Fujifilm X Lab 9 GFX100S: Shrinking The GFX100 to Make The GFX100S

Fujifilm released X-Lab 9 about creating the Fujifilm GFX100S and it goes into some detail about how they have made the GFX more compact. The video is in Japanese as usual with no subtitles so YouTubes auto subs and auto-translate are the only way for Engish speakers to access the information they are relaying. Below is a summary of that translation process.

• They are proud of the GFX’s price points
• The size of the GFX needed to be addressed
• The shutter took up most of the space inside the GFX50S
• Shrinking the shutter made room to move the battery compartment into space saved
• The battery in the GFX100S is also tilted the NP-W235 battery 7.5 degrees to reduce space
• The NP-W235 battery also has a hump in it to reduce the overall size of the battery
• There was talk of making the battery flat but the indentation in the NP-W235 battery has proven to be useful because every little bit of saved space counts
• The new focus num is helpful for changing the focal point
• Fujifilm developed the worlds first mirrorless medium format focal-plane shutter
• They had to make the shutter 20% smaller and reduce the number of parts used
• Fujifilm went from using two motors in the GFX100 shutter to using one motor in the GFX100S to save space
• The performance and durability of the GFX100S shutter hasn’t changed from the GFX100 due to the reduction of the parts
• The space saved with the new shutter was needed for the IBIS unit
• Fujifilm developed new IBIS for the X-H1, GFX100, X-T4, X-T10, and GFX100S
• Designing IBIS for each camera allows it to be smaller and more efficient
• The new GFX100S shutter has 6 stops of stabilization while the GFX100 only has 5.5
• You can shoot the GFX100S at 1/20th and get 102 sharp megapixels
• The goal is to continue reducing the size

Fujifilm has made a tremendous amount of progress over a short period of time and it looks like the new NP-W235 battery is going to be used in new and unique ways in the future to help cameras become more compact while maintaining a respectable amount of battery life. These Japanese videos without subtitles lend themselves to a lot of interpretation, but the overall theme seems to be making the GFX smaller and better in every way they can.

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