Fujifilm reps were at Samy's Cameras in San Francisco on Wednesday, so I had a chance to play and "shoot" with the much-anticipated medium format (MF) Fujifilm GFX 50S.
As the camera was a pre-production model, we were not allowed shoot any images on our own cards, but regardless, I came away with some useful, at least for me, first impressions.
In the hand, it is about the size of a Nikon D810 or Canon 5D-series. As you may have read, it is surprisingly light, but it is also very well made and robust-feeling; the fit and finish are excellent. The front grip and thumb rest are comfortable and nicely textured, and provide excellent purchase for a secure grip, and if you're an Fuji X-camera user, the now-classic X-camera knobs and dials will immediately feel right at home. I found the AF to be surprisingly fast, at least as fast as a Fujifllm X-T1. There is a short viewfinder blackout after taking a single frame, but in the applications and scenarios in which this camera would be used, the blackout time poses virtually no practical issue. The EVF and LCD are gorgeous, and the shutter actuation and “feel” is to die for. It is also very well damped, you can tell that shutter shock is not going to be an issue with this camera.
Given the size of the lenses, they are suprisingly light, bright, and exude a very high level execution and fit and finish. The autofocus performance is fast and quiet with no discernable aperture blade chatter. The lenses give the impression of being extremely well-made.
After holding, using, and shooting with the camera, it's clear it’s primarily intended for seriously "hard-core" advertising, portrait, editorial, commercial, automotive, and fashion medium format photography of the highest professional standard, as well as expert enthusiast outdoor, travel, or landscape photographers who understand what working with a MF camera entails, and know how to get the camera to deliver it.
Full article at my blog here:
First Impressions of the Fujifilm GFX 50SCheers,
Stephen