Photography News Issue 66

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Photography News | Issue 66 | photographynews.co.uk

without seeing a photographer in the pit clutching one. It was only when I was recently working on a portrait shoot that I got talking to a photographer who only shoots on Fujifilm cameras and was singing their praises, especially about the GFX 50S. As a photographer with bad eyesight, I rely heavily on autofocus and my friend was raving about the autofocusing abilities on Fujifilm cameras, especially the GFX one. I decided to test out the GFX 50S with two lenses – theGF45mmf/2.8 and theGF110mm f/2. I needed a set-up that would behave well for products and portraits, but that would also give me the flexibility in case I ended up shooting a showwith a fair distance between me and the stage. I shoot primarily on lower apertures for my music work, so lenses that could drop to f/2.8 were a must – the fact that the 110mm could drop right down to f/2 was an unexpected bonus. After a very anxious wait, my new set-up finally arrived and I excitedly put it together. My first impression was that it was light. Almost too light. As someone who was used to the weight of a Canon EOS 70D with a vertical camera grip and a hefty lens, I found myself joyfully bouncing the GFX 50S camera fromhand to hand (as joyfully as you can with a camera that costs more than what you’d pay for a kidney), marvelling at the weightlessness. Even with the 110mm lens attached, it was still half the weight of my current set-up. However, the lens did look comically large in

comparison to the camera, especiallywith the lens hood attached. Ispentanhourreadingthroughthemanual (the first time I’ve ever done something so responsible with a piece of gear) and setting the GFX 50S up exactly how I wanted, which was surprisingly easy in comparison to the Canon camera menus I was used to. I then headed out for my first job of the week – shooting some social media content for my main employer, Lush Birmingham. For product photography, the GFX 50S was a dream to work with. The digital viewfinder meant I wasn’t second guessing any shots, as it displayed the exact image I was going to end up with. This is a major plus in comparison to my DSLR set-up as it was time-saving and convenient. The screen was also resistant to smudges and smears (very important if you’re working around bath bomb dust and glitter on the regular), and the display showed up my shots with the upmost clarity. I imported the images into Adobe Lightroom, edited them and rushed around with the store’s iPad, eager to see if my colleagues would spot a difference in the photos. One comment they made was that the images looked sharper and asked if I’d purchased a new lens. I was overjoyed. Next, I headed to the O2 Institute Birmingham.Knownforitsall-encompassing music shows and less than ideal lighting, it was the ideal venue to test out the 45mm and to see how the GFX 50S copedwith darkness, strobe lights and smoke machines. To start

with, it was difficult – the neck strap kept wiggling loose from the camera body and my fat thumb kept hitting the quick menu button, meaning the screen kept flashing up with customisable options. If you shoot in portrait often, it may be worth investing in a camera battery grip to avoid this from happening. If you shoot in portrait, the image when flashing up on the display won’t auto rotate either, meaning lots of awkward neck craning to see your images. However, the quality of the photos was simply superb – the GFX lenses are streets ahead of ones I’d used previously and needed minimal editing before I sent them out. So far, so good. The following day, I worked on some promotional material for a singer songwriter that involved lots of purple and blue lighting. She expressed an interest in the images having a film-type look to them, which meant I could try out the GFX 50S’ built-in Film Simulation mode – a feature I’d been dying to use. Although the differences are subtle, they’re there – and they’re beautiful reproductions of the films they are based on. We settled on Astia, which produces a slightly softer image in comparison to Provia. Under both flash and continuous lighting, the camera performed incredibly well. What I didn’t expect was the relatively shorter battery life compared with that of my existing DSLR. Having to excuse myself to charge up the batteries when with a client wasn’t ideal, and as someone who is often shooting many long hours for a job, I need a

The quality of the photos was superb – GFX lenses are streets ahead of ones I’ve used

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