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FUJIFILM GFX 100 ON TRIAL
ISO 50
ISO 200
ISO 800
ISO 3200
ISO 12800
ISO 102400
ISO 100
ISO 400
ISO 1600
ISO 6400
ISO 25600
There’s virtually no difference
between images shot at ISO 100
and at ISO 1600, with the crisply-
defined detailing maintained
throughout. Noise still remains
minimal up to ISO 12,800 and
even beyond the graininess
is still quite tightly structured
so definition isn’t unduly
compromised. Put simply, the
GFX 100 sets a new standard for
high ISO performance in a digital
medium format camera.
STAYING IN TOUCH
Both the EVF and monitor screen
can be cycled through various
display configurations, and the
latter includes an ‘Info Display’
which contains 15 function indica-
tion tiles, the exposure mode and
settings, a real-time histogram and
the AF area mode. When focus-
ing manually, there’s an additional
‘Dual Display’ option which com-
prises the live view feed accom-
panied by a small additional panel
which shows the manual focus
assists separately.
The main ‘Standard Indicators’
screen can be extensively
customised in terms of status
icons and read-outs plus there’s
the options of a level display
(single- or dual-axis), a guide grid
(either 3x3 or 6x4), a real-time
histogram, highlight warning,
focusing distance scale, exposure
compensation scale and audio
channel level meters. You can
select up to 32 items in all and
even designate which ones will
be displayed in a larger size (and
independently in either the EVF or
the monitor too).
The image replay/review
screen can be cycled through four
displays which comprise an RGB/
brightness histograms overlay and
a highlight warning, a thumbnail
accompanied by capture data
and a brightness histogram, and
a page of additional capture info,
including the lens settings. The
main thumbnail page also provides
a highlight warning and a focus
point indication. Pressing the rear
command dial instantly zooms in
on this point for checking the focus
and you can then scroll around the
image using the joystick control.
Alternatively, conventional zoom
playback is available at up to 16.7x
and assisted by a navigational
pane. There are pages of nine or
100 thumbnails and here frames
can be selected for viewing by
simply tapping on them. In fact,
it’s in the replay mode that the
touchscreen controls are most
extensive – swipe for browsing,
pinch-out to zoom, pinch-in to
make the image smaller or select
the thumbnail pages, or drag to
navigate a magnified image.
When shooting, touch controls
are available for AF point/area
selection (with or without auto
shutter release), ‘touchpad’
AF operation when using the
EVF (with a total of seven area
settings), and tap-and-go function
selection via the monitor-based
‘Quick Menu’ (but it doesn’t extend
to main menu system).
Needless to note, there’s
both WiFi and Bluetooth LE
connectivity, and the connections
comprise the already-mentioned
USB-C, micro HDMI Type D,
both a stereo audio input and
output (3.5 mm minijacks) and a
2.5 mm minijack for hooking up
a wired remote release. At the
time of writing this report, the
GF lens system comprises ten
models – following the recent
arrival of the 50mm f3.5 ‘pancake’
prime (equivalent 40mm) – but
there is also third-party interest
in the mount which is always an
indication that a system is being
taken seriously in terms of its
potential to create a market.
SPEED AND
PERFORMANCE
Using a Panasonic 64 GB SDXC
UHS-II/V90 speed memory card,
the GFX 100 captured a burst of
68 JPEG/large/superfine files in
13.287 seconds, giving a shooting
speed of 5.11 fps. This is impres-
sive for any format camera, let
alone when 102 megapixels are in
play and the average file size was
in the order of 44 MB. With un-
compressed RAW capture, you’re
looking at upwards of 200 MB a
pop so you’ll need to be ready,
post camera, to handle significant
amounts of data.
Apart from the handling, there’s
a number of other key aspects
of the GFX 100 which redefine
your expectations of, specifically,
a 100 megapixels camera and,
more generally, digital medium
format photography. One of these
is the much faster shooting speed
- with decent burst lengths too –
and another is the autofocusing
performance which puts any other
digital medium format camera into
the shade in terms of speed and
reliability... a by big margins too.
There’s all the flexibility inherent
in the massive frame coverage,
a huge range of zone and point
sizes to vary selectivity and the ‘AF-
Custom’ settings for fine-tuning
subject tracking.
All our testing was with the
Fujinon GF 32-64mm f4.0 R LM
WR zoom (equivalent to 25-51mm)
which is a superb all-rounder
and certainly delivered speedy,
accurate autofocusing.