FUJIFILM GFX 50R
Fujifilm has plenty of form in medium format rangefinder-type cameras, so the GFX 50R should come as no surprise. It’s a repackaging of the 50S which is smaller, lighter and cheaper.
Digital medium format is steadily becoming more accessible and Fujifilm’s GFX 50R is the smallest, lightest and cheapest DMF camera yet. The RF-style 50R has everything that makes the GFX 50S such a desirable thing, but it’s much more versatile thanks to its compact size, light weight and efficient ergonomics. You’re going to want one.
OK, so we need to talk about the elephant in the room. The Fujifilm GFX 50R is the elephant in the room. If you have only seen illustrations so far, then you’re probably picturing an X-Pro2 that’s been at the party pies. Nope, the GFX 50R is much, much bigger… brick-like, in fact. So much so, that the first encounter takes you a bit by surprise. Well… er… I was expecting something a bit… well, smaller. Be prepared. But then something remarkable happens… the more you use it, the smaller it gets. Not physically, of course, but perceptually because, for a digital medium format camera, it is actually pretty small. Park it alongside the mirrorless GFX 50S, on which it is largely based, and the 50R looks almost pocket-sized. Next to Phase One’s monster XF medium format D-SLR, it looks absolutely titchy. Purely by the numbers, right now the Fujifilm GFX 50R is the smallest, lightest and least expensive digital medium format camera on the market. It’s even way, way cheaper than the Leica M10 which, of course, is a real digital rangefinder camera, but with the, ahem, smaller full-35mm format sensor. Unlike the many and varied Fujifilm rollfilm rangefinder cameras from the past (see the separate history panel), the GFX
50R is a rangefinder- style camera complete with a contemporary electronic viewfinder, but there are still size-related benefits to be had from adopting this shape and configuration. And, consequently also, the 50R does look a lot like the X-Pro2, but with the inevitable increase in external dimensions when its sensor is 32.9x43.8 mm in size versus 15.6x23.5 mm.
With all the recent activity surrounding full-35mm mirrorless cameras – often called full-frame (although, technically, this actually means something else) – Fujifilm has cheekily adopted the term ‘super full-frame’ for its medium format models, emphasising that there’s around 1.7x more sensor area at play. Given the effective pixel count is 51.4 million, this means the pixel size is still a healthy 5.3 microns which gives a higher signal-to-noise ratio and all the image quality benefits that this brings, starting with a wider dynamic range… Fujifilm quotes 14 stops at ISO 100. As in the days of film, image quality remains the most compelling reason for moving up to medium format… in the digital era it enables you have both 50+ megapixels resolution and bigger pixels. From an amateur perspective, it’s still a big investment even compared to a pro-level full-35mm mirrorless camera system and you need to be able to utilise the extra imaging performance, but if technical excellence is an objective then it can be justified.
For the record, compared to the GFX 50S, the 50R is 145 grams lighter (when the former is fitted with its detachable EVF), and the bodyshell is 25 millimetres thinner. It’s still a magnesium alloy casing with full weather sealing – at a total of 64 points Fujifilm tells us – and insulation to also enable operation in subzero temperatures down to -10 degrees Celsius. It actually feels a lot more rugged than the 50S which, of course, is partly due to the body shape (just ask Leica). However, one of the reasons it initially looks quite imposing is also down to the boxy RF-style shape which becomes more exaggerated with size, and there’s little visual relief as the handgrip is merely an X-Pro2-like bump and, unlike the smaller format camera, there’s no optical viewfinder window to break up the large expanse of front panel either.
In Touch
The control layout follows the current Fujifilm mirrorless camera formula so there are two dials for setting shutter speeds and exposure compensation, front and rear input wheels, and a modest collection of function buttons, some customisable. Instead of the 50S’s four-way navigator keypad, the 50R relies entirely on its joystick-type controller which, as usual, is also used to select the autofocusing point or zone.
The LCD monitor screen is adjustable for tilt, but only in the horizontal plane, unlike the 50S’s three-way settings. However, the touch controls are essentially the same as on the 50S, but now include four ‘Touch Functions’ (T-Fn) which enable a variety of custom functions to be assigned to the left, right, up and down swipe actions (as introduced on the X-E3). Fujifilm still doesn’t take touch control as far as the likes of Panasonic, Sony or Olympus (and now, incidentally, Nikon and Canon on their new full35mm mirrorless cameras), but you still get AF point/area selection (with or without auto shutter release), various playback functions and function selection via the monitor-based ‘Quick Menu’.
The EVF is the same 1.3 cm OLED-type display as is supplied with the GFX 50S (but built-in obviously) which has a resolution of 3.69 megadots and provides 100 percent subject coverage. However, the magnification is slightly reduced to 0.77x (35mm equivalent). The eyepiece has a built-in strength adjustment, an integrated eyecup and a proximity sensor to enable auto switching between the viewfinder and the monitor screen.
Dual memory card slots are provided, both for the SD format and both with UHS-II speed support. The file management options for the card slots are Sequential (i.e. automatic overflow), Back-Up or format specific (i.e. RAW or JPEG). Movie clips can also be assigned to a specific memory card and there’s a new function which enables simultaneous deleting when you’ve separated the RAWs and the JPEGs.
The GFX 50R is powered by the same 1250 mAh NP-T125 lithiumion pack as the 50S, but there’s not option for fitting a vertical grip. As on the 50S though, there’s a monitoring facility for the age of the battery, scaled from zero (youngest) to four (oldest).
The lens mount is called the G mount, although it’s a different
RIGHT NOW THE FUJIFILM GFX 50R IS THE SMALLEST, LIGHTEST AND LEAST EXPENSIVE DIGITAL MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA ON THE MARKET.
fitting to the original which Fujifilm used on the 50R’s spiritual ancestor, the G690. It’s a stainless steel threeclaw bayonet (brass on the lenses) with 12 contact pins for fully-electronic communications. The external diameter is 76.5 millimetres, and the internal is 65.0 millimetres. The flange back distance is 26.7 millimetres, enabling a minimum back focusing distance of just 16.7 millimetres which, as we’ve noted with Nikon’s Z mount (at 16 mm), has the potential to enable considerable flexibility when it comes to lens designs. By the way, there are now eight GF lenses with another two coming over the next 12 months. The current range spans 23mm (18mm equivalent) to 250mm (200mm equivalent). The new arrivals will be both zooms – a 45-100mm (36-80mm equivalent) and a 100-200mm (80-160mm). All the GF lenses are also weatherproofed, including the sub-zero insulation.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE
On the inside, the GFX 50R is essentially unchanged from the 50S and shares all the same essential ingredients – sensor, processor, autofocusing, metering and image handling functions.
The sensor is the Sonyfabricated CMOS which is used by not just Fujifilm, but also Hasselblad, Phase One and Pentax. However, it’s been “customised” by Fujifilm in terms of the design of the microlenses and the handling of the data from the photodiodes. As noted at the outset, the effective pixel count is 51.4 million, optimised by the omission of an optical low-pass filter. The sensitivity range is equivalent to ISO 100 to 12,800 with extensions to ISO 50 and ISO 102,400.
JPEGs can be captured at one of three compression levels and two image sizes. The maximum image size is 8256x6192 pixels and there’s a total of seven aspect ratios – 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, 1:1, 5:4, 7:6 and 65:24 (i.e. the ‘true’ panoramic ratio). RAW files are captured with 14-bit RGB colour (RAF format) and there’s the option of RAW+JPEG recording. RAW files are automatically captured with a 12 MP thumbnail JPEG. Both JPEGs and RAW files can also be captured in the 35mm format (i.e. at 24x36 mm) which gives a 30.5 megapixels image size. However, it’s a crop on the sensor so a 1.25x magnification factor applies to the lens focal length. Incidentally, this is a feature that’s been subsequently added to the GFX 50S via a firmware upgrade.
Continuous shooting is possible at up to 3.0 fps with no limit on the JPEG burst length (beyond the memory card’s capacity, of course), but just eight frames possible with uncompressed RAW files and 13 when lossless compression is applied.
The in-camera processing options for JPEGs are essentially the same as those available on the current X mount bodies except, not surprisingly, for any special effects. The ‘Film Simulation’ profiles include most of the recent new additions, including the Kodachrome-lookalike Classic Chrome and the ACROS monochrome settings (named after Fujifilm’s fine-grained B&W negative film), but not the Eterna video-orientated profile found on the X-H1 and X-T3. You can read all about the GFX 50R’s video capabilities in the separate ‘Making Movies’ panel, but suffice to say this is not a big part of the camera’s repertoire, with Fujifilm saving everything up for its forthcoming 100 megapixels GFX model.
The adjustable picture parameters are for Colour, Sharpness, Highlight Tone and Shadow Tone; and are applied ‘globally’ to all the ‘Film Simulation’ profiles rather than independently. ‘Colour Chrome Effect’ also works this way – and is designed to increase contrast without overdoing the colour saturation – as does the ‘Grain Effect’ function which, as you might expect, adds grain to create a more filmic look.
You can also tick the boxes for an intervalometer (up to 999 frames), a multiple exposure facility (well, actually it’s still only a double exposure facility), flicker detection and reduction, noise reduction for both high ISO settings and long exposures, and dynamic range expansion processing. The 50R also has Fujifilm’s ‘Lens Modulation Optimiser’ (LMO) processing which detects and corrects for diffraction blur when using smaller apertures such as f16 or f22. It applies sharpening to the corners of an image where the softening caused by diffraction is at its most noticeable.
Auto bracketing functions are available for exposure, ISO, dynamic range, the ‘Film Simulation’ presets, white balance and focus (also added to the 50S via a firmware upgrade). The AE bracketing can be set to two, three, five, seven or nine frames with an adjustment of up to +/- 3.0 EV. The focus bracketing can be performed across a total of 999 frames with adjustment steps of between one to ten – shifting the focus from near to far – and at intervals of up to ten seconds. You could also use this function for focus stacking, combining the sequence of frames post-camera to achieve sharp focus across a single image.
GET THE POINT
The 50R’s autofocusing employs contrast-detection measurements with the choice of either 9x13 or 17x25 point patterns (i.e. 117 or 425 points in total), the latter obviously giving smaller points.
With manual point selection, the focusing area can be set to one of six sizes, plus there’s a ‘Zone AF’ option which can be set to 3x3, 5x5 or 7x7 when using the 9x13 points grid. Point selection can be via the joystick-controller or the
AS IN THE DAYS OF FILM, IMAGE QUALITY REMAINS THE MOST COMPELLING REASON FOR MOVING UP TO MEDIUM FORMAT.
touchscreen which also allows for touch focusing. Face/eye detection and auto tracking are available, the latter using nine-point zones to detect subject movement. Furthermore, the eye-detection can be set for either left or right eye priority.
As on the X Mount cameras, an external selector switch is used to set either the single-shot or continuous AF modes, or switch to manual focusing where there’s the choice of a magnified image or a focus peaking display for assistance.
Exposure control is based on a 256-segment TTL meter (again using the sensor) with the choice of multi-zone, centreweighted average, fully averaged or spot measurements. The spot meter can be linked to the active focusing point (or points cluster). Like the 50S, the 50R has both a conventional focal plane shutter and a sensor-based shutter along with the hybrid “electronic first curtain shutter” option. Obviously the key advantage of the sensorbased shutter (confusingly termed the “electronic shutter”) is that it eliminates any vibrations as well as also being totally silent. Vibration can still be an issue with mirrorless cameras, especially at ultra-high resolutions and perhaps even more so with the GFX 50R which obviously lends itself more to hand-held shooting. It also delivers a faster top shutter speed – in this case, 1/16,000 second versus the FP shutter’s 1/4000 second while the slowest timed setting with any shutter configuration is 60 minutes. The downsides are the occurrence of rolling shutter distortion with fast-moving objects and the inability to use electronic flash. The hybrid shutter – which uses the sensor to make the exposure, but finishes it with the FP’s second set of blades – still helps reduce vibration, but also makes it possible to use flash. On the subject of flash, like the 50S, the 50R doesn’t have one builtin, but both a hotshoe and a PC terminal are provided for syncing external units. Flash sync is at shutter speeds up to 1/125 second.
The white balance control options comprise auto correction with seven presets, three custom settings, fine-tuning (amber-to-blue and/or green-to-magenta) and, as just noted, auto bracketing. Additionally, the colour temperature can be set manually over a range of 2500 to 10,000 degrees Kelvin.
In The hand
As is the case with the GFX 50S, the 50R is a big camera which handles very much like a much smaller one, only more so thanks to the RF-style body. The first surprise is the lightness… you’re simply primed visually to expect something a lot heavier. The test camera arrived with the GF 45mm f2.8 R WR prime lens which is equivalent to 36mm in 35mm format terms and not especially bulky, but the 50R was launched with a ‘pancake’ style 50mm f3.5 lens (equivalent to 40mm) that’s very much more compact, creating a package that is lighter than many full-35mm D-SLRs.
Although the handgrip is little more than a suggestion, the 50R is still very comfortable to hold, another benefit of the RF-type styling (and a reason why Leica’s digital Ms don’t have any grips at all). The big viewfinder is a delight to use and totally addictive. It’s adjustable for brightness, colour saturation and colour balance (as is the monitor screen).
The main dials – both milled from solid blocks of aluminium – mean exposure setting is done the ‘old school’ way, assisted by the provision of traditional aperture collars on the GF lenses. The auto control modes are engaged by selecting the ‘A’ settings and exposure compensation is simply dialled in without needing to fiddle with multiple controls. Bliss. As on the X mount cameras, the compensation dial is marked up to +/-3.0 EV, but has a ‘C’ setting which accesses the full range of +/-5.0 EV that’s selected using the front input wheel (when pre-assigned this function). Incidentally, the aperture collars on the GF lenses also have a ‘C’ position which enables apertures to be set from the camera body.
The customisation options cover seven buttons, the front and rear input wheels and the four ‘Touch Functions’ mentioned earlier. With the exception of the front input wheel, the assignable functions number more than 50 for the external controls and close to 40 for the touch gestures which can all look a little daunting initially, but isn’t too complicated once you’re familiar with the process. However, the joystick control is quite sensitive – as well as being quite small – so a deft touch is needed if you’re to avoid ending up somewhere you didn’t want to go. This is also true when navigating the menus, but you can use the command wheels with the rear’s push-in action accessing the submenus and then selecting settings.
A better option – if speed is of the essence – is the ‘Quick Menu’ which provides direct access to 15 default functions with the option of configuring an additional seven screens so a wide variety of camera set-ups are available at the push of a button.
Each QM screen is also customisable from a total bank of 27 functions and, better still, the function panes can be selected by touch, as can the subsequent settings… so the GFX 50R is also thoroughly contemporary in its controllability.
The EVF and monitor screen can be cycled through various display configurations and these include an ‘Info Display’ which contains 15 function indication tiles, the exposure mode and settings, a real-time histogram and the AF area mode. With manual focusing, there’s an additional ‘Dual Display’ which comprises the live view feed accompanied by a small additional panel which shows the manual focus assists separately. The ‘Standard Indicators’ screen can be extensively customised in terms of status icons and readouts plus there are the options of a level display (single- or dual-axis), a guide grid (either 3x3 or 6x4), a real-time histogram, highlight warning, focusing distance scale, exposure compensation scale and audio channel level meters. You can tick up to 30 items in all and even designate which ones will be displayed in a larger size (in either the EVF or the monitor... independently, too).
The image replay/review screens include an RGB/brightness histograms overlay, and thumbnails
AS WITH FUJIFILM’S ORIGINAL MEDIUM FORMAT RANGEFINDER FILM CAMERAS, YOU CAN CONTEMPLATE USING THE GFX 50R ANYTIME AND ANYWHERE.
accompanied by capture data, a highlight warning, a brightness histogram and, very usefully, the focus point(s) used. Pressing the rear command dial instantly zooms in on this point for checking the focus and you can then scroll around the image using the joystick control. Alternatively, conventional zoom playback is available at up to 16.7x and assisted by a navigational pane. There are pages of nine or 100 thumbnails and here frames can be selected for viewing simply by tapping on them. In fact, it’s in the replay mode that the touchscreen controls are most extensive – swipe for browsing, pinch-out to zoom, pinch-in to make the image smaller or select the thumbnail pages or drag to navigate a magnified image.
The in-camera editing functions include RAW conversion to either JPEG or 8-bit TIFF (with 17 adjustable parameters), redeye removal, cropping, resizing, Fujifilm’s ‘PhotoBook Assist’ feature and direct printing to an Instax instant print device via WiFi. As on the X-T3, the wireless connectivity is upgraded to include Bluetooth 4.2 low-energy which provides a convenient ‘always on’ connection for low bandwidth data transfers, and also allows for easier WiFi pairing when you want to send bigger files or use the Fujifilm Camera Control app for remote camera control.
Speed And performAnce
With our reference memory card – Lexar’s 128 GB SDXC UHS-II/ U3 (Speed Class 3) Professional – loaded, the GFX 50R (using the focal plane shutter) captured a burst of 63 JPEG/large/superfine files in 20.506 seconds, giving a shooting speed of 3.07 fps. This might not be too flash by full-35mm camera standards, but it’s pretty good for a medium format camera, especially as the average file size was in the order of 24.7 MB… and the 50R would have gone on shooting way past the 63 frames (we simply chose to stop the sequence here).
Autofocusing performance was never a strong point with rollfilm medium format cameras; something that carried on into the digital era as these bodies were simply adapted to accept capture backs. All this changed with the GFX 50S and Hasselblad’s X1D-50c – both purely digital designs – which introduced new levels of scene coverage, speed and accuracy. The 50R carries on the good work and its contrastdetection AF is both responsive and fast with near-full frame coverage enabling reliable tracking which is further assisted by the density of measuring points. Using fast lenses on a bigger sensor means that depth-of-field is inherently reduced and, consequently, there’s a need for more precise focusing, but the 50R doesn’t miss a thing and there’s plenty of scope for adjusting the focus area to fine-tune selectivity from a pinpoint to a quite large zone. With all this resolution on tap, it’s the little things that can compromise sharpness, especially camera shake, so it’s particularly important to watch the shutter speeds when shooting handheld… which is what the 50R is primarily designed for. Ultimately, though, if you’re shooting in low light conditions and you still want maximum depth-of-field and sharpness – without resorting to a higher sensitivity setting – then a tripod is going to be essential.
Of course, all this resolution also has many positives too, including exceptional clarity and definition with super-smooth tonal gradations. The colour reproduction with JPEG capture delivers pleasing saturation brightness with good fidelity across the spectrum.
ALL THIS RESOLUTION ALSO HAS MANY POSITIVES TOO, INCLUDING EXCEPTIONAL CLARITY AND DEFINITION WITH SUPER-SMOOTH TONAL GRADATIONS.
As we’ve noted many times before, Fujifilm’s vast experience with colour reproduction is put to good use in the ‘Film Simulation’ profiles which have been designed to balance colorimetric colour – or real colour – with expected or ‘memorised’ colour which actually isn’t as easy as it sounds.
The dynamic range of 14 stops means that there’s plenty of exposure latitude so you can expose for the brighter highlights and then recover the shadow detail – via post-camera processing – without creating excessive noise in these areas.
It also benefits the high ISO performance which is another area where the new-generation of medium format mirrorless cameras have moved the game along significantly. And, with the GFX 50R, no additional in-camera amplification is applied above ISO 1600, so there isn’t such a big loss of dynamic range at the higher and extended sensitivity settings, effectively giving even more scope to recover highlights.
As on the 50S, Fujifilm’s noise reduction algorithms work very effectively, without compromising detailing or definition, so everything holds together well up to ISO 6400 and even at ISO 12,800. As is to be expected, the 50R’s image quality at these higher ISOs is markedly superior to that of any full-35mm sensor. Additionally, a key advantage of a bigger sensor with an ultra-high resolution is the potential for cropping without compromising definition and detailing. Otherwise, think big prints: Very big prints.
The VeRdicT
OK, put simply, you’re going want one. The GFX 50S, for all its very likeable traits and enhanced accessibility for a medium format camera, still feels more orientated to the working photographer. While it’s essentially the same camera on the inside – which is A Very Good Thing – the 50R is very different on the outside; its size and shape making it much more approachable and manageable. This is exactly what Fujifilm wanted to achieve with its original medium format rangefinder film cameras and, as with them, you can contemplate using the GFX 50R anytime and anywhere. In this regard, it’s much closer in concept and wider usability to Hasseblad’s X1D-50c… but nearly $3000 cheaper (with less pricier lenses too)!
It’s obviously on pole position as the thinking photographer’s travel camera, but it will be equally suited to landscapes, street photography, people and portraiture, documentary work and even social events.
Never has so much performance been combined with such a high level of portability. Slung over the shoulder, it really doesn’t feel like you’re lugging around a medium format camera, and yet you still get to enjoy the sublime image quality.
It’s just got a whole lot harder to avoid considering digital medium format on the grounds of size and cost.