Key Question Answered With One Pic: Dedicated Lens Or Interchangeable Lens GFX.

Subtitle: Hamish Was Right.

To save space here I point you to a previous long winded post that opened the topic being discussed.

So… The Fujifilm GFX100RF: Great… But Is It The Right GFX Camera For Me?

After managing (No surprises here.) to talk myself into yet another gear pivot, this time to GFX, I was hit with a truth bomb regarding my original target, the newly announced GFX100RF.

<Cut and paste.> Then I reached out to my local camera shop to be put on the GFX100RF waiting list and emailed a friend in camera nerdery. Hamish Gill of 35mmc blog and Omnar lens fame. And all I can say is thank goodness for honest opinions. What did I expect?

Hey! That is great!

What did Hamish say?

“I dunno man, I’m not convinced for myself… I think if I was going to go MF digital, I’d want to be able to mount random lenses to it.”

The record scratch I heard in my head at this moment seemed so loud that I thought others could have heard it in my vicinity. I then recovered and prattled on about a fixed lens saving me from falling prey to another mount to feed, blah, blah or some such nonsense. But the more I thought about it I realized that Hamish was right.

I was not bothered by the lens that came on the GFX100RF. I realized I would likely lament not being able to affix any other lens to it later on. <End cut and paste.>

Two weeks on operating under that assumption and I can safely change that to I would definitely lament not being able to affix any other lens.

Yes, this was confirmed early on after immediately adapting glass I already had. But another lens…

Sledgehammer To Drive In A Thumbtack Files: GFX + TTArtisan 90mm f/1.25 + People Pics.

Cesar Invited Me To A Low Rider Show – Part 4: GFX + TTArtisan 90mm f/1.25.

…and a particular lighting situation put a finer point on it. This pic.

While I had taken plenty pics before where subject isolation was the draw, here a few other things became apparent:

ISO low light performance reigned supreme.
- It was taken at an inside venue during the car show. While the f/3.5 native lens I have would have likely done alright with the ISO pushed up it was great to get this pic at a relatively low ISO 500.
Spoiled by the light.
- Now having known first hand the wonder that is a very fast lens on a larger than usual sensor there is no going back.
No AF, no problem.
- Taken while milling about I was able to nail focus here. With so many MP and such a thin depth of field from this 90mm f/1.25 lens I really should have taken more care with each shot. Checked focus afterward maybe. Perhaps take a safety pic or two. But I just plowed on and save only a couple of slightly out of focus pics, that I still like, I paid no real penalty for my hubris. Nice. Kudos to the FUJIFILM focus aids provided.

And this was not a fluke focus hit. Pic after pic came out just fine.

Then I went outside into the light and things only got better.

Sidenote and massive caveat: This pic was taken using e-shutter. Required to get a properly exposed pic with such a fast lens outside with a top mechanical shutter speed of 1/4000s. As a warning even though you are operating at high shutter speeds I recommend you practice low light steady camera hold techniques or funhouse mirror pics will be the result. I reckon because this is a lot of sensor real estate to gather all at once. I did not miss focus this day, but a few were lost to my lack of care in standing still. Not a demerit, but it needs to be taken into consideration. The pic above escaped unscathed.

And then to know that I can turn around and slap on a fine GF native AF lens like the wonderful little 50mm f/3.5 (Purposefully chosen for its affordability as well as its similar but slightly longer and faster spec compared to RF’s 35mm f/4 lens.) I picked up and have full access to AF for quick, on the fly pics like this one?