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by E.J. Peiker on Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:48 am
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At Photokina, Fuji finally announced the worst kept secret in the industry, Fuji's entry into the medium format digital camera arena previously occupied only by Phase One, Hasselblad and Pentax.  The Fuji GFX 50S utilizes the same Sony 50 megapixel 44x33mm cropped medium format sensor announced by Hasselblad in the X1D  and the Pentax 645z but it's microlens design has been customized for Fuji.  Both Phase One and Hasselblad also offer this sensor as their low end offering in their modular full feature medium format systems.  Fuji has developed a new electronic mount called the G-mount for this camera.  The body looks very much like a larger version of the X-T2 which is a very good thing.  It offers many aspect ratios and crop modes from square to 4:3 and several in-between in a mirrorless design with a flange distance of only 26mm.  It also has a focal plane shutter which makes it possible to adapt other medium format lenses.  The viewfinder is interchangeable and a fully rotating viewfinder is available.  Fuji plans to ship the GFX in early 2017.
 
In addition to the camera, Fuji announced three G-mount lenses designed for resolutions beyond 100 megapixels in the 44x33 format.  The lenses are a 63mm f/2.8 (52mm horizontal field of view full frame equiv), 32-64mm f/4 (26-52mm), 120mm f/4 macro (100mm) with a commitment to later introduce a 45mm f/2.8 (37mm), 23mm f/4 (19mm), and 110mm f/2 (91mm).
 

by Mike in O on Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:13 pm
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That camera is tiny compared to the Pentax...mirrorless is certainly the way to go for ergonomics.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:28 pm
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It's not a DSLR, the Pentax is. I haven't seen a comparison to the X1D but it does appear to be quite a bit more full featured.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:43 pm
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http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digita ... 1454724518
 

by Royce Howland on Mon Sep 19, 2016 5:10 pm
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A poorly kept secret, indeed, but very interesting to see it finally out in the open, officially. The larger-than-35mm space is heating up. Good times... :)
Royce Howland
 

by E.J. Peiker on Wed Sep 21, 2016 7:46 pm
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The most comprehensive summary I've seen so far:
https://fuji-x-secrets.net/2016/09/21/i ... m-gfx-50s/
 

by Mike in O on Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:00 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:The most comprehensive summary I've seen so far:
https://fuji-x-secrets.net/2016/09/21/i ... m-gfx-50s/

I wonder if there will be a problem with no AA filter, the pixels are awfully large for surface area which can lead to morie.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:05 pm
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Mike in O wrote:
E.J. Peiker wrote:The most comprehensive summary I've seen so far:
https://fuji-x-secrets.net/2016/09/21/i ... m-gfx-50s/

I wonder if there will be a problem with no AA filter, the pixels are awfully large for surface area which can lead to morie.
There's no AA filter on the Phase One IQ3-50 or the Hasselblad H5D-50 and H6D-50 and those are all workhorses in the fashion industry...  Moire is generally a bigger issue with video anyway.  I realize you can do video with the new Fuji but it's only 1080P so it is heavily downsampled somewhere in the pipeline which should make it go away.
 

by Royce Howland on Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:52 pm
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I expect no problems with the sensor, since the basic underlying Sony part (and others of similar pixel pitch also lacking AA filters) have been heavily used on many different medium format camera models for years with no particular issues. Out of the tens of thousands of frames I've put through my Pentaxes over the past 5 - 6 years, I think I've seen moire pop up in a noticeable way maybe twice.
Royce Howland
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sat Feb 25, 2017 12:33 pm
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Good news on some early testing!!!  

Most of the high end full frame 35mm format lenses, specifically those designed for a larger image circle to get exceptional image quality and all tilt shift lenses, do not vignette or even show dramatic falloff in the corners in sharpness and vignetting.  This includes the Otus series, some of the Sigma Art lenses, all of the Nikon and Canon Tilt/Shift lenses, etc.  this is very good news because wide lenses are typically not supported for medium format.  In most systems, there is nothing wider than a lens that gives you about 18mm equivalent angle of view (in 35mm camera full frame terms).  This means you can use a lens like a Canon 17 TSE or the new Nikon 19mm with an adapter and get equivalent focal lengths in the 14-15mm range which is huge for medium format landscapers.  In the past you had to go to something like a Rodenstock 23mm mounted with a technical camera like a Cambo or Arca Swiss with a full frame 645 digital back to get a field of view that wide.  A lens like the Otus 28mm would give you 22mm equivalence.  At launch Fuji will only have a lens that goes to about 25mm equivalent focal length!

It was very good of Fuji to provide such a short flange distance which allows us to adapt DSLR lenses that have a large enough image circle to fill in focal lengths that might otherwise not be available for the 44x33 50 megapixel sensor and the coming larger megapixel sensors in the 44x33 form factor.  If you are going to go this route, lenses with an aperture ring will work better as you don't need an electronically coupled adapter.  For example, if you are going to use an Otus lens, you are better off using the Nikon mount lenses since they have an aperture ring while the Canon ones don't.  If fully electronically coupled adapters ever come out then this also becomes moot but the ones announced so far are all mechanically coupled only.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Feb 26, 2017 11:33 am
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Fuji giveth and Fuji taketh away.  Sometimes I just don't understand these camera companies.  The Fuji GFX is a well thought out and excellent camera in almost every regard and it clearly has taken some real photographer's input in it's control layout but the touch screen implementation is dead stupid.  If you hit the menu button, the touch screen doesn't work, but if you hit the user defined quick menu button it does work...  Now that's just a brain dead implementation of touch screen.

And as of this writing, there is still no RAW support of any kind other than a proprietary stripped version of a Fuji supplied highly limited SilkyPix and this camera ships worldwide in 36 hours...

On the other hand, the optional vertical grip is by far the best implemented vertical grip I have ever seen bar none!  Canikony could learn a lot from this.

Overall though, I would dub this as the closest thing to "everyman's" medium format(ish) camera.  If Capture One ever does provide support, I would consider this as a backup to my Phase One system.
 

by DChan on Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:35 pm
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So, E.J., what did your source(s) say about the image quality??
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:57 pm
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I am my source :D  I spent several hours with one yesterday.  IQ is first rate which shouldn't be a surprise as it's the same sensor as the Pentax 645Z, the Phase IQ150/250/350, the Hasselblad X6D-50, and the Hasselblad X1D.  The lenses (I handled the 63mm and the 32-64mm) give first rate results but the 63mm was really slow to focus, much slower than the zoom.  The touchscreen inconsistencies are annoying, hopefully they can fix that in firmware.  A 5 year old Panasonic micro 4/3 touchscreen behaves more predictably than this.  I do love EVF's and this one is very very good (in good light) and am hoping that at some point Phase brings out a snap on EVF.  AF is about the same as my Phase which is lightyears behind something like an a7R Mk II for speed and flexibility and isn't even in the same galaxy as a D500.  It's similar to my original a7R in performance.  I haven't handled an X1D yet to compare it.  Manual focus due to EVF magnification is so much easier with a GFX then it is with a XF.  Weight is surprisingly light and lighter than your brain expects given the size.  It feels a bit lighter than a D810 or EOS 5D Mk IV and with the zoom attached in the same general league as a D810 plus 24-70 f/2.8E or 5D4 plus EF24-70 Mk II.  If you want to use it like a point and shoot, take off the EVF and use the rear LCD only and that drops the weight a bit.  Like I said, the vertical grip is great because they repositioned the shutter button about 1/3 of the way down so your hand is in exactly the same place relative to the lens whether you shoot vertical or horizontal.  It does make the camera MUCH bigger though so I'd likely not get that and use an L-bracket.  I'm used to just getting 300-400 shots with a single battery so I'm not too worried about that.  If somebody comes out with a credible electronically coupled P1-M mount to G mount adapter, I would get a GFX body to serve as a backup to my XF body/back since currently my backup is an a7R Mk II which forces me to carry a separate lens set.  Let me know if you have other questions.
 

by DChan on Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:09 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:I am my source :D [snip]

I knew it   :twisted:   No way you could have known that about the touch screen without touching it :wink: 

Was that a pre-production model you were playing with?
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:03 pm
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DChan wrote:
E.J. Peiker wrote:I am my source :D [snip]

I knew it   :twisted:   No way you could have known that about the touch screen without touching it :wink: 

Was that a pre-production model you were playing with?
Supposedly the FW that it ships within 24 hours but one never knows for sure :)  BTW, the Nikon D500 touch screen has similar cognitive dissidence.   With the GFX, you can focus by touching the screen on a spot and it focuses on that but you can't make a menu selection from the general menus but if you call up the quick menu you can - cognitive dissidence. 
 

by DChan on Mon Feb 27, 2017 1:50 am
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E.J. Peiker wrote:
DChan wrote:
E.J. Peiker wrote:I am my source :D [snip]

I knew it   :twisted:   No way you could have known that about the touch screen without touching it :wink: 

Was that a pre-production model you were playing with?
Supposedly the FW that it ships within 24 hours but one never knows for sure :)  BTW, the Nikon D500 touch screen has similar cognitive dissidence.   With the GFX, you can focus by touching the screen on a spot and it focuses on that but you can't make a menu selection from the general menus but if you call up the quick menu you can - cognitive dissidence. 
May be I should spend some time with the D500 touch screen to find out. Have to say the touch screen that I use most is the EM5's one. It's a small camera and light camera and so it's easy to hold it in one hand and touch the screen to take a shot with the other.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Mon Feb 27, 2017 7:31 am
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Yeah that's a much more logical touch screen. The menu structure is incoherent ;) but the touchscreen is great on the Oly products :)
 

by DChan on Sat Mar 04, 2017 12:22 am
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Here are the lab images (jpeg and raw) posted on ImagingResourece:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/f ... -gfxA7.HTM


GFX 50S owner's manual:

http://fujifilm-dsc.com/en/manual/gfx50s/
 

by DChan on Sat Mar 04, 2017 4:53 pm
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Question:

What exactly does it mean when we say, for example, Camera Raw, does not support, say, GFX 50S files??

I downloaded a couple of the raw files from Imageresource. Capture One doesn't see them and so I can't import them. DxO can see them and show them in its image browser but cannot process them. Affinity Photo can view the images (some exposure could be wrong though) even 100% and I can process them. Definitely something I don't know about and honestly have never thought about :lol:
 

by E.J. Peiker on Sat Mar 04, 2017 5:01 pm
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It just means that Camera Raw has not been updated yet to do the RAW conversions. This is common for very new cameras. It will be supported in the next release of Camera Raw and Lightroom but will probably never be supported by Capture One as Phase One has a policy of only supporting their own cameras for sensors larger than 35mm full frame.
 

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