Photography News 69

Camera test 47

Photography News | Issue 69 | photographynews.co.uk

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Right and above The GFX100 body has in built image stabilisation (IBIS) offering 5.5EV benefit. This was taken at 0.5sec at f/4, ISO 200 using the 63mm f/2.8 lens and the camera’s mechanical shutter. As you can see from the enlarged section above, the systemworks very well indeed

get low or high continuous shooting, and in movie mode various settings. Push the drive button when multi is selected and you get the option of six functions including focus, film simulation and exposure bracketing. However, to set parameters of each bracketing function you still have to go into the main menu. It’s a pity you can’t fine-tune these features via the drive/multi controls. Before we leave the top plate, it is worth discussing the EVF finder. This is a high-resolution finder featuring 5.76 million dots, giving an excellent viewing image, which shows fine detail almost like an optical finder and there’snosmearing during panning. An eye sensor automatically switches between the EVF and monitor image, but if

preferred the EVF can be slipped off for monitor-only use while the touch function monitor itself folds out for low-level work. Below the monitor is another display, the rear sub monitor and this, like its top-plate sub monitor, youcancustomise. I preferredhaving the exposure compensation scale on show, but there are two information options and a live histogram. The GFX100 as a package works very well. It’s daunting to start with, probably because it’s a seriously hefty camera. But once you get used to the controls, including the virtual dials, finding your way around the layout becomes second nature. I’m a Fujifilm user, which helps. I liked the pro DSLR-style body, although a marginally fatter vertical grip

parameters of what’s on show can be customised, too. TheLCDcanbebacklit bypushing a button adjacent to the display and this stays on until the button is pushed again. It took a short time to get used to the virtual ISO and shutter dials. Typically, I changed the ISO when I wanted to change the shutter speed or vice versa. User error, of course, and easily solved with time, practice and fine-tuning set-up – I turned off the ISO dial, for example.

There’s also no exposure mode control andyou scroll throughmodes using a button near the shutter release. You get M and A when the aperture ring is in use and then S and P when the aperture ring is set to its A setting. On the left side of the top plate is a three-position mode dial where you get the option of still or movie shooting, with the multi option in- between and there’s a drive push button at its centre. Push down the drive button in still shooting, and you

The GFX100 has a high-resolution EVF featuring 5.76 million dots, which shows fine detail almost like an optical finder

Performance: exposure latitude

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-1EV

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-3EV

-2EV

Images The GFX100’s Raws have good latitude with the -3EV shot recovering very well with some extra noise. With overexposure, the +2 shot looked the same as the correctly exposed shot, but the +3EV was less successful in strong lighting. There seemed to be very little latitude difference between 14- bit and 16-bit capture

+1EV

+2EV

+3EV

This was taken with the GFX100 fitted with the 32-64mm lens and fixed to aGitzo tripod. Themetered exposure was 1/8sec at f/11, ISO 100. The Raws were exposure corrected in Capture One. Underexposed Raws corrected very nicely with minimal impact on image quality and a slight noise gain in the shadows on the -3EV shot. Noise levels drop further with the -2EV shot and by the time you get to the -1EV shot, it recovers

to look the same as the correctly exposed image. Withoverexposure, theGFX100 deals well with +1EV and +2EV, giving high-quality results with accurate highlights and smooth mid-tones. Though the +3EV shot was too much and the highlights could not be recovered – at least not on this very contrasty scene. Sceneswith less extreme highlights proved more accommodating to overexposure, even at +3EV.

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