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Fujifilm GFX100S Cameralabs Review (vs Sony A1): A Tremendous, Inspirational and Satisfying Camera to Use

Gordon from Cameralabs reviewed the Fujifilm GFX100S.

Here is a summary of his 20 minutes long review and you’ll find also the video down below.

In short: it’s amazing!

A more in depth comparison with the Sony A1 will follow, but some tidbits he already delivered in this review.

Summary

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

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

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All GF Lenses

Fujifilm GFX100S: I Came, I Saw, I Conquered!

What you see above is my son checking the settings of the GFX100S and wondering why the heck it’s set on SEPIA.

What you see above is my X-T4 next to the GFX100S.

What you see above is even my beer next to the GFX100S.

But what you see above, is not my Fujifilm GFX100S.

Nope, it’s the GFX100S of a very close friend*, who sold his Nikon Z gear as soon as the GFX100S was announced.

Now, we haven’t met for 5 months due to the pandemic and therefore 99% of our time we just spent it in his garden to drink a few beers (in safe distance) and talk about stuff like me and also him becoming fathers in the meantime.

But of course I also took a little bit of time to play around with his Fujifilm GFX100S (while waiting for mine).

Not much time, but enough time to understand why people go crazy about it!

As the Romans would have said: Veni, Vidi, Vici…. or I came, I saw, I conquered!

And in fact, the Fujifilm GFX100S conquered overnight the top spot as most owned Fujifilm GFX camera on among the FujiRumors community and is so far an outstanding success for Fujifilm.

The magnitude of the success goes beyond the most optimistic estimates inside the Fujifilm HQ in Tokyo. And, trust me, this is not rhetoric. Once (if) I get green light from sources, I’ll let you know more on what is happening.

So how do we celebrate Fujifilm’s biggest GFX hit ever?

Well, those who own it, celebrate by taking tons of amazing images and also sharing them in our Fujifilm GFX facebook group.

As for those, who are waiting to get their camera shipped, may this roundup help you to pass some time and looking forward to get your GFX100S even more :).

*NOTE: I was finally able to meet him after 5 months of isolation and lockdown. We met in his garden, with social distance, no hugs and kisses. Infection numbers are so low right now, that we are allowed to meet close friends and family if we do it carefully, and so I did. It was the first time he saw my son and I saw his daughter. Also consider that me and also him are both vaccinated, because we are both teachers.

Fujifilm GFX100S
USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / Focuscamera / Moment
MHG-GFX S hand grip: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama
EU: AmazonDE / CalumetDE / WexUK / Parkc.UK / AmazonUK / PCHstore

Fujinon GF80mmF1.7
USA: BHphoto / AmazonUS / Adorama / Focuscamera / Moment
EU: AmazonDE / CalumetDE / WexUK / Parkc.UK / AmazonUK / PCHstore

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Fujifilm GFX100S Roundup

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Fujinon X Mount Roadmap 2021/2022 Updated with Latest Rumored Lenses

The Hidden X Mount Roadmap

Many people complain that Fujifilm is not updating its lens roadmap.

And since I love my community to be happy, let me take over the job that Fujifilm refuses to do.

Also, in the comments to our earlier posts some fellow FR-readers asked me if, in the light of the latest rumors, the timeline for other lenses is still confirmed or if something changed.

So let me sum it up clearly in a sort of unofficial roadmap today, by listing all future X mount lenses that we rumored so far on FujiRumors.

Of course I am working to add more lenses to the list. So definitely stay tuned on FujiRumors.

The Future Looks Good

It’s a couple of years that Fujifilm hasn’t been so active on the Fujinon X mount lens front.

Look at what we got in the last few months (late 2020 / early 2021)

And that’s not even all for 2021. In fact, surely we will get the XF33mm F1.4 R WR. But will there be even more in 2021? FujiRumors is investigating and will let you know.

Also 2022 seems interesting, thanks to two highly desired MKII lenses and an intriguing Fujinon XF150-600mm. Plus, also for 2022 I am working on more, so expect updates.

The Latest Fujinon Lenses:

The Fastest Growing Fujifilm Group

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BREAKING: Fujifilm Working on Two More Fujinon MK II Lenses

Thanks to the immense kindness of one of our sources, we can now tell you that Fujifilm is working on two more MKII lenses.

The source also told FujiRumors which lenses will be updated.

Which ones?

I won’t let you wait and drop it all today. I’ll just give you guys time assemble here on FujiRumors and then I’ll let you know everything.

In the meantime, feel free to let us know in the comments which lenses you’d like to get updated.

Here are the latest and newest Fujinon lenses so far.

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The Fastest Growing Fujifilm Group

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DPReview TV Fujifilm GFX100S Review

DPRTV published its Fujifilm GFX100S review.

  • compact nature for street and travel photography to use without tripod thanks to IBIS
  • handling is excellent, great grip
  • lightweight and compact camera
  • lenses can get bulky
  • he prefers it over the GFX100 body
  • he likes that GFX100S has no integrated grip. Should be as compact and small as possible
  • he likes the customizability
  • he loves the AF-ON position, but does not feel like a solid press
  • EVF is not bad, but not on GFX100 level
  • 85fps EVF refresh rate in boost mode is good for stills. For sports and action better reduce the EVF refresh rate
  • 3 way tilt screen is nice on a tripod
  • top LCD is very customizable too
  • nostalgic negative has nice subtle warm tones
  • the 100 mepapixel justifies the higher cost over full frame, crazy resolution and tons of dynamic range
  • 14bit RAW and 16bit RAW difference is negligable. Better shoot 14bit and have a snappier camera
  • pixel shift multishot gives 400MP images. But it’s fairly slow to take all 16 images. It’s hard to take advantage fully of it. You can’t look at the final result in camera (it’s like this also on Sony)
  • IBIS: with GF110mmF2 he can get full resolution images at 1/125th shutter speed. Even at 1/80th IBIS can work great. With a 30mm lens he can get great results at 1/30th
  • best AF on any medium format camera. Tracking works pretty well, but you can compare it to APS-C or FF. Autofocus is also lens dependent. Some zooms work faster than the GF110mm.
  • face/eye detecion is quite effective
  • with lenses like the GF80mmF1.7 you get very shallow DOF, so a good eye AF matters
  • Video: works better than GFX100. Longer time before overheating and better IBIS
  • ProRes RAW: you have control over ISO and exposure adjustment, but not on white balance adjustment
  • GFX100 had bad lag when using an external recoder in RAW video. GFX100S is much better. And you can use EVF and LCD while outputting RAW on the GFX100S
  • very capable medium format camera for video
  • favorite medium format camera he ever used
  • GFX100S does what the GFX100 can do for a lower price and smaller body
  • GFX100 is hard to justify now that the GFX100S exists

In short: the GFX100S is amazing :)

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Fujifilm X-H2 in 2022, Fujifilm GFX50SMKII in 2021, XF 33mmF1.4 in 2021, Top 5 Forgotten X Mount Lenses & More – The Best of March

Here are the most read articles on FujiRumors for March 2021.

It was a month full of breaking rumors, so while this is a top 10 articles for the previous months, it also serves well as a summary of the most important you should not have missed.

  1. Fujifilm X-H2 Will Come in 2022 and be Worth the Wait
  2. Top 5 Forgotten Fujinon X Mount Lenses
  3. Fujinon XF33mmF1.4 R WR Coming 2021
  4. New Firmware Updates for Fujifilm X-T3, GFX50S and GFX50R Released (and for X-T4 Coming Soon)
  5. Why the Fujinon XF33mmF1.4 R WR is not the XF35mmF1.4 MK II
  6. Fujifilm GFX50S MKII Coming 2021 with Same 50 Megapixel Sensor of GFX50S
  7. Fujifilm Manager Interview: Future X/GFX lenses, Autofocus Improvements Coming, X-Trans Benefits, Beyond Full Frame and More
  8. Fuji Guys Tease Firmware 1.20 for Fujifilm X-T4 with New Heat Management and Introduce Latest GFX100, X-T3, GFX50S/R Firmware
  9. The Royal Choice – Kate Middleton Shoots Fujifilm :: The Leica Choice – Leica Store Films Q2 Monochrom Presentation with Fujifilm and More
  10. RUMOR: Fujinon XF18mmF1.4 R WR with 62mm Filter Size

The Fastest Growing Fujifilm Group

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Fujifilm GFX100S: 10 Thoughts on Using it for Weddings, 5 Things I Don’t Like and So Sensational, it Should not Exist

There is only one positive thing in having to wait so long for my Fujifilm GFX100S: I have more time to think on which GF lens I should get.

What does not make my waiting easier, though, are all the stellar reviews the Fujifilm GFX100S is getting by photographers all around the world.

Some, like Dollar Store Creative, say it is so sensational that it should not exist and they just cry in front of those amazing files, which can be mistreated to taste and yet keep holding up no matter what.

Others, like Joseph Ellis, used it also for weddings and share their initial thoughts about it (which we will sum up for you below).

And more down below.

If you are like me, hence waiting for yours to be shipped, I warmly invite you NOT to check them out. It won’t make the waiting easier.

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Fujifilm GFX100S Roundup

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Why the Upcoming Fujinon GF Zoom Might not be the Fujinon GF 20-36mm f/3.5-4.5 (Opinion, not Rumor)

When we told you that Fujifilm will launch a new GF zoom in the first half of 2021, many were sure: this has to be the Fujinon GF 20-36mm F3.5-4.5!

But where does that Fujinon GF 20-36mm F3.5-4.5 rumor come from?

Well, it comes from an internal Fujifilm roadmap we leaked back in 2017 here.

As you can see, everything that was on that roadmap materialized at some point, except for the UWA Fujinon GF 20-36mm F3.5-4.5.

But if you look closely, the internal roadmap says “GF20-36mm” or “GF100-200mm”. And, well, in 2019 Fujifilm announced the Fujinon GF100-200mmF5.6.

Why this intro?

Well, because we recently told you the following about the upcoming Fujinon G mount zoom lens that it will be:

And here comes the speculation (not rumor).

The Fujinon GF 20-36mm F3.5-4.5 would be a a 16-28mmF2.8-3.5 full frame equivalent lens (or 10-18mm f/1.8-2.2 APS-C equivalent), and usually such wide angle faster zoom lenses are not the cheapest on the market, unless you go with third party offerings like the Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8.

So either Fujifilm worked miracles and is about to give us an ultra affordable UWA lens, or the lens we are talking about is not the Fujinon GF 20-36mm F3.5-4.5.

I don’t know the answer yet, but if I should place a bet right now, I’d not put my money on a GF20-36mmF3.5-4.5 lens, but on a very affordable travel zoom lens, which will still be able resolve all the 100 megapixels the GFX system offers, but maybe be made more out of plastic and have a slower aperture.

Sort of something we know from the Fujinon XC lenses, although I hope it will retain the aperture ring, the lack of which would be a dealbreaker for me.

But again, this is pure speculation from my side. Not a rumor.

The GFX Community

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