Fuji Is About to Release an Impressively Affordable Medium Format Camera [Rumor]

Fuji Is About to Release an Impressively Affordable Medium Format Camera [Rumor]

Medium format cameras can produce wildly impressive results, but they generally come at wildly high prices. Fuji may be about to change all that, as it seems they're preparing to release a medium format camera at a full frame price.

Rumors of a GFX 50R have been flying for a bit now, and it seems such a camera is indeed on the way. The GFX 50S has been very well received, and with a price of $5,849, it's certainly cheap as far as medium format cameras go, but it's still more expensive than all but the highest-level full frame cameras. However, Photo Rumors is reporting that Fuji is planning to price the GFX 50R at around $3,600, a truly remarkable price for a new medium format camera that easily makes it a competitor with such cameras as the Canon 5D Mark IV, Nikon D850, and Sony a7R III. While it certainly wouldn't have the frame rates or autofocus performance of those cameras, for those using such cameras who don't need such things (like studio and landscape shooters), the option of going medium format at a similar price could be very tempting (I know I would take a hard look at it). Photo Rumors reports the camera resembles a large X-E3, with no ISO dial and no top OLED screen. However, they say the camera will be rather small and light by medium format standards. If such a camera is announced in the next few weeks, it could certainly be a very intriguing option for many shooters. 

Head over to Photo Rumors for more.

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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38 Comments

If I leave Nikon at some point it will almost certainly be for Fuji.

Ditto

no doubt.

Ditto for Canon.

I basically left Canon for Fuji after falling in love the the X100S on a trip to Columbia. Then I bought the XPro2 and a few lenses and didn't look back. I only kept 1 5D and a couple Canon lenses.

While I agree and am certainly now a "fuji guy", it is still so much easier to shoot my 5D and 70-200 for action and the Canon files import in to lightroom at twice the speed and with no weird XTrans artifacts.

I was that guy telling everyone how happy I was and thought I had it all figured out with fuji, but while I still carry the fujis every day, there are some quirks.

Try Capture One with your xtrans files.

Yeah... XTrans artifacts are sort of what keep me away from Fuji. I don't love their ergonomics either. But I'm happy they have a dedicated user base and are making some very cool products. This rumored medium format system might be my entry point to the Fuji-verse.

You should try converting those files to DNG with Iridient X-Transformer then use whatever developer you want.. The difference is massive.

tilt shift lens and I'm there

But it’s not...full frame.

haha

I have a thin hope that this will make Pentax wake up and update their 645z. It's 4yo now, which is getting up there for electronics.

Agreed. The 645Z is a phenomenal camera. I love Pentax gear but have thin hopes

As far as I know, they have nothing for dSLRs in the pipeline. There's some speculation that they'll come out with a new GR or Theta camera at the Photokina. Pentax is getting left behind. Again.

4 yo, but it sports the same sensor than this new camera.

The only info I can find on the maker of their sensor is a blurb that infers their sensor was developed in-house.

Pentax's 645z uses a Sony CMOS sensor.

If the interpretation of Fujifilm subtext is correct, no, they do not use the same sensor. Same sensor size and type, sure. But the /same/ sensor? No.

Probably they put their CFA on the same Sony sensor everyone is using ( https://photographylife.com/reviews/fuji-gfx-50s ), and maybe they do something with that columns rows and 24 rows of pixels they don't record in the image. But technology-wize it's the same old cmos pixel

How many card slots?

Though, for real, if this thing delivers on top quality it is going to be tough to justify something like the Z7 at a similar price point.

lol on the card slots

Not having phase detect af is too high of a cost. Having a larger sensor does me no good if my shots are out of focus

Why? If you are shooting MF, you arent really shooting anything that is moving with high degrees of pace.

because theses are the new photographers , all about tech. not pictures quality

Maybe you need glasses.

Is it even possible to make a wide-angle f/1.4 for a medium format?

Why do you need it? The DoF of a 645 MF 2.8 lens is equivalent to a 1.7 lens in 35mm. A 1.4 lens designed for a MF sensor would give you a DoF so narrow it would be worthless.

thats quite cheap but i heard that it will be at least $3900

Here in the UK a camera price is usually £1 per dollar, whatever the exchange rate, it would be worth getting a cheap return to America to pick one up

this is what I've been waiting for. been shooting fuji since the original xt-1 and have been really happy. I've always wanted a medium format body in a smaller package that is somewhat affordable. this is a camera I've wanted for a long time. stoked for this.

I think Fuji thought wisely to skip 35mm full frame...

I don't know. If there was a full frame x-t2 I would have left Canon already.

That would have put them in a crowded room with Nikon, Canon, and Sony, and I don't mean just mirrorless. Instead, they're in a league of their own.

Fair enough. But given they way they do their interface, they would be in a league of their own no matter what format they were making.

Yeah Fuji is pretty decent. Hopefully the new EVF in the X-T3 is finally good, up to now they've been meh. I was really hot for the XTs until I looked through the EVF, that was the end of that. Otherwise great camera. Fingers crossed.

The current G mount roadmap only goes as far as a 250mm prime (198mm effective) and a 1.4x converter, which would make that 280, effectively. If you are a studio portrait photographer, this shouldn't be a problem. If you want to do landscapes, it presents some pretty severe limitations. That's not near long enough for any telephoto landscape work

I suppose you could always have a P6-GFX adapter, strap a 500mm Orestegor to it, and then attach the adapter to the Fuji teleconverter. But this will require a mule to transport. My 300mm Pentacon 6 mount Orestegor is bigger than my Canon 100-400, and significantly heavier.

I wish Fuji would just split the difference and make a full frame camera.

That being said, there is a lot of really good, really cheap Zeiss Jena glass out there that can be adapted to the G mount. People should be aware of that.

Lenses will make or break it.

Don't shoot me, but I'd love to see Pentax go in this direction too...

I moved from Nikon to Fujifilm XT-2 and never looked back. I love my camera. This news makes it seem like there is a massive shift in who's the top dog in the photography retail game.

Hasselblad and Phase One are the ones that really need to look out here, not Canon and Nikon. I feel bad for Hasselblad, but considering how Capture One gives certain cameras lip service, I don't feel so bad for Phase One.
:-)