GFX 50R - Affordable Medium Format - 1 Year Review
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- A long term review on my experience using the Medium Format Digital FujiFilm GFX 50R paired with the Mitakon 65mm 1.4 for the last year, with sample images.
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#fujifilm #gfx #gfx50r
Thanks Thanks Ive been using the 50R for 2 years and the Mitakon 65/1.4 came into my life last August. They are a match in heaven. Ive seen other GFX model come and go but the 50R I hail it as my legancy camera. I love it for the same reason as you. An aim and shoot camera. Also I like the range finder design very much. Thanks again for this clip.
Sold mine for the 100 II, the 50r gave me the kickstart for my career and i will eventually rebuy one for the nostalgia.
I am a GFX owner and I must say the portraits you’ve taken with the camera are superb. You really make best use of the medium format sensor.
I’m sure
this video will inspire a few people to get into the GFX system.
Thanks for sharing.
I did not click on this video thinking that the example pictures would be absolute worldclass!😱
very kind, thank you!
*repeats "I don't need another camera" over and over*
Once again, a fantastic and well thought out video as usual, offering guidance and clarity for anyone who is interested into jumping into the scary world of medium format cameras!
@@LoveDeathAway hahaha I’m like that with a leica q3 at the moment 😰😰 thanks very much for the kind words!
Love my gfx 50R. It’s unlike any other digital camera I own and it feels so much like a film camera
I own literally the same combo 50r + minolta 45mm F2 and it's been great so far for me. Thank you for the tips mentioned in your video! Love your photos as well, very inspiring
Inspired. I have been curious about the GFX. You said something that completely resonated with my “style” … this is for people who like to take their time. I’ll be renting one today. One more thing: your portraits are superb!
Thank you for inspiration. Next week I will buy a GFX 50R and Mitakon 65mm, in addition for my Fujifilm X-System.
Waited a year for this video, great review, I'm glad you still are in love with it. Adapting vintage lenses with this camera is the way to go.
Absolutely! Thanks for watching :)
Thank you so much for making this video. I actually have been waiting for it since the last video. As a current owner of the GFX 50R I was not aware about the differences in the raw format and the dynamic range settings; therefore this video made my day! I would be interested to learn more about your techniques to manually focus with this camera using third-party lenses that would be very helpful for me. Maybe you can expand on this a bit more. I really enjoy also the beautiful portrait pictures you took.
Me either! I wish fuji were more clear about this rather than relying on other TH-camrs to test it.
Personally I set the button above the Q button to punch into the image so I can get focus, so I’ll compose, punch in, focus, fine tune composition, take the shot. Not ideal but mostly works well.
Thanks so much for watching, and for the kind words!
@@EddyMaynard The dynamic settings do not affect RAW files in anyway, by definition the RAW files are a direct readout from the sensor. What you're saying about DR400 is untrue and impossible; this feature is for JPGs only. The best dynamic range you can get is to use the native ISO using RAW files. The reason Fuji don't mention it anywhere is because it isn't a thing.
Also Fuji lossless compressed is identical image quality to uncompressed (it uses lossless compression like ZIP files) The reason there is an uncompressed option at all is to improve file read speeds when editing (they don't need to be decompressed each time they are accessed) and for compatibility with older systems used by some professionals. For most use cases, using lossless compressed and saving nearly 50% disk space is preferable, again, there is zero difference in quality.
Hey! I would agree about the DR setting however it’s been tested by me and others online and a difference is noticeable at DR400 with the raw files. It doesn’t make sense to me either, but try it!
Same with lossless compressed, while it shouldn’t make a difference, it does
@@EddyMaynard I suggest you test again. DR400 does not alter the sensor's actual dynamic range. It simply provides tone mapping for JPGs. It is the same technique used with Log formats for video; RAW video and RAW stills are the unprocessed raw data from the sensor. I don't know what you are seeing, but if there is any difference in the files it must be some kind of setting that is being applied in the software that has nothing to do with the actual RAW files themselves (in the same way that applying film emulations to a RAW file in post doesn't alter the data itself). I can guarantee that RAW RAF files have 100% of the available maximum dynamic range that the sensor can produce.
Type it into google there’s multiple articles about it man
Good video and lots of nice photos. Thanks for sharing. I have most of the Fuji X cameras and the GFX50R and GFX100S, but the 50R is my favorite of all the Fuji cameras. It's fun to shoot with Leica M-mount lenses as they are so tiny, especially on the 50R body.
I had one of these from launch day when I shot Fujifilm- I shot so so much with it and absolutely loved it. Used it so much during lockdown, including blogging every day with it and the amazing GF50mm 3.5 lens. I also used the Minolta 58mm 1.4 (still have it) which had amazing flare, I loved using it at weddings too.
Sold it but have always missed it- the shutter sound, just the whole camera was so nice to use. Maybe get it back someday
I absolutely love it, been such a great platform for adapting lenses for portraits and even for vlogging. I have the same grip, the arca swiss mount on both sides saves a lot of hassle.
You can turn a Kiron 24/2 into an ultrawide shallow depth of field monster (it doesn't cover fully, but in 16:9 video it's bang on), just ordered a 7artisans 28/1.4 to see if I can squeeze even shallower depth of field for youtube. The Contax Planar 50/1.4 is a banger, albeit a bit wide for my liking, so I adapted a Minolta Rokkor 58/1.4 (took the optical block out, glued a threaded adapter into a helicoid and now the lens collapses into a pancake for transport, so bonus ergonomics) The newly released TTartisan 75/1.5 should be an absolute banger, it's on its way to me. The Mitakon 65/1.4 I found a bit on the bland side, it's very much like a smaller copy of a Takumar 105/2.4 from Pentax 6x7, but I already have more interesting exotic lenses adapted to the Pentax and I think a lot of people miss out on that beast by just sticking to OEM lenses, but that's beside the point.
Got my GFX50R for 1200 quid offa MPB, it has a broken dial but it's no matter to me. So if you look patiently, there's even more money to be saved on this amazing bit of kit.
In my humble opinion, we really, REALLY need to see an GFX 100R to hit those photo store shelves... 😊
Hi Tomislav
Fuji told me they have no plans for an R camera nor for a monochrome sensor. Hopefully they change course on both. Probably financial decisions - niche market profits are too small.
Glad to hear you're enjoying the Smallrig grip, still very happy with mine too! 💪
I want one. It’d be great for wedding photography portrait sessions and family portraits. I’d still use my xt4/xt3 for the rest of the day for faster paced scenarios
As an owner of a Mamiya 645 I’ve got some Mamiya manual lenses that I can convert to this body too, which is part of my draw to wanting to buy a 50R
Fantastic photos! Marvelous 😍 this is how all cameras reviews must begin: straight up pratical examples of the use, not talking.
A stubborn question tho: do you know if there are attributes to the GFX 50R that are better than some found in the GFX 50S? Because I'm searching the used market and I'm finding the 50R always more expensive than the 50S. Might it just be a "market moment"?
Great run through. For me it’s also one of my favorite cameras of all time. Great images! ❤
It's been 2-3 years now I keep telling myself I'm going to buy a GFX and haven't pulled the trigger yet. :-) One day.
Same here 😂
@@Rios278 @esppics21.
Do it...been there wandering...just offered myself a used 50S together with the Mitakon 65. Never had so much fun. And definitely makes me want to shoot more (as getting fit arms :O))
We have the 50s if you adjust your shadow tone to taste when getting a exposure, coupled with the DR adjustments then you can get a perfect dynamic range image virtually every time. The shadow recovery in camera has less signal to noise then external editor for noise. Also if want the actual fuji color you need to have the camera do the processing for a jpeg or a tiff.
Tiff if i want to edit more. Everything but the fuji color.
I keep that.
Some absolutely stunning portraits.
@@andysmith7437 thanks very much!
This is my dream camera. I'd love to try it for macro photography.
I am still trying to convince myself to get GFX, but all facts mentioned, it looks like 100S II might be a better pick, maybe... :D
I love that Minolta lens. It came on my first ever camera, a Minolta srt 200. That 45 is amazing. It does great on my Sony too
So happy with my x100v but having something like the GFX is definitely a goal in the future. Been shooting with my Nikon d750 for years but after using the x100v for a year now I am just blown away by the colors and would appreciate a medium format look with those colors and a similar layout.
Thank you!
The focus by wire works very well on GF lenses. I routinely use the AF+MF option with the GF lenses & focus peaking. The longer the adapted FF lens the more likely it will cover the full GF sensor. My 135f2.8 Olympus works fine. And yes ND filters, and a tripod are a reality with this sort of camera.
Just a note, a blog called 5050 Travelog found the autofocus was actually good, consistently so in low light. He updated to the latest firmware and said the camera didn't feel sluggish in the slightest and didn't hunt 98% of the time. In general I am unconvinced by most claims of "autofocus bad" for most cameras especially due to the fact the average person claiming that doesn't look into performance settings of the camera, nor how to properly set up the focusing settings in that camera.
A Sony or Canon autofocus it ain’t, but it’s entirely usable contrast autofocus. Not an issue.
I don’t shoot birds or sports with my 50R, but for any posed photos? Just fine. My daughters are 9 and 7. They know how to pose for pics.
@MikeLikesChannel for anything faster, say, concert or music would it still be usable?
@@cine-ish it’d be an interesting experiment. I haven’t really had the challenge case of low light + movement with it. The way I see it though, photographers got those shots in the 70s with far more primitive equipment.
@@MikeLikesChannel I thought the same thing too, I think I'm deciding between the 50R as it's my favourite form factor as a fan of brick shaped cameras and the 50s ii as it has supposedly faster processors and general operation and ibis but there's a distinct lack of quantifiable info on it.
For reference I shoot the X Pro 2, Sigma FP and Ricoh GRIII, the FP being my favourite for video work and general daylight photog stuff is pretty fun with it but I wanted a GFX specifically for both elevating my own personal portfolio and for shooting more premium stuff such as automotive photography, products and artistic projects
@@cine-ish I’ve briefly shot the 50Sii to compare it to the 50R and truly couldn’t tell a difference, granted it was a long weekend rental special. I’ve heard the 100S has the major difference in autofocus which makes sense to me. But yeah, I’m not a fan of the SLR style bodies, I like my brick 🧱 😆
It sucks that they discontinued making this grip. I purchased an off brand version on eBay, wood was fake, very hollow, and the screw would never properly tighten on the bottom of the camera. Needless to say, I threw it away!
Glad you’re enjoying the camera!
Rumors are that Fuji will release a fixed lens GFX camera in 2025. If it will have a built-in ND filter, leaf shutter and flash I'll be all over it!
If that happens I’m selling my x100v in a heartbeat😊
I'd just like them to release a 50R II with a better grip and image stabilisation and fully flippable screen, I'm too particular about my lenses. But it would be an interesting step if the fixed lens makes the camera more compact
I’m very interested in this. Hope the price is low enough and the aperture goes wide enough 🤞
@@KNURKonesur I dont care about grip, they can be added after purchase, image stabilization makes the camera more bulky and flip screen is a gimmick, lens quality, big sensor, LEAF SHUTTER and small form factor is all that matters to me
@@3c3c3c Sell that thing while it's hot right now and get a GFX 100 😅
Beautiful camera..hopefully one day I would love to have this setup..this is the ideal one for me....Mitakon 65mm!..there are rumors that Fuji is thinking of a Fixed lens GFX maybe next year..I hope that its this GFX 50R "rangefinder" style body..that would be great!..basically the big brother of the Fuji X100's..lol
I went with hasselblad x1d 1st gwn with 45mm 3.5. Like new and very low price. Same sensor but leaf shutter. Works well, so compact too. Love the image look
We need a 50mpx modern GFX with the AF from the 100mpx lineup
I agree, 100mp is overkill for 99% of stuff!
@@EddyMaynardI’m sad we might never see a 50-60MP medium format camera again. 100 megapixels is just absurd and most of us aren’t printing *mural-sized anything*
Loved it for landscapes and posed adults. Forget about anything moving.
I agree, the 100 ii fixes that! but at a cost... haha
@@EddyMaynard oh yes, I’m afraid to rent it because it’ll become a need more than a want 😝
The brick ergos are a plus.
Very Bad about Fuji not making anymore the original batteries. Now we have to go for 3rd part batteries and pray to not damage the camera.
Cracking video Eddie. Lovely bit of kit. Nice work. Just realised I hadn't subbed. Oh well I'm on board now. Keep um coming
thanks very much!
I love mine, and particularly like the old-school top dials. Although I use it with zoom lenses (32-64 and 100-200) I find the image quality to be very high indeed. Agree that the GFX fast primes are very expensive, maybe I will try a third party lens at some point. Not sure I agree with the comments about the poor autofocus, but I often use spot AF rather than zone, and since I turned on eye detection in the AF settings I find that it does much better in crowd scenes. My two biggest complaints are that it is really easy to accidentally change the exposure compensation dial when pulling the camera out of the bag, and that the default ISO dial on the front is equally easy to change without realising. Eventually I disabled the latter in settings; on the rare occasions when I want to change it, I do it in the Q menu.
Привет, друг! Смотрю тебя из России, Санкт-Петербург! Спасибо за твои видео и знания, которые я получаю, как начинающий фотограф! Успехов!
Haha, okay I'm back from the other video. Convenient timing. Seems like you and the GFX worked out a lot of the wrinkles - great to see!
Hahah thanks for checking the vid out!
@@EddyMaynard Of course!
Recently bought mine this week and I am in love! Been a dream camera of mine since forever.
Great/informative video
You mentioned Nikon's z8. Have you used it? If so what are your thoughts compared to the 50R? I think the 50R's images look incredible, but that price tag is a doozy...
Btw, I got so caught up in the camera itself I forgot to mention how, truly, beautiful your photos are. Keep up the great work!
That’s really nice review.
Do you reckon your X100V camera flash recipe would work on this camera or be similar? It’s my favourite go to recipe
Thanks Eddy I always enjoy hearing your thoughts especially on Fujifilm. I was thinking of moving from X series to GFX but I think I would miss the speed of the X series although if Fuji dont get their shit together on continuous AF quickly I might end up with Canon or Sony. I quite fancy a Mamiya MF with a digital back to try Medium format.
The newer gfx cameras are technically much much better, but also a lot more expensive. Personally I couldn’t reccommend the Sony a7iv more as a general workhorse camera, it never misses a beat, but it’s just very boring to use.
enjoyed. Wonderful results! How do you edit your RAW files?
i love it!!
never had issues with rolling shutter, i'm using it for events. its not an everyones camera you really have to learn working with the 50R but I agree no other camera give me that magic effect true to life.
Interesting, I’ll try it out a bit more, but was just really not a great experience whenever I’ve put it on electronic shutter. Thanks for watching!
@@EddyMaynard I went in my settings and saw im using EF-Front curtain and rarely go over 1/640, you are right if you are shooting wide open only option is a nd. :)
Great overview!
thanks man!
Never selling mine, I have the same grip, a must.
Same here! A thing of beauty
Great video, i really love this camera. Any chance you could upload couple raw files for us to download and try? Thanks!
Awesome camera and used prices dropped under the price of a new x100vi here in Norway. I was close to making the switch, but eh...I would much prefer having Ibis with such a camera tbh.
@@venom2k2 I agree ibis on this would be awesome!
I still want to get one but when I got my 50S ll it was literally the same price as a used 50R so there was no point.
You should pick up a ~30mm lens and use the 65:24 aspect ratio for a while. Amazing, movie-like stills.
I use the Voigtländer Ultron 28/2 and Color-Skopar 21/3.5 in that way, even Color-Skopar 15/4.5...
@@renze1966 I should try my Voigtländer 12mm f/5.6, although I am not sure how I would get it on there. That would be an insane lens on a medium format sensor, if it comes anywhere near to covering the sensor.
Where did you purchase your grip? I see that it’s discontinued on the smallrig website here in the US. Awesome video!
Ahh I didn’t realise it was discontinued! I got mine on eBay
How does it compare to the the GFX 50s ii?
Good music. Who is it?
great video
Currently you can get the 50S cheaper than the 50R for around £1500.
What lens are you using and adapter?
It looks like the Minolta MD 45mm f2. A lot of the MD lenses will get decent coverage on the GFX sensor
@@slippinjimmothy some older Minolta lenses like the Rokkora 58/1.4 cover fully with very little vignette if any. Love that lens. Made DIY adapter for it, took the lens block out, glued a little thread adapter, screwed it into a helicoid so focusing is much easier and the lens collapses into a pancake for transport. The sacrifice is that I don't have an aperture anymore, but I never needed it anyway :P
Minolta 45 f2, and the k&f adapter
I've had 2 or these and got rid of them because I'm dumb. It may be time to circle back around again.....
Would the gfx 50s II not be the better choice since it’s currently 2299 (jessops) new?
It is if "retro" dials aren't a must. The 50S II is better in every way.
Yes, but it doesn’t have the rangefinder charm that the R does, and for me, this is really important. But if it’s not important to you then the Sii is better in many more ways and a much better buy yes :)
Its weird to me that Fuji branded this as medium format when it's not much larger than Full Frame. Heck it's not even close to 6x4.5.
I believe it was hasselblad that used the sensor first, so were probably responsible for the name! It’s a little strange to call it that yes but it is 70% bigger than full frame so I feel like for simplicity it kinda makes sense. Thanks for watching!
@@EddyMaynard That's fair. Almost like large format could mean 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10.
@@bobbleczar yeah most sensor sizes make absolutely no sense anyway. ‘1 inch sensors’ for example aren’t anywhere near 1 inch 😂
You dont have the Mitakon 80mm anymore?
I don’t! I was only borrowing it from mitakon to make a review. I prefer the 65 anyway!
This is very odd that "lossless compressed" might be actually lossy. I would suspect it is like using ZIP format and that during opening the file Lightroom or whatever is unzipping the file...
@@xenon2Merchant I have tried both compressed and uncompressed on both Sony and Fuji and when recovering extreme shadows there is a difference, it’s really not huge but it is noticeable. Especially when correcting heavy vignettes and then correcting overall exposure, the corners (where the most recovery took place) can look very noisy vs uncompressed.
There’s also a very slight colour difference sometimes. But this is correctable.
Whether that’s important to you is up to you!
@@EddyMaynard I have Sonys too, but in Sony you have explicit lossy compression, and uncompressed. Lossy is the keyword (I work as software developer so probably I have some knowledge in that respect). I wonder if there is any proof of any data change (in Fuji losless) in as it should not happen.
yeah from my testing on the x100v x100vi xh2 and xt4 there is literally no difference in uncompressed and lossless compressed when processing in captureone or Lightroom. it is literally just compressing the uncompressed file using a lossless compression algorithm. it is fundamentally is the exact same file, it just gets uncompressed when you open it in capture one or Lightroom etc
maybe it was just different/not as good with this camera since it is much older
Where did you find your grip?
I got mine off eBay
Well -- I think that is not quite true ( that there is no better camera for this style of shooting for this price , as you said) , there is at least one camera as good as this one and perhaps better for about the same price : that is in fact the newer fuji GFX 50s II
@@andretim75 50s ii looks more like a normal mirrorless camera though and doesn’t have the same charm as this when photographing other people. For pure specs alone the 50s is better, but I don’t think specs are thing that makes the R so good / a pleasure to shoot with
Drop a preset pack already!!!
Do you even landscape, bro? :D
First of all, this isn't supposed to be a dig at your pictures, I loved them. If I shoot people, it's mostly portrait, too. I just thought this might make for a funny comment.
You're really making me consider this camera and lens combo. Maybe next year. I'm still building out my kit since I went from a Canon APS-C to a Sony full frame setup this year and haven't acquired all the lenses I consider necessary for a complete kit. It's just three lenses missing, though, so I might have everything by February or March.
If I were to save up for a GFX 50R and the Mitakon 65/1.4 after that, it might take me another two to three months, which would make it a perfect birthday gift for myself :D
Best dynamic range is absolutely not "DR 400" it is base ISO. Always. You're just not nailing the exposure at base ISO. // Amazing photos by the way.
Everything except the Sony comment. Blows Sony for color and tonal falloff😊
So I read this 4 days ago and I actually disagreed with you in my head haha... but it got me thinking and I actually wanted to go out and test the theory, and - you're correct.
Shot the same stuff today on the a7iv and the gfx side by side and theres loads more data in the gfx files, and they look much 'smoother' in terms of the falloff between tones. My mistake! Thanks for bringing that up. Now I really want a gfx 100ii 😂
The word "affordable" is not applicable to really any working class folks nowadays. Not sure why you'd use that descriptor.
@@Wilsnap hey! I used the word affordable since medium format digital cameras have historically been between £7000-30,000, getting something like this at £2000 is a steal. I appreciate that’s still a lot of money but the usual definition of an ‘affordable car’ is usually anything under around £8000, so while I’m not saying by any means it’s cheap, affordable is relative to the average prices of medium format digital.
You can find the 50R for $1800. For medium format digital that is *peanuts*
you are too good for that shitty lens
High performance FF >
@@v_stands_for_value124 very hard to get the exact same look on full frame, but for most people, yes, full frame is a better choice for everyday work. Less fun though :)
And you’ve said absolutely nothing regarding how easy or difficult it is to manually focus to get sharp images.
Note: it’s not just the batteries that are discontinued, the Small Rig grip is also unavailable to buy new. So two more reasons to avoid this camera.
@@DessieTots it’s easy. Hope your day gets better ✌️
is it a boy camera or a girl camera?
Dla obojnaka.
@@Rodan102 hehe
Lens selection is only thing stopping me.
I agree, and cost! (id get a 100 ii for work stuff)
Hi Eddy.
Thanks for a good practical overview. Some questions below.
Q Have you tested Canon TS lenses eg 24mm or 17mm - for edge sharpness and vignetting - f4 but wide!
(For GFX100 I have Kipon adaptor for Phase One/Schneider lenses (manual) 55, 80, 120M - but am considering Mitakon 65/1.4 for portraits:)
Q With no eye tracking is manual focusing / peaking ok?
Q Do you miss no IBIS / no lens stabilisation?
Q Did Capture One eg V22 ever sort out the tethering problems ?
Q Can the Mitakon close focus until face fills frame ?
Q My Canon 5Ds is good - I assume there is more DR, smoothness and quality with the Fuji 50R.
Electronic rolling shutter, no - mechanical only!
Strange that the best DR is at ISO 400 or higher. I always thought best DR is at/close to base ISO, usually ISO 50 or 100 or 200. Less noise/more DR at lower ISO.
Would love to see a new GFX100R with all the new features but Fuji told me no plans for R or for Monochrome. Maybe too niche/low income.
Good backup for the 100 - as is original 50s. Or if I love the R, maybe the other way round!!
Hi Eddy, thanks for this video. It’s very helpful to me. Can I just ask where you got your wooden grip from? I’ve seen a few different ones, but would like to get something tried and tested 🪃
@@TomFairhead-uy3bt thank you! It’s a smallrig wooden grip, I just got it off eBay