The Fujifilm Cameras That Brought Me Back: Psst… It’s Really About The Sensors.
Subtitle: Brace yourself for a mess of nonsense attempting to support a subjective decision with objective justifications.
A sensor can change everything.
As stated in this space many times before, I like Fujifilm cameras. Film and digital.
On the film side quite a few medium format cameras passed my way…
…and the one that remains…
…displaced a legend.
On the digital side, I have been through a mess of Fujifilm cameras.
But none of them stuck. After I had my fun, there were some personal preference truths I had to deal with.
- AF was not up to par.
- Not awful. But in between my Fujifilm fits, I used other brands that had more consistent AF performance.
- The pull of full frame.
- Sony offered similar price points combined with a full frame sensor. Do not come at me Fujifilm adherents. The is personal preference.
- JPEG only was not really my thing.
- Film simulations are a pull for many. But I shoot RAW, so this did nothing to hold my interest.
- Nothing exceptional on the sensor front.
- Nothing bad. But nothing gee whiz either. Other brands were trucking out full frame high MP beasts, and it was thought (At least by me.) that Fujifilm had hit the proverbial APS-C resolution wall. But that was not the case.
See. Nothing bad. No Fujifilm bashing here. More of a close, but no cigar scenario.
I thought the GFX line would change things. But… that did not go to plan. Why? I am glad I imagined that you asked.
50MP.
- Yeah. Not that big of a deal anymore. Quite a few full frame cameras come near and surpass this number. Even older digital medium format cameras come close.
Contrast only AF.
- Nope. This is a big no from me.
For the record, on two separate occasions… twice… I marched myself into my local camera shop, determined to trade my high MP full frame camera and fast prime for a GFX50S II and 80mm f/1.7. This was when Fujifilm put it on sale at a price where I could almost even trade for it. But then… the AF. Oof. No bueno. And both times I left the shop with the same camera I came in with.
And I thought that was it. Subpar AF is the trade-off one has to pay for digital medium format, amiright?…
Plus the 100MP bodies are out of my price range, right?
Turns out, no. I am not right. My path to this realization came by way of the release of a camera. This theme will be repeated later.
Started with a “So…” post to talk myself out of this.
This backfired spectacularly, and I put in an order for one at my local shop, and I told Hamish about it.
And thankfully, he talked some sense into me, and I pivoted to a much better fit for me. And as luck would have it my local camera shop had the camera I decided was right for me. A used first gen GFX100S. To make things better, they also had a used GF 50mm f/3.5.
And that is when I immediately noticed something. What is up with this AF? It is very good. Yes, I know it has Phase detect AF. But it is in the same realm as better full frame cameras. I was not expecting that. So…
- Price.
- GFX100S used price rivals full frame cameras new and used with less MP.
- More MP.
- More than anything else on the market.
- The only match is a much more expensive camera from another brand that has this same sensor.
- IBIS.
Needle moved. What once seemed very far-fetched,…
…now almost made sense. Almost. As much as a medium format digital camera can make sense. Not only for fun. With various lenses, native mount, and adapted.
But it has also paid dividends for actual photo sessions from day one.
So. A Fujifilm sensor changed everything for a mount. Well. It happened again. This time APS-C.
As outlined above, I had many Fujifilm APS-C cameras that eventually did not do it for me. So I say once again, I had thought subpar AF was the trade-off one has to pay for Fujifilm aesthetics, ergonomics, handling, and film simulations, amiright?…
Turns out, no. I am not right. My path to this realization came by way of the release of a camera. See. It happened again. The camera this time.
Pretty straightforward what happened here. Even if it was something I did not expect. Largely because I completely missed the memo on this new 40MP sensor, as I had stopped paying attention to Fujifilm releases. But what Fujifilm managed was to combine all of the Fujifilm fan favorite features with a no-excuses sensor. What is so special about it?
It is a bit of a revelation.
- 40MP.
- Many more MP than I ever expected from an APS-C sensor.
- Apparently, I am not alone in my thinking, according to this article.
- IBIS.
- Stellar IQ.
- Not a new thing. Fujifilm is known for great IQ. But combined with the significant bump in resolution this is impressive.
- So much so that it has stood toe to toe with much larger and higher MP sensors.
The first two things above I knew about. The last was roundly confirmed by personal experience immediately after acquiring the X100VI.
What I expected.
A camera that would be the serviceable daily carry camera. A role I had tried to force the A7C II into.
What I got.
A camera that replaced the A7C II in every role but as a backup to my main camera for “real” photo sessions.
Closing thoughts.
To sum up.
Two sensors completely changed my opinion regarding Fujifilm cameras. APS-C and medium format. For the better.
It is that simple.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 