Fujifilm GFX 50R Review

Medium Format is all about image quality. A larger-than-full-frame 0.8X crop-factor image state-of-the-art sensor necessarily translates into lower image noise and greater dynamic-range. This is essentially the only reason photographers accept larger cameras paired with bigger and heavier lenses.

The ultimate output quality of any ILC depends on both the camera and lens. Fujifilm made sure this is overseen by announcing that all their GF-mount lenses are designed for a resolution of 100 MP, telling photographers that those lenses are made with consideration to future-generation GFX system cameras. While color, noise, contrast and exposure are properties of the camera, distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberrations are properties of the lens. Sharpness depends on the weakest link. So, the camera cannot capture more details than the lens lets through. Conversely, a lens can transmit a greater amount of details than the sensor can capture. For a review of lenses used in this review, read our Fujinon GFX Lens Roundup.

While the Fujifilm GFX-50R is designed to deliver image quality superior to the best Full-Frame DSLRs, Medium Format Digital Cameras are optimized for image quality and therefore sacrifice other areas of performance due to the huge amounts of data they capture.

Sharpness & Image Noise

Image quality of the Fujifilm GFX-50R is simply spectacular. Its 50 megapixels CMOS sensor without any Anti-Alias Filter captures incredibly fine details with critical sharpness and extremely well-defined micro-contrast. The default Sharpness level is very good, while pushing it to +1 makes things absolutely tack-sharp without any visible sharpening artifacts. Given that diffraction only hits around F/20, this mirrorless has a tremendous latitude when it comes to depth-of-field.

There is virtually no image noise from ISO 50 to 800. Images taken at those ISO can easily be printed up to 40" x 30" and can stand close examination. ISO 1600 and 3200 show a truly minimal amount of noise that can only be seen at 1:1 magnification. Even 40" x 30" prints look impeccable at those sensitivities. There is a gentle and gradual increase in image-noise from ISO 6400 to 12800, the highest standard sensitivity of the GFX-50R. At such sensitivities, the GFX-50R shows slightly more noise than the GFX-50S, although the difference is less than ½ stop. Large prints remain possible, only a few inches smaller for each additional stop.

ISO 25600 is clearly noisy with fine details being destroyed. Contrast and colors are maintained remarkably well though. Mid-size 20" x 15" prints still look rather good, despite such a high sensitivity. ISO 51200 is somewhat worse but not as much as expected. Mid-size prints are possible, although they will certainly look grainy. ISO 102400 is a touch too far, producing noisy and soft output with much lower contrast. Colors though are surprisingly well-maintained. One can make a decent small print out of this ISO.

Dynamic-Range & Metering

Dynamic-range of the Fujifilm GFX-50R is nothing short of exceptional. This Medium Format mirrorless camera can handle over 14 stops of dynamic-range all the way to ISO 3200! Our systems cannot measure beyond 14 stops even, so there is no telling exactly how much it can capture. Images straight out of this digital camera have the look of HDR, even though they are made from a single exposure. The maximum dynamic-range it can record occurs at ISO 400, although all stops before it are still all capable of over 14 stops.

From ISO 6400 upward, dynamic-range gradually decreases, finally becoming measurable. ISO 6400 and 12800 still capture more than 12 stops which is previously unseen by any digital camera other than the GFX-50S. One stop of dynamic-range is lost for each sensitivity stop beyond that, until ISO 102400 which loses almost two stops, landing just below 10 stops. Clearly this is where the larger pixels of Medium Format offer the most advantage.

There are three Dynamic-Range settings on the Fujifilm GFX-50R: 100%, 200% and 400%. These represent a normal capture, one with 1 full-stop more and one with 2 stops more than the default. 200% is available from ISO 200 and up, while 400% if available from ISO 400. Expanded ISO sensitivities are are locked at 100% Dynamic-Range. Unless shooting rather low-contrast subjects, simply setting Dynamic Range to 400% performs optimally, since the camera will simply use a lower setting when 400% is not available.

The GFX-50R offers independent control for Shadow and Highlight tone. These affect how dynamic-range is compressed when rendering JPEG images. The default Shadow tone is somewhat contrasty which adds punch to images but can yield away shadow details. Pushing it down to -1 preserves more shadow details. Default Highlight tone is quite pleasant, although it can be decreased for high-key subjects to record more nuances in highlights.

Metering of the GFX-50R is one of the best. The Multi-Segment metering system produces well-balanced exposures while minimizing clipping of highlights. It almost never over-exposes major areas. Only a slight amount of negative Exposure-Compensation is needed to perfectly record highlights gradations in high-contrast scenes. Of course, given how much dynamic-range this Medium Format camera can capture, there are much fewer scenes that it cannot completely capture, at least in RAW format. This camera also offers simple Center-Weighed, Average and Spot metering modes, which all work exactly as expected.

Color & White-Balance

Unsurprisingly for a company still named after their analog origins, Fujifilm expertly renders colors. The GFX-50R offers an impressive number of Film Simulation modes that vary in saturation, contrast and gradation. Still, hue is almost always close to reality with both Provia and Astia producing the most life-like colors. There is a tiny amount of extra red which is corrected by setting Color to -1.

The White-Balance system in the GFX-50R is reasonably good. It tends to be slightly warmer than expected, particularly so under artificial light. Colors are usually well-balanced when lighting is even. In low light, artificial illumination often leaves a noticeable yellow cast though. This can be corrected in-camera either using Presets or WB Fine-Tuning. The EVF and LCD both show an accurate preview, so corrections are easy to make.

Speed and Performance

While the Fujifilm GFX-50R is generally quite response, it certainly is not a fast digital camera. Its huge 50 megapixels sensor generates a considerable amount of data to process. Since this is a mirrorless system, the sensor must constantly be read to generate views on the EVF or LCD. Contrast Detect AF also depends on iterating over data read from the sensor. This is exactly where the GFX-50R shows its compromise between image-quality and performance.

With the camera ready, all controls, dials and the joystick respond instantly. One can set exposure parameters and even navigate through the menu system quickly and efficiently to get the camera ready to shoot. Live-View tracks movement with virtually no lag until moderately low-light. As light diminish further, the GFX-50R slows down its refresh-rate to preserve preview brightness. This lag becomes noticeable towards the end of the blue hour yet allows a bright preview as night falls. The GFX-50R achieves this brighter preview using a combination of slow-refresh and increased pixel-binning. The side-effect of this is that Manual Focus becomes more difficult, just as the camera is pushed beyond its autofocus sensitivity limit.

The Contrast Detect AF system of the GFX-50R is incredibly precise and accurate. Autofocus can be performed across a wide expanse of the frame but the AF-Point mode is more reliable than AF-area which might not yield exactly the same focus. Depth-of-field of course depends on focal-length and subject but expect it to be relatively shallow until at least an aperture of F/5.6.

Autofocus speed is reasonable. In bright light, the GFX-50R locks onto its target with ease. Low-light slows things down, yet it remains acceptable in typical indoor lighting. Night photography poses more of a problem, as it can take up to a second to lock focus. Again, depth-of-field is much more shallow on Medium Format, so focusing must be established with greater precision. Overall, this is roughly the autofocus speed of earlier generations of mirrorless cameras. All recent DSLRs focus significantly faster.

Shutter-lag of this Medium Format mirrorless camera is short. Image capture starts right after fully pressing the shutter-release. There is a noticeable black-out after each shot, roughly 1/3s. This occurs for both the mechanical and the electronic shutter. When shooting at Expanded ISO sensitivities, additional processing is done which locks the camera for just over one second. Unexpectedly, this happens even when shooting in RAW files only.

Throughput of the Fujifilm GFX-50R is quite impressive. When recording JPEG images, it can shoot continuously and indefinitely at 3 FPS. With much larger RAW files, it has a buffer for 13 frames. When it uses an Electronic Shutter though, burst mode slows down to 1.8 FPS but can now capture an unlimited number of RAW files, until the memory card or cards, fill up. This performance was confirmed using Lexar 2000X USH-II cards.

The GFX-50R is slowest at transitions. Any time the camera needs to change states it take some time and remains unresponsive during that period. The most critical one is probably entering and exiting Playback mode. It takes about ½s to enter but almost 1s to exit. The Instant Review option allows a quick return to Shooting mode with a half-press of the shutter-release. The switch between Stills and Video modes is rather slow, taking almost ½s. Power on also takes a little more than 1 second, while powering off takes a full second longer but that includes sensor cleaning. Recovering from Sleep takes about the same time.

Performance of the Fujifilm GFX-50R is characterized by the following measurements:

• Power-On: 1s. Below average.
• Power-On to First-Shot: 2 seconds. On the slow side.
• Autofocus: ¼ - 1s, good in bright light, below average in low light.
• Shutter-lag: Quick with 1/3s blackout. Slow.
• Shot-to-shot: Just over 1s. Definitely slow.
• Playback: ½s to enter, 1s to exit. Below average.
• Power-Off: 2 second, includes sensor cleaning. Average.
• Wake Up from Sleep: 1½s, extremely slow.
• Video: Instant to record and stop. Excellent.

Compared to a modern Mirrorless Digital Camera or to a recent DSLR, the GFX-50R is undeniably slow. This is certainly not a tool for action, sports or even candid photography. For studio and landscape photography though, those numbers matter very little.

Battery-life of the Fujifilm GFX-50R is seriously limited. Already the claimed 400 shots-per-charge is low compared to the vast majority of professional cameras, yet it often drains faster than that. It would take at least 3 batteries to spend a day of moderate shooting.

The Fujifilm GFX-50R is a highly specialized digital camera designed for the top-most image quality. It offers a slightly less bulky version of the GFX-50S at the expense of having fewer controls and a fixed EVF. When it comes to image quality and performance, these two cameras deliver a virtually identical performance.

This Mirrorless System having an all-electronic lens-mount paired with a large 0.8X-crop sensor is very recent. With only a handful of native GF-mount lenses to choose from so far, the entire GFX system draws a boundary of possibilities. Within that boundary, there is studio, architecture, urban and some landscape photography. Outside, there is action, street, wildlife and more, for now. Fujifilm is expected to continuously grow their Medium Format system to cover more photography opportunities.

Just like its larger sibling, the Fujifilm GFX-50R delivers image-quality better than any Full-Frame digital camera. Images produced by the GFX-50R are extremely sharp with even the finest details impeccably rendered. The dynamic-range of this camera is incredible. High-contrast scenes get the look of subtle HDR from a single capture while its reliable Multi-Segment metering system ensures that only the smallest highlights get clipped. Given such a wide dynamic-range, this Medium Format digital camera can easily handle most scenes.

The large 44x33mm sensor in the GFX-50R shows excellent noise-characteristics. There is virtually no noise from ISO 50 to 1600. Above that it starts appearing and increasing gradually for each additional stop. Given its high-resolution 50 megapixels sensor, this digital camera can produce large prints easily up to ISO 6400, while sensitivities above can be used for mid-sized prints, until ISO 51200. Such a huge range of usable ISO sensitivities make the GFX-50R an excellent camera for night photography.

Fujifilm produces beautifully pleasing color with nice saturation and quite a bit of user-control. Automatic White-Balance, which only affect JPEG images, is the only area of image-quality where the GFX-50R could use some improvement Overcoming any AWB issue is a breeze though, with Custom WB getting perfect results and numerous other options available.

The tremendous bandwidth needed to process output from the 50 megapixels sensor in the GFX-50R is what defines its limits. Compared to a current mirrorless camera or DSLR, the GFX-50R is slow on nearly all fronts. Autofocus is fairly reasonable though, taking on average less that ½s to lock yet is noticeably slower than other recent digital cameras. Shutter-lag is fine but the black-out that follows it unacceptable for anything that moves. Shot-to-shot times are poor too, making it difficult to capture a precise moment.

Ergonomics of the GFX-50R are good overall yet not without issues. The camera is generally efficient to use and can be configured such that many frequently used functions are accessible. Its Q menu allows to places secondary functions nearby. There is a complexity of controls and feature interaction that take some time to adapt to. While the EVF and LCD offer extremely sharp view, they really struggle to deliver an accurate and consistent preview.

The Fujifilm GFX-50R is built around a Medium Format sensor which truly delivers amazing images with extremely low noise and unrivalled dynamic-range. This large sensor necessarily needs a correspondingly large lens-mount to support even larger lenses. Its true limitation though is speed though as there is no way this camera can be used reliably with moving subjects. However, when it comes to architecture, landscape and studio photography, this mirrorless really delivers.