We are getting an early look at the GFX100 through the Image Resources Comparometer and I have to say the initial results are very disappointing. I decided to compare the Fujifilm GFX100, GFX50S, XT3, Phase One XF 100MP, a7RIII, 5DSR, D850 and S1R for good measure at 100MP and 24MP. Surprisingly the results were pretty similar at 100MP and 24MP so I decided to exclude the 24MP results, the current crop of high-end BSI APS-C and Full Frame sensors are quite good so I’m not surprised. Of course, you can compare them for yourself at the Comparometer.
Keep in mind the Comparometer is using a pre-production camera so results should improve and there are some slight variations in lens/f-stop selection to take into consideration, but if you try to match settings for testing you are going to be very disappointed in the image quality of the GFX100 in my estimation. The 63mm lens used on the GFX is generally very sharp and some of the images almost look like they missed focus at times because they lacked the sharpness that I am used to with my GFX50S.
Above you can see how ISO100 looks, while below I decided to use 12,800 since all of the cameras supported ISO 12,800. Some fanboys will try to cherry pick and I do not deny the Comparometer is flawed, but do some proper crops yourself where you think the image quality is better.
This is what happens when one company designs almost every sensor on the market. Largely homogenous results aren’t bad, but I would really like to see this kind of testing done with a final firmware camera and RAW files. JPEG comparisons are rarely useful when results are this similar. This kind of comparison also won’t demonstrate the significant dynamic range advantages that medium format cameras have over Full Frame and APS-C so please keep this in mind when doing your own comparisons.
While I am disappointed in the results Comparometer results I will still keep my preorder because I do not think the results are representative of what a GFX can be used to create. GFX is the first camera to make me dump Leica and the Leica look because it is a camera that really frees you to be creative. Hopefully, we will see some better technical testing soon.
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Fujifilm GFX100 (Preoders): B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Fujifilm GFX50R: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Fujifilm GFX 50S: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama