Amateur Photographer - UK (2021-11-13)

41

CAMERA TEST Testbench

With the same body design as the GFX100S, the

GFX50S II shares many of the same features

Focal points

LCD light

Pressing a tiny button

on the side of the

viewfinder housing

illuminates the top

LCD status panel.

Connectors

Microphone and

headphone sockets are

found under one cover on

the left side, with USB-C,

Micro HDMI, and PC sync

sockets under another

cover lower down.

Storage

Two UHS-II SD card slots are

available for recording images. These

can be used in either sequential or

backup modes; alternatively, you can

record raw files to one and JPEGs to

the other.

Remote release

On the side of the handgrip, you

will find a standard 2.5mm TRS

socket that works with a huge range

of electronic cable releases

originally designed for Canon or

Pentax cameras.

Grip

No vertical grip is

available, but Fujifilm

offers the add-on

MHG-GFX S grip

extension, which boasts

an Arca Swiss profile

baseplate for tripod use

and costs £139.

magnification, on paper it looks
very good indeed. But the
numbers don’t tell the whole
story, and the user experience
doesn’t quite match up to its
more expensive sibling. Instead,
the GFX50S II’s live view feed
suffers from visible artefacts,
with jagged edges and false
colour along high-contrast angled
lines. It’s not a huge problem, but
it’s noticeable, especially when
shooting architecture.
One a more positive note, the
EVF displays a huge range of
information about camera
settings, which Fujifilm allows you
to customise to show only what
you want and hide the rest. When
the shutter button is half-pressed,
the camera stops down the
aperture to the shooting setting,
clearly previewing depth of field. It
also provides a pretty accurate
rendition of how your pictures will
come out in terms of colour and
exposure, which is great for
judging when to apply exposure
compensation. With the more
contrasty Film Simulation modes,
though, this isn’t necessarily
what you want, as the shadows
can block up quickly, hampering
composition. In such situations,
help is at hand in the shape of
Fujifilm’s Natural Live View
setting, which mimics the
experience of using an optical
finder in terms of contrast and
colour. I like to assign this to a

handy function button, such as

the one on the camera’s front.

Below the EVF there’s an

excellent 3.2in rear LCD, with its

2.36m-dot resolution providing a

detailed view. The screen tilts in

three directions, allowing high-

and low-angle shooting in both

portrait and landscape

orientation, while being quicker to

use than a side-hinged fully

articulated unit. This is my

favourite screen design for

shooting stills, with its only

limitation being that it can’t be

set facing forwards. But I doubt

many GFX users will care.

Autofocus

With only contrast detection to

fall back on for autofocus, the

GFX50S II is unable to match the

performance of the GFX100S II,

let alone the incredibly

sophisticated AF systems on its

full-frame rivals. But whether this

will actually matter depends

entirely on your expectations. If

you want to shoot rapidly or

erratically moving subjects, then

it’s not going to be a great

choice. But if instead you want an

autofocus system that’s capable

of consistently acquiring accurate

focus on a static subject

wherever it may be within the

frame, it’ll do the job very well.

One situation where it can

struggle, though, is in low

light, which is exacerbated

150 mm

87.

2

mm

104.

2 mm

Power

Fujifilm’s NP-W235

Li-ion battery can

deliver 455 shotsper

charge, according to

CIPA-standardratings.

I got close to this in

real-world use.