Best Lenses for the New GFX 100mm S Camera

[Michael Erlewine]

I have decided to sell some stuff and order a GFX 100 S medium format camera. I won't have a tone of money for lenses at first. If any of you can,here are my questions?

What is the best all around best-corrected, sharpest, and fast lens for the GFX?

What is the best adapter for mounting NIkon F-mount lenses to the GFX?

Is there an adapter to mount Nikon Z7 lenses to the GFX?

Any other things I need to know?

Thanks.

[Paul2660]

Sharpest and fastest GF lens would be the 110mm. The soon to ship 80mm 1.7 may be its equal.

Best lenses I have used are the 30mm and 250mm. Stellar. 63mm very nice also.

Best zooms I feel are the 32-64 and 45-100. 

I know that Nikon G lenses will adapt with limited positive result (at least from my testing).

Not sure if there is a direct z lens adapter but it would be a nice addition since the z lenses have a larger opening.

Congratulations on the 100s. Should be a great camera.


Paul C

[alan_b]

Is there an adapter to mount Nikon Z7 lenses to the GFX?

Z flange distance is only 16mm - not going to work.

It’d be great if someone would make a GFX lens -> Z body (shift) adapter though.

[kers]

Z flange distance is only 16mm - not going to work.

It’d be great if someone would make a GFX lens -> Z body (shift) adapter though.

+1 make it TS

[Ken Schuster]

While the GFX100S and lenses are being discussed, does anyone here know which of the Hasselblad V lens adapters is best? The price differences are extreme.

[Steve Hendrix]

I have no personal experience or affilitation with it, but one of my clients who shoots excellent work happily uses the Steelsring adapter for the Nikon 19mm. Not necessarily recommending this lens for your type of work, Michael, but the adapter might be worth looking into.

http://www.steelsring.com/en/home/


Steve Hendrix/CI

[BernardLanguillier]

Z flange distance is only 16mm - not going to work.

It’d be great if someone would make a GFX lens -> Z body (shift) adapter though.

In my experience Z glass is overall superior to GFX lenses and the image circle isn't larger enough to make it worthwhile for shift I am afraid.

Cheers,
Bernard

[faberryman]

So there is this guy who goes down to the car dealership and buys a Ferrari. On the way home he stops by the auto parts store to pick up six or eight carburetors for different cars and some adapters because when he gets home he wants to test them to see if any of them work better than the one from Ferrari. He doesn't really drive the car that much, but he sure spends a lot of time out in his garage. So far, the carburetor for the Chevy Chevette can generate 2 more RPM than the one from Ferrari, so he is ecstatic. Twelve months later the guy trades in his Ferrari for the new year's model, and begins testing again. The search for the Holy Grail of carburetors continues. So many carburetors, so little time.

[Michael Erlewine]

In my experience Z glass is overall superior to GFX lenses and the image circle isn't larger enough to make it worthwhile for shift I am afraid.

Cheers,
Bernard

I agree. The best Nikon glass is really good, IMO, except of much of the glass in the last decade or so until we reached these last few years. The GFX glass, by reading about it and talking to some users is OK, maybe good, but not at the level of what I am used to and have carefully collected. That, and the need for a wider image circle finds me staying with the Nikon gear I have (which I planned to keep anyway), and I’ll just wait for Nikon to catch up, which they eventually (probably) will.

[alan_b]

In my experience Z glass is overall superior to GFX lenses and the image circle isn't larger enough to make it worthwhile for shift I am afraid.

I'm sure you're right!  Two things though:
1. I find it convenient at times for my different systems to have some interchangeability.
2. There are still gaps and weaknesses in T/S lines from all mfgs, so even if not the best theoretical solution, it can be better than other options.

[KLaban]

Nuffin beats a good allegory.

[Ken Bennett]

The 45mm and the 110mm GFX lenses are both excellent, and reasonably fast aperture. The 250mm f/4 is amazing, but rather specialized, as is the 23mm f/4.

I end up mostly using the 23, 32-64, and the 100-200 for landscapes, and the 110 for portraits. The zooms are also very good.

Recommending one lens is challenging since we don't know what you shoot. For me, it would be the 110mm and I would shoot nothing but portraits. For you, it might be the 45 and you would shoot nothing but street and candid.

[Paul2660]

I feel comparing a Z lens to the GFX 100 and GF glass is a bit of a moot point. The Z lens is resolving to 42MP and the GF glass 100MP. 

To be honest I own both, and mostly find that the GF glass is more than equal to the Z zooms I have (I don't own primes). 

I have never had an issue with any GF lens not resolving to the 100MP sensor, and most times the Z system stays at home as I can't really carry both in the field.

I have the 19mm Nikkor Tilt lens, but I have assumed that I have a so so example as even on the D850 at 12mm of shift it's having issues with corner sharpness, and thus have never considered it on the GFX, due to this and the fact that you have to fix the aperture at a set point and have no adjustments.  I tried some of my G glass on the GFX 50s and found that I had considerable vignetting (I assumed due to the massive difference in flange openings), so did not do much testing.

Paul C

[BernardLanguillier]

I'm sure you're right!  Two things though:
1. I find it convenient at times for my different systems to have some interchangeability.
2. There are still gaps and weaknesses in T/S lines from all mfgs, so even if not the best theoretical solution, it can be better than other options.

Certainly. To answer your initial question, I have been using a Novoflex adapter to adapt F mount lenses on the GFX.

The only 2 lenses for which this has really been valuable are the 19mm T/S and the Zeiss Otus 100mm f1.4.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Eric Brody]

Michael, no personal experience, but our friend Lloyd Chambers waxes eloquent about the 50mm f/3.5. In fact he liked it so much when he was testing the GFX100 that he bought one, the 50, even though he had no GFX camera. https://diglloyd.com/blog/2021/20210131_1900-FujifilmGFX100S-single-lens-system.html

[BernardLanguillier]

Yes, the 50mm is outstanding, especially when considering its size. It will be a great match with the GFX100s I would think.

Cheers,
Bernard

[ben730]

Certainly. To answer your initial question, I have been using a Novoflex adapter to adapt F mount lenses on the GFX.

The only 2 lenses for which this has really been valuable are the 19mm T/S and the Zeiss Otus 100mm f1.4.

Cheers,
Bernard

I had strong vignetting with the 19 mm and the Novoflex when shifting down.
It's caused by the electronic contact block inside the PC 19.
I can't recommend the Novoflex adapter with the 19 PC-E.

The Hcam DRS shift adapter solves this problem.
The lens is sharp and gives more than 10 mm of shift up or down.
But I find 19 mm on a 44 x 33 sensor very wide and when shifted the things in the corners can look really odd.
I think it should be used more as an "effect" combination or without "things" in the corners...
Regards,
Ben

[ben730]

I was very pleased by the announcement of the GF 80 mm 1.7, but then I saw strong CA in a preproduction sample gallery:

https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/5476724199/fujifilm-gf-80mm-f1-7-r-wr-pre-production-sample-gallery/2993027691

[kers]

with the fuji 30mm lens i saw this kind of flare ... it that the bouncing effect of light on sensor to lens?

https://www.dpreview.com/files/p/articles/6977297246/DSCF9895.acr.jpeg

[Ken Schuster]

I was very pleased by the announcement of the GF 80 mm 1.7, but then I saw strong CA in a preproduction sample gallery:

https://www.dpreview.com/sample-galleries/5476724199/fujifilm-gf-80mm-f1-7-r-wr-pre-production-sample-gallery/2993027691

Do you mean this, Ben, or do you see other areas as well? https://ln2.sync.com/dl/aabbf13c0/ss6juna8-4iqwkcui-zhhpubz5-jabrgdew

(I tried to include the image here, but was unable to get "Attach:" to work.)