Fuji GFX50S, a (mostly) portable beast.

Fujifilm released their spectacular, $10,000 GFX100 in 2019, and made the original GFX50S available in a rangefinder flavor, the GFX50R, in 2018. These images were made with the original GFX50S, during the 2018 Pride march in NYC, as an excuse to rent and try out the camera not only for studio work, but also for street photography and reportage. Some of the good and event great points:

• Battery life is exceptional for this kind of camera. I only switched batteries after 300 or so shots.
• Fantastic color, right out of the box. These images are from Fuji's RAW files (.RAF), imported and barely processed in Capture One.
• Resolution for days. Even if you are used to one of Canon, Nikon, or Sony's high resolution cameras, these files are stunning and will print LARGE.
• Glass. Every GF lens I've tried is a marvel. These images were made with the 32-64/4, a lens that covers moderate wide to "normal" angles of view. Focus speed is surprisingly fast and accurate. No one can complain about sharpness. Fuji makes outstanding lenses, from the GF and X series back to some large format lenses I still own. I've also included a couple images — a still life and a casual landscape -- made with the GF 120/4 Macro. It is a beast of a lens, with exceedingly narrow depth of field. It is absolutely fantastic. It is a beast.
• Beautiful and extremely practical modular viewfinder. Fun, convenient, and gives you a brilliant view. The ability to swivel and tilt the extension, or to remove it entirely, makes it perfect for tripod or handheld work.
• Ergonomics. Fuji just knows how to nail this, as they have in the entire X line. These cameras are intuitive and fun for photographers. Intuitive and fun tools inspire us to make better photographs.

And a few issues:

• Manual focusing is a bit stiff. Fine for studio use, but not quite as nimble as you might like outdoors.
• Narrow depth of field, as is evidenced in one of these street portraits. This is a consequence of the format and can be used to great benefit, but can be precarious for shooting on the streets. You can see this in the couples’ portrait, where one individual is tack sharp and the other ever-so-slightly out of focus. But it’s my fault, for not compensating for depth of field. Practice makes perfect, and this was my first experience with the camera system.
• Focusing speed. It's GREAT for this kind of camera and blows away Hasselblad’s X1D and X2D, but this is a medium-ish (as opposed to “true” medium format cameras from the Hasselblad H series and Phase One) and this kind of shooting is not its central purpose. But it is possible!
• Limited useful ISO range, especially compared to full frame and smaller format cameras.

These are expensive systems, designed largely for working professionals. The GFX50S (and R) could be wonderful for travel, landscape and other fine art projects, and environmental portraits. They are also far less  expensive than "true" medium format studio DSLRs. The GFX50S is sturdy and, for what it is, fairly compact. It does not have image stabilization, unlike Nikon's Z and Sony's Alpha system, or Fuji's own XH (and, now, the GFX100), which makes it far less practical than its smaller brethren in these situations. And then, there is file size to think about: 120mb or so per RAW image. You will need more and bigger SD cards, more processing power, and more time to prepare files. You will also need more batteries, which are not cheap. Even though battery life is far better than the X1D, it is a far cry from 35mm systems that will work for far longer, on much less expensive batteries.

Having said all that, image quality and potential are breathtaking. My objective was to try it as a platform for street portraits, done on the fly and with minimal equipment, that could be printed at a larger size that would be reasonable with a smaller, lower resolution camera. The GFX50S excelled in this regard. The system is, overall, considerably less expensive than Hasselblad's X line, which is based on the same Sony-produced sensor.

The GFX100 has its own proprietary and much newer sensor, and includes image stabilization from the XH line, making it a knock-out for (especially) handheld studio and outdoors photography. It comes in at roughly double the price of the GFX50S and R and Hasselblad's X line. However, Hasselblad's much more expensive leaf shutter lenses still make the GF system, even at its high-end, more affordable.