Before I was a Fujifilm X-photographer, I am a Fuji Fanboy and I am still one. In this Fujifilm journey of mine, I have the privilege to get acquainted with many fellow fanboys who loves this brand we call Fujifilm. Two month ago I was having coffee with Ansell Tan. We were just chatting about everything under the stars until inadvertently we come to the topic of the new GFX50R. One thing lead to another as Ansell is a producer and we decided to have some fun and do a YouTube video showcasing GFX50R.
As we know, Fujifilm now have two mirrorless medium format camera. I owned the GFX50S for about two years and I am loving it. Last year I also tested the GFX50R for about 3 week. The look of the new GFX50R is not to everyone’s taste including me. Strangely I begin to slowly like it more. Which is a good thing. The design will grow with you. If you are a fan of X100, X-E and X-Pro series, the GFX50R will make you feel right at home. Personally I hope Fujifilm will launch a silver version of GFX50R. That would be quite a looker.
As a commercial photographer I prefer GFX50S because its more versatile for me. I could add a vertical grip; attach the EVF tilt adaptor for more versatility and the 3 way LCD has a little more edge for me. Not that the GFX50R is a more inferior camera; the two cameras actually houses the same sensor. So the IQ output is the same. Just a difference cameras style for different photography objective and needs.
As this idea is sparked off from two Fuji Fanboys; the weeks ahead we manage to robe in more passionate Fanboys to help in this production. This process is not without its challenges but Ansell and myself persevered. Benny Loy is the frist to come on board. He is professional camera man is certainly a Fujifilm Fanboy. He will be filming this video with X-T3 and of course the two MK Cine lenses. MK18-55mm and MK 50-135mm.
Next, I link up with Eujin Goh of Broncolor Singapore who also uses a X-T2. I told him about the shoot that I will be doing with my Broncolor lighting for the GFX50R video. Since I am using the Siros for the shoot, he kindly said he will support us with Broncolor HMI lights for the production. Woohoo! Together with his pro lighting team, Tennant and Chong. Who uses X-T20 and a Fujifm film camera respectively.
Next; I would need to find models for the shoot. Coordinating the shoot dates was also challeging. In the end we manage to iron this out. I found two amazing models. The beautiful Colleen Fransica. Who was crowned Miss Singapore World in 2006. For the male model; he is none other than Bobby Tonelli. An american actor and TV host. On the shoot day I was totally surprise that Bobby brought a GFX50R mated with a Leica lens! What are the odds? My model is also a Fuji Fanboy! As Bobby is a Triumph Bike ambassador; he have arrange a new bike model for the shoot. First in Singapore; the new Triumph Speed Triple RS. When it was delivered to our venue; the odometer reads Zero KM! As for our venue, I am fortunate to rent a former old power station. A big badass location with a lots of history. A very special location to me; in modern Singapore we don’t have many places like this to start with.
After everything is all this iron out; I asked Fujifilm Singapore for a loan GFX50R set. Guess what; not a single unit is available for loan for this project as all the unit are out. That basically put me into panic mode as the production is in 3 days time. After tail spinning in panic mode for a couple of moments; I was fortunate to find fanboy Itaru San who just brought a GFX50R. He was kind enough to loan me his set and to sweeten the deal; he volunteer to help out on shoot day. Woohoo, we will always need an extra pair of hands. With that also iron out we are all settled and all ready for D-day.
I am totally at ease shooting with the GFX50R which is also lighter compared with the GFX50S. The lenses used during the shoot are GF23mm, GF45mm, GF32-64mm and GF110mm. As always tethering is a breeze with Capture One. Fast and very stable. And for Broncolor, together with new Fuji RFS2.2 transmitter I am able to fire off HS with the Broncolor Siros 800L lights. Perfect for overpowering the blazing sun in sunny Singapore. Basically I am a very happy photographer that my favorite brands could now work together beautifully. As for GFX50R, I think I might just buy one if ever the silver version comes along.
I personally think the GFX50R is for whose who is truly looking at entering the world of medium format. And what better time. Be it for wedding, documentary, portraits, fashion, commercial, landscape and even street photography. It’s certainly a leap forward against FF camera in the IQ department. At a price point that is very fair. And if you are familiar with the world of medium format; the GFX50R is regarded as a bargain. Especially if you compare with other medium format brands. It’s probably the “cheapest”. And also the sexiest and packed with technology. So thye Fujiflm GFX50R is certainly a bang for your buck. Period.
Hope you enjoy this blog post where we the fujifilm fanboys comes together to make something happened. I hope to see more of such collaborations among fanboys around the world. As for video it’s coming and as we speak; I hope Ansell is working on it. I will share it when it’s ready. FFF.
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nice!
Nice post. I just acquired the 50r and running now on parallel with my Leica M9. I am tempting to see if this can be my new everyday gear for documentary and travel or even street style photography. I choose this against an upgrade to m10. For me, the move to CMOS might as well go to the biggest sensor size option.