In the Field: Fujifilm GFX 100S for Portrait Photography

Over the past thirty years, photographer Del Francis has documented London’s creative community through his stunning portraits in both colour and monochrome. From singers, performers and drag queens to some of the UK’s most influential artists and painters like Gilbert & George and Jock McFadyen, Del Francis’ decades of experience have produced an eclectic back catalogue. Check out our interview with Del Francis.

In 2019, the NHS commissioned Del for an exhibited portraiture project covering NHS staff from St Georges Hospital, London, over two years during the Covid-19 pandemic. Having for many years used medium-format film cameras, Del was keen to try medium-format digital—read Del Francis’ Fujifilm GFX 50S review.

Recently, Del Francis again captured the portrait of renowned Scottish painter Jock McFadyen, Royal Academy of Arts. Having been impressed with the Fujifilm GFX 50S, Del wanted to experiment with a similar model with twice the megapixels—the Fujifilm GFX 100S.

Keep reading to learn more about Del Francis’ portrait shoot with Jock McFadyen, check out the images and find out about Del’s experiences with the Fujifilm GFX 100S. You can also read our full Fujifilm GFX 100s review.

It’s a strange life, being a photographer. You’re part technician and part artist. You tend to wander through the years on a sort of visual rollercoaster, always looking to capture time and moments through images, shades of grey or colour. I’ve always been fascinated by people and therefore drawn to portraiture and human-based types of imagery.

A few months ago, I had the rare opportunity to photograph the world-famous painter Jock McFadyen of the Royal Academy of Arts. The shoot, at his East London studio, was part of a new contemporary artists’ project called By Recommendation. MPB were kind enough to loan me the Fujifilm GFX 100S to test while doing the shoot—and what a great day it turned out to be!

About Jock McFadyen

I’ve followed Jock McFadyen’s brilliant work since the late 1980s, and actually shot a portrait of him for the Scottish Gallery around 1989 when I had just started up as a photographer in London. We met up again in 2019 when Jock coordinated the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition. We discussed doing another portrait. Time moved on and the opportunity finally came to shoot Jock at his studio in London Fields. 

I hadn’t been to Jock’s studio before, so took a whole portable kit with me. Multiple stands, portable studio flash, reflectors, continuous lighting—the car was crammed. I didn’t know what to expect, so went prepared for anything and didn’t want to be caught out. The person who usually assists me was on holiday, so I turned up alone.

Setting up for the shoot

I always get a bit nervous about this type of shoot. Unlike being in a studio, you can’t be in total control of the environment or lighting. You have to quickly assess where and how you can create the best shot within the confines of an unknown building or room. Luckily, Jock’s studio was very large. Downstairs there was a small gallery and upstairs is his working studio, which is bright and airy. Jock got me warmed up with a cup of strong coffee, along with stories of how he rode his motorcycle from southwest Scotland to London’s Hyde Park in 1969 to see the Rolling Stones. We talked about everything for a few hours, then realised that we better get on with the actual shoot itself before the day was over.

Here we go, I said to myself. I’m using the Fujifilm GFX 100S to shoot Jock McFadyen. I had familiarised myself with the camera beforehand. I read through the manual, watched the YouTube videos and carried out a few test shots. It was exceptionally impressive. My usual go-to digital camera would be my Canon EOS 5DS or a Monorail 5x4 film camera, both of which I understand instinctively. However, I didn’t have to worry with the Fujifilm GFX 100S. It was a real joy to use and the controls fell easily into place.

Using the Fujifilm GFX 100S

The Fujifilm GFX 100S has a huge RAW image size of around 300MB, the sensor has a fantastic dynamic range, and the image stabilisation and ergonomics are great. So, what is it that makes this camera special? What is it that defines its own personality? Do you fit with the camera, and does it fit with you? Does it make you want to go out there and create? These types of questions are what makes a piece of gear special and over time, it builds a bond between the photographer and the camera.

I talked to Jock and asked him “How do you see yourself? What type of photograph hasn’t been taken of you before?” I really wanted to create a portrait of him that was different to the multiple standard images of Jock in front of his paintings, surrounded by a large cavernous studio. A strong portrait of the painter behind the art, a look at the inner Jock and an expression of his character.  After a discussion, we decided on a headshot. One that would express himself and allow the viewer to look deep into Jock’s eyes and hopefully see him, revealed.

Lighting

In order to achieve this, I set up frontal continuous strip lighting with flagged-off angular rear flash to give form to his face and head. This would allow you to alter between the two effects and create two very different types of images. One would be softer and more like daylight and the other would be more angular and pick up facial bones and features. Once everything was set up, I took out the Fujifilm GFX 100S and fixed it onto the tripod. The ambient light checked, the flash all working, and the camera settings all okay and set to full-sized RAW capture. Pop! The first test image was done. 

Electronic viewfinder

One of the benefits of this camera and the electronic viewfinder is that—unlike DSLRs—you can view the captured image without taking your eye away from the viewfinder. You don’t need to take time to look at the rear screen. This was a real advantage, you don’t have to upset the flow of taking shots. The controls to change the aperture and also shutter speed are very simple and easily navigated without having to look at the camera’s top plate. Everything you need to know is in the viewfinder, without being over-complicated with data.

Tones

What you notice about the Fujifilm GFX 100S is the very fine detailed and subtle image tones that are available on the rear screen. I could see a real difference between this system and my Canon EOS 5DS. Technology has moved on and it is apparent in the increased dynamic range. If you need it, the wide latitude is there to use. And the camera itself is actually smaller than my EOS 5DS with the battery pack attached. Very impressive for a medium-format sensor camera that packs over 100 megapixels!

Lenses

I used the Fujifilm 110mm f/2 R LM WR, which is a short telephoto lens and perfect for the style of portrait I was shooting that day. The lens itself is rather compact and balances nicely with the camera body. The aperture is also rather fast for this focal length, so the depth of field can be narrowed, if required, to blur out the background. As with all of Fujifilm’s optics, the performance was excellent at all apertures and razor-sharp. 

We shot a number of close-up portraits with different lighting and then changed to a more classical image of Jock in front of one of his paintings. However, we thought it’d be interesting if we created a feeling of Jock being ‘within’ the painting. For this type of shot, we used the alternative lens provided—the Fujifilm 45mm f/2.8 R WR. This is the equivalent to a medium wide-angle and provided the perfect viewpoint and perspective for the shot. Again, the lens performance was excellent with minimal distortion of the subject matter. This was important because Jock’s face was taking up a sizeable proportion of the image. So, the lighting changed, and Jock repositioned. Pop! Image done.

Jock, being the eternal artist, was happy to let me go without having to show him the RAW images on the camera's rear screen. I was very appreciative of this gesture, as I usually don’t really like to show people the images just after they are shot. I feel that it can spoil the moment and also the ‘magic’ of creating an image. After another cup of hyper-strong black coffee, Jock graciously helped me reload the car with the gear. We said our goodbyes and went on our way. Jock was heading off home and then to France. I was looking forward to downloading the images and holding my breath! 

Jordan Jackson

While I still had the camera, I also had the chance to do a test portrait of a singer called Jordan Jackson. The image of singer Jordan Jackson was quickly taken in a small pop-up studio, as she didn’t have much time between rehearsals. We used the Fujifilm GF 110mm f/2 to capture this portrait. Lighting was a simply angular studio flash and fill, with portable background.

A publishing friend wanted to test an idea for a photographic art calendar of musical instruments. They asked if I could take a test shot of a cello by the sea. For this, I used the 45mm wide angle. The Fujifilm GFX 100S doesn’t have the classic optical mirror and prism system. It uses an electronic image relayed directly from the sensor to a screen at the top of the camera, where the photographer views it via an optical system. Therefore, the image is, in reality, a sort of digital representation of the optical image. Due to this, it can be a technical challenge for the manufacturer to provide focusing aids if you need to focus the camera manually. 

Manual focus

When shooting the cello by the sea, the subject was essentially back-lit by the sun. So we used fill-in location flash to illuminate the cello itself and balance the exposure with the ambient light. As the ambient exposure was long, and the subject was difficult for the camera’s autofocus to ‘lock’ onto, I decided to use the manual focus option. In this mode, the camera can provide a digital split image micro prism, which splits a central part of the image into various sections. When the image is out of focus, the sections are out of alignment. When the sections are aligned, you know that you have snapped into sharp focus. Without this clever mode, it would have been very difficult to achieve this shot. 

Image file sizes

When you finally download the images via the Fujifilm capture software, you do notice the very large file sizes of around 300MB per full-size RAW image. Depending on your computer, processing the images on a batch basis can take up a lot of available power and capacity. You may have to be more patient than you are used to, but the end results are stunning.

Magnifying the image, to even 200% on Photoshop, shows little pixelation. The results from the large sensor and the definition come into their own—especially where there are subtle background gradations within the image. They don’t suffer from sporadic banding, which can sometimes occur in digital processes. The aspect of colour creep, from background to skin tones, is kept under control.

Verdict

At the end of the day, would I buy a Fujifilm GFX 100S? The answer is yes. I would use it as a teammate to my existing Canon system, as a replacement for my large-format analogue system and for specific projects that demand extra megapixels for exhibition. 

I found the digital viewfinder took a bit of getting used to. If you’re coming into photography and you’re not used to optical viewfinders, then the transition isn’t a problem. However, if you’re used to the vitality of an optical viewfinder, then the image ‘avatar’ provided by an electronic viewfinder does take a little time readjust to. 

The Fujifilm GFX 100S is a brilliant camera. For a medium-format camera, it’s small but fits comfortably in your hand. It’s not heavy, but the weight feels right. It’s very well made and can create blisteringly high-definition images via its sensor, lens and body. The controls are easy to navigate, even for a mature photographer like myself, and the supporting software is straightforward. It feels tough and won’t scream if it takes a hard knock. Like any good quality tool in your kit bag, it comes down to how you use the camera. If you’re a stills photographer and you want a machine that can produce the highest quality images for large-scale outputs, like an exhibition, you will love the camera. 

Do I have any criticisms? A screw-on additional battery pack could help boost the camera’s operational time, as the electronic viewfinder and rear screen use loads of power. If you’re in the field, it’s not always convenient to start changing over batteries. Otherwise, my biggest complaint is that I haven’t got one yet!

Check out medium-format portrait film photographer Simon Murphy on moving to digital. Or, read more camera gear guides on the MPB content hub.