Photography Life

PL provides various digital photography news, reviews, articles, tips, tutorials and guides to photographers of all levels

  • Lens Reviews
  • Camera Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • Compare Cameras
  • Forum
    • Sign Up
    • Login
  • About
  • Search
Home โ†’ Reviews โ†’ Cameras and Lenses โ†’ Fuji GFX 100S Review

Fuji GFX 100S Review

By Meg Faehl 25 Comments
Published On May 5, 2021

«»

Image Quality and Size

Everything else the GFX 100S does is just icing on the cake; the real reason to purchase it is the absolutely outstanding image quality. It is hard to put into words what 102 million pixels actually look like, and when you spread them across a sensor that is ~70% larger than a full-frame camera, it’s stunning. The amount of detail this sensor can capture is the reason it costs so much, and Fuji doesn’t disappoint.

For starters, the dynamic range is stunning. You can see in the example below just how far you can push the RAW files and still capture detail in the highlights and shadows.

DSCF3633.RAF
The original RAW file is underexposed, but you can see from the inset image just how much shadow detail still exists

The images are 11648 pixels by 8736 pixels. To put that in perspective, the short side of the GFX 100S image is more than 2000 pixels taller than the long side of an X-H1 image!

That quality comes at a price, however, and the uncompressed RAW files are around 200MB. Fortunately, Fuji offers a lossless compressed RAW option which saves you some space; compressed RAW files run a little over 100 MB. The GFX 100S also offers a lossy compressed RAW file, which can save you even more space at the expense of data. I personally prefer the lossless compressed option, as I hate the idea of photographing with a camera like the 100S only to throw away some information before I even process the image. JPEGs run about 40 MB per image.

With files that large, you’re going to need to make sure your workflow can handle it, as you will quickly fill memory cards and hard drives, and cloud storage space. Even if you have unlimited cloud storage, it takes a while to upload the files, not to mention the extra RAM it takes to process files of that size! None of these things necessarily need to be a deal-breaker, but you should plan for them ahead of time.

DSCF3764.JPG
This image is the full (uncropped) image from the medium format GFX 100S Sensor
DSCF3764.JPG
This is a 6000×4000 pixel excerpt from the image – the same resolution as the Fuji X-H1 can capture at its highest. A 102 megapixel sensor is no joke!

High ISO performance

At high ISOs, the performance of the GFX 100S is exceptionally good. Many GFX owners will likely be using this camera outdoors (for landscape) or in the studio where the high ISO performance is usually less of an issue. However, with its portable size (comparable to a full-frame DSLR) and the release of new, wider-aperture lenses (80mm f/1.7), it’s not a bad option in low light. That’s especially true given the excellent image stabilization and the improvements Fuji has made to autofocus within the GFX system.

For those looking to use this camera with a high ISO in low light, you are not likely to be disappointed. The GFX 100S offers an ISO range of 100-12800, with an extended range down to 50 and up to 102400. While the top end of the extended range is probably not usable for most photographer’s purposes, the camera performs very well through the entire standard range. The crops below should give you an idea of how this camera performs at various ISO levels.

iso200
ISO 200
iso400
ISO 400
iso800
ISO 800
iso1600
ISO 1600
iso3200
ISO 3200
iso6400
ISO 6400
iso8000
ISO 8000
iso25600
ISO 25600
iso51200
ISO 51200
iso102400
ISO 102400

Table of Contents

  • Overview and Specifications
  • Comparison to Other Fuji GFX Models
  • Build Quality and Handling
  • Image Stabilization and Autofocus
  • Image Quality
  • Summary
  • Reader Comments
«»
Looking for even more exclusive content?

On Photography Life, you already get world-class articles with no advertising every day for free. As a Member, you'll get even more:

Silver ($5/mo)
  • Exclusive articles
  • Monthly Q&A chat
  • Early lens test results
  • "Creative Landscape Photography" eBook
Gold ($12/mo)
  • All that, PLUS:
  • Online workshops
  • Monthly photo critiques
  • Vote on our next lens reviews
 
Click Here to Join Today
 
Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options

Learn

  • Beginner Photography
  • Landscape Photography
  • Wildlife Photography
  • Portraiture
  • Post-Processing
  • Advanced Tutorials
Photography Life on Patreon

Reviews

  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews
  • Best Cameras and Lenses

Photography Tutorials

Photography Basics
Landscape Photography
Wildlife Photography
Macro Photography
Composition & Creativity
Black & White Photography
Night Sky Photography
Portrait Photography
Street Photography
Photography Videos

Unique Gift Ideas

Best Gifts for Photographers

Subscribe via Email

If you like our content, you can subscribe to our newsletter to receive weekly email updates using the link below:

Subscribe to our newsletter

Site Menu

  • About Us
  • Beginner Photography
  • Lens Database
  • Lens Index
  • Photo Spots
  • Search
  • Forum

Reviews

  • Reviews Archive
  • Camera Reviews
  • Lens Reviews
  • Other Gear Reviews

More

  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Workshops
  • Support Us
  • Submit Content

Copyright © 2025 ยท Photography Life

You are going to send email to

Move Comment