IN CROP WE TRUST: The Lens I Chose to Start my GFX System Adventure and Talking 102 Megapixel Crops & Prints

Share

My First GF Lens

So guys, the decision has been made.

In the last second, I took advantage of the €500 rebate on selected Fujinon GF lenses and I bought the Fujinon GF32-64mmF4, which was your most recommended G mount lens for landscape photography. Thanks for helping me out with the decision :).

I still don’t own it, as like everywhere on the world, Fujinon G mount lenses are a rare good.

In fact, when I went to my local store, the store owner told me that since Fujifilm launched the GFX100S, sales for GFX gear went through the roof.  He also told me that for many of his customers, the Fujifilm GFX100S is their first GFX camera and this also pushes sales for G mount lenses. That’s why they run out of stock constantly.

So I had to put myself in line, and now I wait for a lens that is harvesting 5 star reviews all over the web:

In Crop we Trust

Now, if you have read my GF lens help article, you’ll know that over the last few years, I somehow shifted from privileging dramatic wide angle shots to focusing more on compressed landscape shots.

This is why I was hesitant between getting the GF32-64mmF4 or the GF45-100mmF4 to start with.

But here is the thing: I can’t get into my frame parts of a landscape scenery that are too wide for my lens (unless I stich). On the other hand, thanks to the power of the Fujifilm GFX100S and its 102 megapixel, I can crop the heck out of my images and still get usable and printable results.

Therefore, afraid to miss out on something beautiful on the wide end, I decided to go with the wider zoom, trusting the crop-power of my GFX100S to get a more compressed look.

In fact, I am now thinking that as a second lens, I’ll probably go for the Fujinon GF100-200mmF5.6, which I got my hands on in store, and it actually surprised me how light it is for its size. “Definitely portable” I thought. It will fit well and be easy to carry in my Photohiker trekking backpack.

But of course one step after another.

In early 2021, I already supported Fujifilm by buying the XF27mmF2.8 R WR (which you can see here), the XF80mm Macro, the Fujifilm GFX100S and the GF32-64mmF4. One more 2K lens right now would mean deciding between gear and marriage. ;)

But in not too distant future, I imagine my GF lens arsenal to look like this:

Yep, no fast lenses in the lineup for now, but I have a couple of f/1.2 and f/1.4 primes on the X system, so I’ll get plenty of bokeh out of that system when I need it.

So, the Fujifilm GFX100S and the GF32-64mmF4 will mark my first steps into the G mount system. Now all I need is to get those nice packages shipped, and I hope that maybe this summer I can already hike on the Dolomites with it.

Crop & Print

I love to print. From photobooks to single images.

And sometimes I print rather big.

But even my biggest print at my home (90x60cm / 35×23 inches) looks absolutely fantastic when taken with 24 MP.

So why the heck do I need a Fujifilm GFX100S, if my APS-C gear does a great job already?

The answer is: crop!

In fact, I assume that not only for me, but also for many of you, cropping is a very fast and effective post production step we sometimes take to improve our images.

So you get it: I don’t need to print bigger. But what the GFX system allows me to do better than any other system out there, is to still print big even images that are significantly cropped.

For example, this image I took at the Gardena mountain pass with my X-T4 and XF10-24mmF4 looks great on the web. But truth is that I had to crop quite a bit to get it how I wanted, hence mostly focused on the Sasslong. And while on Instagram it still looks great, I doubt I could print it as big as I sometimes like to print.

But if my starting point would have been 102 Megapixel instead of 50MP or 26MP, then I’d know I’d still retain so much information in my cropped image, that I could still make a huge epic print out of it.

With that said, every system has its Pros and Cons. The balance Fuji’s APS-C system offers remains unmatched to me compared to full frame of medium format. But the GFX shines in an area where I love to take pictures and to print: landscape photography.

This is why I bought the Fujifilm GFX system, and I look forward to finally capture the lovely Dolomites with it ;).

Fujifilm GFX100S

Fujinon GF80mmF1.7

Follow FujiRumors on Patreon, Facebook, Instagram, RSS-feed, Youtube, Flipboard and Twitter

All GF Lenses

Share

Insane Fujinon X Mount Lens Deals Coming Soon: Save €2,000 on XF200mmF2 and More Rebates in Europe

Share

I have received information, that Fujifilm will launch massive X mount lens deals in some European countries in May.

The deals will include an insane €2,000 rebate on the Fujinon XF200mmF2.

Other rebates will include lenses like the XF8-16mmF2.8.

Stay tuned on FujiRumors for more details.

Share

DPR: Fujifilm GFX100S Gets Gold Award (with Error)

Share

DPReview has published its full Fujifilm GFX100S review.

No surprise, it gets the Gold Award.

If gaining the extra image quality it offers over full-frame is valuable to you, we suspect you’ll be happy to work around any of the GFX’s shortcomings

[…] the Canon EOS R5, Sony a7R IV, Nikon Z7 II and Panasonic S1R are all quicker cameras with faster AF systems and all offer focus tracking and eye-detection functions that work more dependably than the Fujifilm. They’re also all smaller and less expensive than the GFX. However, none of them can match its image quality.

DPR says the Panasonic S1R is smaller than the GFX100S, but I am not so sure about that. It’s actually even lighter and slightly smaller. Rather significant error by DPR. Full Frame does not have to win at any price ;).

Anyway, here are their Pros and Cons:

Share
** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Fujifilm GFX100S Stuck Shutter Issue – A Flawed Design? Nope, it’s a Limited and Easy to Fix Wiring Issue

Share

In a perfect world, everything we buy would come out of the factory in perfect conditions.

But there is a reason why everything we buy comes with a warranty: no matter how premium you go, not all items come out perfect from the factory. Not even Fujifilm gear.

In these days, I am getting a lot of emails from readers worried about the shutter jam reports that popped up especially in our gigantic Fujifilm GFX group.

I have read lots of misleading theories about this issue. Some say it needs a “major repair“, some say it’s a flawed design, others go so far to say that the shutter unit on the Fujifilm GFX100S is just of poor quality and it will end up breaking like the one on some Sony cameras.

So let’s be clear: it does not need a “major” repair, nor it’s an issue that can be compared to the Sony shutter problems.

The shutter on some Sony cameras, which is rated for 200,000 actuations, is apparently made with poor material, as there are so many reports about it breaking after 10,000 to 50,000 shots already. For this reason Sony has been sued and is now facing a class action by numerous angry customers. People ask for a recall on change.org, which Sony happily ignores.

The issue on the Fujifilm GFX100S is totally different and way less serious.

The shutter itself on the Fujifilm GFX100S is rocksolid, nothing is flawed there and it has absolutely no problems. It does not need any repair at all.

The real problem, as explained here at our GFX facebook group by an Ukrainian Fujifilm manager as well as an official Fujifilm X photographer, is a wiring/circuits issue that affects a limited number of Fujifilm GFX100S cameras. It’s a minor issue and hence a very easy and fast fix.

So, if the shutter on your Fujifilm GFX100S ever locks-up, then yes, you’ll have to go through the annoying process of sending it in for repair, but you’ll also know that your shutter is just fine, and an easy and quick fix on the wiring will solve it forever.

The issue seems to be rather limited for now and it is creating more noise in forums than in real life.

I mean, I had an issue with the joystick on my X-E3. I used the warranty and the joystick on my X-E3 now never let me down since then. Yes, I had to live a few days without my X-E3, but that was about it. It just can happen.

Again: it should not happen, but sadly it can happen. Just know that it’s an easy fix and not a flawed design or poor shutter materials like some suggest.

Fujifilm GFX100S

Fujinon GF80mmF1.7

Follow FujiRumors on Patreon, Facebook, Instagram, RSS-feed, Youtube, Flipboard and Twitter

Share