Fujinon XF50mmF2 Admiringlight Review: “It Continues Fuji’s Excellent Reputation for Creating Quality Optics.” + Kevin Mullins’ Suprising Gem

 

FUJINON XF 50mm F2 WR Reviews

Earlier Articles shared today on FujiRumors:

  • Sony Officially Shows the New 100 Megapixel BSI Medium Format Sensor for Fujifilm GFX 100s – More here
  • Fujifilm GFX: See FLM L-Bracket Mounted on GFX (+ 2 More GFX L-Brackets), Touchy Feely, Experience in Mongolia – More here

Kevin Mullins: Fujifilm 50mm F2 ~ A Surprising Gem at f16.click: “This is where the little lens has taken me surprise; I’m using it all the time when shooting weddings and guess what? I’m really enjoying using it. The 50mm F2 is a brilliantly built, epically quick and phenomenally fast lens. I love it.”

Admiringlight: Fujifilm Fujinon XF 50mm f/2 R WR Review at admiringlight: “The 50mm f/2 provides great value and high-end imaging in a small package, and continues Fuji’s excellent reputation for creating quality optics.”

Pros

  • Very solidly constructed and compact lens
  • Wonderful haptics on the aperture and focus rings
  • Reasonably fast and very accurate autofocus
  • Quite sharp at any aperture, even into the image corners
  • Very pleasing bokeh
  • Good control of lateral chromatic aberration, flare and vignetting
  • Affordable

Cons

  • Longitudinal CA can cause a magenta or green fringe in front of or behind the focus point
  • A touch of pincushion distortion

Fujifilm XF50mm: USA BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, WexUK, ParkCamerasUK, PCHstore AUS: CameraPro

Fujifilm GFX Review: “Unreal Dynamic Range. It Feels like You’re Cheating… The Lamborghini of Medium Format?”

Fujifilm GFX: USA BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, WexUK, ParkCamerasUK, PCHstore AUS: CameraPro

_ _ _

by Allan Higa – website. This article has been posted orignally at allanhiga.com and shared at petapixel. Allan Higa is also a very active member of our Fujifilm GFX facebook community, and many of the images you can see in this article have also been shared at the group. He also wrote an interesting guest post for Fujirumors called “How I Capture Genuine Moments With Complete Strangers“. This article is shared here on FujiRumors with permission of the original author, Allan Higa (thanks :) )

Fujifilm GFX Review

Quick history lesson. The original Lamborghini motor vehicle wasn’t the supercar you know today. They were tractors. Yes, tractors. Full fledged farm going vehicular tools. Ferruccio Lamborghini always loved cars and owned Ferraris, but hated the quality of them. Frustrated, he approached Enzo Ferrari and gave him a piece of his mind and told him how to improve his cars. Enzo’s response went something like, “Leave the car making to me, you stick to making tractors.” Batman now drives a Lamborghini Aventador.

Fast forward and cross universes to cameras. The giants such as Hasselblad and Phase One have been untouchable and left alone to rule the medium format world for sometime. Sure, there’s Pentax and Leica, but it’s more like buying a Mazda Miata or a 4-door Porsche, it’s not what you think of when sports car or medium format camera comes to mind. But here we are with Fujifilm, originally a film company, pulling a move like Ferruccio Lamborghini; they’re opening the doors to somewhere that’s otherwise been locked for what feels like all of eternity.

Phase One makes amazing medium formats that few ever touch but all hope and dream of. Hasselblad is quite similar but have introduced something that seemed ground breaking, a mirrorless medium format in the Hasselblad X1D. Now, just like Ferruccio answered to Enzo Ferrari, Fujifilm has brought out the Fujifilm GFX. Will this be a classic like the Lamborghini Diablo? Or is this a Mazda Miata in disguise? Well, I’ve got the keys and this is what I’ve learned.

First off, like anyone else with a new toy in their hands I played with the lifeless camera as the completely dead batteries charged painfully slow. Here are the first impressions.

Body Design and Ergonomic

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

Fujifilm GFX Initial Impressions by TheCameraStoreTV… and Enjoy These Fujifilm GFX Images!

TheCameraStoreTV is in the process of reviewing the Fujifilm GFX. In yesterday’s facebook live stream they quickly shared their very first GFX impressions (starts min. 8:15). They then stop talking about the GFX and start again at 34:30, where they compare it to the Pentax K1. Below their findings. Full (and interesting) Live Stream here.

  • It’s not pretty, but feels fantastic, well designed
  • It’s practical and functional
  • Great Viewfinder
  • it focusses surprisingly fast in AF-S (AF-C is “kind of garbage” with the 63mm being better for AF-C)
  • lenses feel solid
  • the ability to adapt affordable Medium Format lenses is the primary advantage over the Hasselblad X1D
  • Eye AF struggling a bit
  • The GFX is going to kick butt in landscape and studio, as well as on the street maybe.
  • For landscape, Jordan would go for the Pentax K1 because of the Pixel shift. But Jordan would use the GFX if things are moving in the frame, and for portraiture, and also for street photography
  • The bigger MF sensor on the GFX delivers a certain look and aesthetics, that is great for portraits
  • Jordan prefers the 4:3 aspect ratio of for stills [note: the GFX is 43 native]

Ok, we all had 2 days of intense pixel peeping after imaging-resource published their lab samples. So time to leave the pixel peeping world, and share some GFX images from our closed Fujifilm GFX Group. And indeed, many fellow GFX owners are adapting all kind of lenses on their GFX and sharing their results.

And remember that for GFX tailored updates, you can follow the Fujifilm GFX facebook page.

Fujifilm GFX: USA BHphoto, Adorama, AmazonUS EU: AmazonDE, CalumetDE AmazonUK, WexUK, ParkCamerasUK, PCHstore AUS: CameraPro

Fujifilm GFX – Images

Mike L: My first date with Ms GFX @Hong Kong Disneyland. GFX + GF63mm, ISO 100, f/11, 15s – Image on Flickr here – Full Size JPEG File on Dropbox

Comment by Peter S.: Looking through the gate gives you a really good idea of the Dynamic Range of this camera. Excellent!

_ _ _

Piet Van den Eynde: Close encounters of another kind… FUJIFILM GFX 50S | GF120mmF4 R LM OIS WR Macro @ 120 mm | 1/60 sec @ f/4 | ISO 400

_ _ _

Malvin: No RAW support in Lightroom yet for the GFX, so I shot RAW in camera and exported to TIFF using the in-camera raw converter, then imported the files into Lightroom and worked on them… the next best thing I can get to RAW for now. Fujifilm GFX 50S + 32-64mm F/4 at 32mm. Aperture is f/8 , ISO 100 5 bracketed exposures. 1 EV apart Flickr link

Push READ MORE to See All Images

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

Fujifilm GFX Vs. Canon 5DS R Vs. Sony A7rII: “Incomparable. GFX IQ Far Better Than My Canon. Dynamic Range Surpasses My Sony”

Fujifilm GFX Nr1 Seller at BHphoto!

Fujifilm GFX First Looks

As many of you guys, I’m also waiting for GFX reviews. Right now it’s still quite early, but we already have a bunch of first impression shared here in the live blogging. And new ones are coming in. So here are two more:

Adrian C Murray owns a 5oMP Full Frame Canon 5DS R and also the Sony A7RII. He had quite some time to make deeper tests on the GFX and published his First Impression here. Some excerpts:

  • Fuji GFX Vs. Sony A7RII Vs. Canon 5DS R: While the digital resolutions of both these cameras [GFX and 5DS R] are similar I did notice that the actual image quality was far better on the 50S. So much so that I’d pretty much say the two cameras are basically incomparable […] The 50s offers far more dynamic range than I’ve had on any of my Canon cameras and also surpasses my Sony A7Rii
  • AF SPEED: I was happily surprised with the autofocus […] I was able to obtain focus on some of the most difficult subjects in the world, children. Not just any children, but hyperactive toddlers. While I probably wouldn’t do any sport shooting with this camera, it’s autofocus is still very capable in the right hands.

Stuff.tv that has spend a few hours with the GFX. Here are some excerpts of their first impression:

  • Full-frame photographers watch out – there’s a new high-end champion to get jealous over
  • IQ: With the right lighting and camera settings, you’ll get billboard-quality shots right off your memory card – especially as the GFX shoots in 14-bit RAW, which is perfect for capturing wide dynamic range.
  • AF SPEED: Motion wasn’t a problem, tracking two dancers as they moved across the frame and delivering crisp shots every time […]. It really is amazingly fast. […] I’ll need to see how it deals with faster action
  • Tethering: The GFX 50S will do tethered shooting with Adobe Lightroom, too – as long as you buy the optional Pro plugin.
  • Initial Verdict: It’s smaller than full frame DSLRs from the likes of Nikon and Canon, but packs in a larger sensor, and is arguably easier to use. Fuji’s fantastic control layout is easy enough for newcomers to learn, and instantly recognisable for anyone stepping up from an X-series camera. […] The GFX 50S might be the camera that pushes medium format into the mainstream

Fujifilm GFX: USA BHphoto – Win $3,000 by pre-ordering at BH via FR*, Adorama, AmazonUS EU: AmazonDE, AmazonUK, WexUK, ParkCamerasUK, PCHstore AUS: CameraPro
*Pre-order the GFX at BHphoto using the FujiRumors B&H link to enter the contest. Price: $3,000. Sweepstake Overview & Rules can be found here. Full Terms & Conditions here.

Fujifilm GFX Hands On Impressions :: “A Compact Workhorse, That Will Find A Place in My Bag… and In My Heart”

Fujifilm GFX Hands On Review

Fujifilm GFX facebook member Florian shared his Fujifilm GFX Hands On Review at the Fujiiflm GFX Facebook group here. It’s in German, but you can use the Facebook translation tool to get the English version. He also shares 3 images of the GFX.

I’ll highlight in short some of his findings:

  • BODY: Boxy, very pleasing handling, great ergonomics. Not too big. He loves the joystick. Great build quality, but if you look at the size of body, the camera feels almost too light. It’s like something is missing in the inside, since it’s so light.
  • MENU: It’s still in Beta, so it didn’t run flawlessly
  • EVF: Still in Beta Firmware, but already much better than on the Hasselblad X1D. Information was displayed in white, which he considered not ideal
  • AUTOFOCUS: (Consider it’s an early Beta-Firmware) Absolutely OK. Felt so fast like the AF on the Sony A7, or a bit slower. Definitely faster than the Hasselblad X1D. There was not much light, when he tested the camera, so he expects it to work faster in good light.
  • DISPLAY: On the GFX he handled, there was no touch screen (ADMIN NOTE: or maybe it was not working due to the preliminary Beta-FW? At photokina Fujifilm indicated that it will have a touch.)
  • LENSES: The 63mm is compact. It contributed to the overall lightness of the camera. The zoom lens was quite big.
  • IMAGE QUALITY: No comment. The test condition at the photography fair were not good (bad light) and the Firmware was still a Beta.
  • PRICE: Body: €6,999. 63mm: €1,500 (ADMIN NOTE: This confirms this rumor)
  • CONCLUSION: Awesome. It arouse emotions. Overall very good first impression. A compact workhorse he could use for portrait work, that will find a place in Florian’s bag and heart :) .

For any other questions, just join 4,500+ members at the Fujifilm GFX facebook, and drop your questions in the comments of Florian’s facebook post.