Initial thoughts on the GFX50S –
I wanted to start a thread on user experience with the GFX50S now that they are starting to ship. Since I’m heading to Japan in 2 days for a couple of weeks I don’t have time to process images. So, this is likely not much help to people but it’s a start.
First some perspective that may be helpful. I currently shoot with the XF100 and the Nikon 810 as my backup camera. I shoot primarily seascapes and landscapes. I have never owned a Fuji camera so no experience with their menu system. My reason for buying the GFX50S is to use it as my primary camera when weight is an issue or if I’m limited to one camera and need a smaller pack. I realize that much of my comparison is based on my experience with my Phase One which has an exceptional user interface that’s very intuitive.
Yesterday I received my shipment that included 3 lenses – the 63/2.8, the 32-64/4 and the 120/4. I also received the EVF tilting adapter.
These are my initial random observations based on only trying to make sure everything worked properly before I left for my trip.
- Everything worked right out of the box which is always helpful
- The weight was what I expected and certainly meets my expectations.
- Setup of the menu was fairly straight forward and on only took a few minutes. Raw was available but why large JPEG and sRGB is the default setting makes no sense to me. Does Fuji really believe that people who buy these cameras don’t shoot raw! I thought there were a few things in the operation that weren’t intuitive but a Fuji user should have no problem.
- Only 1 battery is included which seems ridiculous to me. Additional batteries are not available yet which makes the camera pretty useless for me at this time.
- The quality of the camera seemed adequate but didn’t impress me. It’s not an attractive design but certainly has a utilitarian feel/look to it. In my hand, I thought the balance was only OK. I know this is very personal but when I hold a camera with one hand at my side I like the hold to feel secure. Not so here.
- The lenses quality matched the body quality. Auto focus seemed very responsive and quiet and it’s very easy to change focus points. The lens shades are a bit flimsy in my mind.
- The EVF was very responsive and provided adequate resolution. I don’t have a lot of experience with EVFs so it’s hard for me to compare. It works for me.
- The rear display is nice and do like the ability to tilt it. The resolution is excellent and it’s easy to evaluate the sharpness of images. Very simple to zoom to 100% and then move the image around to evaluate sharpness.
- For what it’s worth, the JPEGs on the display seem to very accurately render the colors of the image.
- Perhaps I haven’t figured it out yet but I believe I need a cable release for long exposures. Aperture priority is limited to 30 seconds so I need to use bulb for longer exposures. I don’t understand why camera manufactures don’t allow you to increase shutter time to 60 minutes in the manual mode. My XF100 allows you to do that.
Bottom line. Good first impression, and assuming the images quality is there, I believe this will be a very strong competitor in the market. It should represent good value on a relative basis. Hopefully, this will start a thread of real world experiences.
