I Think the Fujifilm GFX 100RF is Everything I’ve Wanted

Back in 2014, the Phoblographer reported on one of Fujifilm’s medium format film cameras possibly getting a digital update of some sort. “On paper the camera almost sounds like a bigger brother to the retro cult-favorite X100 and X100s,” we wrote. And 10 years later, we pined about a digital Texas Leica camera. And now, it’s finally being announced. The Fujifilm GFX 100RF is pretty much everything photographers have wanted in so many different ways. Note: I’m saying photographers, not content creators. Truly, everything about the meeting that Fujifilm had with the press seemed like this was for photographers. And that gets us very excited and very happy.

Fujifilm GFX 100RF Tech Specs

• Made in Japan (no issues with possible tariffs)
• It’s more or less the Fujifilm X100Vi but designed for photographers and much more serious
• Solid block of aluminum as the top plate
• Available in black and silver
• 5.76m dot OEVF 
• 20 film sims (no new ones)
• I6 bit raw
• 102MP CMOS II
• Leaf shutter with up to 1/4000th mechanical shutter and 1/16,000th electronic shutter
• Lens hood, filter adapter ring, two lens caps
• 49mm protective filter, this makes it weather sealed
• Should strap
• Lens hood cap included
• 735 grams with SD and battery
• Smallest and lightest, lighter than the XT5 with a 16-50mm lens
• About the same size with an X pro 3 with a 23mm lens attached 
• 35mm f4 lens with 9 aperture blades
• Scene detection
• Electronic EVF, no optical option
• 35mmm, 45mm, 63mm, and 80mm digital teleconverter
• Aspect Ratio dial, and vertical crops are also now a thing
• Priced at $4,899
• Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW already support it
• Dual Card Slots
• 6 fps for 40 RAW images
• Skin smoothing in-camera
• Image stabilization is only in video. I personally love this, it means you’re going to have to rely on your own shooting techniques to make the scene camera-shake free even though there’s a leaf shutter. This really does make it for photographers.

Why This is Awesome for Photographers

While Fujifilm spoke to the press about video modes, there wasn’t really a whole lot of time spent talking about them. Instead, they spent more time talking about body of the camera — which tells us that this is really about a tactile experience. Photographers have been yearning for this for a long time. Cameras these days are soulless pieces that rob us of the other sensory pleasures that retro and vintage cameras had. But you always love the sound of a leaf shutter, the turn of dials, and the cold feeling of metal on your hands.

In a separate part of my mind, I dreamed that Fujifilm told us that when you switch out the film simulations, that you’d also get a bit of the scent of fixer in the dark room. However, you only get this with the black version — but it’s black like the darkroom. When the image is developing, the infrared assist light turns into a red light to simulate the developing process. Of course, this was just a dream, but a guy with a stuffy nose in a meeting can dream — right?

Most importantly though, this is innovative. This is the first digital medium format fixed lens camera that we’ve gotten. There is truly nothing else like this on the market right now and for most of us, there’s almost no reason to get anything else. I could see myself doing so much of my work shoots with this camera. Of course, I’d have to buy some 49mm Glimmerglass and Pro Mist filters, but otherwise, I’d be very happy. Give me this, my Profoto B10, and a camera bag, and I’m all set. Truly, I don’t need very much more at all. Most of my work, including my paid work, could probably be done with this little camera.

I Said it Before: APS-C Isn’t for Photography Anymore

Something about the way that Fujifilm spoke about this camera really and truly reassured me. Without directly saying it, it seemed as if they were positing APS-C for content creation and medium format for more serious work. That more serious work could mean video production, but most of it would be for stills. Medium format from Fujifilm, to be in line with everything that I’ve said before, is really for serious photography and serious photographers.

And at the same time, I can celebrate this for the photography community. But I still think that Fujifilm has more work to do. They need to incorporate content credentials into their cameras, make the even better at focusing on people of color in low light, and keep giving photographers features that would help them become better at making images in-camera rather than with post-production. The multiple exposure mode giving us RAW files instead of JPEGs, I think, is a great way to start.

I could see a lot of photographers using this camera and complaining about image stabilization. With that said, I wonder if Fujifilm could do what Apple does with the iPhone — takes a bunch of images and composites them in-camera to be a single photo instead. This would make image stabilization issues a thing of the past to a certain degree. But also, the processor that’s in these cameras is far more powerful than what’s in an iPhone.