Fujifilm just announced this morning the brand-new GFX100RF, the first ever fixed-lens compact digital medium-format camera. This new camera uses the same 100mp sensor found in the GFX100 II and GFX100S II, and has a built-in 35mm (28mm full-frame-equivalent, or 18mm APS-C-equivalent) f/4 lens. All for only $4,899! There are several things that make this new camera special—plus a couple that don’t—so let’s dive right in.
The Fujifilm GFX100RF is the most portable digital medium-format camera ever made. It’s the most lightweight digital medium-format camera/lens combination, and it’s the smallest GFX. It’s probably the smallest medium-format, but it depends on how exactly you define smallest. The Hasselblad 907X (plus CFV 100C back) with the 28mm f/4 lens was previously considered the smallest and lightest, and while it might arguably be the “smallest” (it is less wide, but deeper), it is no longer the lightest. For portability, the GFX100RF is the best option in medium-format, making it a compelling camera for travel or even everyday carry.
A few months ago I purchased my first GFX camera, the GFX100S II, with the specific purpose of creating XPan panoramic images that I want to print large. One problem with GFX in general is the size and heft of the gear, which do not lend themselves well for lugging all over the place. Of course, Ansel Adams and the great photographers of the past would laugh at that. While I much prefer smaller gear for travel, I “need” to bring my GFX100S II for the XPan pictures. The 40mp sensor in my X-series cameras produces plenty of resolution for the XPan crop, but it is not quite enough for how large I hope to print. The GFX100RF would be perfect for this, except that I just dropped a ton of money on a GFX camera and a couple lenses back in December.
Which brings me to point number two: the GFX100RF is the cheapest way to get into digital medium-format photography, aside from buying used. If you’ve wanted to get into digital medium-format but have been priced out, this new camera might be for you. It wasn’t even a decade ago that it would cost you at least $10,000 for just the camera body, and thousands more for a lens. Now the entry fee is only $5,000, and that includes the lens! Most people, though, don’t need so much resolution, and medium-format is far more of a luxury than a need.
Another unfortunate aspect of the GFX system is the lack of retro-styled cameras with the traditional tactile controls that Fujifilm is known for. This not only makes the cameras stylish, but also fun, and (IMHO) more functional. The long-discontinued GFX50R is the only other option, so this type of design is long-overdue. Thankfully, Fujifilm is bringing it back to GFX! I bet if this camera does well, there will be more retro-styled models in the future—perhaps a GFX100R.
The GFX100RF has a couple of unique features. One is an aspect ratio knob, which also includes a couple of new aspect ratios not typical found on Fujifilm cameras. Now you can choose between 4:3, 5:4, 1:1, 3:2, 7:6, 65:24, 17:6, and 16:9, and you can switch between those without digging through the menu. Another is a digital teleconverter, with a wheel that shuffles through the options: 45mm, 63mm, and 80mm (I’m not sure if those crops are GFX focal-length measurements or full-frame). Also, interestingly, the GFX100RF uses the same 49mm filter thread size as the X100-series. I can’t say this with 100% confidence, but I’m pretty sure the WCL-X100 and TCL-X100 will work on the new camera (this is mere speculation), which is absolutely amazing if they do; however, I doubt that they are officially supported, and they may not cover the entire frame. Oh, and the GFX100RF is the first GFX model with a leaf shutter, which is especially useful for high speed flash sync.
Now onto a couple of negatives. I’ve covered these before (here and here), so I’ll try to make this quick. I think the camera will be well-received and well-loved, and these two issues will prove to be relatively minor in the long run.
First is the lack of IBIS. An expensive camera lacking IBIS in 2025 is a shocker for some. There are photographers who consider it an essential feature, and won’t buy a camera without it. I’m not in that camp personally. This isn’t a video-centric model, and it has a wide-angle lens, so it doesn’t really need IBIS. Sure, it would be nice to have, but it would have made the camera larger, heavier, and more expensive (at least a little). Two of the biggest selling points (portability and price) would have taken a bit of a hit. I’m sure Fujifilm debated extensively internally if it should have it or not, and ultimately they chose to exclude IBIS for the reasons I just stated. I would have been happy with or without stabilization, as it’s just not a big deal on a camera like this; however, those who do believe it is an essentially feature will likely pass.
Second is the maximum aperture of only f/4, which is not particularly impressive. While f/4 is common on medium-format, it’s not especially bright, which will make the camera less practical after the sun goes down or in dimly lit indoor situations. Generally speaking, shallow depth-of-field isn’t a major focus of wide-angle lens photography, but for those wondering, f/4 on GFX has a similar depth-of-field as f/2 on the X-series. The GFX100RF is more of an “f/8 and be there” camera, so I don’t think the small maximum aperture will be a problem for most people and situations.
That’s my analysis of the new camera. I think many will order it for its portability, price, and style. It’s not a camera that most people need, but I bet it will be highly desired. I want one! I kind of wish I had waited to jump into GFX, because if I hadn’t purchased a GFX100S II a few months ago I would have ordered the GFX100RF today. Instead, I will have to save up and wait. Oh, well. Whenever the opportunity comes to buy the camera, I’m certain that I will be thrilled with it. I’m sure those who have already preordered the camera will love it when it arrives next month.
You can preorder the Fujifilm GFX100RF today. I’ve heard there has already been a lot of preorders, so don’t be surprised if there is a bit of a wait before your order ships. The camera will officially be released and ship on April 24th.
This post contains affiliate links, and if you make a purchase using my links I’ll be compensated a small amount for it.
Fujifilm GFX100RF in black:
Amazon, B&H
Fujifilm GFX100RF in silver:
Amazon, B&H
The boo-birds are out big-time on Fujirumors, as expected. I find the camera to be a very nice piece of gear, which should compete quite successfully against the Leica Q3.
The slow lens speed may be a negative to some, but I would take it as a small draw-back to keep the lens that small and light. No IBIS is similar; too bad the Fujifilm engineers did not have the time or perhaps skill to build a medium format IBIS so much smaller than its predecessors as the X100vi is to previous ASP-C sensor IBIS units. Or to incorporate OIS into the leaf-shutter lens, as the Leica d-lux 8 does.
The rest of the camera I love. All the buttons and dials! If you don’t want to use one, don’t (I never use exposure compensation dials, for instance), but they are there, which is way better than a long dive into the camera’s menu (and Fuji still has the worst menu of any manufacturer).
This is almost my ideal camera: High IQ with in-lens leaf shutters. But it’s a big almost: I want interchangeable lenses for my big-deal camera! Not the giant GFX lens mount, but something much smaller for a small line of much smaller lenses. Plus some manual focus lenses! And a tiny little in-camera flash, like the X100 series. I just hope that, if this camera is successful, it will encourage Fujifilm to continue the GFX-R line with a new GFX100R, smaller than the GFX50R, if possible.
I won’t be buying one of these GFX100RF. But I don’t dislike it at all. Very nice, Fujifilm. Much better than I expected.
I didn’t realize just how “ideal” this camera is for me until today. I just don’t have 5K to spend right now. It might be awhile before this camera is readily available due to high initial demand, but maybe when it’s easier to get perhaps I can afford it then. 🤣
Unfortunately, the comments section of Fujirumors is more like Fujicomplainers lately… I think thanks to the large number of trolls, some of which post under multiple names. Such a shame, it didn’t used to be that way.
Actually a reply to Larry Adams.
Larry, I see, what you are trying to say. And, yes, it would be nice to have a smaller GFX with interchangeable lenses.
Now comes the but, but to have them smaller, you would have to make lenses, that protrude far into the camera, just like the famous Zeiss Biogon 4.5/21mm, otherwise, with a retrofocus lens, that will always be quite a bit bigger.
I understand the desire to keep it small, but they could have added OIS to the lens as Leica does on the Q cameras and I think that would have satisfied people.
I think the reason why Leica added IOS to the Q series lens is that the camera is intended more for video than Fujifilm intends the GFX100RF to be. I think this is evident when you look at the video specs of both models. I believe this is also one reason why the lens on the Q is sooooo big.
If you think of the lens on the GFX100RF as basically being the GFX version of the 18mm f/2 pancake for the X-series, the lack of stability makes some sense. For example, people have been using that lens, which lacks IOS, on cameras that lack IBIS for over a decade now, and it’s been no issue.
It’s only very recently that the idea has caught on that stabilization on a wide-angle lens is somehow essential. Five years ago it would have been thought as nice but far from essential, and 10 years ago the consensus was it’s unnecessary. Today, though, for whatever reason, some people think it is a requirement. Maybe it’s a general misunderstanding of the actual benefits? What it actually does for you? Or maybe because video is much more common now? I’m not sure, but there has definitely been a noticeable shift.
Well, the lens on the Q3 is bigger, simply because it has a greater aperture, combined with the fact, that it is for full 35mm format, and very well corrected, and adding OIS does make it even bigger, you need to be able to put these motors and mechanism somehwere after all.
@Jorg You are certainly correct about old lens designs. I have been looking at (and buying, and shooting) recent Cosina designs for full-frame Leica M-mount cameras, mostly Voigtlander but some of the Zeiss ZM series too. These are manual focus lenses, but even considering that they are TINY! And we now have modified biogon designs that do not protrude at all into the camera body, and retrofocus distagon designs are no longer necessary except for DSLRs and ultra-wide lenses. The planar types are also much shorter than they used to be. In-lens iris shutter design has been tiny for ages. I have had several OIS zoom lenses from Fujifilm and Nikon and Leica that were in super-small collapsable lenses. So, with modern design, it is do-able. It is just a matter of whether that is what we want to do. Right now, only the Leica M-mount lens users seem to want it. Everyone else is making giant heavy long lenses to go on small light mirrorless cameras.
Oh, Ritchie, I forgot. I finished putting together my GFX panoramic Xpan copy: a GFX50R with three Zeiss ZM lenses on an M-mount adapter: 18mm f/4, 25mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/2. The 18mm has a Hasselblad/Fujifilm 1.5 exp center spot ND filter from a 30mm Xpan lens. The correct focal lengths for a 44mm wide image vs a 65mm wide one would be 20/30/60mm vs 30/45/90mm, but I went a little wider with 18/25/50mm. The full 65:24 image is “only” 25mp, but that’s about as big as I mean to print on this set-up. You would probably need a 100mp sensor, which you have, to get the 50mp image to make the size prints you want. It would require yet another investment in more lenses. Still cheaper than a new GFX100RF!
Awesome! I would love to see some pictures 😀
Me too! I literally just got the 50mm yesterday. Of course, I have already tested the 18mm and center filter and the 25mm, but those are just boring test shots. Time to roll the whole group out for a stroll. But maybe not just now, since it’s both howling and raining right now…. Did you notice, the GFX100RF also has the “other” panoramic ratio of 17:6. Cool!
Yeah, I’m definitely diggin’ the new aspect ratios. Hope they come to more models. 😀
I like the look of the camera. I like the idea of the camera. But I’m finding it difficult to think of a use case where one of the existing Fuji cameras isn’t a better option. I suppose the obvious answer is that it is perfect for someone that would have a use case for the X100Vi. But given the price and size differential, the inbuilt IBIS, the f2 35mm equivalent lens, the X100Vi seems to me to be the better option in every scenario that I can think of.
What is it that I am missing Ritchie?
Very, very few people “need” this camera, and for most the X100VI is the better choice. I think this is more of a “want” than a “need” for the majority who buy. I definitely want it 😀, but do I need it? Maybe, but probably not. Eventually I’ll likely buy it, but it won’t be right away.
I know what you mean. I “want” the GFX 100 RF simply because it’s new. But I don’t need another camera. And I haven’t got a camera that I think it is compelling enough to replace. Fundamentally I think the lens will let it down. A 100 megapixel sensor deserves an absolutely top end lens. I fear they compromised on the lens for the sake of size, and I think that’s a shame. I don’t mind that there’s no IBIS. But not having a top end fast lens on it, that feels like a waste of that sensor.
I walked around with a GFX100S II with the 30mm f/3.5 set no larger than f/4 and with IBIS turned off, just to simulate as best I could (with what I have) the GFX100RF, and I didn’t find it to be any issue whatsoever. The pictures looked great. From what I understand, the GFX100RF lens is fantastic, just has an f/4 maximum aperture. Large apertures aren’t especially common on medium-format, no matter the brand. I think it would have just made the lens much larger, and the camera heavier and more expensive, which would have defeated the purpose of it being the most portable and affordable digital medium format camera/lens ever. Those who have used it seemed to have really liked it. I’ve talked to a couple of them privately about it, and they only had positive things to say.
I’ve said before, the biggest problem with lack of IBIS is going to be flood of commenters who are OBSESSED with the lack of IBIS. 😛
//
Personally, I still don’t think this camera makes any sense. GFX makes sense for some folks (and is overkill for a lot more). A fixed lens that’s equivalent to a 28mm f/3.2 without IBIS is fine. I’m not sure they make sense together.
An APS-C equivalent with an 18/2 lens, even without IBIS, would probably make far more sense for nearly everyone. It’s like how you don’t need a Formula 1 to handle trips to the grocery store.
And to be fair: the GFX100RF is one of few ways to get a top quality 28mm lens (there are budget 28/2.8, and high-end 24/2.8 lenses, and a few good faster and bigger 28mm lenses, but no premium build compact 28/2.8 lenses). And it has a leaf shutter for fantastic sync speed. That’s a combination you can’t quite get in Full Frame.
If the Sigma BF is Beautiful Folly, the GFX100RF is perhaps “Grand Folly Times 100–Really Folly.” But if I truly wanted, I could afford a Sigma BF. It’s a bit feature-light, but the price isn’t that far out of line for a 24mp camera, particularly given the ornate build it has. An objet d’art camera, to be sure. This thing? Not even close to affordable. It’s just so expensive. Not overpriced, but a fair price for something far beyond my (and probably most photographer’s) needs.
But hey, if folks can afford it, it does seem like it’ll be a fantastic camera. I wish folks joy of it.
Very few actually need any GFX model, let alone a fixed-lens. I doubt many will buy it because they “need” it, but mostly because they want it despite not needing it. That’s my speculation, anyway.
Yeah. But I also keep thinking of advice I recieved onhere, when musing about getting an x100vi when I already had an X-Pro3… “where can $1600 take your X-Pro?” The x100vi is great. I’m sure the GFX100RF is great.
But there’s a heck of a lot of places $5000 can take someone, while also providing a lot of upgrades to their kit.
That’s exactly what I did. I’m in Charleston, South Carolina right now… spent the money on experiences rather than gear. No regrets.
Hey now, you’re in my neighborhood. Just an hour or two south on Tybee Island. I love Charleston, go there every chance I get.
Oh, man, I wish I had known! I just got back yesterday.
Charleston was great! How is the photographic and Fujifilm community in that area? I saw lots of people with cameras, and even a couple of Fujifilm models, but they all seemed like tourists. It would be amazing to do a photowalk, but I didn’t see any camera stores in the town (a partnership with a camera store has been a prerequisite for the photowalks thus far…). Any insights you might have would be appreciated. 😀
I ordered one, let’s see, when it comes, and whether I’ll keep it.
It seems a very nice camera and weighs 100g less compared to my M10 with the super-light-weight Elmarit-M 2.8/28mm asph., it will be 10mm taller and 10mm wider, but the same depth as the M10 with that lens. In comparison to my X100VI with the Peak Design micro clutch, which I love It’ll be 5mm taller, 15mm wider and some 5mm deeper (if the depth of the GFX 100RF includes the hood) than the X100VI, probable it’ll be deeper, but what the heck.
I am looking forward to a capable digital panorama camera and a camera for having fun, similar to my Mamiya 6.
You are surely right about the EVF on the GFX50R, and one of the things I’m hoping for on a new model is a huge upgrade there. The EVF was the #1 reason I bought the X-H1, though IBIS was #2, and the even better EVF on the X-H2s was the top reason I bought that camera when it came out. (I eventually sold it because I just couldn’t learn to like the PASM controls.)
Yes, the top metal part of the GFX100RF is mighty tall and plain. A small flash would fit there nicely. Even a brand name or model name would break up the big flat surface. I almost always buy the silver version of a rangefinder style camera, if available, but on this one I would go all black.
I’m sure you are going to love it. Seems like a super fun camera with incredible IQ.
I think it’s going to be the best GFX — and probably medium-format — for travel and walk around. My guess is that you will love it.
I find it really ugly.
No offense to anyone who likes the camera and kudos to Fuji for doing something different and actually pretty unique.
I think it’s the proportions, how tall it is compared to the width. The empty space above the lens. Which is probably justified by the high resolution EVF, kudos again, the EVF on the 50r was shameful.
But just meh.
Lots of room for a really big red dot with the mftr logo right over the lens… Hold on, oops, wrong brand… Could work though: a reproduction of the old Fuji logo in Fuji green might actually be cool. With a dark green leather half-case.
I like the way it looks, personally. Reminiscent of the X-E line.
I kinda see what you mean by proportions. More like an Instax Evo than an X-mount camera. I don’t think it’s bad, but not as pretty as an X-Pro or x100vi.
I think, in general, because medium-format film can be more square-ish than 35mm film, that medium format film cameras tend to have a bit more of a “stretched” shape. The Mamiya 7, Kodak Medalist, Fujica GS645S, and Holga 120N are few examples that, to various degrees, seem a bit stretched in proportion.
Concerning the shape of the GFX100RF I’m hoping and expecting that the taller design compared to the X100 and X-Pro series will make for a more solid handhold – not that the X cameras mentioned are bad in that respect.
That’s a point I haven’t really seen mentioned (although, admittedly, I haven’t read many of the reviews…). It could certainly be a positive.
I confess to having preordered one—in black—yesterday. As Ritchie says, I don’t need a GFX100RF or any medium format outfit… but am very excited about it and see the compactness of body and lens as a major plus for travel and walkabout – for me more important than having IBIS or wafer thin DOF.
The only fear now is that the minute I pay for this camera will be the minute that Fujifilm bring out a lovely new X-Pro4!
I’m definitely envious. I look forward to someday also owning it. I’m pretty sure I will need to sell some gear first….
I know for certain that Fujifilm is working on the next X-Pro, but I have no idea how far along it is. I’m think that 2026 will be the year, possibly this time next year.