We took a pre-production Fujifilm GFX 100S for a test drive, and it’s the most advanced medium format camera we’ve seen to date, with quick focus and 102MP of resolution.
The Fujifilm GFX 100S is here. It’s a medium format camera—one with a sensor that’s larger than a 35mm film frame—but someone forgot to tell Fujifilm that medium format cameras are supposed to be slow performers. The 100S sports a modern mirrorless design, and the most advanced autofocus system you’ll find in any camera with a sensor larger than a 35mm frame.
Medium format hasn’t gotten the slow stigma without founding. High-end studio systems from Hasselblad and Phase One typically take a good amount of time to boot up—about 15 seconds, give or take a few—and only offer relatively slow, very rudimentary autofocus systems.
SEE ALSO: Fujifilm X-T3
Some medium format cameras are a little quicker—the Pentax 645Z starts up quickly, and offers decent focus speed, but its AF system is closely grouped together at the center of the frame.
Mirrorless cameras don’t have the same restrictions on autofocus grouping as SLRs—they can focus practically to the very edge of the frame. But the first generation of models—the Fujifilm GFX 50R and 50S, as well as the Hasselblad X1D—all get there using contrast detection, which is very effective and accurate when working with static subjects, but can suffer with moving subjects. Fast Focus and Shooting
The GFX 100S uses the same sensor size as the company’s 50MP efforts. At 33-by-44mm it’s in between full-frame 35mm (24-by-36mm) and the 645 medium format used by high-end systems like the Phase One IQ4 150MP (54-by-40mm). But instead of relying solely on contrast based detection, the camera adds phase detection pixels as well.
The implementation of the focus system is very similar to that in Fujifilm’s APS-C speed demon, the X-T3. Pretty much all of the same features are there—including face and eye detection in both AF-S and AF-C and subject tracking.
The GFX 100S doesn’t shoot as fast as the X-T3, of course. While the smaller camera can capture Raw images at up to 20fps, the GFX 100S tops out at 5fps. It’s able to acquire focus for each image when doing so, a trick made possible by the image sensor. The sensor is a BSI design with copper wiring, which contributes to a faster readout speed than previous iterations.
The sensor has a lot of resolution, which is not only demanding on lenses, but on the photographer. Fujifilm has the lens side of things covered—its GF lens series has been designed with 100MP imaging in mind.
