5 things I love & hate about the Fujifilm GFX 50R
GFX 50R Fitted with Peipro L bracket
Mounted: Fujifilm Fujinon 63mm f/2.8
Intro
When Fujifilm introduced the GFX 50R in September 2018, it took the digital camera world by storm by packaging the internals of the already great GFX 50S into a rangefinder-style body and selling it for an even lower price. Never had digital medium format been so accessible to the consumer. I got mine in March 2020 and today, 2 ½ years later, can share with you 5 things I love & hate about it. It kept me company throughout the first pandemic lockdown in Greece, so it definitely brings back fond memories.
tl;dr
If time is of the essence, here’s what I love & hate about the GFX 50R in list form:
Love
Amazing image quality
Super sharp lens line-up
Excellent for manual lenses
Relatively affordable
It’s a classic
Hate
Size, ergonomics & finish
Autofocus
Lens ecosystem issues
The shutter
Fujifilm Camera Remote (Cr)App
If that was all you were looking for, off you go! Otherwise keep reading for more detail.
Love
1. Amazing image quality
While 44x33 (in mm) is the smallest sensor you can get in the medium format spectrum (prompting many to disparage it as not being true medium format), and despite it being older tech and not BSI (Back Side Illuminated), it still gives FF a beating in my opinion.
As the car saying goes: “There is no replacement for displacement”. A 5 liter V8 will out-torque a 3 lt V6 any day of the week (OK, not a turbo V6, but you catch my drift). The same applies more or less to sensor size. I’m no stranger to high megapixel cameras, having previously owned a Nikon D810 & a D850, but pixel peeping with the GFX 50R is really something else. Every 50R image I import into Lightroom, I zoom to 100% just for the heck of it. You can waste quite a bit of time just admiring the RAWs.
While, to my eyes, the full frame high Mp files showed some fine grain even at the lowest of ISO values (ISO 64 for the aforementioned Nikon models), 1-1 pixel level viewing on GFX RAWs at ISO 100 exposes one to a continuum of optical information, with nothing giving away that you’re looking at a digital file. The gradation of tones and colours is something you will never have experienced before on smaller sensors. There is just no perceivable stepping, no jagged edges, no colour noise (at ISO 100) that reminds you of the limitations of a digital sensor, it’s just smooth transitions everywhere.
Combined with Fujifim’s über sharp lenses, portrait shooters will rejoice at the insane detail available to them (maybe even too much, if you prefer softness in portraits instead), while landscape photographers will stand in awe of the tremendously smooth gradients in the sunsets and the richness of texture in the scenery. The dynamic range is also incredible, almost negating the need for bracketing.
Another benefit of the high Mp count, combined with the super clean output, is the cropping potential it offers: you can crop to 1/2 or 1/3 of the original picture and still be left with a 20Mp+ image with plenty of detail. It’s like almost all your lenses double as telephotos. This is also useful for reframing your shots after the fact; you can crop a portrait picture out of a landscape orientation or vice versa. It also helps that the sensor is 4:3 format, i.e. more square than a 3:2.
Colours really pop, I don’t know if the 50R artificially jacks them up, but they are more vivid than in anything else I’ve owned, without looking artificial. The bigger sensor real estate lends itself to bigger colour depth and it definitely shows. If you’re into shooting sunsets or flowers or anything colourful in general, the 50R will make you rub your eyes. It’s better than reality.
High ISO performance is amazing. The first image I snapped on the 50R was actually one of my parents’ cats (Gizmo) at ISO 3200 and it looked every bit as sharp as APS-C at ISO 400. That being said, with peak IQ being at ISO 100, it feels like kind of a waste to shoot at anything above that. It might be totally psychological, but I feel I’m under-utilizing this sensor unless I keep the ISO as low as possible to get the cleanest results possible. If I have to shoot at higher ISO values than that I might consider heading out with a full frame body with IBIS instead.
Check the image gallery at the end of the post to get the look’n’feel of what output you can expect from this camera.
2. Super sharp lens line-up
The 50R is the cheapest (if you can call 3K+ USD or EUR cheap) entry point to the medium format world and gives you access to Fujifilm’s amazing lens lineup. There’s really no bad lens in their portfolio, the only problem is that their price tags aren’t very gentle to your wallet.
The most inexpensive lens to get for the 50R and actually the one that can be considered the perfect match for it is the Fujinon 50mm f/3.5 “pancake” (“pancake” used in the loosest sense here, it’s more like a decently sized brownie). You could pretty much get only this lens for the 50R and never look back. Actually I wonder why Fujifilm didn’t sell it as a bundle with the camera. Any other lens pairing makes the combo way less portable. The 50mm (40mm f/2.8 equivalent in FF terms, FoV & DoF-wise) can be found on offer in the 500-550 USD / EUR range and I’ve noticed quite a few people buying it at the sale price only to try to sell it at it’s non-offer price of 800-1000. I’d recommend you wait for Fuji sales which are quite frequent, because it’s a shame to pay double price.
If you are a nifty fifty kind of guy, the 63mm f/2.8 (50mm f/2.2 FF equivalent) is a solid performer (albeit I hate the fact it’s not internally focusing and it has a a poor reputation for focus motor reliability). Lovers of the 35mm field of view can go for the 45mm f/2.8 (35mm f/2.2 FF equivalent) which a lot of reviewers consider one of the finest lenses in the whole lineup. On the wider end there is the relatively affordable 30mm f/3.5 (24mm f/2.8 FF equivalent) and on the ultra wide side of the spectrum there’s the 23mm f/4 (17mm f/3.2 equivalent), which is hella expensive though.
For the telephoto lovers, the 110mm f/2 (85mm f/1.6 FF equivalent) has been touted as optical perfection and it a true bokeh machine. Equally bokehlicious is the 80mm f/1.7 (63mm f/1.4 FF equivalent), which is also the fastest lens of the lot. There’s also the 250mm f/4 (200mm f/3.2) which, according to reviews, is incredible, but feels a bit mismatched with the 50R’s rangefinder-style body and thus probably a better match for the GFX 50S (II) or GFX 100(S).
The lens with probably the most lukewarm reception in the G mount lineup is the 120mm f/4 1:2 macro (100mm f/3.2 FF equivalent), which might be too clinical for some, but is still undeniably ridiculously sharp.
The only thing missing currently is a tilt-shift option for landscape & architecture photographers, but Fujifilm is about address that need as well.
For those who shoot zooms, Fujifilm also offers the 20-35mm f/4, the 32-64mm f/4, which has been compared to a collection of primes, the 45-100mm f/4, the 100-200mm f/5.6 and the most recent addition: the 35-70mm f/4.5-5.6, which is the only variable aperture zoom lens in the G-mount ecosystem.
Generally you can rest assured that you can’t go wrong with any of them, as long as your budget can sustain the pretty hefty price tags.
Fujifilm GFX 50R with 50mm f/3.5 lens (right) next to Fujifilm X-E3 with 27mm f/2.8 (left). Note the insane size difference between MF & APSC, as well as in the lens mount diameter.
To give some perspective, here’s what a 50R can do with an 110mm f/2 (shot at f/4) even when shot at pretty suboptimal conditions: through a window, with a pro mist filter (which impacts sharpness):
GFX 50R & Fujinon 110mm f/2 un-cropped shot
And here is a 4096x3072 crop from that same image:
GFX 50R & Fujinon 110mm f/2 shot cropped to 4096x3072 (i.e. about 1/4 of the original resolution)
As you can see, the resolving power is absolutely insane!
3. Excellent for manual lenses
The very high prices of GF glass have lead many to adapt lenses for other cameras to the GFX, often with pretty decent results. A lot of FF glass projects an image circle large enough to cover the 50R’s sensor, with little or no vignetting that can largely be removed in post. Note that the 50R also offers a full frame mode crop, but I have yet to use it since almost all FF glass I tried to adapt had either acceptable vignetting or no vignetting at all.
But the 50R’s sensor also lends itself to adapting film-era medium format glass from brands like Pentax, Mamiya & Hasselblad with less of a crop than when adapting them to a full frame camera. With the use of focal reducers / speed-boosters from brands like Kipon, one can even more closely match the original field of view of these medium format lenses, while also gaining a stop of exposure in the process.
All this would be for naught if the experience of shooting manual glass on Fujifilm medium format wasn’t top tier. And top tier it certainly is, with Fuji’s focus peaking (FP) implementation being one of the most sensitive & accurate there is. Contrary to some competitors like Canon, Fuji FP works at any zoom level and the pushable dials of the 50R make it a piece of cake to punch in and focus more accurately. Thanks to Fuji FP and the very decent viewfinder on the 50R, I’ve almost never missed focus on a human iris, something that I can’t say for e.g. Nikon mirrorless.
An extra bonus is that some adapted lenses also work rather amazingly on the GFX platform, providing great sharpness and rendering, even though they were designed for different cameras. e.g. the 30+ year old Pentax 135mm f/2.5 Takumar is pretty epic on the 50R and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it even for paid work.
Fujifilm GFX 50R with Pentax SMC Takumar 135mm f/2.5 M42 lens mounted via a K&F m42 to G mount adapter
4. Relatively affordable
As far as digital medium format goes, it doesn’t get any cheaper than the GFX 50R. For a long time it hovered around the 4.5K USD / EUR mark until Fujifilm started promoting it more aggressively with a 1K discount. I got mine in March 2020, during the first pandemic lockdown in Greece, with that exact offer. The Fujinon 50mm f/3.5 was also 50% off at the same time, so for ~4K you could get a MF camera & lens combo, which was an unprecedented deal at the time.
This discount ended up becoming pretty permanent and now some retailers sell it closer to the 3K mark. That is if you can find one, because Fujifilm has since ceased production of the 50R. For instance B&H Photo no longer carries new copies, but they do have used ones for sale. If you are in the market for a new GFX 50R, you better hurry, otherwise try to find yourself a minty used one from used gear e-shops like MPB.
5. It’s a classic
The GFX 50R is destined to become a timeless classic, it will never go out of style. And one good thing about classics is that you will never feel buyer’s remorse getting one. As of the time of writing, Fujifilm has no plans yet to bring out a successor, but even it it does, the original will still stand out in its own right in the hearts & minds of anyone who has experienced shooting with it. I can’t imagine ever selling mine, if only to hang onto a camera with this 50 Mp sensor that renders so nicely.
It will always be the first of an era (the “affordable” rangefinder-styled digital medium format camera) and nothing can detract from that. It will still be legendary if you get one in 2035, assuming there are copies available on the used market & with the hope that the electronics in it can survive that long.
Hate
1. Size, ergonomics & finish
Now there’s no denying that the 50R is an extremely chonky camera. It looks like an oversized VCR tape. It’s shape & heft will probably be beyond anything else you might have in your collection, and thus will definitely take some getting used to. It will probably require you to get a new camera bag especially for it.
Like this cat, the GFX 50R is an absolute chonk
I’m very into camera holsters, but the 50R fits in almost none of them. I can narrowly fit it into one of my more spacious holsters as seen below:
The 50R will very snuggly fit into the Lowepro 75 AW II holster, but you’d have a hard time getting it in smaller holster type bags. Also notice how the LCD screen is not flush with the body.
While I love its classic Fujifilm camera dials that give it that retro feel and at the same time allow you to very intuitively set all exposure parameters, there’s a lot that can be said about the 50R’s ergonomics & practicality:
The screen is not flush with the body, it protrudes and looks rather ugly if you ask me
The grip is almost non-existent making it very hard to hold (and easy to slip) unless you get an aftermarket hand-grip, such as the ones from Smallrig or Peipro
Some buttons are very oddly placed, e.g. I cannot get used to the position of the playback button for the life of me. I don’t understand why one would put it in that place #smh.
Due to the law of squares, a large mount radius results in a massive mount area and consequently humongous lenses. The G mount Fujinons will undoubtedly be some of the chunkiest you have ever seen & held.
In classic Fujifilm style, the feel of the plastics is underwhelming in my humble opinion. While Canon, Panasonic, Sony et al go for soft, squishy matt finish plastics, which have a premium feel to them, Fujifilm on the other hand persists with glossy hard plastics that are more reminiscent of 80’s car dashboards, and give a bit of a cheaper feel to an otherwise quite expensive piece of gear.
While the top dials of the 50R are simply lovely…
… the plastic & rubber texture of Fujifilms is not so lovely
2. Autofocus
One of the biggest drawbacks of the 50R is its weak contrast detect autofocus, which renders it almost useless for any kind of moving subject. Personally, I tend to think of it as more of a digital back, the fact that it can also focus on immobile subjects being a welcome plus.
Now to be fair to the camera, nobody said is was going to be a speed demon AF-wise, but given the DoF characteristics of Medium Format, even moderate movement can be out of the question, if you’re using low apertures.
I tried to capture some candid photos of a couple with their baby and getting decent shots of the baby moving erratically was an exercise in frustration. Only the photos where I waited for motion to be at a minimum turned out usable. For portrait shots, you’ll need to instruct the talent to be very still so as not to affect the plane of focus between focusing and taking the shot. I tried to capture a model throwing leaves (autumn-themed shoot) and really regretted I hadn’t taken a Sony or Canon with me for that particular shoot.
The 50R does feature face detect AF, but I have found it to be a bit of a joke; I usually turn it off because it tends to think there are faces in foliage and what not. Instead of being a useful tool, it becomes more of an annoyance.
On the plus side, while slow, it is quite accurate, so for slow-paced or planned shots you can expect to nail focus very dependably.
On the whole, you’ll need to depend more on your technique & planning to get AF right for moving subjects. For stationary subjects you should be OK.
3. Lens ecosystem issues
It could be said that it’s a bit unfair to blame a camera for ecosystem issues, but by getting a 50R you’re inevitably also entering the G mount ecosystem, so the two are a bit intertwined. That, plus I needed to get to 5 items for my ‘Hate’ list. :-P
G mount lenses are generally not very fast compared to FF or APSC lenses. The brightest f-stop available for a native Fujifilm AF lens is f/1.7, while the best MF 3rd party lens comes in at f/1.4. This is quite a far cry from the FF / APSC ecosystem where AF lenses can go down to f/1.2 or even f/1, whereas MF f/0.95 lenses (or even f/0.85) are nowadays offered by many manufacturers.\
The 35mm & 50mm equivalent lenses for G mount (the 45mm & 63mm respectively) start at f/2.8. Even adjusted for equivalence they become an unspectacular f/2.2, which is nothing to write home about, given that nifty fifties for full frame are overwhelmingly in the f/1.8 region and don’t cost an arm and a leg. Due to the size of the G mount, making equally bright lenses as for smaller sensors would yield optics that are quite unwieldy in size.
Combine the relatively slow lenses with the GFX 50R’s lack of IBIS and also its demanding 50 Mp sensor that requires shooting at speeds quite a bit faster than the handholding rule dictates (i.e. 1 over focal length), and you get a combo that can’t be used handheld for many hours per day at base ISO. Thus, either the tripod is your friend or you need to be comfortable with bumping up the ISO to be able to pull of the shutter speeds you’ll be needing.
The medium format look, at least as far as DoF is concerned, is not actually that easy to achieve with the 44x33mm sensor in the 50R. Even the 65mm f/1.4 Mitakon Speedmaster is outdone (if only slightly) by its smaller 50mm f/0.95 sibling in terms of DoF. You’ll have to search for the medium format look in other qualities such as color depth, rendering etc.
4. The shutter
I’m a sucker for discreet sounding & dampened shutters, but hate to say that the shutter of the GFX 50R is neither discreet, nor dampened. While others love it, to me it sounds like it’s advancing film.
It also gives a deceiving feeling of the shutter speed because the “film advance” sound is so prominent, it’s hard to tell if you’re shooting at 1/2 or 1/4000.
The heavy shutter slap also can’t be very conducive to keeping the camera shake low.
Overall, while I understand it can’t be transformed to the gentle whisper that is the shutter of the X-T5, I would much prefer it if it were tuned to that direction.
The shutter button also has no thread for soft-release buttons, so there’s no way to customize the look & feel of the camera in that respect.
5. Fujifilm Camera Remote (Cr)App
While this is not the 50R’s fault, if you do want to have some kind of mobile sharing workflow, you’re stuck with the disgrace that is the Fujifilm Camera Remote App. How Fujifilm can get the cameras so right, yet the software so wrong is mind-boggling. But come to think of it, the entire camera industry has proved itself incapable of producing a halfway decent camera app, so I guess Fujifilm is just following the same trend here.
The people responsible for this app owe a public apology for the cruel & unusual punishment they have inflicted upon us
While the app has improved visually and functionally since it was first launched, the experience of using it remains a nightmare. Here are but a few of its failings in my favourite bullet-list format:
It is erratic at connecting with your camera, in fact in my case it succeeds about 1 in 2 or 3 times.
It will occasionally crash.
The auto-transfer feature works about 1 out of 3 or 4 times and will usually stop mid-transfer forcing you to switch the camera on & off multiple times until you manage to sync all files, which is infuriating.
It doesn’t stream files to your phone when the camera is on, which is something the X-T5 can do. Don’t know why they haven’t back-ported this to the 50R as well.
The resized resolution option is 3 Mp (2048x1536) but this is way below the 12 Mp files that the X-T5 can sync, despite the X-T5 having lower resolution. The JPEG compression in the files is also pretty bad, resulting in lots of lost detail. Comparatively, a 3 Mp exported from Lightroom would yield a much richer file. This makes the synced files suboptimal for quick sharing on e.g. Instagram (which is the whole point of syncing reduced size files in the first place).
While the Canon Camera Connect app neatly makes one folder per camera on your phone, Fujifilm Camera Remote lumps files from any connected Fujifilm camera to the same Camera Remote folder, so good luck distinguishing which images have been shot with which camera.
On the plus side, at least you can update camera firmware with it, which is more than can be said about the Nikon (prior to Z6II & Z7II) & the Sony apps.
Fujifilm has been working on a new app, the Fujifilm XApp, which was released on May 24th of 2023, but was subsequently pulled while issues are being ironed out. Hopefully it will provide a much better experience than the Camera Remote App it replaces.
Outro
If you want to get the medium format experience out of your system (or into your system), the GFX 50R is your gateway drug. Fujifilm has unfortunately ceased its production, but there is still new stock of it available world-wide. Don’t hesitate to get it now or heavily priced down on the used camera market. You have to be prepared for its weaknesses, but the resulting images will absolutely blow your mind.
If Fujifilm could improve on this camera, my wish list would be for the packaging to be made better by fitting the same internals in a slimmer body more akin to the XPro-3, make the screen flush with the rest of the camera body, put the playback button in a better place and get rid of the “film advance” effect shutter. Other than that, the rest could stay as is & still be perfectly fine for slow-paced high fidelity photography for years to come.
Gallery
All of the pictures below were taken with the Fujifilm GFX 50R and various lenses. Most samples were synced using the Camera Remote App and are unprocessed. Due to the fact that the app export is not high quality, they don’t do the actually IQ of the camera justice, but you can get an idea of the way the camera renders colours, tones & depth of field.
