I have the 50SII and the more I use it the more I love it. Like any tool you have to match the tool to the job. All tools have their limitations and it's your job to know those and use the tool within it range. What I really like about the 50SII is the images look great right out of the camera and require only minimal processing.

Excellent exposé. I have a few GFX50s's in the original and newest iterations and love the output.

Excellent video. I'm a 50S ii owner and absolutely love it. I have the 63mm and 110mm. Both lenses are absolutely amazing for portraits.

I'm landscape photographer and inhabe had the 50s ii for 6 weeks and I love it already - it's amazing detail ..ease of use is wonderful It makes you slow down. Oddly enough I have Nikon d850 for action and sports photography 📸 Xt5 for street and walk about photography A camera for each purpose The files out of this camera are incredible

So glad I watched this video. Reviews of this camera have kept me away but then you pulled out the D500, which is my only camera right now. I always thought I’d replace it with an “all arounder” like a D850 or full frame mirrorless. After looking at full frames for a few years, the whole philosophy behind the 50s ii seems perfect, especially with having D500. The 50s ii is on sale here with or without the kit lens and only a little more expensive than a z7ii. I’m really looking forward to the slower pace of this camera and medium format

Great points on the benefits of the S over the R, reasons why I made the same exact choice. It’s a spectacular camera. I also much prefer the ergonomics vs a rangefinder design, and the IBIS is nice if doing a hike without a tripod. Yeah it’s not as fast as my R5, but that’s not the point of it

very informative review. thank you. considering buying one ~~

I think your opinion very enlightening. The store if you asking about gfx always push you to buy more expensive 100s. Very agree we dont always need 100mp. Thanks.

Just curious - have you had a chance to compare this 50SII with the new 100SII -- in particular the electric viewfinder (EVF)? I've been frustrated with the EVF on the 50SII when focusing manually - very difficult due to the extremely low quality EVF.

It was actually very enlightening, because for a long time I have been very hung up on buying a 50R. Made me start to rethink more about what will actually be the best and smartest choice of a GFX camera for me.

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

8 ай бұрын

If you can get your hands on one you should really try it out. I do like, it, I just prefer the 50sii. But the 50r with the 50mm 3.5 out and about is quite the combination. Heck, if you're ever near Vancouver you're welcome to borrow mine for an afternoon and wander around with it.

@protestagain

8 ай бұрын

@@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird Smiling, I live just over an hour's drive, then the next stop is the North Pole and the distance between us over Greenland is about 6500 km. But thank you very much for the offer, but I am afraid that we would be stuck swapping and borrowing each other's equipment. Have a Carbon Infinity 4x5" and a few others, but you probably have more I'd like to try. Think you have a Xenotar 150mm F2.8 and just the thought of it makes me green with envy.

@RoiSkatt

6 ай бұрын

@prostestagain what did you end up with?

Thanks!

I have had my 50sii for a couple months now and absolutely love it! Got it like new off of eBay for $2300 which I thought was a steal. The 110 is sublime and I really like the 80 as well as the new 55. I mostly shoot portraits outdoors with Godox strobes and the quality has been amazing. I don't mind the slower AF and don't really need 100 megapixels.

@WE_reviews

7 ай бұрын

Have you find the sync speed of 1/125s is a problem for you when shooting outside?

@VizionZine

7 ай бұрын

@WE_reviews All my flashes have HSS and if I need more power I use the AD1200 Pro.

@WE_reviews

7 ай бұрын

@@VizionZine Thank you for the info.

Would love to hear your input as to how you feel about the x1d (i or ii). I feel like color wise the GFX lacks the Hasselblad magic, same for black and white. Also, whats your take on the multishot feature when it comes to digitizing slides and negs? Thanks !

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

7 ай бұрын

Haven't had much experience with the x1d, but I have a friend who has one - I'll take it for a spin and do a review (thanks for that idea). I have a Hasselblad X1 scanner I use for everything up to 4x5. My 8x10 negs I scan using the multi shot on the 50sii. It's pretty impressive, for sure. Any mistake is magnified greatly but if you have a solid setup it's not too hard to get excellent HUGE files - which is an issue - the multi shot files come in at about 1GB just as DNG files. I'm not sure I need to keep them all around and I'm struggling a bit with knowing what is a good final size without being stupid about it.

Hi Alastair, Thank you for sharing your experience and it certainly is beneficial. In fact, I am considering GFX50S II vs X-T4/5. I have been shooting with Fuji X-T1 since 2015 till 2021 and then upgraded to X-T2 and I got 4 fuji lenses (60mm, 55-200mm, 35mm, and 14mm). I am not a professional photographer(meaning I don't earn from it) but I have studied photography and I have been improving my photographic skills. I am planning to do some photo projects in fine art/documentary style (social/cultural documentary and fine art). The main reason I care about GFX is the tonal range and the image quality. But, I need better/accurate auto focus than Fuji X-T 2 (specially in low light/in general I am a slow shooter). My budget is also tight. I'll most probably keep X-T2 with 55-200mm lens. What's your opinion on choosing FUji GFX 50S II or Fuji GFX 50R or X-T4/5. Would GFX 50S II/or 50R be really beneficial/make a difference in the end? Would it be worth the effort to buy them (as I am tight on budget)? Or rather X-T4/5 would be a better fit? Thank you in advance. Or is it better to change the system and get a Nikon/Sony(I watched your Nikon Z8 video) full frame with couple of good lenses? I also have to add that I like Fuji's ergonomics and the dials. So that I don't need to dig deep into menu's. ps: I also do time to time film photographs. So I have a leica m6 + voigtlander ultron 35mm with Olympus om-4 Ti. I am thinking to sell these to fund into the gfx system.

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

6 ай бұрын

Good questions, for sure. I think you need to be realistic about final output of your files - if you want to make big prints or do any heavy lifting with the files then the GFX files are going to hold up much better than the X-T4/5 files. The sensor is just so much larger. That said, low-light and quick AF with the 50sii or the 50r might not be adequate for your needs. You will see a speed bump in AF from the 50r to the 50sii, but the 50r can be found for really reasonable prices, which is nice if you're on a budget. If you can, before you take the plunge, rent the cameras - the z-series, the Sony cameras, the Fuji GFX cameras (all of them) and try to use them in a way that mimics the sort of work you want to do. You'll find out right away if you can tolerate the limitations of the GFX. @THUKR

@THUKR

6 ай бұрын

Thank you very much Alastair. I've seen my Leica m6 can be sold to the price like new used GFX 50SII. With the lens including, I can fund into a GFX 100s now. But, I am wondering about the same thing pointed out in your video: File sizes and can I handle them efficiently in my PC. That being said, I have taken your advice and I will do rent/try these cameras at the shop and decide what would be the best option. Thank you very much again. Looking forward for more good content. @@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

Glad I found this, considering moving from my 5sd to the 50s II. Quick question, does this gfx have a usb c port in the underside or are you using a special adaptor with the L-bracket?

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

4 ай бұрын

The grip clears the USB-C port on the side pretty well. No issues with a standard TetherTools USB.

@Operrott

4 ай бұрын

thank you for the reply @@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird . Very helpful

Tempted to get with kit lens for landscape travel any thoughts on kit lens?

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

7 ай бұрын

I have not tried it out, but I know a few people who have and they say it’s worth every penny. It isn’t perfect, but it works really well. I didn’t bother with it because I have the 32-64 and the 45-100 already.

Loved the video, and just wanted to point out something nobody appreciates about the original 50 megapixel sensor, that being the benefits of contrast detection AF with the larger pixel size and how both those benefits allow it to produces fantastic image quality. If you have an opportunity to look at the newer 100 and 50 megapixel at the same image size ie 100% on the 100 and 125% on the 50. Prepare to be amazed.

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

8 ай бұрын

I'll take a look - thanks for the info!

@Biosynchro

6 ай бұрын

So the 50s and the 50sII use different sensors?

@robertjburns9206

6 ай бұрын

​Hi there, sorry I probably didn't explain myself properly, both the original GFX 50s and the new GFX 50s II benefit from not having the phase detect autofocus of the original GFX 100 and newer GFX100s, plus having larger photosights covering the same 100 megapixel sensor size again adding to the quality of this old sensor; the point I was trying make was even though the GFX 100/100s has a fantastic sensor both the GFX 50s/50s II senor is sharper and has a subtle but different look to the image, plus the fact that from an image size perspective the 100 megapixel sensor doesn't produce double the image size of the 50 megapixel sensor, its actually 41% bigger. So short version, the GFX 50s II has the same fantastic sensor as the original GFX 50s, but if your after a Fuji GFX with the fastest autofocus, there's a new kid on the block. @Biosynchro

@Biosynchro

6 ай бұрын

@@robertjburns9206 Ah, I get you now. The 50Mpx GFX bodies are total bargains. And you're right about resolution. In order to double resolution you need to increase pixel count by four.

Tethers like a dream? I have a friend who is an architectural interiors photographer and he curses Fujis tethering capabilities in capture one. Could you elaborate more on how you use it there?

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

8 ай бұрын

Sure. Capture One 22 Pro 15.4.3.4 into an Apple MacBook Pro M1 Max on Venture 13.3. I use Tethertools cables (not too long) and Sandisk cards. I only tether the GFX cameras to Capture One. I haven't tried with the x-series cameras. The camera just gets plugged into the USB3 port on the computer and it gets recognized. Also it will shoot to the computer and to the cards simultaneously - three copies of all the raw files - that's a bonus. BUT. I just remembered something: There is a bug in Capture One. With the 50sii the connection would randomly get dropped. And the reason why was the lens (Fuji lens in this case - any of them) was set to an f-stop other than 'A'. When you're tethering I find you have to set the f-stop in the program, rather than on the camera. That might be an issue. If your friend wants to reach out to me I would be happy to discuss his issues. I'm no expert but it seems to work ok for me...

@obican

8 ай бұрын

@@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird I'm the friend :) Haven't used the GFX models all that much (just the older 50S, occasionally) but every single X series model I've used (basically all of them that could tether), has issues with tethering, especially when live view is running. X-H2, which is pretty close to your 50sII is the most trouble-free one so far. It works about as good as my 11 year old first gen Sony a7.

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

8 ай бұрын

@@obican That's interesting. I have my XPro2 plugged in right now and it seems to work rather well - live view on the rear LCD as well as on C1. However, I certainly haven't ever shot a job this way - I'm just horsing around with my XPro. Could certainly be beginner's luck. Have you taken a look at the C1 forums? I find they are rather full of people complaining but sometimes there are some tidbits of good info. It sounds like the X-H2 has allowed you to get things sorted, which is good. I do know that Fuji and C1 didn't play well together a while back, but as long as I have had my GFX bodies they have been pretty good. Although tethering is a Dark Art. Like colour management and trying to figure out if the 1-second shutter speed on your large format lens is, in fact, 1 second.

@obican

8 ай бұрын

@@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird Regular tethering usually works alright but I've had dropouts as well. Also, if there's a physical dial on the camera for whatever setting, it won't really let you change that setting from Capture One, which can be really annoying but sometimes you can change it so that becomes even more annoying. When you're doing Live Tethering though, the camera won't let you change any setting except for focus or even let you release the shutter, you have to close live view first. Also, live view is very laggy and low FPS for me. Then there's the random "nope, I'm not doing it" behaviours from the camera. I've tried probably close to 10 different Fuji cameras on 8 different computers (all Windows, half of them laptops). On I think all my laptops (all various Microsoft Surface models), I can't tether any of the Type C port cameras using USB A ports, it has to be a Type C to Type C cable. Not a problem with my desktops, except for a friend's desktop where it rejects to use any Fuji camera depending on the weather (we assume). On older cameras (by old I mean the X-S10, which is not ancient by any means), I've noticed that image transfer and preview times vary a lot. Could be two seconds, could be fifteen. X-H2 is a lot more consistent there. I'm not using the most expensive cables but they are also not the cheapest and none are particularly long. Even the officially included Fujifilm cable doesn't change the behaviour in any noticeable way. Meanwhile, that 11 year old a7 never had a dropout, connection failure or inconsistent transfer times on a random, very cheap, super thin micro USB cable, hooked up to another very cheap 6 meter Type A extension cable and using the same cable, a7s live view tethering is rapid enough to make you think you're watching a webcam. I've used wireless Fuji tethering three times with Capture One. Worked once, didn't work the other two times and when it worked, transfer times were so slow that it'd be faster and less distracting to just remove the SD card from the camera and use a card reader. Speaking of SD cards, the custom settings C1-C7 on the mode dial won't save the USB connection setting, so you have to enable tethering modes manually from some very deep menus.

The 50 mega pickle Canon 5ds / 5dsr are super fast.

It’s a faster camera but not too fast … it’s the sweet spot !

Yeah. Rent first Rent First RENT FIRST. A few hundred dollar investment to save the money of buying it or burning a bridge with your local vendor after returning it, is worth it.

sony a7rv blows the fuji away.

@UnderexposedwithAlastairBird

3 ай бұрын

Not sure how to begin responding to that. I’ll be brief: The Sony has a smaller sensor (which makes for much smaller photo sites), way, way more in-camera image manipulation, poorer metering and marginal colour compared to the Fuji. The Sony, for sure, has faster AF and a lot more lenses. But it is utterly cold and boring. Nothing personal, but I would sooner have pretty much any camera on the market other than a Sony.