Let’s talk ratios… I’ve always prefered elongated ratios. I have a 645 medium format camera back in the 90s and I never really bonded with it. I think that issue was two fold, both lack of lenses but also the more square 4:3 ratio. I’ve been into panos for a long time. One of my senior photo projects as all panos (done digitally) back in 2001. Fast forward to 2023 and I was in a creative rut.
Down the YouTube rabbit hole I went and I found some people shooting with Xpans. This lead to finding some videos about “digital xpans”… which led to me selling my sony kit for a Fuji GFX medium format kit. Why? Because it can shoot 65:24 in camera. It happens to be a native 4:3 sensor, like the 645, but when you shoot JPEGs & RAW the camera will display that ratio on the rear screen and the RAWs are even imported into LR with the crop already applied. I can shoot it at 3:2 all I want (what I’m used to) but also use 16:9 and 65:24 with the camera showing me what I’ll get in camera.
Since getting my first GFX spring 2023 (the 50r) I’ve shot it almost exclusively in 65:24. I know that this is new to me so I’m in my honeymoon phase, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about why I like this format so much.
I think a big part of this is living in Montana right now. We’re known as “the big sky state”. I’ve known this and thought about this since the 90s but I’m slowing realizing why. We have a lot of large mountains here and most are in ranges -vs- being out on their own. We also have lots of large valleys. This leaves you looking at mountain ranges in most directions but they’re usually pretty far off near the horizon. This in turns means traditional formats leave you with either a lot of foreground or sky to fit the entire range in.
Since getting into the GFX range I’ve (of course) switched bodies to the 50s. I bought the 50r initially as it was the cheapest entry. Since then the 50s has dropped enough I can sell my 50r for a 50s and pocket a couple hundred bucks. The bigger reason I switched though is I prefer the layout of the 50s. I miss the EV dial from the 50r but it’s traded for an ISO dial but also a much deeper better grip and the on off switch is much better (this sounds dumb but it’s in a terrible spot on the 50r). The 50r is also massively wide which made it hard to use in the bags I have. The 50s is actually pretty close to my old 5D in terms of size and weight. I’ve paired it with the amazing 20-35mm and 32-64mm.
The GFX series camera with 50 in the name all sport a cropped medium format sensor with 50mp. Coming from sony’s a7riv with 60mp the resolution is pretty similar. Yes the resolution drops to only ~25mp at 65:24 but that’s still plenty to print. The files are somehow easier to work with for me with my adobe workflow. Auto focus on the 50 sensors is contrast only. I’m using single AF and choosing one focus point myself. The crazy thing is I don’t think it’s missed focus on a shot yet? Not one… It’s slow. There’s a delay between shutter and curtain. But for landscape work it’s amazing. I have other cameras for when I need something faster.
Gear aside (I’ll eventually make a post and maybe video about it), the GFX has been great for me. Allowing me to change ratios has allowed me to be more creative. It’s also made me want to go shoot more to see how this ratio will change how I look at things. If it doesn’t work a flip of a menu option allows me to shoot whatever ratio works best.
