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Compact Camera Fujifilm Produced to Embrace Medium Format Legacy

Fujifilm leverages its storied heritage in roll film to create a digital powerhouse.

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Fujifilm's compact camera, the GFX100RF, is a necessity that embodies the company's medium format...
Fujifilm's compact camera, the GFX100RF, is a necessity that embodies the company's medium format heritage.

Compact Camera Fujifilm Produced to Embrace Medium Format Legacy

The Fujifilm GFX100RF, released in 2025, is making waves in the photography world as a groundbreaking medium format digital camera. This innovative device combines a 102-megapixel medium format sensor with a fixed 35mm f/4 lens, offering a unique blend of high resolution and portability.

The GFX100RF is a response to the appreciation of Fujifilm's earlier G series models, and it seems to be a natural evolution of the brand's long heritage in roll film ancestors. Fujifilm's first Fujica G series cameras were in the 6x9cm and 6x7cm formats, featuring interchangeable lenses.

The GFX100RF stands out for its flexibility and excellent portability, weighing under 750g and boasting a weather-proofed construction. It offers options for lens focal lengths of 35mm, 50mm, and 63mm, with respective resolutions of 62MP, 31MP, and 20MP.

One of the key features of the GFX100RF is its versatility. It caters to a wide range of applications beyond traditional ones like landscapes, street photography, and portraiture. With its 9 image aspect options for JPEG, including a panoramic 65:24, it shares similarities with the Hasselblad XPan.

Compared to other medium format cameras on the market, the GFX100RF stands out due to its unique lens integration and compactness. Most medium format digital cameras feature larger systems with interchangeable lenses, prioritizing versatility over portability. The GFX100RF, with its fixed 35mm lens and highly compact form factor, fills a niche similar to that of fixed-lens rangefinder cameras but with the advantage of modern sensor technology and digital integration.

Paul Burrows, an Honorary Fellow of the Institute Of Australian Photography (AIPP) and the editor of Australian Camera and ProPhoto magazines, with 40 years of experience in writing about cameras, photography, and photographers, has praised the GFX100RF for its distinctive balance of quality and portability not common in medium format digital cameras.

The price of the GFX100RF may seem steep initially, but it includes a medium format lens, making it comparable in cost to a pre-owned GFX 50R body with a GF 30mm f/3.5 R WR prime wide-angle lens. Despite its high price, the GFX100RF is arguably more desirable than the Fujifilm X100VI.

In the past, roll-film medium format rangefinder cameras with a fixed lens were common, particularly in the 6x6cm format. Leica has already developed 60MP models (Leica Q3 and Q3 43) with a similar concept to add flexibility. The GFX100RF reimagines this concept with modern digital features and Fujifilm’s acclaimed color science, making it suited for street photography and travel.

The GFX100RF's higher resolution may potentially deliver better image quality when cropping. It allows for post-processing cropping, with a maximum resolution of 102MP at the lens' actual focal length of 28mm.

In conclusion, the Fujifilm GFX100RF offers a bold experiment in medium format photography by merging a very high-resolution sensor with a compact, fixed wide-angle lens design inspired by classic rangefinders. It differs from its predecessors by sacrificing lens interchangeability and stabilization for size and simplicity, and it contrasts with most other medium format cameras by its rangefinder-inspired approach and exceptional image quality in a relatively small and weather-sealed body.

  1. The Fujifilm GFX100RF, a response to the appreciation of Fujifilm's earlier G series models, is a medium format digital camera released in 2025, combining a 102-megapixel sensor with a fixed 35mm f/4 lens for high resolution and portability.
  2. Fujifilm's first Fujica G series cameras, in the 6x9cm and 6x7cm formats, featured interchangeable lenses, mirroring the brand's long heritage in roll film ancestors.
  3. The GFX100RF stands out for its flexibility and portability, weighing under 750g and boasting a weather-proofed construction, offering options for lens focal lengths of 35mm, 50mm, and 63mm.
  4. With the 9 image aspect options for JPEG, including a panoramic 65:24, the GFX100RF shares similarities with the Hasselblad XPan, catering to a wide range of applications beyond traditional ones like landscapes, street photography, and portraiture.
  5. One of the key features of the GFX100RF is its versatility, setting it apart from other medium format cameras on the market, which prioritize versatility over portability with larger systems featuring interchangeable lenses.
  6. Paul Burrows, an expert with 40 years of experience in writing about cameras, photography, and photographers, has praised the GFX100RF for its balance of quality and portability, which is not common in medium format digital cameras.
  7. The price of the GFX100RF may seem steep initially, but it is comparable in cost to a pre-owned GFX 50R body with a GF 30mm f/3.5 R WR prime wide-angle lens, and arguably more desirable than the Fujifilm X100VI.
  8. The GFX100RF reimagines the concept of roll-film medium format rangefinder cameras with a fixed lens, making it suited for street photography and travel, leveraging modern digital features and Fujifilm’s acclaimed color science.

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