Fujifilm GFX100 First Impressions

We go hands-on with the new Fujifilm GFX100, 102MP digital medium format mirrorless camera that was announced last May 2019. 

It's lighter than it looks!

Last year, Fujifilm announced the development of the GFX100 and formally announced the camera late last May 2019. The new camera from the Japanese manufacturer has a 102MP 43.8 x 32.9 mm Bayer array sensor that is able to shoot up to 16-Bit RAW files (higher quality files). In contrast, most cameras shoot at 8 to 14 bit RAW files. Because of the brutal resolution of a 100MP, the sensor had to be stabilised with a 5-axis In-body image stabilization.

This allows for handheld shots with shutter speeds as slow as 1/8th of a second. 

Light enough to be held with one hand!

It has a base ISO sensitivity of 100 to 12800 that is extended up to 50 to 102400. Its mechanical shutter can snap from 1/4000th of a second to 60 minutes. If using the Electronic shooter, the it can snap up to 1/16000th of a second to 60 minutes.

EVF, Main LCD, rear sub-monitor

The GFX100 features four displays: At the back is the 3.2-inch, 2.36M dots touch screen display that tilts in three directions. Above it is the 0.5-inch 5.76M dots OLED Viewfinder. Below the tilting touch display is a 2.05-inch 256x64 dot Monochrome OLED monitor called rear sub monitor. Above the grip is a 1.8-inch 303 x 230 dot monochrome display called the Sub LCD monitor.

For video, the camera features up to DCI4K 4096 x 2160 at 24/25/30fps up to 400 Mbps into MOV/H.264/H.265 and F-Log.

For ports it has USB Type-C, micro HDMI port, 3.5mm stereo microphone jack, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, hot shoe, sync terminal and DC-IN 15V connector port.

Lastly, the camera comes with two (2) NP-T125 Li-ion batteries. It is rated for up to 800 frames with both batteries, 100 to 150 minutes of 4K video recording.

Build Quality/Design

Top side 

On top are the drive dial, hot shoe mount, sub-monitor display, shutter release, power switch, exposure compensation and other customizable buttons.

Bottom

At the bottom is the battery tray with the reinforced tripod-screw mount and heat exhaust ports.

Left side

On the left side are the microphone and headphone jacks, USB Type-C port, micro HDMI port, DC-In port and the battery tray.

Right side

While on the right side are the Dual SD Card slots, remote shutter remote port and the secondary vertical oriented shutter release, customizable button, exposure compensation and button lock.

Battery Tray

Camera Samples

Below are several shots taken with the GFX100 with the GF 110 mm or the GF 250mm.

Mazda 3 2019 rear

Mazda 3 2019 rear

Front full size 

Front 100 percent crop

The second to the last shot is the full size image resized to 800px width while the last image is a 100 percent view crop of the second to the last image. AS you can see that even at 100 percent, the detail, contrast and color is impressive.

The white balance and color rendition is also contrasty with a vibrant pop that Fujifilm has been known for.

As of the moment

The new GFX100 is a beautifully designed camera that is surprisingly slimmer than the 2 year old GFX50S. It is bigger because of the integrated vertical grip that doubles as a two battery slot tray.

One major concern that other publications and enthusiast have had upon first trying out the camera is how different the vertical grip felt from the main grip. There is no rubber and the shape doesn't conform to the user's hand. This is true but personally I didn't mind it for the few hours that I've held it. At first I almost agreed with their statements that it may be slippery but upon closer inspection, the vertical grip is textured that will help with this concern. How much of a help is still a mystery. Only time will tell. Otherwise, it isn't a big concern for me yet. 

Though the GFX100 looks huge, its size is comparable with the Nikon D5, Nikon D850 with vertical grip and the Canon 1DX Mk II. In fact the GFX100 weighs only 1400 grams as compared to the Nikon D5 that weighs 1415 grams. What makes the difference now are the lenses attached to the camera.

The highlights of the camera is that it has a 102MP sensor that is stabilized in-body that can capture up to 16-Bit RAW files and shoot DCI 4K at 30fps with significantly faster  and more accurate autofocus (compared to other medium format cameras) at a fraction of the price of the competition. (GFX is priced at USD 10,000 while the another 100MP medium format camera from Hasselblad costs USD 32,995)

At first glance, the GFX100 is looking to be one of the best Medium Format cameras in a long time but it is clearly targeted for professionals who have clients that demand the best and can pay for it. 

What makes this exciting is when the technology from the GFX100 is able to reach more affordable cameras in the Fujifilm family of cameras.

What do you guys think?