Australian Camera — May-June 2017

REPORT BY PAUL BURROWS

36

ON TRIAL

FUJIFILM

GFX 50S

36

Fujifilm aims to repeat its success with its

‘APS-C’ mirrorless X Mount system, but in

the more challenging medium format arena.

It’s off to a flying start with the GFX 50S.

PIXEL-ELATED

and mirrorless models – has been

getting steadily tighter. Something

had to be done if this sector was

to survive... and a non-refl ex

design is potentially again the likely

bringer of salvation.

Both Fujifi lm and Hasselblad

have come to the same conclusion

at roughly the same time, albeit

with quite different solutions. Both

have long histories in medium

format photography and have been

signifi cant innovators along the

way... indeed, in the past, both

have actually shared products

(notably H1 and XPan). So when

both launch a mirrorless digital

medium format camera platform

it’s time to sit up and take notice.

The ultimate objective is, again, to

the build the digital medium format

market via increased accessibility

and affordability. Pentax, of course,

has been offering affordability for

a while, but the 645Z is still ‘old

school’ medium format in terms

owards the end of

the fi lm era there

was a little fl urry of

activity in non-refl ex

medium format

cameras which produced the likes

of the Mamiya 6 and 7, the Bronica

645RF and a line of fi xed-lens

models from Fujifi lm, starting with

the GA645 and ending with the

zoom-equipped GA645Zi. Whether

this brief renaissance was more

about desperation than innovation

is debatable, but the idea was to

make medium format photography

more accessible via more compact

and affordable cameras.

Fast forward a couple of

decades and we could well be

having the desperation-versus-

innovation debate again. The digital

medium format camera market

has been in dire straits – probably

even more so than 120/220

rollfi lm – as it’s struggled with

high development costs and the

prospect of comparatively small

returns. Additionally, the squeeze

from ultra-high resolution full-

35mm cameras – both D-SLRs

FUJIFILMFUJIFILM

GFX 50SGFX 50S

T

CamMayJune17_036-045 Fujifilm.indd 36 14/04/2017 2:26:44 PM