It has only been a few years since Fujifilm began its journey to push its own vision of exactly what a medium-format camera should be. After decades of medium-format being synonymous with boxy, heavy cameras for high-end pro users, the Fujifilm GFX 50S and GFX 50R brought medium-format (almost) to the masses. Each had a body size that rivalled DSLRs and even some mirrorless cameras, at a price that significantly undercut the competition.
Fujifilm is certainly not alone in revolutionising medium-format cameras: industry stalwart Hasselblad was the first to create a more compact medium-format system with the Hasselblad X1D 50C, although Hasselblad’s system didn’t come close to touching the relative affordability of Fujifilm’s cameras.
In 2019, the GFX 100 changed the body of the GFX series to include a vertical grip: this was somewhat against the philosophy of making mirrorless medium-format cameras more compact, but it was an answer to the question of how far could Fujifilm push the specs of a medium-format camera with its introduction of in-body image stabilisation.
The new Fujifilm GFX 100 II returns to the styling of the original GFX camera ideology and then pushes medium format even further. But is it enough to finally woo full-frame photographers over to the benefits of
