f/5.6 LM OIS WR lenses. I can imagine many people will be scratching their heads trying to decide which one they need for their particular type of photography. I have now been using both for several months and hope that I can offer some useful advice. I have already done a direct field and technical comparison of the XF 150-600mm f/5.6-8 R LM OIS WR lens with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II lens for those that are interested, but I feel sure that the biggest appeal is likely to reside in a direct comparison of the two Fujifilm lenses.

The 150-600mm zoom statistics/observations

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Fujifilm GFX100RF Lack of IBIS Explained – The Problem is NOT the Bigger Camera Body

One of the biggest critiques to the Fujifilm GFX100RF is the lack of IBIS, especially considering that it has a 100 megapixel medium format sensor.

So why has the Fujifilm GFX100RF no IBIS?

Well, that’s exactly what Thomas and Andreas asked the Japanese product managers of Fujifilm when they met them in Prague, who passed them the chart you can see above (video below).

Let’s take a look:

The important lines in the chart are the black diagonal lines. In that chart you can see that in order to get sharp images with for example a 250mm lens, you need to shoot at about 250th of a second.

On the very top (over the red line) we have the telephoto lenses that need OIS.

The purple on the left is the range where you need a tripod.

The yellow part shows where IBIS works best.

On the right we see the range that does not need IBIS and can be shot handheld without IBIS and yet get sharp images, and they marked the 35mmF4 in that range.

So, looking at the chart, I’d say that if you shoot at 1/40th of a second or higher, then IBIS would be of little use anyway.

And maybe in real world, you might be able to squeeze a bit more out of it. Test samples shared at the German fuji-x-forum.de look still sharp at 1/20th. So probably I personally would feel confident to go down to 1/30th, unless I am on my 7th coffee and my hands shake like crazy ;).

Also the leaf shutter helps to get sharper images, because it does not introduce as many vibrations as the mechanical shutter does.

One more tidbit about IBIS discussed in the video:

implementing IBIS would have made the camera bigger, but not that much.

Apparently the increase in body size would still be acceptable for Fujifilm. The problem would have been the lens, as in order to cover the entire sensor plus the area in which the sensor can move due to IBIS, the lens would have become significantly bigger. And since compactness was paramount for Fujifilm when developing the GFX100RF, they decided not to go with IBIS. The body size increase would have still been acceptable, but not the lens size.

And always keep in mind: whatever moves in your frame at very slow shutter speeds will get blurry anyway, as IBIS only compensate for camera shakes.

Fujifilm GFX100RF: Full Press Release and Image Leaked

 

Here is the full press release for the Fujifilm GFX100RF.

It will be available for order soon here:

Fujifilm GFX100RF Press Release

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A World in Color: Fujifilm (GFX100 II) Helps Magnum Photos Revive Decades of History to be Exhibited at Several FUJIKINA Events

Photography is about preserving memories.

And in my little journey through this world, that’s exactly what I do: I take pictures of my family, my travels and my daily life to preserve those memories and make sure they don’t fade out too quickly like tears in rain.

Well, it looks like with their latest project, Fujifilm is on the same mission: preserving memory… just on a much larger scale!

In fact, Fujifilm has teamed up with Magnum Photos and MPP (Heritage and Photography Library of Paris) for the project A World in Color, a historic project to digitize the agency’s Paris color library archive, which has remained dormant for decades.

Marine Merindol, Chief Operating Officer at Magnum Photos, writes:

Our commitment to preserving this unique photographic heritage ensures it remains an invaluable resource, honoring the past while inspiring future generations to learn from and build upon this vibrant visual history,

The Fujifilm GFX100 II will be used to digitize a selection of 650,000 color slides, dating from the 1950s to the early 2000s.

Fujifilm is an ideal partner for this project, not only because they have probably the best camera for the job, the medium format Fujifilm GFX100 II, but also because Fujifilm has a vast photographic history and understands the importance of preserving memory and art through photography.

And there is more.

Part of this project is also a series of FUJIKINA events that will take place in Czechia, Italy, Belgium, the UK, France, and Germany, showcasing live exhibitions and talks with Magnum photographers.

The first Fujikina events dedicated to this projects will be:

In 2026, the breadth of the project will expand, moving the focus to the United States.

Just a final word: I already told you that most Fujikina events are not connected to product launches. Well, that will be even more so in 2025, as there will be more Fujikina events than ever, but most of them will be dedicated to this project rather than to new product launches.

You can read more about this project at Magnumphotos here and here.

New Fujifilm GFX100RF Teaser Launched: Shows X100VI and GFX Fusion

Fujifilm has just released yet another teaser showing a heavily underexposed camera.

But this time it comes with a hint: they show an Fujifilm X100VI first, then a Fujifilm GFX100SII, and ultimately the silhouette of e new camera.

That’s so far the best hint we got that our rumors were right: a medium format X100 is on the way, and it will be called Fujifilm GFX100RF.

Sigma CEO Dreams of Making Lenses for GFX, but Currently Not Planed (Maybe in Distant Future)

image courtesy: phototrend

Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki has expressed his wish to make medium format lenses in the past already.

Now in an interview with the French website phototrend, he reiterated his wish by saying:

  • We don’t have a project that goes in this direction (making GFX glass) at the moment
  • But, to be honest, it’s one of my dreams to make a lens for medium format, because there are so many passionate photographers in this field
  • So it’s in my wish list. But for now, we don’t have a plan for that, maybe in the distant future

Of course, the main focus is on the Sigma BF, but they also discuss the new lenses, including the Sigma 16-300mm f/3.5-6.7, about which the Sigma CEO shares his thoughts:

  • To be completely honest, I’m not a big user of all-in-one versatile zooms. But the demand is huge. If you go to Kyoto, you will see that many people use this type of lens. So we decided to produce it, because our customers were waiting for it.

That’s it as far as the Fujifilm related part goes.

I guess ultimately it is a matter of market share: if the GFX system will grow strong enough (and Fujifilm allows it), Sigma will deliver, just as they did with the X mount system.

Make sure to check out the article at phototrend for the full and very interesting interview.