Fujifilm Gfx100s Review
A review after 18 months of use from a landscape photographers point of view. I buy my equipment, no brands send me things for a favourable review so that gives me the upper hand over so called “impartial" reviewers.
For me a camera needs to not just be a tool as the cliche crowd like to say over and over again, I spend hours using it and I want to enjoy the process of photography and the camera is a large part of that.
Lazy Reader & just after a quick conclusion?
Cons
No Bluetooth wireless remote… Well there is now I made one! Click to find out more
Custom menus and buttons aren’t that fully customisable
Shame no 100-400 lens available
Evf and lcd should be higher quality
Histogram is based off jpeg
Burst mode lowers the quality of the image
L bracket mount is not solid and allows for movement
Pros
Slow but reliable Af, no its not for sports or fast moving subjects.
Superb zoom lenses.
Now has the wide zoom available 20-35mm ( 16-28mm in Full Frame )
Lcd articulation is best around
In camera aspect ratios are a superb idea
Battery life is excellent
Image quality, crop mode is still 61MP or as I call it “Sony A7rv mode 😜
Ibis is superb
Excellent weathersealing
Shadow recovery with low noise is superb
Editing can be completed in minutes
Lazy Conclusion - For the size of the body, ibis, weather sealing, articulating screen and lens lineup its the best medium format option as even though Hasslblad is a beautiful camera the lens line up and lacking telephoto stops it being an option for me. If they added a better elf & lcd along with a wireless remote i’d say for landscape it would be the perfect camera. The thing that people often overlook is editing and how easily a file transforms to what you have in your mind, the Fujifilm files take literally seconds to get there and that keeps the joy of editing alive rather than sitting for ages to get colours right.
Detailed Review ( for those who read 🤓 )
Aim of this article is to hopefully help anyone make an informed decision that has zero bias and also from someone who couldn’t care less about brand loyalty etc. I paid for my gear so I can say what I like.
I am no Gerald undone or spec mad user, my images and experiences aren’t from a warm studio they are from wet, cold, and sand blown fun where this camera has so far been superb.
If you don’t like what I have written then I can point you to that little “x” at the top of the desktop window and click there…
I would love for Fujifilm to take a little note of the suggestions and obviously a custom one of a kind bluetooth remote as a gift would be welcome! Email me Fujifilm 🤪
Autofocus -Let’s get this out of the way first! It is not FF fast, it’s pretty slow but it is reliable and can even capture focus through a high nd filter if you’re feeling lazy. I have tried moving subjects like my dog and kids but its very miss heavy and to be honest if that’s what you want just buy a boring lifeless Sony ( Joke not joking )
Who needs 100mp? - I hear this a lot and to be honest it’s in my opinion just YouTube experts spouting tosh again for clicks and comments. I as a landscape photographer want ALL the megapixels, all the dynamic range and don’t care about storage as it’s cheap. I shoot 64Gb sd cards which are cheap now and as I only shoot a small number of images a day it’s not an issue. As for computer storage that too is cheap I have 4tb internal and that’s fine for a years images. Everything else goes on an external drive which again is cheap. The only expense was a new laptop as tbh the gfx100s will find any weakness in your computer and slow it down.
Ergonomics - For me the ergonomics are superb but it comes down to your hand size, for me the Sony A7riv & Nikon Z7ii felt like children’s toys and my hands always felt cramped and unable to grip comfortably. The camera is undoubtedly larger than the full frame options mentioned but for me at least I found my "pinky” finger always had nowhere to sit and on the Gfx100s it’s now got a home again.
Weight - I did some rough calculations against the Sony A7riv and a similar lens setup to put my comments in context
Sony A7riv with 16-35 + 24-70 + 100-400
Total 3.4kg
Fuji Gfx 100s with 20-35 + 32-64 + 100-200 & 1.4 Tele
Total 3.95kg
That’s a superb result for the Fujifilm as I do hear all the time from YouTube experts that it’s heavy and so is the large glass. Less than half a kilogram in it for a medium format camera with lens range from 20-280mm and unto 392mm in crop 61mp mode!
Ibis -
Its superb, days into owning the camera I wisely took it to a Manchester United protest near me along with the 32-64 and got these.
All handheld and the 32-64 does not have lens stabilisation either. As you can see it got pretty heated and all of these images are untouched jpegs.
Flying beer bottles, metal barriers and angry protestors who thought I was with the Daily Mail to contend with it did amazingly well. Yes the buffer got filled quicker than I’d like and takes too long to clear but that’s a minor niggle when you have 100mp.
Yes its no Sony A1 but it survived, I got some shots and even a protestor drinking rosé wine straight from a bottle.
Honestly who drinks rosé at a protest…( Picture 3 )
Custom Options -
The Gfx100s has eight customisable buttons, a q menu that can hold 16 slots and the lcd can be programmed to four swipe custom functions. All this sounds good but I find myself wanting for example to turn focus peaking on and off quickly to check focus it cannot be set to any of these… The custom buttons, q menu and swipe lcd are also limited to their options. I do not know why but it seems a simple fix that could be added in firmware, this leads me onto an issue that I wish Fujifilm would address.
Bluetooth -
The camera has Bluetooth but no wireless remote? No I do not want to use a wired trigger remote as it opens up the camera to water ingress when I forget to close the flap or pull the camera over when I forget the remote is in my hand during precarious seascape moments.
Yes there is an application to remote trigger but I for one of not want to use my phone when out shooting as that’s one of the reasons I shoot with a “proper” camera and not a do it all smartphone.
I would love a Fujifilm wireless remote trigger that communicates with the camera just like Pentax & Sony have… oh wait I just made one HERE
Evf & Lcd -
For me they aren’t good enough and this is where Fujifilm cut too many corners for cost cutting. Its a 100mp camera and it needs screens that can resolve that especially for focus acquisition and the unspoken joy that a camera should bring while using to create moments like this
Custom modes -
The camera has six Custom modes which I great and you can add custom names for them, however you then have to remember them as the mode selected doesn’t show up on the screen. Fujifilm should add the custom name to the screen and eve when scrolling through to make it easier to get it right every time.
Battery life -
I carry a total of three batteries in my bag and these see me through an entire days shooting, I “baby” the batteries during the day and set the auto off to two minutes. I have the lcd on all the time also and sure if I was struggling I could get through a day on one battery if I was more frugal.
Having usbc charging in camera is a nice addition but what I do is have a spare double charger in my car and rotate the batteries that way so I am never caught short.
Depth of field -
I’ve heard from a few online experts about medium format and depth of field issues… To be honest its not anymore of a consideration than full frame you just need to spend the time to understand your camera. The Gfx lineup has a super depth of field scale built in and that alongside apps like photo pills makes it easy.
Yes with a larger sensor you will get a narrower depth of field but with the assistance tools Fujifilm provide it’s made simple.
If something is extremely close to the camera and you have interest far away then focus stack, I usually find I focus in two to three areas and that's more than enough. However I find myself doing it less and less as I get to understand the camera more and my style evolves.
In camera aspect ratios -
A superb feature of the Gfx lineup is the ability to see a variety of crops in camera, from 1:1, 16:9, 3:2, 4:3, 7:6, 5:4, 65:24 and everyone favourite the cheat pano mode that is 65:24. With the 100mp Gfx100s you still get 50mp with the 65:24 wide mode that is just superb for this moments when you only have time for a single composition or just too lazy to get the nodal rail out and setup a panoramic series.
“Once you go cheat pano” you never go back!
Below are a few examples of 65:24 aspect ratio and bear in mind these will still be 50mp and NOT a permanent edit, simply un crop in Lightroom.
The histogram & high contrast abilities -
The Gfx100s ability to capture a high contrast scene in one exposure is just superb. When the suns severe brightness is on one side of a scene and a shaded area behind rocks the camera simply spoils you and makes you get in all honesty a bit lazy. Where before I would take three variations of exposures I now take two and sometimes end-up with just using one. Its something that is difficult to put into words correctly but when you get the files into Lightroom etc and start the editing the range just spoils you but most of all it saves you from that one epic shot that you got slightly wrong but can correct in post.
The histogram is also very accurate just as long as you understand that the jpeg view is different in its histogram output and what I do is set the front custom button to Natural live view on/off and this gives you a more realistic histogram to base your shots off. I tend to expose to the right and make sure the exposure isn’t blown out and the images are so pliable they make editing a joy.
The video above shows this to great effectiveness, obviously you would not use this entire image ideally as it does have significant noise but its a perfect example of what the sensor can retrieve.
On this 2 minute exposure you can see the “hot pixels” and also the superb dynamic range of the sensor with the click of Auto.
Long exposures -
The camera has a crazy maximum exposure in camera of sixty minutes before needing bulb mode which makes long exposures easy and with the live preview exposure there is no maths involved thankfully.
Two things I have noticed is that the long exposures always seem to be one stop under exposed even when done correctly, I use magnetic filters and not yet found a reason online as to why this is. Its easy to adjust for once you know its there but I thought I would mention it.
The second issue is the “hot pixels” that you get when doing any long exposures, I have tried pixel mapping but as of yet no luck. They are easy to correct in photoshop but it is an extra step and something to be aware of. On a SL2 I had a similar issue and a firmware update cut hot pixels down massively so that’s a possibility with Fujifilm?
Image Files -
I am no spec, tech guy so I will put it into a real world situation. A friend who was shooting Sony borrowed my backup camera body while on a trip to Harris & Lewis, the first night we got back to the hotel and did some on site editing he was blown away. Words like “omg that’s crazy”, “look at that already” and laughing when I showed him a simple click auto settings and click bleach bypass colour matching and that’s it… He kept saying “my Sony would take 10-20 minutes to get right per image” and he even had an import custom setting that he created to help the colours.
This for me is an overlooked but vital part of the Gfx100s and lineup that is so important. I want to enjoy editing and not spend absolute ages getting to an image that I am happy with
N.B He and another professional landscape photographer ordered a full set each by the time we left Harris….. Fujifilm rewarded me with nothing, not even a spare battery for my referrals.
I suppose I need a YouTube channel to be classed as important.
Below are examples of the ability that 100mp gives you. Only minor edit applied with zero enhancement, noise or sharpening applied.
Original 4:3 Aspect
65:24 Cheat Panoramic Crop
4:5 Heavy Vertical Crop
Competition -
I have to mention the other options but obviously this is again a mix of subjective reasoning and that I only use it for Landscape photography.
Hasselblad X2D ( was X1D when I got my camera but reasoning still mostly stands )
Yes the interface and user experience is the best of any camera but for me it was the lack of a telephoto range lens and the Leica esc eye watering prices of the lenses that put me off. The X1d at the time I bought the gfx100s didn't have the articulating lcd or weather sealing that the X2D does.
Sony A7rv
I had the Sony A7riv and while the images were great as mentioned above the editing was draining and tbh the camera felt soulless and the body small and uncomfortable. The 100-400 lens does sometimes make me with I kept it just for that pairing as a second body. As said earlier on the Gfx100s in crop mode is the same as the Sony A7rv which is just crazy, then the weight difference is so minimal its just not worth it.
Nikon Z7ii
I rented this for a while and it just felt cheap along with the lenses. The camera body was small and felt made for a Childs hands, sorry not sorry its the truth.
Canon R5
I rented this also and while it was capable it was the most boring / lifeless / old man camera I have used recently. Absolutely nothing special and as a friend perfectly summed it up as a “canon doorstop", harsh but accurate
Leica SL2
Oh I wanted to love this camera, I owned it along with two of their madly prices lenses and enjoyed every second right unto when it just stopped working. It was replaced and the second one was glitching so that was that. The lack of a articulating screen was also something I disliked but got carried away in the “Leica” experience.
Fujifilm Gfx100
I rented this and loved it, however its size and weight out me off along with the price to be honest. I was on the fence about buying one and then the Gfx100s was announced and I pre ordered that the first day. I do prefer the tilting higher quality evf on the 100 but it did feel a bit cheap with its colour and buttons. I never need the battery grips as I just carry two spare batteries and they see me through a full days shooting with ease.
Conclusion
Yes the camera isn’t perfect but its currently the best camera for serious landscape photographers who want weather-sealing, portability, image quality and the lens lineup from 16mm to 300mm.
I like that the camera has two Sd card slots that are equal specs to each other as I dislike when cameras have one fast and one slow which in my opinion makes them useless. I shoot raw backup with small Jpeg as others you cannot have the in crop view.
My rule no.1 is always: When I get that life changing set of conditions and subject I want the image to stand the test of time and the Gfx100s is the camera that can do this.
If fuji made the firmware changes mentioned, added a Bluetooth remote then it would be 9/10
If they then did that then upgraded the evf, lcd on a new model and produced the impossible 100-400mm lens that wasn’t the size of a suitcase I’d be dreaming.
If you read this far well done, I do apologise for my terrible writing style. Believe it for not I went to a fancy UK boarding school and this Is the best I can do.