Scenes Seen: Bootleg GFX100RF… mostly.
The motivation.
The usual. Photography as a distraction. Much needed nowadays.
The setting.
A meeting at the office followed by rehearsal night captures.
The rig.
Fujifilm gear. Earlier in the day, a small camera that lives up to the hype.
Small, capable, and unobtrusive was the spec list for the morning. But for the afternoon, I pivoted to the aforementioned bootleg GFX100RF.
Why not the real deal? I am glad I imagined that you asked. Welp. While a fantastic camera and a beauty to boot…
1. The X100VI makes more sense for me as a fixed prime Fujifilm camera.
2. An interchangeable lens GFX makes more sense for me as a medium format camera,
Especially with a rangefinder-ish GFX50R at the back…
…and a similarly spec’d GF 50mm f/3.5 lens out front.
As svelte?…
Heck no.
As good looking?…
Certainly not. Very few cameras are.
But, back here in my reality, that is where the winning ends.
Looks.
Judged in isolation, the 50R/50mm combination is no aesthetic slouch either.
Price.
While not cheap by any stretch, the 50R/GF 50mm f/3.5 combined can be had for much less.
“Practicality”
In quotes because both of these cameras are kind of ridiculous overkill, sledgehammer to drive in a thumbtack solutions. I do not “need” a medium format camera. Few do. Something I write about often in this space. But if you are similarly afflicted as I, these are both compelling entries that seem almost… ALMOST… reasonable when compared to their similarly sensored Hasselblad medium format rivals.
Further on the practicality front while 100MP is great for special occasions, for me 50MP suits me better on a daily carry camera solution. Your mileage may vary.
Lens
While close in spec, 50mm works better for me as a daily carry lens and that extra bit of light that f/3.5 provides over f/4 is appreciated.
In many ways they are similar. In some good ways and also in what they lack.
- Both have the offset viewfinder rangefinderish body style.
Both have big honking sensors behind fantastic lenses that churn out amazing images with ease.
100RF
50R/50mm f/3.5
Both have plenty of resolution to spare for fun crop ratios like 21:9 bootleg X-Pan.
Both lack IBIS.
Not missed on either, honestly.
In the interest of full disclosure above size and aesthetics, the 100RF does have two advantages over the 50R/50mm f/3.5.
- Phase detect AF… But I have yet to struggle with AF if I am honest. While noticeably a bit sluggish with faster glass the 50R does fine with the 50mm f/3.5.
- The 100Rf has a leaf shutter, which allows flash sync up to the top mechanical shutter speed… but flash would not be a top priority for either, and it has done just fine with HSS on the 50R on the rare occasion when I do use it.
…oof that was a heck of a jag. Where was I? Right! Scenes seen and such.
The trip to the office.
Headed to rehearsal.
Thoughts.
So… mimics a rangefinder experience… close enough to an RF for my purposes.
This years old camera sits at the crossroads of every one of my individual image capturing favorites.
Happy capturing.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 