Fujifilm Face Off Series. Part 4: Fashion and Function. A Friendly Comparison Between The GFX100RF & GFX100S.

Subtitle: This is all nonsense done for fun.

Recently wrote about a four Fujifilm camera back to back photo test at Duke Gardens.

(Four) Fujifilm Face Off Series. Part 2: Fan Favorite, Function, Film, and Fashion At Duke Gardens.

I wrote a high level summary of all four cameras in that post. Here I wanted to spend a little time comparing the GFX100RF to the other three Fujfilm cameras.

This is not a this is a better than that post. More like what they have in common and what is unique about both.

This post is about the medium format digital camera that won out over all others

Week 1 WIth The GFX System: What I Have Learned So Far.

What do they have in common?

This part is easy. Almost too easy.

Same sensor.
- Wonderful IQ.
With the GF 50mm f/3.5 they share a similar lens spec.
Similar AF performance.
- Very good. Far better than I would have ever expected for medium format cameras.
- I believe the newer GFX100RF has a few tricks over the first gen GFX100S, but this was not noticeable when used back to back.
Accurate exposure.
Easy control scheme.

Differences.

The beauty (GFX100RF) and the beast.(GFX100S).
- While not ugly, the GFX100S does not stand a chance in the aesthetics Olympics sat next to the GFX100RF.

The GFX100RF has a leaf shutter, which allows for flash sync up to 1/4000s.
Price. The GFX100S has been out for a while, so one can get one used with a used GF 50mm F/3.5 for less than the GFX100RF.
The GFX100S has IBIS.
The obvious one. The GFX100S lets you change lenses.
- This was the biggest factor for me. I was actually about to order a GFX100RF when a friend dropped a truth bomb on me. See post below for more on that. I would not be able to affix fast glass to the front.

Before You Click Buy On The New & Shiny Thing…: GFX100, RF & S.

Thoughts.

It ultimately comes down to this for me.

I am really drawn to the looks and build quality of the GFX100RF, but any image I can produce with it could also be made with the GFX100S.

To be clear. The GFX100RF makes perfect sense to me. After using it for a few days, I found it to be much more flexible than I had initially given it credit for, just by looking at the spec sheet. Let’s take a look at what I thought were the cons before I used it.

No IBIS.

In the real world, this was not an issue. In low light situations,…

…candid moments,…

or used on the fly…

…it did just fine.

Much credit can be given to the clean ISO files even at high ISO levels. On top of that Lightroom AI Denoise can be deployed as well. So, out in the real world, there was no issue.

f/4 aperture.

See above regarding light gathering.

As far as subject isolation goes, one cannot forget that this has a medium format sensor. So, subject isolation, while not as dramatic as a very fast lens, is still a thing.

But… Adapt a fast lens to the front, and the GFX100S makes a strong case for itself.

GFX - Nokton 40mm f/1.2 — Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2.

GFX - Low Rider Show — Voigtlander Ultron 28mm f/2.

Wide lens.

No zoom is available, but with 100MP on tap, you can crop to your heart’s content later on. Here is an extreme example below.

No, that is not a photo I would deliver or even show except for this example. But it does let me know that I could crop the mess out of a photo and still retain plenty of detail.

As I said earlier, I will not be choosing a “winner”. Just having fun and sharing some thoughts.

I would happily use either. Any preference would be based on mood and situation. Money tree in my possesion I would have both, but back here in the real world, the GFX100S was the right choice for me. Have already used it out in the wild and it has performed flawlessly.