PhotoPXL On The Rocks: Fujifilm GFX100 Interview With Mike Bulbenko From Fujifilm

Kevin Raber and Jody Grober with PhotoPXL interview Mike Bulbenko from Fujifilm about the GFX 100. Below is a summary of the 30+ min interview.

  • Fujifilm released two 50mp cameras followed by the 102mp
  • Fujifilm designed the GF lenses to outperform the 102mp
  • The GFX100 is catching up to the GF lenses capabilities
  • New zoom coming next year and the prime this year 50mm
  • The 50mm f/3.5 is a medium format pancake
  • Fujifilm still makes film and medium format is a film concept
  • In the digital world, the GFX class size sensor is the large format
  • You can think of S as studio and R as roaming for the GFX50R/GFX50S
  • GFX battery lasts for 400 shots CIPA
  • The nobs were removed from the Fujifilm GFX100 for better weather sealing
  • The GFX100 lets you swap the wheels
  • At the 100MP level, Fujifilm expects that 50% of users will be tethering most of the time
  • USB-C tethering and you can power/charge the battery while it’s plugged in
  • There is a barrel plug around 15v
  • You can run the GFX100 off a ptap battery and a variety of other popular broadcast batteries
  • 10-bit cinema 4k internal and external
  • There has been a huge upswell of interest in filming with the GFX
  • There are only 2 camera models with larger sensors and the GFX is just below them
  • 16-bit sensor with full 16-bit files
  • 16-bit and 14-bit files are about the same size at 200MB and in TIFF format they are 600MB
  • Uncompressed files work faster than compressed on your computer
  • Use UHS-II in the GFX to clear the buffer quickly
  • Dual UHS-II slots
  • GFX100 does 5fps 14-bit raw and 1fps 16-bit raw
  • True 16-bit gives better color transitions than 14-bit
  • If you’re pushing and pulling a lot or shifting color a lot you will want to shoot 16-bit to avoid banding
  • Fujifilm offers lossless compressed and uncompressed RAW, but it only saves you about 10% of storage
  • There is no reason to not shoot compressed
  • Flash only syncs with a mechanical shutter
  • The electronic shutter is for outdoors and very high speeds
  • The electronic front curtain is a half and half that minimizes shutter shake by not using the front curtain, instead if uses the rear curtain to end the exposure
  • IBIS will work down to 1/8th of a second and is great with video or third party lenses
  • IBIS at it’s best is 5.5 stops of stabilization, but third party is up to 5 stops
  • Electronic shutters made the company that makes blimps go bankrupt last year
  • Optical stabilization works better than IBIS
  • If you turn off the OIS switch than stabilization is turned off altogether
  • Almost no reason to turn off stabilization even on a tripod because the floor is rarely stable
  • The vertical shutter button lock issue was a production issue that only affected a few cameras and the fix is free
  • Fujifilm generally does repairs quickly
  • Fujifilm GFX100 Histogram is based off the JPEG read out not the RAW
  • Film simulations will change how the histogram readout sees the scene
  • The only way to get exactly Fujifilm’s simulation is to plug your camera into X RAW Studio because it uses the camera’s processor
  • Fujifilm won’t give their color science to third parties because it is proprietary
  • Fujifilm GFX100 has PDAF/CDAF with full sensor coverage
  • Fujifilm GFX100 has mindboggling image quality
  • Resolution is a system there is glass and sensor together

I still don’t accept their explanation for removing the dials. My Fujifilm GFX50S handled rain just fine.

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Fujifilm GFX100: B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Fujifilm GFX50R: 
B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama
Fujifilm GFX 50S:
 B&H Photo / Amazon / Adorama

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