Photography News Issue 44

Photography News | Issue 44 | absolutephoto.com

Camera test 40

Camera Centre CHISWICK Call: 020 8995 9114 FujifilmGFX 50S Few cameras have generated the column inches that Fujifilm’s first mirrorless medium-format camera has, so what is so special about the GFX 50S and is it any good? Our test looks beyond the hype

In associationwith

Specs

Price GFX 50S body £5999, GF63mm f/2.8 RWR £1359, GF32-64mm f/4 R LM WR £2149, GF120mm f/4 R LMOIS WRMacro £2499 Sensor 51.4megapixels, 14-bit capture Sensorformat 43.8x32.9mmBayer array with primary color filter with Raw and JPEG capture ISOrange 100-12,800, expandable to 50-102,400 Shutterrange 60mins-1/4000sec, 1/16,000sec (electronic shutter), flash sync at 1/125sec Drivemodes Continuous up to 3fps, single, remote, self-timer Meteringsystem Multi-segment, centre-weighted, spot, average Exposuremodes PASM Exposurecompensation +/-5EV in 0.3EV steps, autobracketing available with 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 frames in 1/3EV steps up to 3EV Monitor 3.2in, aspect ratio 4:3, approx 2360K-dot tilt-type, touch screen colour LCD EVF 0.5in approx. 3690K-dots OLED showing 100%. Built-In switchover eye sensor Focusing AF with contrast detect sensor with modes including face detection, live view, single point, multi-area, continuous, single shot Focuspoints 117 in a 13x9 array, 425 possible Video Full HD 1920x1080 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 36Mbps up to approx 30min. HD 1280x720 29.97p/25p/24p/23.98p 18Mbps up to approx. 30min. Connectivity Micro HDMI, USB 3.0Wi-Fi Storagemedia Dual SD card slots Dimensions(wxhxd) 147.5x94.2x91.4mm Weight Body approx. 920g Contact fujifilm.eu

Words and pictures by Will Cheung

Photographers shootmedium-format usually for one reason: superior image quality. That was the case with filmand it is still the case with digital. However, with digital, with high- megapixel cameras like the Canon EOS 5DS, Nikon D810 and Sony A7R II around, you could argue that with digital the quality benefit is less clear cut. The Fujifilm GFX system’s first camera is the 50S, a model boasting a 43.8x32.9mm 51.4-megapixel CMOS sensor. The sensor has a Bayer filter array so unlike Fujifilm’s X-series cameras that use X-Trans sensors featuring a random colour filter array to avoid effects like moiré – both sensors are optical low pass filter-free. Perhaps we should kick off with the elephant in the medium- format room: price. While there are cheap film medium-format cameras around, going medium-format with digital will seriously dent your bank balance. For the GFX 50S we are talking £5999 body only and £1359 for the standard 63mm f/2.8 lens so £7360 for the basic outfit. That is indeed seriousmoneybut youneed to look at the GFX 50S in the context of what else there is around. The Pentax 645Z with a 55mm lens is £7499 and the mirrorless Hasselblad X1D costs £7788 and that is body only – and it’s much less expensive compared with other models from Hasselblad, Leica and Phase One. The long and the short of all this is the GFX 50S is very competitive in terms of price for what you get and the market within which it sits – but it’s still a significant investment. It is whether that investment is affordable or worthwhile for your photography that’s important. Cards on table: I really enjoyed testing the GFX 50S. I found it (mostly) intuitive to use, perhaps helped because I use a Fujifilm X-T2 so the menu structure is similar, but there is more to it than just a familiar menu. Control layout is very good. The top-plate features dedicated one- push lock ISOand shutter speed dials along with a large LCD info display and the on/off switch ideally placed around the shutter button. The basic body is monitor only, but in the box supplied as standard is anEVF finder which slips into the hotshoe so you have both ways to compose your shots. With the EVF in place you can choose viewing mode which includes an auto switchover between EVF and monitor option. The EVF image itself flickers a little and can look grainy

Above The GFX 50S is not a cheap camera by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s very intuitive to use with impressive build quality, and offers really remarkable image quality.

The GFX 50S has the option of mechanical and electronic shutters and there are various combination settings. So, you can have an electronic front shutter combined with a mechanical shutter which gives a quiet, soft shutter release. The limit for this is 1/1000sec at which point the mechanical front shutter kicks in. The electronic shutter gives silent (or quiet) release with the usual proviso that you can get banding from certain artificial lighting types and potentially rolling shutter effects withmoving subjects. A contrast-detect system provides autofocusing and typical of this type ofAFyouget the lens rackingpast the point of focus and then back again to lock on. I had the GF63mm f/2.8 and GF120mm f/4 macro lenses for this test and found single AF generally quickand responsive ingood lighting. However both lenses struggled more in less good light, say a typical room interior, and more attention to where the AF point was aimed. Or have the AF+MF menu option chosen so you have full-time override of the manual focus barrel and get

in low lighting, and resolution could be better. It’s not perfect but it is good and there’s the benefit of being interchangeable so when a better EVF is launched, the current one is easily upgraded. The right-hand grip with a large thumb ridge is excellent. With the on/off switch where it is and the grip, it is possible to raise the camera to the eye when turning on the camera and shoot one-handed with a great deal of stability if you had to. Start-up is just under 0.5sec so the camera is almost ready to shoot by the camera is up to the eye. On the raised thumb ridge is a quick menu button and, unusually on a modern camera, then there are three unmarked buttons on the back – these are function buttons 3, 4 and 5. There are nine function buttons in total plus the rear command dial that can also be set to different functions. All function buttons and the rear command dial offer the option of 37 functions including off, so there is tremendous versatilitywhen it comes to customising your favoured set-up: and then you have to remember what you’ve set!

The front command dial can be set to adjust aperture (if the lens is set to C) or shutter speed. It can also be used to adjust ISO when the ISO dial is at the C position and then you can use the expanded ISO settings. The rear of the camera with its raised monitor plinth is perhaps less aesthetically pleasing but the space is needed for the GFX’s 1250mAh NP- T125 rechargeable battery that needs an 12.8V recharge voltage. A charged cell gives around 340 shots (or 400 with auto power save selected) and in-camera charging is possible via the optional AC-15VACadapter. The monitor folds out for waist- level viewing whether you are shooting horizontal or vertical format pictures and is touch sensitive although its touch functions are limited; so you can’t scroll through or select menu items but you can touch to focus or move the focus point around although you can’t take the shot via touch. A virtual button on the top right of the monitor lets you select touch AF, AF area or off. During playback you can pinch images to zoom in and scroll through by swiping.