Street Photography review with the NEW Fujifilm GFX 100 RF
Since a week, for now, I am testing the Fujifilm GFX 100 RF camera. It´s a medium format camera with a max. resolution of 102 megapixel. Typically, those cameras are meant for the use in studios to shoot high resolution fashion images of models. This camera has the style of a viewfinder camera like the X-PRO3 or the little sister X-100 VI, just reduced to an electronic view finder.
This is my preferred style of camera after I used for 40+ years SLR or DSLR cameras. Why I prefer view finder style cameras is related to my love for street photography. To be successful in taking pictures of people on the street, they must feel comfortable and not badgered. A photographer with a DSLR style camera is seen a paparazzi, user of a view finder camera as an artist.
It is no surprise that I take the Fujifilm GFX 100 RF to a street food event, where people enjoy food and drinks from all over the world. In this environment it is great to shoot laughing, dancing and relaxing young and old. If in one of my pictures a person is in a central role, I ask or at least make eye contact to confirm it is for that person ok, to be photographed.
Let us get to “The Star” of this review, the Fujifilm GFX 100 RF. If I want to bring it to one simple conclusion: “It is fun to shoot with the GFX 100 RF.”
The camera is perfectly balanced, has just the right weight to shoot even at slower shutter speeds out of the hand, as IBIS is not integrated into this camera. To answer immediately the question: “Did I miss IBIS?” NO! To verify this statement to be right, I will soon have a night shooting at the same location, as the “Landschaftspark Duisburg” is during weekends colorfull illuminated.
The field of view of the fixes Fujinon 35mm (28mm FF) f4 lens is perfect for Landscape and street photography. The lens is well corrected and even people are not that much distorted as I have experienced with many other 28mm full frame lenses. The performance of this lens I will describe in detail in my big review report I will issue soon. There I took the Camera/lens on my test chart and have been shooting at all possible aperture values to identify the week points and sweet spots.
The GFX 100 RF is providing me with the same “coming home” feeling as my Fujifilm X-XPRO 3. If I would not love to test many prime lenses from different OEM, the Fujifilm GFX 100 RF would be the only camera I would need in my photo bag.
Verdict
The medium format camera Fujifilm GFX 100 RF is the perfect camera for street photography. You can use the 102 Mega Pixels ,the Bayer sensor offers, to reproduce huge prints for into art galleries, you can crop to many different formats, or you crop with still outstanding resolution as a virtual zoom lens providing still the original image ratio. (Please see the examples I have published above here.)
If you ask me what a weak point of this camera in my pov is, it is the limited opening of f4 of the 35mm lens. With f2.8 or even better f2 it would be possible to isolate people with a wonderful background bokeh. With the f4 aperture you need to get people very close to have an unsharp background.
Please have a close look to the pictures I have made and judge the quality yourself. You are more than welcome to leave your opinion in the comments I am a fan of transparent exchange, and I am learning new things every day.