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Fujifilm announces their entry into medium format at Photokina 2016

By Marcus Wong - on 20 Sep 2016, 5:39am

Fujifilm announces their entry into medium format at Photokina 2016

Mr Toru Takahashi, Senior Vice President, Fujifilm Corporation quoted photographer W.Eugene Smith in saying “The world does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera”, before announcing the latest camera series to come from Fujifilm – the GFX series.

These mirrorless cameras will use 43.8x32.9mm (medium format) CMOS sensors and a new series of GF lenses that will be progressively available from 2017 onwards. That’s some 70% larger than a typical full-frame sensor, and the sensor for the very first GFX camera, the Fujifilm GFX 50S, will have a pixel size of 5.3µm which gives it a resolution of 51.4MP (8256x6192).

The new GFX 50S shares a similar design to the X-T series.

A new medium format sensor has been developed for the GFX 50S.

The high resolution count will allow it to deliver great sharpness while allowing for adjustment to various aspect ratios like 4:3, 3:2, 1:1, 4:5, 6:7 and 6:17. The sensor was fully customized and designed by Fujifilm, and the camera will use Fujifilm’s X-Processor Pro imaging processor, ensuring you continue to get the Fuji colors you love.

The shorter flange distance allows for an extremely short back focus distance.

The camera and the new GF lenses utilize a new G mount which takes advantage of the camera’s mirrorless system structure to have a flange distance of just 26.7mm. This means the lenses can be smaller, while diminishing the effect of vignetting, allowing for maximum sharpness. The mount itself has also been designed to be lighter and more durable while providing more power to the lenses, allowing for faster autofocus.

A new waist-level finder will be available as an accessory.

Being a mirrorless camera, the GFX 50S doesn’t have an viewfinder by default, but rather comes supplied with a hotshoe mount EVF that can be removed to fit an external monitor or the waist-level finder that also has the ability to be tilted up 180o. Fujifilm says other accessories like a Vertical Battery Grip will be released at the same time. The camera will also support tethered shooting and be compatible with various RAW conversion applications.

Six lenses and a slew of accessories have already been planned for the GFX 50S.

A wide angle, a medium wide and a fast mid-telephoto lens will round out the early lens offerings.

Six new lenses have been also announced for the GFX series:

  1. Standard prime “GF63mmF2.8 R WR” (equivalent to 50mm in the 35mm format)
  2. Wide-angle standard zoom “GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR” (equivalent to 25-51mm in the 35mm format)
  3. Mid-telephoto macro 1:0.5 “GF120mmF4 Macro R LM OIS WR” (equivalent to 95mm in the 35mm format)
  4. Fast aperture mid-telephoto “GF110mmF2 R LM WR” (equivalent to 87mm in the 35mm format)
  5. Ultra wide “GF23mmF4 R LM WR” (equivalent to 18mm in the 35mm format)
  6. Wide “GF45mmF2.8 R WR” (equivalent to 35mm in the 35mm format)

The first three should be available together with the launch of the camera in early 2017, while the other three are said to come progressively after. All six lenses will come with aperture ring and have a new C (Command) Position on the ring to enable aperture adjustments via the command dial on the body. They will all be dust and weather resistant and are said to be able to withstand temperatures as low as -10C.

The Fujifilm GFX 50S will be available from early 2017 onwards along with the GF63mmF2.8 R WR, GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR, and the GF120mmF4 Macro R LM OIS WR. No pricing was announced, but Fujifilm’s Toshihisa Iida (General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Fujifilm) said the GFX 50S with GF63mmF2.8 R WR kit set would be “significantly under” US$10,000, making it an extremely competitively priced option for those in the medium format space, while getting serious consideration from those on Professional-level 35mm full-frame camera too.

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