ONTRIAL
REPORTBYRIAL
REPORTBY AU BB RRRO S
FUJIFILM
GFX 100
Suddenly 100 megapixels resolution is within
reach... well, a lot closer than was the case
before the GFX 100. Fujifilm again redefines
digital medium format photography.
GOD IS IN THE DETAIL
in its key camera control systems
such as autofocusing and exposure
metering, and equipped with
features that have never been
seen at this level, most notably
in-body image stabilisation and
4K video recording in both the
DCI and UHD resolutions. In
fact, in a nutshell, pretty much
everything you’d expect to find on
a competitive full-35mm or ‘APS-C’
mirrorless camera is available on
the GFX 100. Consequently, it can
boldly go where no other 100 MP
digital medium format camera has
ever gone before. Consequently,
all the output – both stills and
video – shown at the international
launch in Tokyo and the various
supporting events around it, was
action-orientated... no portraits
or still lifes as has been traditional
with medium format cameras,
assuming that there was even
a product launch at all. That was
another significant first too –
Fujifilm threw a big party for the
GFX 100’s debut, inviting hundreds
of guests from around the world,
presumably confident that it’s
going to sell in sufficient numbers
to cover the drinks tab and more.
It’s a reasonable assumption
because it’s quite a camera and,
arguably, the most significant of
the GFX models we’ve seen so far.
Why? Well, there’s much more to
having 100 megapixels on tap than
just a whole lotta resolution. It is a
whole lotta resolution, of course,
and that means detail, detail,
detail; but it also means a huge
amount of flexibility when it comes
to cropping – a 35mm format
frame is still 60.8 megapixels in
image size – untold opportunities
for manipulating depth-of-field (one
of the reasons for Fujifilm targeting
video-makers), and crackling-crisp
definition down to what might
be termed, in Aussie parlance, a
gnat’s dick. All this in a camera
with the useability, durability,
capability and flexibility of anything
of a lesser resolution (including the
50 MP GFXs) or a smaller format.
The GFX 100 is big in many more
ways than one.SHIFTING UP
Physically, of course, it’s definitely
big and it also looks fairly awkward
alongside the more cohesively-
styled GFX 50S and the simple-but-
appealing appearance of the boxy
GFX 50R.here are numer-
ous ‘firsts’ associ-
ated with Fujifilm’s
100 megapixels
GFX series camera,
not the least being that we can talk
about it in relation to a potential
group of users that extends well
beyond a small handful of high-end
studio photographers (or well-
heeled landscape photographers
with a lot of determination and
patience).
At $16,499, the GFX 100
body still isn’t cheap, but this is
a fraction (and really a fraction)
of what you previously had to
pay for the same amount of
resolution from either Hasselblad
or Phase One. And, in both
cases, the platform is a medium
format D-SLR with all its inherentclunkiness, both audibly and
operationally. The GFX 100
exploits the benefits of the
mirrorless configuration to
the hilt, so Fujifilm has built a
100 megapixels digital medium
format camera like no other.
Apart from the affordability
factor; the GFX 100 is more
ergonomic, more efficient,
more capable, faster, superiorT