The Fujifilm GFX has technical photographers and photographers alike rethinking photography. Before the announcement of the GFX medium format was held in high regard/esteem by many, even if they hadn’t used the format before. Yet after the announcement and launch there has been a large back lash with many trying to prove that full frame is good enough or better.
Frankly m4/3 and 1-inch sensors are good enough for most and I think a lot of the turmoil we are experiencing today is from full frame users bashing APS-C/m43/1-inch etc… by focusing on the size of the sensor instead of understanding and analyzing the technology infused in the system. For instance BSI in the next GFX will lead to a huge jump in image quality and it’s the only reason the Sony a7R II is worth owning over other full frame solutions in my opinion. Take the time to understand the technology and you will better appreciate the GFX format Fujifilm has created for photographers.
Lens Protogo – Fujifilm GFX-50S w/GF 120mm f/4 Macro vs Hasselblad H5X w/Leaf Credo 60
“In conclusion, this new Fuji will certainly open the medium format door for some photographers who couldn’t quite stomach the typical price range of medium format digital backs–and in addition there are some really fun aspects that the Fuji brings to the table. The low light functionality, it’s smaller and lighter form factor, and the ability to share images socially while on the job are some of my favorite perks. If this came at a huge deficit image wise I might look past it, but it was able to stand up for itself in detail/color/quality.”
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GFX Technologies #7 – The Development of the Ultimate Finder
“It has the world’s highest viewfinder magnification ratio of 0.85x…To compensate the higher reliance on the optical parts, they proposed a lens construction of 5 elements in 5 groups (all glass and including 2 aspherical elements), which is unheard of for a finder, in terms of both cost and size.
Previous GFX Technologies
GFX Technologies #6 – Color Chrome Effect: Both a Goal, and a Beginning
“The development of Color Chrome Effect is derived from a reversal film: fortia. The film was introduced to the market in 2004 with the catchphrase “Higher contrast and more vivid color than Velvia”. It was a limited run, so although many talked about it, only few have had a chance to try it out… Even the X-Processor Pro needs about 1.0 sec. to process the Color Chrome Effect. If you are single shot user, then this is not a problem…We asked the image designer who created the Color Chrome Effect whether he could replicate the Color Chrome Effect by using image processing software. His answer was “yes, but it would take me an hour for each image. I also need to know the sensor characteristics of each image.””
GFX Technologies #5 – Profound Tonality and Deeper Color
“The GFX’s PROVIA and ASTIA film simulations appear ACROS-esque… The shadow tone is softer for the GFX’s PROVIA and ASTIA than for X Series cameras. A medium format camera is often used in studio with perfect lighting setups. So we had to come up with a way to reflect the subtle changes in the lighting expression. Truthfully, this was very difficult to achieve. Output had to appear true to PROVIA or ASTIA, yet the shadow tone had to be softer… The development of ACROS was not easy, but looking back now, it was an easier task than PROVIA and ASTIA, as we started designing from scratch.
GFX Technologies #4 – The Story of GFX Shutter Design
“A mirrorless structure helps to achieve better image quality in several ways: there is more freedom as pertains to lens design, more precise focusing on the sensor surface, and finally no mirror shock… If the camera was created with a mirror, we estimate as much as 30% deterioration in resolution would be inevitable… Although it does not leave as big of an impact as the mirror shock, there is another element that causes shock inside a camera body: a focal plane shutter… Our shutter design is actually all about shock absorption… But truth be told, we put as much cost and labor into designing the shutter unit as other major design elements…”
“As much as 30 units were broken before we landed on the final shutter design,” said one designer. “In order to any make claims of 150,000 actuations or weather-resistance to -10°C, we actually needed to put it all to the test and confirm our claims.”
GFX Technologies #3 – Through the Glass of GF Lenses
“Lenses are a huge factor that contributes to image quality. Lens technology is not everything, but there is a limit to what one can do post-processing if the lens used is mediocre. People see the difference in the result of medium format GFX, largely due to the lens. Are the current medium format lenses in the industry the best in the world? Not quite. With the exception of a few, many of the lenses in the market are not designed with the latest technology in mind. The latest sensors have much greater potential than what these lenses can capture… Let’s be clear. It is unfair to compare GF Lenses directly with existing medium format lenses. The image quality of conventional medium format system was largely dependent on the size of imager… However, imager has changed from film to CMOS sensor, and the resolution per unit area has improved. The 24MP APS sensor used for X Mount now has exceeded the resolution of 645 film. With lenses designed with film premises, it is fair to say that some of them will have insufficient performance… The G Mount sensor has resolving power of that 4×5 large format with the mere size of 43.8×32.9mm… The GF Lenses can cope with a resolution up to 100MP.”
GFX Technologies #2 – G Mount: the future
“Designing a new mount is a rarity… The problem, however, is that a new ideal system cannot be realized if the mount is trapped with legacy technology… The first thing we made sure to realize with the new G Mount is the flexibility in lens design and its future potential… The mount is 1.6x thicker than the X Mount and is made of high strength stainless steel. The rigidity can be calculated by thickness multiplied to the third power, 1.6×1.6×1.6+=4.096. The calculation shows that the G Mount is four times tougher than the X Mount. The mount also has also passed the test of 10kg load… X Mount has 10, and the new G Mount has 12. With the addition of 2 terminals, more electrical power can be outputted and make use of the higher capacity NP-T125 battery. There also is room for future development, if a higher capacity battery is ever developed. Future technology must be taken into account when designing a new mount… The cover glass should be placed as far away as possible from the sensor. If there is a mirror box, then there is minimal room to move. But this is possible for G Mount as it is comprised of a mirrorless structure. The cover glass is placed 9mm away from the sensor surface….
GFX Technologies #1 -Secrets of the New GFX Sensor
“The sensor is customized for GFX and there are four reasons behind this decision… Typically the sensor is mounted to the silicon circuit with terminals placed on both sides of the sensor. But in the case of GFX, the sensor is mounted to the silicon circuit with the terminals placed on the back side of the sensor… It has been uniquely modified to achieve ultimate image quality, first and foremost… The sensor comprises of a uniquely shaped micro-lenses. In order to effectively process the lights, the size of micro-lenses haven been reduced and more spaces have been created between each pixel. This is one reason why the images appear so sharp when taken by GFX even though the pixel counts are the same… The GFX sensor goes through a special process in the manufacturing step. With the process, the photic saturation point of the sensor is extended and wider dynamic range is realized as a result. The dynamic range becomes 1/3 step wider… The camera is not equipped with the phase-detection pixels, but the autofocus speed is quite fast for a medium format camera nonetheless. One of the reasons for this is the increased sensor readout speed from 130fps to 200fps.”
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