Review: Fujifilm GFX 50R | Best Intro to Medium Format?

The Fujifilm GFX 50R is one of the most interesting entries into the world of digital medium format cameras. Launched in September 2018 to provide a more accessible, portable option compared to traditionally bulky medium format systems, the GFX 50R quickly gained a lot of interest as a fantastic entry point to medium format. Today, it offers an attractive balance of price versus quality. For photographers curious about shooting on medium format, is the GFX 50R the best entry point right now? 

In this comprehensive Fujifilm GFX 50R review, Connor Redmond will delve into the specs, design, performance and more. Connor will also answer key questions about how the 50R stands against its rivals and successors.

Big Medium-Format Sensor

The Fujifilm GFX 50R's headline feature is undoubtedly its 51.4-megapixel medium format sensor. At 43.8x32.9mm, it's approximately 1.7 times larger than a full-frame sensor. This larger size means each pixel gathers more light and colour information, resulting in more detailed images with better dynamic range. 

The first time I zoomed in on a RAW file from the GFX 50R, I was astounded. The clarity, the tonal gradations, the subtle highlight roll-off and the hard-to-describe three-dimensional quality—this is the ‘medium format look’ people talk about! 

Images have a distinct presence that is hard to describe. It is the same with the jump from 35mm film to 120mm medium-format film; the difference is noticeable and arresting. Or the difference between seeing a small Turner painting next to one of his giant masterpieces. 

Part of that ‘medium format look’ is due to a large sensor’s depth of field rendering, especially when combined with a wide open aperture. It's also because the larger sensor can capture more detail — like painting on a postcard, versus a postage stamp.

When you pair the GFX 50R with a fast lens and shoot wide open, you get an incredibly shallow depth of field that forms part of that dreamy look. I love using this to single out a subject from its environment. 

While testing the GFX 50R in Fuerteventura, one of the lenses I used was the Fujifilm80mm f/1.7 R WR, and the results from using that lens wide open are breathtaking. You get incredibly sharp subjects, with dream-like focus roll-off. It’s a dream combo.

However, large sensors do come with caveats. Without the newer X-Processors you’ll find in later Fujifilm cameras, the GFX 50R can feel like a Porsche with bicycle wheels. It is slow in all of its operations. You feel the clunk of the shutter and the whirring of the camera processing all that data. This sluggishness is not a problem if you’re shooting still subjects, but you wouldn’t want to use the 50R for fast-action shooting. There are exceptions, but we’ll cover those later.  Generally speaking, the GFX 50R is undoubtedly a camera for slower, more considered shooting. 

The electronic shutter option seems appealing on paper, especially with its impressive 1/16000 second capability, but the reality is more complicated. The large sensor's readout speed simply can't keep pace with fast-moving subjects, resulting in rolling shutter distortion that can transform straight lines into diagonals. For static scenes, this is irrelevant, but street photographers hoping to shoot silently may need to change their expectations.

Here is one example of bad rolling shutter while shooting in Fuerteventura. It was a particularly bright day, and letting the camera shoot beyond 1/4000 sec was risky. Because of this, many images came out unusable. You’ll want to get an ND filter (find out why in our guide to lens filters).

Here's one more example of a funky rolling shutter. You can see how it has distorted the sea. It looks quite interesting, but most people don’t want this. When I first reviewed the pictures, I thought something was seriously wrong with my camera, until I realised it was rolling shutter and cursed myself for forgetting an ND filter. 

Design and Handling 

Imagine a Fujifilm X-E3 that's been going to the gym and downing protein shakes, and you'll get a good sense of the Fujifilm GFX 50R's ergonomics. Fujifilm has scaled up its popular vintage-style body to accommodate the larger sensor, creating a camera that feels simultaneously familiar and fresh.

The exposure compensation dial—absent on the Fujifilm GFX 50S—makes a welcome appearance here, offering quick exposure adjustments without diving into menus. The camera's navigation system borrows the directional swipes and focus joystick from the X-E3, which feels intuitive.

The GFX 50R is pleasingly solid. It has a good weight to it, but not too much to hamper you. At 775g with battery and card, it's noticeably lighter than the Fujifilm GFX 50S II's 900g, yet still substantial enough to balance well with the larger GFX lenses. The body is also weather-sealed, inspiring confidence when the skies turn angry.

Battery life, courtesy of the same NP-T125 battery used in the GFX 50S, is adequate rather than exceptional. You'll get around 400 shots per charge—perfectly fine for deliberate medium format shooting, but something to monitor during day-long excursions.

Perhaps the most puzzling design decision to me is the 3.2" LCD. Despite the camera's chunky size, Fujifilm opted for the same screen size used in their smaller APS-C cameras. I feel a bigger screen would’ve helped showcase all that resolution a little better, like the Hasselblad X1D II 50C’s incredibly big and bright screen. The tilt function (up and down only) feels slightly restrictive. 

Overall, though, the Fujifilm GFX 50R’s design is fantastic and feels so satisfying to use with the big GFX lenses. The grip makes the camera feel sturdy. There is also a film-like pleasure to the big clunk of the camera's shutter every time you take a picture. 

Shooting Performance

The Fujifilm GFX 50R is not built for speed. With a maximum continuous shooting rate of approximately 1.6fps (rather than the 3fps sometimes reported), this camera won't replace anyone's sports photography gear. Although, read our Fujifilm GFX 100 II review to see a medium format camera that can shoot up to 8 fps, on a medium format sensor no less!

However, with that said, if you’re willing to work with the 50R’s slowness and play to its strengths, you can use this camera in any way you want. Sports photographer Dan King used the GFX 50R for sports and adventure photography at the Tour of Britain, with impressive results.

The GFX 50R isn't about machine-gunning shooting, but finding a rhythm with your subject. The slight shutter lag and cycle time between shots force a more thoughtful approach that I enjoy. Somewhat counterintuitively, it can improve your photography. It's like switching from a word processor to a typewriter; the constraints become part of the creative process.

The camera's more deliberate nature encourages more careful composition, more precise timing, and ultimately fewer—but better—photographs. There's something almost meditative about working within these limitations, an increasingly rare quality in our hyper-speed digital age. I think that is why this camera will appeal to fine art photographers as well. The slowness of this camera lends itself beautifully to a slow and methodical process. 

Fine art photography is not all this camera would be great for, either. The GFX 50R would make a fantastic option for portrait photography, where using that resolution to its full advantage will help you bring out details in your subject. Similarly, this is an excellent camera for landscape photography.  But I’d consider spending a bit more for the Fujifilm GFX 100S, which offers double the resolution and a better viewfinder.

Autofocus

The contrast-detect autofocus system is perhaps the most significant compromise in the GFX 50R. While perfectly serviceable in good light with static subjects, it lacks the confidence and speed of phase-detect systems in more challenging scenarios.

In autofocus-area select mode, the camera occasionally locks onto the background rather than the apparent subject. This quirk can frustrate you until you learn to compensate using more specific focus points. So, most of the time, I used single-point autofocus and manually selected the focus point with the dial. In low light, autofocus further challenges the system, with noticeable hunting before locking focus. It isn’t the best. 

The absence of IBIS compounds these issues, particularly with longer focal lengths. Despite the large sensor, no IBIS means it’s harder to get sharp shots with this camera without a tripod.

ISO and Low Light Performance

The Fujifilm GFX 50R handles high ISO settings really well. At ISO 6400, images remain impressively clean.

While image quality does begin to deteriorate above ISO 6400, this rarely becomes a real-life limitation, as medium format shooting typically doesn't demand extreme sensitivity settings, and I didn’t encounter any issues. The GFX 50R has a comfortable working range that most photographers will find sufficient for their creative needs.

Even when you go as far as ISO 8000 or 10000, the images are still usable, and I was able to pull the shadows up to an extent before it looked bad. 

Connor Redmond | Fujifilm GFX 50R | Fujifilm GF 80mm f/1.7 R WR | f/2.8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 8000

For example, the above image showcases the fantastic dynamic range of the GFX 50R. The image on the left shows how I would edit this photo, trying to balance the sky and the foreground restaurant subject while retaining detail. But you can lift the shadows even further. Very impressive! One of the main reasons for choosing medium format is the dynamic range, which is excellent, even at ISO 8000.

Connor Redmond | Fujifilm GFX 50R | Fujifilm GF 80mm f/1.7 R WR | f/4.0 | 1/55 sec | ISO 10,000

I shot the photo above at an ambitious ISO 10,000 and, as you’d expect, shows a lot of noise in the shadows. The image on the left is unedited, straight out of the camera.  The image on the right has the shadows pushed by +100 and the overall exposure pushed by +1 stop in Lightroom. And to be honest, with Lightroom's noise reduction capabilities these days, it can certainly be turned into a usable image. Just don’t zoom in too much. 

Here is the same picture with a 100% crop. It’s quite impressive and could, with some work, be made usable. Of course, ideally, in these scenes, you would have a tripod for longer exposure times. But overall, the ISO performance on the GFX 50R is solid. 

Adapting Vintage Lenses onto the Fujifilm GFX 50R

Fujifilm GFX lenses are not the cheapest, and there aren’t really any ‘budget’ options. So, many photographers  adapt older and cheaper vintage lenses for use on GFX bodies. There’s also the bonus of ‘characterful’ looks.

Surprisingly, you can adapt a wide range of vintage manual-focus lenses onto the GFX 50R, with many cheap adapters now available. For example, see below the legendary Helios 44-2 58mm f/2 lens mounted on the 50R. 

The downside to using these old lenses is that only manual focus is available. But that is not much of an issue if you mostly shoot static subjects. Like most mirrorless cameras, the GFX 50R has a focus peaking mode so you can also accurately nail focus with a manual lens. 

I particularly love seeing how an old lens, like the Helios 44-2 58mm f/2, renders onto the large sensor. Many classic lenses are known for their imperfections and ‘character’. Modern lenses have ironed out these quirks with manufacturing advancements, and some photographers find these lenses ‘too clinical’ or ‘too sharp’. 

Vintage lenses can help, especially if you’re after an ‘imperfect’ image with strange aberrations and interesting textures. For example, you can achieve ‘swirly bokeh’ with lenses like the Helios 44-2 58mm f/2. This lens can render the out-of-focus area in a sort of swirl around the subject. Pairing this effect with a medium format sensor exaggerates it even more. 

Video Capabilities

Let's be frank: the Fujifilm GFX 50R is not a video camera. Its 1080/30p capability feels like an afterthought, particularly now 4K has become standard. The contrast-detect autofocus hunts noticeably during recording, and the lack of stabilisation means a tripod is mandatory.

This camera is designed primarily for still photography, and its video functions are mainly just for those occasional moments. If video forms a significant part of your creative output, the GFX 50R shouldn’t be your primary tool.

Fujifilm GFX 50R Sample Images

GFX 50R vs 50S vs 50S II: Which One Should I Buy?

The GFX family presents an interesting choice for photographers considering medium format. All three GFX 50-series cameras—the 50R, 50S and 50S II—share the same 51.4-megapixel CMOS sensor, but differ in their ergonomic approach and capabilities.

The Fujifilm GFX 50S II represents the most technically advanced option, with 6.5-stop image stabilisation, the newer X-Processor 4 for faster operation, and a redesigned body with an improved grip. Its newer NP-235 battery allows for longer shooting as well. For photographers looking for more versatility and ease of use, particularly those coming from DSLRs, the 50S II is the best choice.

The original Fujifilm GFX 50S offers a similar DSLR-style body to the 50S II but lacks IBIS and uses the older processor. Its removable viewfinder is either a feature or a complication, depending on your perspective.

The 50R stands out with its dedicated exposure compensation dial, and slightly more compact dimensions. At 775g, it's noticeably lighter than the 900g 50S II, making the 50R more appealing for street photography or travel. 

For photographers who value this more direct engagement with their subject, particularly street, documentary or environmental portrait photographers, the GFX 50R offers a unique blend of quality and handling. It's not merely about specs, it's about the shooting experience itself.

Alternatives to the Fujifilm GFX 50R

The most obvious competitor to the Fujifilm GFX 50R is the Hasselblad X1D-50c, which shares a similar form factor and medium format sensor. The Hasselblad offers a more refined design and superior build quality, but at a significantly higher price point.

Looking beyond medium format to full frame options, the Nikon Z7 is a great alternative. Its lower base ISO allows it to capture clean images and fantastic dynamic range. Combined with much faster continuous shooting, significantly superior autofocus and excellent video capabilities, the Z7 is a more sensible camera for many photographers.

The Sony A7R III similarly offers a little less resolution (42.2 vs 51.4 megapixels) but compensates with superior speed and autofocus performance. These full-frame alternatives merit serious consideration for photographers whose work demands quality and responsiveness.

Final Thoughts

The Fujifilm GFX 50R represents a crossroads. Looking backwards, Fujifilm drew on its legendary line of compact medium format film cameras, like the Fujifilm GW690III and Fujifilm GA645Zi. Looking forward, we now have the 2025 Fujifilm GFX100RF, which offers a truly compact medium format experience (you can find out more in our Fujifilm GFX100RF review). The Fujifilm GFX 50R exists between these two stages of Fujifilm's medium format history. 

Would I take the GFX 50R out travelling again? Absolutely. If you don’t mind the extra bulk, the GFX 50R is a wonderful travel camera. Next time, looking at my metadata, I’d condense all the lenses I took into the 32-64mm f/4 R LM WR or the 20-35mm f/4 R WR. 

Is the Fujifilm GFX 50R perfect? Far from it. The contrast-detect autofocus feels dated, the video capabilities are rudimentary, and the deliberately slow shooting pace won't suit everyone's style. Yet Fujifilm has created a camera with genuine character, prioritising image quality and detail over speed and versatility.

FAQ

Is the Fujifilm GFX 50R discontinued? 

Fujifilm discontinued the GFX 50R in September 2021, following the announcement of the GFX 50S II.

Is the Fujifilm GFX 50R full-frame? 

Fujifilm GFX cameras are medium format, not full frame. The Fujifilm GFX 50R features a medium format sensor (43.8x32.9mm), which is approximately 1.7 times larger than a full-frame (36x24mm) sensor.

Does the Fujifilm GFX 50R have film simulations? 

Yes, the Fujifilm GFX 50R includes Fujifilm's renowned film simulations, including Velvia, Provia, Acros and Classic Chrome.

Is the GFX 50R weather sealed? 

Yes, the Fujifilm GFX 50R features weather sealing against dust and moisture.

What is the difference between GFX 50R and Leica Q3? 

While both cameras appeal to street and documentary photographers, they represent fundamentally different approaches. The GFX 50R is an interchangeable lens medium format camera, while the Leica Q3 is a fixed-lens full-frame camera. The GFX 50R offers more detail through its larger sensor but with slower handling, while the Leica Q3 provides faster operation and a more compact package with its fast fixed 28mm f/1.7 lens. You can find out more in our Leica Q3 review.

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