Fujifilm GFX100S II review: Outstanding performance at a reduced price

Fujifilm's original GFX100S medium format camera was a hit from the get-go as it offered the same picture quality as the GFX100 in a smaller body and for a substantially reduced price. Now the company has released the $5,000 GFX100S II as a cheaper version of the GFX100 II. Fujifilm had a tougher task this time though because the latter is already much smaller Let's dive in to find out how the new model fares both against the original and Fujifilm's formidable flagship. The GFX100S II weighs a bit less than its predecessor at 1.9 pounds but the body and controls are largely the same. As before it comes with a mode dial and focus selector switch plus buttons for the drive select, quick menu and more. Up top is a display that shows settings, simulated mode dials and a histogram, handy when shooting from the hip. Handling is generally good but after spending time with both models I prefer the GFX100 II's larger body and enhanced controls even though it's 5 ounces heavier. The rear display which tilts up and down and to the right but doesn't flip out is unchanged. However Fujifilm boosted the viewfinder's resolution to 5.76 million dots so it's noticeably sharper than the last model's 3.69 million dot EVF. It includes dual SD UHS-II card slots but lacks a high-speed CFexpress port like the GFX100 II. Though it uses the same battery as before it can shoot 540 shots on a charge up from 530. Other features include USB-C mic and headphone ports along with a micro HDMI connection. A new feature is USB-SSD connectivity that allows for a ProRes video capture. The GFX100 II does shoot faster than the previous model at up to 7 frames per second compared to 5 frames per second as before. Without a fast CFexpress card though you can only capture about 30 compressed raw frames before the buffer fills. Also bear in mind that the camera down Fortunately most of the frames are likely to be sharp thanks to big autofocus improvements. Even with the faster speeds I noticed a much higher in-focus rate than the previous model on quick-moving subjects. The AF improvements don't end there. Face and eye tracking are much improved meaning your subject's eye and not their eyelash is more likely to be in focus and that's critical with 100 megapixels of resolution. Fujifilm also introduced new subject tracking modes for animals, birds, automobiles, motorcycles and bicycles along with airplanes and trains. I also saw considerable improvements to the in-body stabilization with eight stops of shake reduction compared to six before. That's a nice upgrade as it allows you to capture dimly lit scenes like landscapes at shutter speeds as low as a half second without the need for a tripod. As before there's considerable rolling shutter distortion with this camera in electronic mode so both you and your subject can't move much when using it. Otherwise you'll get some nasty skewing that'll ruin your photo. Designed as it is for professional portrait and other exacting photographers the GFX 100 S II offers unmatched image quality. The 100 megapixel sensor delivers pin sharp photos and 16 bits of raw pixel depth allows for 14 stops of dynamic range beating most other mirrorless cameras. Like other Fuji models the GFX 100 S II comes with an array of film simulations like the new Reala Ace, Acros, Velvia and others. Given that most pro photographers like to tweak their images manually though these may not be as popular on this model as others like the X100 VI. The outstanding raw quality lets photographers perform detailed post-production work without hurting image quality even on shots that aren't quite exposed correctly. In low light you'll start to see a fair amount of noise above ISO 8000 or so however a lot of that grain disappears when you shrink those 100 megapixel images down to 30 or 40 megapixels. Unlike with the GFX 100 II video is a weak point with this camera. Resolution is limited to 4k 10-bit and while there's no cropping there's considerable pixel binning that reduces sharpness. The good news is that you can capture ProRes video at up to 30 frames per second though that entails hooking up an SSD drive. There aren't really any slow-mo modes though as both 4k and 1080p capture are limited to 60 frames per second. Otherwise video quality isn't too bad. You also get f-log 3 capture which boosts dynamic range. Rolling shutter and video mode is reduced compared to photos because of the pixel binning but you still need to be careful not to move the camera much or it'll look like you're shooting through a bowl of jello. The in-body stabilization is only effective for handheld shooting without much movement. All told I'd say this model is 95% a photo camera with video for emergency use only. The $5,000 Fujifilm GFX 100 S II does exactly what it's supposed to by giving professionals outstanding picture quality at a significantly reduced price over the flagship model. It even goes beyond what buyers might expect by offering fairly quick burst shooting with autofocus that's much more reliable than on the original GFX 100S. Video isn't a strong point but that won't be important to its target market. The GFX 100S II is also the cheapest camera in the mainstream medium format space. However, users who need more speed and reliability for things like weddings or live events would be better off with high resolution full-frame models like the Nikon Z8, Sony A1 or Canon's new EOS R52. Thanks for watching and if you enjoyed this video please hit like and subscribe and for more on technology check out Engadget.com