Silverton Church, Western NSW
Fujifilm GFX100s with 23mm lens, f4 @ 4 seconds, ISO 100.
Recently I took a photo tour with Ignacio Palacios and a group of brave photographers to western New South Wales: Broken Hill, Silverton, Menindee Lakes and Mungo National Park. I also took a full Fujifilm GFX100s outfit – 23mm, 32-64mm, 45-100mm, 250mm and 2x converter – for review in the magazine. You can read my initial thoughts in the current issue of Better Photography magazine, but there’s nothing like using a camera for a solid week to really come to grips with it.
And I loved it. What’s not to love about a 100-megapixel sensor and a selection of super sharp lenses, all fitting into a medium size Lowepro back pack. The camera isn’t much bigger or heavier than a DSLR or mirrorless camera (larger than some, smaller than others) and in fact not much bigger than my Fujifilm X-T4 outfit, so the experience was very comfortable.
But the files! Opening up a 100-megapixel image shot on the GFX100s was a delight. The backside-illuminated CMOS sensor captures 16-bit files and presents a very even tonal gradation, meaning there’s a softness in colour and tone over the top of a crisp, super sharp image. And with in-camera body stabilisation, you can comfortably hand-hold this camera, just like its smaller competitors.
The Fujifilm GFX100s is an excellent step up to medium format – or ‘large format’ as Fujifilm describes it. In fact, it’s not that much more expensive than other top-of-the-range DSLR and mirrorless cameras on the market today. And at around $13,000 with a lens, it’s affordable.
One of the travellers on our photo tour had just taken delivery of his own GFX100s and if the smile on his face as he looked at his files was any indication, he was one happy photographer – and I can understand why!
And just to let you know, the Better Photography Magazine Photo of the Year award is now open for entries, with $5000 in cash prizes up for grabs and a judge comment for every entry - www.betterphotographyphotocomp.com
And there’s a capture to print workshop with Ignacio and me up the Blue Mountains at the end of this month – check out the website for details at www.betterphotography.com.