Matt Sassamatt

Friday 21 July 2017

GFX 50S an Update

The GFX in the Field and Studio

The GFX 50s in the Weather

Medium format cameras are considered a studio camera, although that is far from the real truth as there are lots of accomplished artists using these cameras in the field, one only has to look at the work of Edward Burtynsky. He like many others has flown these cameras on quad copters, pointed them out of helicopters and aeroplanes, and off of temporary platforms or ladders. Removing the mirror from these cameras has created a lighter more portable camera, that will expand what can be done in the field. The two diagrams below which compare the GFX and X1D mirrorless to the 645 illustrate this difference. Perhaps this is what is behind DJI's, a very successful drone manufacturer, acquisition of a majority stake in Hasselblad, they see the potential of using these cameras on drones.

The Fujifilm GFX 50s, although the Hasselblad X1D is smaller, has set the ground work for a revolution in photography, by pricing their camera at the same price as a D5/1DX and making it smaller than a D810! The Hasselblad has not been able to bring their price anywhere near Fujifilms price point.

Courtesy of Camerasize.com

Is it Really Medium Format
Medium format cameras have various sizes of sensors unlike APS-C and full frame (with the exception of Canon sensors of course) that are standardised sizes. The following illustration gives you a good idea of how medium format sensors vary and how they compare to other sensor sizes.

As you can see the GFX 50s sensor is smaller than the traditional Hasselblad sensor, but a full frame sensor is 60% of its size, which is a significant difference.
Pricing and DSLR High-End Market
The GFX 50s is $6500 US or $8,499 CAD for the body and with the 63mm lens $10,398.99 CAD. This is the same cost as the Hasselblad X1D body with no lens. In addition the GFX 50S body price the same price as a Nikon D5 at $6496.95 US or $8499 CAD and close to the EOS 1DX at $6299 US or $7999 CAD. The Fujifilm's GFX 50s also delivers a camera smaller than a Nikon's D810 and considerably smaller than a D5.

Image courtesy of Camerasize.com

	Sony A7RII	Nikon D810	Nikon D5	Fujifilm GFX 50S	Hasselblad X1D
Price July 2017	CA$ 3499.99	CA$ 3699.00	CA$ 8499.00	CA$ 8499.00	CA$ 11936.00
Camera type	Mirrorless	SLR	SLR	Mirrorless	Mirrorless
pixel pitch	4.51 µm	4.87 µm	6.45 µm	5.3 µm	5.3 µm
Sensor size	35.9 x 24 mm	35.9 x 24.0 mm	35.9 x 23.9 mm	43.8 × 32.9 mm	44 x 33 mm
Pixel count	42 MP	36.3MP	21 MP	51.4MP	51MP
Max resolution	7952 x 5304	7360 x 4912px	5588 x 3712px	8256 x 6192px	8272 x6200
ISO	Auto, 100-25600 (expands to 50-102400)	Auto, 64-12800	Auto, 100-102400 (expandable to 50-3280000)	Auto, 100-12800 (expands up to 102400)	100-25600
Max frame rate	5 fps	5 fps	14 fps	3 fps	2.3 fps
Auto Focus Points	399	51	153	117	35
LCD	3” 1.2M- dot fixed	3.2" 1.2M-dot fixed	3.2"1.04M-dot fixed	3.2" 2.36M-dot tilting	3" 920K-dot
Touch-sensitive?	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Viewfinder	0.78× electronic	Optical w/ 0.7x mag	Optical w/ 0.72x mag	Electronic 3.69M-dot (removable) w/0.85x mag	Electronic 2.3M-dot
Video spec	1080/60p	1080/60p	1080/30p	1080/30p	1080/25p
Dimensions	127 x 96 x 60 mm	146 x 123 x 81.5mm	160 x 159 x 92mm	147.5 x 94.2 x 91.4mm	150 x 98 x 71mm
Weight	625 g	880 g	845 g	920 g (with EVF)	725 g

What Might Attract a D5/1DX Owner
If one was considering upgrading their D5 for or a 1DX when a new version comes out or if one owns an older version and finally has the money to up grade the GFX 50s will be a serious consideration. The price, size and image quality, of course, makes it very attractive but you also need to consider the following advantages that their cameras don't have:
➤ a "what you see is what you get" view in both the LCD and viewfinder before you press the shutter.
➤ smaller camera.
➤ in camera film stock jpgs.
➤ focus point joy stick.
➤ an absolutely silent shutter.
➤ 51.4 megapixels resolution.
➤ external dials for ISO, speed and aperture adjustments on the lens, as well as a digital display, making it much more pleasurable to operate.
➤ the ability to act as a digital back for 4 by 5 view camera.
➤ full HD video.
➤ the viewfinder is detachable for further size reduction
➤ the viewfinder can be rotated into a vertical position or sideways for studio work or low landscape shots.
➤ an LCD that is tiltable both horizontally and vertically with touch.
➤ optional vertical battery grip.
➤ in camera RAW processing.
➤ Wifi.
➤ Batteries that can be changed out from the side so it does not have to be removed from a tripod.

GFX retro dials and digital display

So what might be a deterrent to a high-end shooter opting to upgrade to the GFX 50s? Sony and Fujifilm are making much smaller mirrorless cameras, so there are some options here. If the resolution is important and the pixel pitch is not a great issue then the A7RII would be a much cheaper and smaller option for an upgrade and at a much more reasonable price. If you are just adding a camera for travel purposes then the compact X series Fujifilm cameras might be an option. But if they are looking for a second camera to replace a D5 or 1DX these two options would not have the picture IQ and versatility of their current camera, and they would likely be frustrated with these two options.
The Cost of Transitioning
The D5 or 1DX owner could transition into the GFX at the same cost of upgrading to a new D5 or 1DX. The critical issue would be rebuilding and existing lens stable.
Some photographers who transition are heritage lens users, these people will have it easy as there are already adapters for this camera that will adapt the following mounts: Bronica ETR, Canon EF, Canon 35mm, Contax 645, Yashica CY, Hasselblad XPan, Hasselblad V, Leica M, Leica R, Leica S, M39/L39, M42, Mamily 645, Minolys Rokkor, Nikkor F/G, Pentacon 6, Pentax 645, Pentax 6x7, Pentax K, Sony A, Alpa 35mm, Bronica GS-1, Bronica S, Bronica SQ, Contarex SLR, Contax 645, Deckel-Bayonetta, Rolleiflex SL66 and Voigtlander Bessamatic. So you can see these individuals will be in heaven because whether or not the lens has a leaf shutter it will work on this camera.
The second group of photographers will be those that prefer to use native lenses on their cameras, they would be faced with transitioning and running two lens stables for a while, this will means purchasing new lenses while still working with and retaining the old ones.

	Lense Stable Comparison

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Lens	$ 1696.95	CA$ 2136.63	Fujifilm GF 32-64mm f/4 R LM WR Lens	$ 2299.95	CA$ 2895.87
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED Lens	$ 796.95	CA$ 1003.44	Fujifilm GF 23mm f/4 R LM WR Lens	$ 2599.95	CA$ 3273.60
Nikon AF NIKKOR 35mm f/2D Lens (Open Box)	$ 329.00	CA$ 414.24	Fujifilm GF 23mm f/4 R LM WR Lens	$ 2599.95	CA$ 3273.60
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G Lens	$ 1596.95	CA$ 2010.72	Fujifilm GF 110mm f/2 R LM WR Lens	$ 2799.95	CA$ 3525.42
Total	$ 4419.85	$ 5565.03		$ 10299.80	$ 12968.49

As you can see from the chart this will double the value of the lenses, however, at the same time the lens quality and the picture IQ will be significantly better than what they are experiencing now. So the increased dollar cost will pay off.
Noise Comparison to Full Frame
How different is the noise level on these two cameras compared to full frame Nurthrop Photography has experienced lower noise levels with the X1D, which should be the same as the GFX 50s. When they shot the X1D at ISO 625 the amount of noise they got was the same as shooting the D810 at ISO 400, so a significant improvement in noise reduction.
Pixel Pitch and Image Quality

One issue that may give Nikon D5 shooters pause is the difference in pixel pitch between cameras. The D5 has a pixel pitch of 6.45μm and the GFX has a pixel pitch of 5.3μm, which means the light measurement should theoretically be more accurate on the D5. In my opinion, the difference in pixel pitch is not significant enough to outweigh the significant gain in sensor resolution and light gathering capacity. Then there is the new processors and sensor technology to consider. So it may not really be an issue, here is something that needs to be tested.

The Fujifilm Lens Advantage

The real advantage of a Fujifilm system is their lenses which do not have leaf shutters, something that would have significantly increased the cost of a lens. This means very high-quality lenses can be crafted at a more affordable price. It is unlikely a photographer who has shot with Fujifilm's lenses would go back to their old lenses. The glass in both Hasselblad and Fujifilm lenses come from the same factory unless there has been a recent change, so lens quality is excellent.
My personal experience in shooting with Nikon full frame professional lenses and the high-end APS-C Fujifilm lenses is the latter are sharper edge-to-edge at non-optimal f-stops, and the same would certainly be true of the Fujifilm medium format lenses.

Other Innovations

The GFX 50s can be attached to a 4 by 5 camera and act as a digital back, which opens up other possibilities for the camera.

GFX connected to a 4 by 5 Camera

The side loading battery allows battery changes without having to remove the camera from a tripod or it's optional verticle battery grip.

Courtesy of ephotozine.com

The verticle battery grip for those individuals who need a longer battery life or find themselve shooting in portrait mode.

Courtesy of PetaPixel.com

The LCD is not only a touch screen but it also rotates both in a vertical and horizontal fashion.

Courtesy of nicolsyblog.com

Potodiox announcement for their lens adaptors for the GFX 50s

Conclusion
The GFX 50s has already risen to the top of B&H top selling medium format cameras, so photographers seem to be voting with their money. Clearly, this camera is an ultra premium medium format camera at a price that is more than affordable, a bargain given that it is the same prices as a full frame D5. Unlike the D5 or the 1DX, it offers far more and opens up a whole new world for the high-end SLR shooter, the world of medium format, lower noise levels, higher resolution, touch articulating LCDs, Wifi and stunning lenses. For those who love heritage lenses, it opens a panacea of choices.
If you are already working with a medium format camera, it offers a lot more than most medium format cameras currently offer. It is feature rich, compact and tough, a camera that can both be used in the studio and out in the rain and snow. The only draw back might be the size of the sensor and the resolution, but portability and size are also important.
Let us not forget there is also the "what you see is what you get an aspect of shooting mirrorless." You no longer have to "chimp" or check the tethered computer to see what you got. You see the image you will get before you press the shutter on the LCD or in the electronic viewfinder!

Courtesy of Fujifilm

Articles Referenced

Tuesday 4 July 2017

Smaller Cameras with 24-70 Interchangeable Lenses

Smaller Cameras with a Standard 24-70 Lens
As you can see from this chart I am only considering cameras with a 1-inch sensor or greater. When sensors are smaller than this they tend to about the same size as an iPhone/Android smart phone often referred to as point and shoot cameras. The market for point and shoot cameras has been decimated and the only market left is perhaps those who have not yet bought a smart phone.
It is important when spending money on a camera that you get some real value out of the camera above and beyond what you can do with your smart phone. The selection below I think gives a good overview of the top cameras in each sensor category.

Courtesy of BLblog

Thursday 27 April 2017

Sony A9 another Full Frame First?

Some Recent History
Sony has been innovating in the full frame camera space for a number of years now. The first was the A7 producing the smallest full-frame camera on the market, this was quickly followed by the A7R the highest resolution full frame camera. Finally the A7S, a camera that could almost see in the dark and did some good video work as well. Since this time they have upgraded these cameras at a rapid rate, the current line up is the A7S II, A7II and the A7RII. All of these cameras are similar in size and much smaller than the equivalent Nikon or Canon Cameras, as you can see from the illustration below.

Curtesy camerasize.com

What was Missing
Sony's market share has been increasing steadily due to the compact size of the A series and its mirrorless features that DSLR camera simply do not have. The growing high-quality lens stable has also helped to increase the market share and being able to use Nikon and Canon glass on the A7 series has not hurt them either. So what was missing? It has not attracted the sports photographers and others who have similar needs. Sony has decided to close that gap with the introduction of the A9 on April the 20th, 2017. Reviewers are now referring to the A9 Sony has as a "DSLR killer."
The Sony A9
So why might this camera be a "DSLR killer?" A comparison of specifications with the four flagship cameras will help illustrate why. Here we are looking at the A9 compared to the Nikon's D810 and D5 and Canon's 1DX Mark II and 5D Mark IV all DPreview Gold Award winners.

Here are a few key specifications that put this camera out ahead of all of these gold winning cameras:

Smallest and lightest full frame interchangeable camera on the market.
World’s First full-frame stacked CMOS sensor, 24.2 MP effective resolution, which allows for 60 autofocus calculations per second.
Blackout-Free Continuous Shooting at up to 20fps for up to 241 compressed RAW/ 362 JPEG images.
Silent electronic shutter provides vibration-free shooting at speeds up to 1/32,000 sec. This means you can shoot with absolutely no noise coming from the camera. It also has a much higher speed than DSLR cameras that are limited to 1-8000.
The electronic viewfinder is 3.6 million pixel providing essentially a 4K view of your shot without any blackout. Sony has added auditory or visual cues you can turn on if you need it.
The viewfinder is WYSIWYG so you know before the shutter is pressed if the shot is correctly exposed.
The autofocus also works in much lower light conditions than any other camera.
The camera has built-in Bluetooth as well as the usual Wifi and NFC.
No black out when shooting so you can see that you got the shot.
It has a tilting articulating LCD screen.

In keeping with the other cameras in this class, the camera also has the following features:

Extensive professional features including Ethernet port for file transfer, Dual SD card slots and extended battery life.
Its 24-megapixel resolution provides a pixel pitch similar to the 1DXII and D5.
It has an ISO range from 100-51,200 equivalent to the 1DXII and well above the D5.
It is cheaper than the D5 or DXII but more expensive than the 5D IV or D810.

What it does not have when compared to the other DSLRs:

The camera connectivity is still USB 2.0 when all the other flagship cameras are USB 3.
The camera battery life is still the lowest in sustained performance, even with the battery grip attached, likely because of the EVF.
It has a lower pixel pitch than the 1DXII and the D5 but it is higher than the 5D IV or the D810. The same relationship occurs with ISO range.

Comparing the Specifications
Clearing the A9 has features that are well above those of the other cameras in the full frame category but how important are these features to a sports, action or wildlife photographer? In reviewing a number of sites it would appear there are some features that are "make or break" features, for sports photographers. Of these features generally, the frames per second appear most important and related to that is the size of the buffer. A close second appears seems to be focus accuracy which has a correlation to focus points. After that, there is not as much consistency in what is important.

	Sony A9	Canon 1DX II	Canon 5D IV	Nikon D810	Nikon D5
Frames/Second	20	14	7	5	12
Buffer jpegs Fine	362	Unlimited	Unlimited	57	200
Buffer uncompressed RAW	128	Unlimited	19	23	183
focus points	693	61	61	51	153
Battery Life	650	1210	300	1200	3780
Weight	673g	1530g	890g	980g	1415g
DSLR/Mirrorless	Mirrorless	DSLR	DSLR	DSLR	DSLR
Technical Age	Apr 19, 2017	Feb 2, 2016	Aug 25, 2016	Jun 26, 2014	Jan 5, 2016
Effective Pixel Res.	24	18	30	36	21
Pixel Pitch	5.97	6.95	4.13	4.87	6.45
Price Apr. 2017	4500	6000	3500	3300	6500
ISO Range	100-204800	50-409600	50-102400	64-12800	50-3280000
Min/Max Shutter	1/32000	1-8000	1-8000	1/8000	1-8000

Let us look at someone upgrading to full frame sports shooting which of these cameras would meet their needs and which would fall below today's standards. Given today's standards, I would suggest somewhere between 8-10 frames per second adds a very useful feature to this sort of photography. So I am going to set the cut off at 10 frames per second which will exclude some cameras but includes enough for a diverse choice. Although this may seem an arbitrary cutoff, given what today's cameras can do, anything below 10 frames per second seems out of step with the market.
The next decision is around focus, which is a much more difficult as focus points do not tell the whole story. However, given the enormous advances in this area, I am going to suggest a minimum standard of 150 focus points, again this allows for some exclusions but enough cameras fall above this threshold to provide a selection. This would, of course, exclude Canon's 1DX II, but as this might seem too controversial I will leave it in for the moment.
The hit rate on the Sony with 693 focus points has been reported to be well above that of the D5 at almost 100%. (This was using Sony's expanded flexible focus.)
If we look at the chart above this has now reduced the selection in the flagship category to the A9, and the D5, and a free pass the Canon's flagship camera.
APSC and Full Frame Cameras
Sports photographers also use APSC cameras so let's include them in the discussion. APSC cameras provide a distinct advantage when using the critical sports lenses such as the 200mm f2.8, 300mm 2.8 and other such prime telephoto lenses. Clearly, if you can place you 200mm f2.8 camera on an APSC camera and instantly have a much lighter 300mm equivalent, this is why the APSC cameras need to be considered.

	Sony A6500	Fujifilm X-T2	Sony A9	Sony A99II	Nikon D500	Nikon D5	Canon 1DX II
Frames/Second	11.11	14	20	11	10.2	12	14
Buffer jpegs Fine	231	42	362	61	200	200	Unlimited
Buffer uncompressed RAW	110	25	128	25	200	183	Unlimited
focus points	425	325	693	399	153	153	61
Battery Life	350	340	650	490	1240	3780	1210
Weight	435g	507g	673g	849g	860g	1415g	1530g
DSLR/Mirrorless	Mirrorless	Mirrorless	Mirrorless	Translucent Mirror	DSLR	DSLR	DSLR
Technical Age	Oct 6, 2016	Jul 7, 2016	Apr 19, 2017	Sep 19, 2016	Jan 5, 2016	Jan 5, 2016	Feb 2, 2016
Effective Pixel Res.	24	24	24	42	21	21	18
Pixel Pitch	3.9	3.9	5.97	4.51	4.2	6.45	6.95
Price Apr. 2017	1400	1600	4500	3200	2000	6500	6000
ISO Range	100-51200	100-51200	100-204800	50-102400	10-1640000	50-3280000	50-409600
Min/Max Shutter	1/4000	1/32000	1/32000	1/8000	1/8000	1-8000	1-8000

If we apply the same minimum criteria to the flagship cameras of both APSC and full frame you get a selection of six cameras. It is probably useful to also see a size comparison between these six cameras.

camerasize.com

Narrowing the Field

One of the big problems with shooting sports over a long period is the size and weight of your gear. In order address this issue we might consider dropping the D5 and the 1DX II. This leaves us with five cameras, likely the next consideration might be to look at the focusing ability of the camera and the one with the least focal points would be the D500. It is also the lowest resolution, heaviest and largest of the ones left. So this could be dropped from the list as well.

This leaves us with two full frame cameras and two APSC cameras. All mirrorless except for the A99 II with the translucent mirror.

	Sony A6500	Fujifilm X-T2	Sony A9	Sony A99II
Frames/Second	11	14	20	11
Buffer jpegs Fine	231	42	362	61
Buffer uncompressed RAW	110	25	128	25
focus points	425	325	693	399
Battery Life	350	340	650	490
Weight	435g	507g	673g	849g
DSLR/Mirrorless	Mirrorless	Mirrorless	Mirrorless	Translucent Mirror
Technical Age	Oct 6, 2016	Jul 7, 2016	Apr 19, 2017	Sep 19, 2016
Effective Pixel Res.	24	24	24	42
Pixel Pitch	3.9	3.9	5.97	4.51
Price Apr. 2017	1400	1600	4500	3200
ISO Range	100-51200	100-51200	100-204800	50-102400
Min/Max Shutter	1/4000	1/32000	1/32000	1/8000