Digital Medium Format Thread

I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads in terms of GFX lenses. My Mitakon 65mm f/1.4 is easily my most used lens, but not quite sure it's 100% right and not sure what lens to pair with it.

Along with my Mitakon, over the past year or so, I've often been using an adapted Olympus 35mm f/2.8 shift lens, which fully covers the GFX sensor with some room for moderate shift (despite being fairly compact), and I quite like it (see some photos below), but relying on two manual-focus primes means that I rarely ever get to be in any photographs on our travels.

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I've previously owned the 63mm, but wasn't super hot on it compared to the Mitakon, so now thinking about the 45mm f/2.8... With my old Hasselblad camera, I used to like the 60mm f/3.5, which I think would be roughly equivalent to 45mm on GFX, so this might work...

Maybe I should just sell all of my lenses (save the GF 35-70) and get the 55mm f/1.7, which would slot nicely between 45mm and 65mm...
 
skysh4rk said:
I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads in terms of GFX lenses. My Mitakon 65mm f/1.4 is easily my most used lens, but not quite sure it's 100% right and not sure what lens to pair with it.

Along with my Mitakon, over the past year or so, I've often been using an adapted Olympus 35mm f/2.8 shift lens, which fully covers the GFX sensor with some room for moderate shift (despite being fairly compact), and I quite like it (see some photos below), but relying on two manual-focus primes means that I rarely ever get to be in any photographs on our travels.

View attachment 438843

View attachment 438846

View attachment 438847

View attachment 438852

View attachment 438851


I've previously owned the 63mm, but wasn't super hot on it compared to the Mitakon, so now thinking about the 45mm f/2.8... With my old Hasselblad camera, I used to like the 60mm f/3.5, which I think would be roughly equivalent to 45mm on GFX, so this might work...

Maybe I should just sell all of my lenses (save the GF 35-70) and get the 55mm f/1.7, which would slot nicely between 45mm and 65mm...
Click to expand...
Love that last shot of the Shanghai skyline. (y)
 
Mr Perceptive said:
@skysh4rk if you have a contrast detect GFX (ie a 50), don’t bother with the 55mm F1.7 - it struggles to auto focus and when it does it takes an age. I really liked the the GF45mm - my most used lens
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Is it really that bad? I'm coming from almost entirely manual focus, so I don't mind if the autofocus is slow as long as it eventually gets there. I have the 50S and I thought about changing, but I like the traditional controls and viewfinder of the 50S, so reluctant to move away from this (although IBIS would be nice).

I'm definitely interested in the 45mm, which holds a number of advantages (e.g., size, cost, focal length fits in nicely alongside other lenses), but just wondering whether the f/2.8 will be fast enough for me. I like to have the potential of that very thin depth-of-field look that medium format can provide, even if I'm not going to always shoot wide open.
 
skysh4rk said:
Is it really that bad? I'm coming from almost entirely manual focus, so I don't mind if the autofocus is slow as long as it eventually gets there. I have the 50S and I thought about changing, but I like the traditional controls and viewfinder of the 50S, so reluctant to move away from this (although IBIS would be nice).

I'm definitely interested in the 45mm, which holds a number of advantages (e.g., size, cost, focal length fits in nicely alongside other lenses), but just wondering whether the f/2.8 will be fast enough for me. I like to have the potential of that very thin depth-of-field look that medium format can provide, even if I'm not going to always shoot wide open.
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Yes re the 55mm its really that bad, the AF is bordering on the unusable - even confirmed witha discussion with one of teh Fujifilm Sales team, the 50MP sensor cameras are not good with either of the 80mm or the 55mm. Definitely try before you buy!

I think the 45mm is a very usable do it all lens (everyday carry), I was never disappointed with my results with the 45mm, yes its not super fast, but if I came back to teh system, it would be the first lens in my bag.
 
skysh4rk said:
I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads in terms of GFX lenses. My Mitakon 65mm f/1.4 is easily my most used lens, but not quite sure it's 100% right and not sure what lens to pair with it.

Along with my Mitakon, over the past year or so, I've often been using an adapted Olympus 35mm f/2.8 shift lens, which fully covers the GFX sensor with some room for moderate shift (despite being fairly compact), and I quite like it (see some photos below), but relying on two manual-focus primes means that I rarely ever get to be in any photographs on our travels.

View attachment 438843

View attachment 438846

View attachment 438847

View attachment 438852

View attachment 438851


I've previously owned the 63mm, but wasn't super hot on it compared to the Mitakon, so now thinking about the 45mm f/2.8... With my old Hasselblad camera, I used to like the 60mm f/3.5, which I think would be roughly equivalent to 45mm on GFX, so this might work...

Maybe I should just sell all of my lenses (save the GF 35-70) and get the 55mm f/1.7, which would slot nicely between 45mm and 65mm...
Click to expand...
Just want to say, I So love the style of your personal photography.



Regards
peter
 
Mr Perceptive said:
Yes re the 55mm its really that bad, the AF is bordering on the unusable - even confirmed witha discussion with one of teh Fujifilm Sales team, the 50MP sensor cameras are not good with either of the 80mm or the 55mm. Definitely try before you buy!

I think the 45mm is a very usable do it all lens (everyday carry), I was never disappointed with my results with the 45mm, yes its not super fast, but if I came back to teh system, it would be the first lens in my bag.
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Okay. I'll keep this in mind. WEX in Glasgow have a special GFX area/room with the cameras and lenses, which I might visit if I find myself tempted by the 55mm and want to try it out.
macvisual said:
Just want to say, I So love the style of your personal photography.



Regards
peter
Click to expand...

Thanks. I feel like the colour and consistency of my photographs were better when I was shooting film, so have been tempted to pull my film gear back out, but I think (or maybe hope) I'm starting to get the hang of this digital thing.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
Yes re the 55mm its really that bad, the AF is bordering on the unusable - even confirmed witha discussion with one of teh Fujifilm Sales team, the 50MP sensor cameras are not good with either of the 80mm or the 55mm. Definitely try before you buy!

I think the 45mm is a very usable do it all lens (everyday carry), I was never disappointed with my results with the 45mm, yes its not super fast, but if I came back to teh system, it would be the first lens in my bag.
Click to expand...
skysh4rk said:
Okay. I'll keep this in mind. WEX in Glasgow have a special GFX area/room with the cameras and lenses, which I might visit if I find myself tempted by the 55mm and want to try it out.


Thanks. I feel like the colour and consistency of my photographs were better when I was shooting film, so have been tempted to pull my film gear back out, but I think (or maybe hope) I'm starting to get the hang of this digital thing.
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That's interesting to hear re the 55mm. I am of course not saying your experience is wrong but I didn't find it to be as bad as you describe. Although coming from MF film, perhaps my expectations were a lot lower? I loved the IQ of the 55mm and if I got into a GFX again in the future which I am tempted to do, it would be the first lens I would pick up for it. I find the FL very versatile and the quality was lovely. What prompted me to sell was I struggled to find the love for the EVF way of shooting despite all the cameras other advantages, coupled with the size of it as a walk around. I would much rather put a roll through the Pentax 67ii or similar for personal, everyday stuff.

I was using on a 50s II for information.
 
Hi all, long time Sony shooter currently using an A9 and with a an assortment of G and GM glass. I mainly shoot portraits, with the odd exception and thinking of moving to GFX as the DR of the A9 isn’t great and I don’t really need the AF or burst speed. Considered A7rv but the GFX range has really grabbed me.

I've got a GFX 100sii on loan from Fujifilm this weekend, along with the 110 f2 and 45-100. I've been out this evening to shoot a local Christmas nativity event at my local church, using the 110 f2 on the GFX in tandem with my A9 with a 24-105 f4. I'll admit I did manage to screw up the GFX setup and it shot jpegs, but I was blown away with the quality of them, particularly with the lack of noise at high ISO. The camera was also a dream to handle, well balanced and it felt so solid and well built.

I'll carry on playing with both lenses tomorrow, but I suspect I'll be sold! The big question next is which body and lens combination. Ideally I'd like to run an X-series setup alongside as something less cumbersome and easier for family days out etc. Broadly, I think I've got the following options:

1. GFX 100sii with a 45-100. This would likely clean out my budget from selling my Sony gear. My concern is that whilst the camera is awesome, I'd only have one lens and no X-series body.

2. GFX 100 used, with either 100 f2 and 35-75, or the 45-100, matched with something like an X-S10 or X-T30ii with 18-55 and 55-200 lenses. This looks like a great option, but I'd need to handle the 100, as I'm aware that it's very large!

3. GFX 50Sii used with 100 100 f2 and 45 f2.8, matched with something like an X-S10 or X-T30ii with 18-55 and 55-200 lenses. This is the most cost-effective option, but as others have said, the 50mp sensors are prone to aliasing more than the 100mp sensors.

There are loads of used bodies on the market at present at attractive prices, should I worry about shutter counts etc, as most secondhand dealers in the UK won't publish shutter count on their websites.

Any advice on which of the above is the best option?
 
@Pandster, heres my 2p

The GF lenses are all good, but IMO some are outstanding (in particular the GF45mm F2.8 and the GF110mm F2, I have no real experience of the newer GF55mm F1.7) - so if you really liked the images you go from the 110mm then IMO not getting it and getting the 45-100mm will disappoint.

Personally if you can make it work financially I would consider a used (or old stock) GFX100S and the GF45mm(used) and GF110mm (used) - that gives you the benefit of the higher resolution (which gives significant cropping options) and phase detection AF. The orginal GFX100 is a bit of a beast, its surprisingly bulky, and for most shooters doesn't over any advantages over the DSLR sized GFX100S.

Then you could consider an X-series camera for something 'smaller' - I happily used an X100F alongside a GFX system, but I was also happy to take out the GFX and one lens for a lighter weight system.
 
@Pandster1981 my feeling is that you're using a camera (A9) that's not built for that kind of purpose. The MF cameras will produce lovely images, but you would also do much better than the A9 with an A7IV.
 
ancient_mariner said:
@Pandster1981 my feeling is that you're using a camera (A9) that's not built for that kind of purpose. The MF cameras will produce lovely images, but you would also do much better than the A9 with an A7IV.
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Agreed, I started on E mount with an A7rii and then got the A9 as it was a great deal and at the time I was shooting more varied subjects. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fabulous camera but not suited to what I’m doing now.
 
ancient_mariner said:
@Pandster1981 my feeling is that you're using a camera (A9) that's not built for that kind of purpose. The MF cameras will produce lovely images, but you would also do much better than the A9 with an A7IV.
Click to expand...

@Pandster1981 This is actually important advice, although the allure of the GFX may be great, there are some significant drawbacks to the GFX system and its not for all. IMO the drawbacks are:-

1) Limited Range of Native Lenses - and a shortage of fast glass
2) Cost of said lenses and their weight
3) And the one that bothered me the most was the lack of medium format look, although the images were great and had good depth and tonality, the sensor isn't big enough to really get the "MF look" (obviously very subjective) you get with a large film negative.

The sensors in the GFX cameras are quite old by today's standards, so the higher ISO capability can easily be matched/beaten with a 2024 camera. Even the DR comes close, but the GFXs do produce a certain tonality in their images which I think FF struggles to match.
 
Short question;

Which might youse medium formal shooter’s choose between these two candidates…;

Hasselblad X1D — Fuji GFX 50



Would love to hear your thoughts/views/experience…..thank you!

Cheers;
Peter



p.s.
I’ve recently vied a few separate hard-back photographic books by professional photographer ‘Ian Lawson’ who I believe shoots using Hasselblad gear …..and totally bowled over with the utter quality prints from his personal books…! w O w
 
Last edited:
macvisual said:
Short question;

Which might youse medium formal shooter’s choose between these two candidates…;

Hasselblad X1D — Fuji GFX 50



Would love to hear your thoughts/views/experience…..thank you!

Cheers;
Peter



p.s.
I’ve recently vied a few separate hard-back photographic books by professional photographer ‘Ian Lawson’ who I believe shoots using Hasselblad gear …..and totally bowled over with the utter quality prints from his personal books…! w O w
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I think it really depends on how you want to do things with MF. I'm loving the Fujifilm route - the 50s/100s bodies make a lot of sense coming from the xh2s, so ably a small amount of muscle memory to relearn. Price is just about affordable for me and they are medium format "enough" that I'm happy to ignore the naysayers about sensor size. It's a joy to take pics with them too!
 
I was an early adopter of the Fuji GFX 50S and have no regrets, FWIW I think the lens range for Fuji is better than the Hasselblad, I also use the Bronica SQ system for film.

If money were no object I think I would consolidate the Fuji and Bronica systems into one Haselblad system like a 500 series with both film and digital backs but that route is out of my financial range nowadays plus I'd get no gains in terms of image quality just the convenience of having both film and digital in the same kit bag. Not worth all that expense.
 
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I’m not sure if I should try expand on my current (elderly) X-E1 & X-Pro1 bodies to something like the much faster X-T3/4/5….(?)

Or; aim for a GFX50S II body and go down the medium format route…(?)

For the likes of the GFX50S II body is it all about the actual size of it’s large sensor that makes the big difference compared to likes of X-T4/5 I wonder…(?)


Cheers:
Pete
 
macvisual said:
Short question;

Which might youse medium formal shooter’s choose between these two candidates…;

Hasselblad X1D — Fuji GFX 50



Would love to hear your thoughts/views/experience…..thank you!

Cheers;
Peter



p.s.
I’ve recently vied a few separate hard-back photographic books by professional photographer ‘Ian Lawson’ who I believe shoots using Hasselblad gear …..and totally bowled over with the utter quality prints from his personal books…! w O w
Click to expand...
I used to have an older Hasselblad system and switched to GFX mainly due to the lower overall cost of ownership for the Fuji system and I haven't looked back, currently with GFX50R (and GFX100 A friend has the Hasselblad and I guess it does have a better looking camera body. In terms of results, I love the Fuji colours as much as the Hasselblad.

Here is what my GPT says, FWIW, noting that I think the difference about image quality is overstated - probably influenced by all the marketing blurb that has fed it.

Choosing between the Hasselblad X1D and the Fujifilm GFX 50 series cameras depends on your specific needs, preferences, and priorities. Here's a breakdown of factors to consider:

1. Image Quality​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Known for its exceptional color science and tonality. If you're a photographer who prioritizes rich, natural colors and subtle gradations (e.g., portrait, fine art, or landscape), the X1D's files often have a distinctive "look."
    • May appeal to those aiming for a more filmic or artistic aesthetic straight out of the camera.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Offers excellent image quality with Fujifilm's renowned film simulations and dynamic range.
    • Better suited for those who want versatile output options, including more vivid or punchy styles.

2. Ergonomics and Handling​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Focuses on minimalist design with an intuitive touchscreen interface and a compact form factor for a medium format camera.
    • Can feel slower and more deliberate, which might suit fine art or studio photographers but may frustrate action-oriented shooters.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Offers more traditional camera ergonomics with physical dials and buttons for quick access to settings.
    • It’s slightly bulkier but better for photographers who need fast adjustments in dynamic shooting environments.

3. Lens Ecosystem​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Features a small but high-quality lineup of XCD lenses with excellent optics tailored for its system.
    • Fewer options overall, which might limit versatility or require adapters for third-party lenses.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Offers a more extensive and diverse lens lineup, from affordable primes to high-end telephotos and zooms.
    • Fujifilm lenses are generally more accessible and versatile for different shooting styles.

4. Speed and Performance​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Designed for a slower, more contemplative shooting style. The autofocus and shot-to-shot performance may feel limited for fast-paced photography.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Slightly faster autofocus and general operation, making it more adaptable to events, portraiture, and occasional action scenarios.

5. Video Capabilities​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Limited video capabilities and more geared toward photographers.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Generally better for hybrid use, with video features like 4K recording, though it's still not its primary strength.

6. Build and Durability​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Beautifully designed with a focus on luxury and craftsmanship but less rugged for extreme environments.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Weather-sealed and robust, better suited for challenging outdoor conditions.

7. Software and Workflow​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Paired with Phocus software for RAW processing, which some users find limiting compared to Adobe Lightroom or Capture One.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Broad compatibility with many RAW processors and strong support in Capture One, Lightroom, and Fujifilm's own RAW Studio.

8. Price and Value​

  • Hasselblad X1D:
    • Generally positioned as a premium product, with a price tag reflecting its luxury brand and design.
  • Fujifilm GFX 50:
    • Often offers better value for performance, particularly with its GFX 50R and GFX 50S II models, which are more affordable.

Key Recommendation​

  • Choose the Hasselblad X1D if:
    • You prioritize color fidelity, aesthetics, and a premium experience for slower, deliberate shooting.
    • Your work focuses on portraits, fine art, or landscape where you have time to work methodically.
  • Choose the Fujifilm GFX 50 if:
    • You need more versatility, speed, and access to a broader lens ecosystem.
    • You want a more adaptable system for various genres, including weddings, travel, and environmental portraits.
 
The X1D has been replaced by the X2D now for some time. Think the same conclusions would be made.
 
Whilst attempting to shoot the amsterdam light festival (art displays of lights around the canals of amsterdam) I saw this lady waiting on the bridge with the lights behind her. So I tried a silhouette. I think I need a little more practice to get exposures better, still using the exposure lock etc... or perhaps manual at night is the way to go...
 
ecniv said:
Bought a used Pentax SMC Pentax-A 645 f/3.5 150mm.
Do the mamiya 645 adapters work with it?


For gfx 100s
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Doubt it as the Mamiya and Pentax are completely different mounts, you would have to get an adaptor that will allow the Pentax lens to fit to the Fuji.
 
I've just bought a new Hasselblad X2D and 90:2.5 V for my Portraiture needs, I also fancy shooting X-Pan style Urban and Landscape pictures. What would be your preference out of these two lenses 38:2.5 or the 45P, and any example pictures would be much appreciated ?
 
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