I have a theory. The vast majority of people complaining about the new Fuji camera are the same people who would never actually buy this camera nor know how to use it if they did. The entire scenario is brought to you courtesy of YouTube. Ninety plus percent of the photography conversation on YouTube isn’t useful. This is a conversation led by non-photographers who know any conversation dealing with the technical side of photography will be lapped up by the hordes of older men with nothing better to do.
Did I watch ANY of the films about this new camera?
No way. One look at the people doing the reviews and my brain says, “This person is probably very nice but has never worked as a photographer.” “This person is a YouTuber.” I’ll see some random street images of buildings and busy intersections shot in slow motion, but what I won’t see is how the camera performs when it’s truly needed. What good does that do me? At some point, I will see images from someone I know, someone trained with a history of professional photography, and I will know simply by looking at the images how well the camera works.
But let me give you a little heads up. Imagine how well this camera will work for editorial, commercial, or advertising shoots. I don’t mean all shoots, I mean a certain type of shoot. Imagine shooting the Wells Fargo campaign in the high desert of Utah. Yes, the bank. The famous campaign of horse-drawn stage coaches bombing through the arroyos of the West. Imagine being up in a cherry picker as the coach blasts past you down below. Imagine going from a camera the size of the regular GFX, and those lenses, and suddenly having the mobility of the new Fuji. Imagine giving the new Fuji to your assistant as a third camera. One hundred megapixels in something that small. Imagine how good the BTS work is going to look.
Imagine shooting a travel assignment for one of the industry biggies. You can name your favorite here, go ahead. Think about how formulaic those assignments are now. Portrait, food shot, urban landscape, overlook of the city, night scene, etc. In many cases, those shoots all kinda look the same. But imagine only having to carry the new Fuji all day. Imagine having those images to send to your stock agency after the fact. Imagine having 100MP images to license. (YT photographers asking what licensing is.) Or imagine shooting an advertising shoot where you are recreating a wedding ceremony for a European vineyard. The scene unfolds before you, like a real ceremony, and you can move freely, shooting with a tiny camera giving you massive resolution.
Let’s say you are a fine art photographer, a real one, and your work involves making landscape images and then combining them with other mixed media materials after the fact. Once the materials are refined, the images are printed on self-adhesive Duratrans on a massive scale. Imagine you were using a 4×5 camera to do this work, but now you can realize the same look and resolution in a camera 1/6th the size, and you just eliminated your massive film and processing bill. Not to mention, your turnaround is much quicker, and because you were shooting digital, you can shoot A LOT more ultimately making your work that much better and more diverse.
None of these applications require IBIS.
For the love of God. All of these shoots above are based on real shoots I was around as a photographer. I’ve changed some of the details, but the guts are spot on. My guess is the YouTubers talking about this camera, and the legions of prosumers complaining about one feature or another, have never been remotely close to any shoots like the ones I’ve listed above. These people are going from film to film, camera to camera, talking shit but never backing it up.
Try to follow me here. Photography is about using a camera (or some other method) to make photographs. Making photographs, telling stories, and making prints and books. I can’t tell you how difficult it is to be back on YouTube. It makes my insides hurt because so much of the platform is total nonsense. Remember, I love the “fix your toilet guy.” He is pure awesome. I don’t like most of the photography-related stuff because it feels like it’s about everything except photography. How does the new Fuji compare to the Leica Q3? If you aren’t going to buy either one, who cares? Do you know how to use either one?
When it comes to modern camera offerings, we are SO spoiled. People ask me about my Nikon Z8 all the time. They ask all kinds of technical questions, and my reply is always, “No idea about the tech stuff, but the camera is a gift from some alien species, a rocketship of unlimited potential.” “Forty seven megapixels with bird tracking autofocus, simple menus and a killer viewfinder.” And then some dork will ask, “But how does it stack up against ‘x” camera?”
Whatever you have, use it. The images you see here are from my Fuji X100VI. Are these the best images I’ve ever made? No, but I love looking at them. Before I printed them, I had to edit them from the overall take. This forced me to apply critical thought. They remind me of the moments, but they also remind me of the class, the city, the weather, and the overall experience. They have meaning to me, a meaning delivered by using the camera I had in hand. Was I thinking about how the X100 compared to my Nikon or my Leica or Hasselblad? Heck no. It’s about the rush you feel when you see something that strikes your fancy and you life that viewfinder to your eye. Photography has always been penalized because the technical side seems to get far more attention than the photography side.
I read something recently about a syndrome that YouTube created. This syndrome is about watching, watching, watching something but never actually engaging with the subject, and it’s not just photography. It is across all genres. I can see this happening to many consumer, prosumer level photographers. Watch, watch, watch, talk, talk, talk. And then nada. When I was interning at a newspaper in 1993, many on staff were using new, high-tech Canon EOS autofocus cameras or Nikon F4’s, but the best photographer(debatable) on staff was still using Nikon FM2’s. I ran into a street photographer in London two weeks ago, someone with one book already out and another on the way, and he was using a Fuji XH1 and some third-party lens. A seven-year-old camera, but using it every day. One of our students in Berlin had a camera that broke midway through the class. He kept using it, and damned if he didn’t make interesting work with it.
The moment you start to get good with a camera, you will stop thinking about your camera. Your eyes shift from the foreground to the background. Your lust for new images will overtake your urge to sit and watch someone else talk about irrelevant things. You will go from bystander to active participant. You might even begin to think about your images when you fall asleep at night. The misses will haunt you. The hits will creep into your subconscious. Then you will know what it means to be a photographer.
Comments 24
Daniel-san: as usual, spot on rant.
I will NEVER own the GFX100RF, nor do I care to.
And I’m certainly not to do the requisite YouTube ‘my take on this camera’ either. All those breathless videos are tedious at best.
Most ‘photographers’ nowadays remind me of the stereotypical ‘armchair traveler’, people who think they’ve become an expert on a place through books, PBS videos, or online content. Rather than, say, actually physically traveling somewhere.
Keep “raging against the dying of the light”, good sir…
Author
I’ve not used the camera, but I’ve got enough cameras. What I don’t have enough of is time to use them….
If you want a real review of the new Fuji, read this https://jonasraskphotography.com/2025/03/20/impossibly-possible-the-fujifilm-gfx100rf-review/. He used a prerelease model for some time. He knows what he’s doing and I consider him a good photographer.
The best review I’ve ever seen for any new camera is Sam Abell’s review of the X100VI. Out of the 15-minute film, he mentions the camera only once—the rest is him talking about how to make a good image. I love Sam Abell’s work!
Author
I’ve not seen it but using Sam as a sample. He’s a REAL photographer. He’s been doing assignments for forty years and came up under a total hardass at the NG. That’s something that makes sense.
Author
Not really looking for a review. I’ve got so many cameras. Just need more time to use them.
Great rant Daniel. I appreciate the evocative writing on the shoots you were present or were working at.
The one camera for all styles of shooting is imho a holy grail which no one will ever find. But this one will do the job for many things for sure. Include a high speed processor laptop as mandatory with the purchase. 🙁
I’ll remember ibis can be obsolete when a leaf shutter is applied. No buzzing bodies anymore 🙂 That’s all I have to know. Well done Fuji.
I’ll stick to 24MP territory for digital, it’s what my old computer just barely can handle. I’m just a hobbiest with no need for speed. I can imagine a pro will be delighted with the zoom cropping though.
Author
Pros want jobs. Anything that helps produce results is worth a look. I’m no longer a pro but I’m sure the camera is more than solid.
hahaha I feel like the article I shared on the discord inspired this and I am HERE FOR IT!.
Author
Ha, this post was the result of hundreds of gear questions sent my way over the past decade. The number has gone up exponentially since my landing on YT. You post solid stuff, not worried about you at all.
Spot on all the way through.
Two observations: (1) for some reason [laziness? boredom?] some time ago without really realizing what I was doing, I spent an evening watching YouTube photography videos – a complete waste of time – I learned nothing! Never again. If you want to learn and improve: go out shoot , print, analyze, try again. (2) 99.9% of equipment “reviews” are spec readings with a few comments that might or might not apply to YOU. By taking the approach suggested in (1) you will learn what You like / need/ want in a camera/lens/etc. so when new equipment comes out you might want to try that item. Without knowing how/what you photograph, you can’t possibly know what you need.
I admit to having too much stuff – I don’t really need all of it – the images that end up pleasing me most (which is all I care about since I am lucky enough to have to please no one but me) were made when I went out with one camera/ one lens and a few snacks and a bottle of water. I have no Idea how or why anyone goes out with a backpack full of lenses, filters, whatever. Concentrate on what you are seeing – not on the junk you are carrying around.
Author
I have too much as well. We need TIME more than anything else. Access is good too.
Can you please explain “groceries” now? I’m still a little unclear.
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Sure. It’s an “old fashioned” word, who knew? “I won on groceries, who even says that anymore?” Yet another tell in a world of tells. Like I said in 2015, if we go down this road, we deserve everything that happens to us.
Spot on. It’s an easy place to end up in, many people do (as evidenced by the number of subscribers for the gear channels versus the actual discipline and art of photography) and I’ve been guilty of it as well. Its a special place in hell when you spend hours arguing over cameras and specifications and all the silly shit that does not matter.
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Photography is difficult. Gear talk is easy. Lazy people like talking gear. Photographers are out making work.
Forget about, Jake —it’s capitalism.
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show me the money
The configuration changes, but for my personal stuff one camera one lens has worked for me for over a decade now. The Fuji looks like a solid hit for them, but with 10 frames equalling 1GB of storage you may have to factor in processor/storage costs as well.
Author
At least storage is cheap now. Online storage, not so much, but drives are pretty inexpensive.
This article hits close to home for me. For years, I was caught in the YouTube trap endlessly watching “pro photographers” whose channels were really just gear review factories, peppered with vaguely photo-related nonsense. The narrative is always the same: product X is better than product Y or product X is a game changer because it has more pixels or better dynamic range (however imperceptible it might be) and all this delivered with the subtlety of a brick through a window. I’ve wasted more time and money than I care to admit, with little to show for it beyond a bloated shelf of camera manuals, camera and lens boxes and a mild existential crisis not to mention the frequent and patented death stares from my better half 🙂
When I discovered you and your content, Dan, everything began to shift. Not overnight, but gradually, your perspective started to rewire the way I approach photography. Your voice cut through the noise like a clean frame on a cluttered contact sheet. Instead of chasing specs and obsessing over “corner sharpness,” I began following real photographers like you. Not BS content creators, but people who care deeply about image-making, printing, sequencing, and the why behind the photo. Your “Size Matters” article and similar such articles in the past serve as a great reminder that gear talk only matters when it actually matters. That shift has been incredibly liberating. My limited spare time is now spent making photos and enjoying the process more than ever, not debating whether 0.2 stops of dynamic range will transform my work if I buy the latest shiny thing or going on a verbal tirade that my image is “soft” and i should have bought that other lens that I watched a review of etc etc
Ironically, I have YouTube to thank for that because it led me to you (and a few other kindred spirits). Keep delivering your message Dan as more people could find this “inconvenient truth” as liberating as I did.
Author
Yes, it’s a strange cycle of being on YT or not being on YT. I’m back, temporarily. And glad you are here. When I read your “dynamic range,” and “corner sharpness,” comments it just cracks me up. I’ve been doing this since 1988 and never had that conversation with any real photographer or any client for that matter. All of that tech stuff is such nonsense but there are SO many geeks out there it keeps the cycle going.
In absolute agreement with your observations. It makes me a little sad when I see ‘Tubers’ getting commissioned for proper photo jobs, when they clearly haven’t got a Scooby ( rhyming slang) where to point the camera. But yes, I know, marketing departments are only interested in numbers.
Just a thought about the all singing and dancing digital, particularly in reference to your comment about the FM2 guy. If I can make an analogy to fishing; suppose you could use a bait that attracted fish to your hook like a magnet, and you landed one after another; you couldn’t get the line in fast enough, buckets full of flippers.
Would fishing get boring, no surprises, no guessing the best location, fly, bait? Is that not a little like using your Z8 to shoot… birds in particular? Is that a tangible analogy? Digital cameras are amazing, but the predictable, immediate confirmation of ‘capture’ ( hate that word) leaves you a bit empty?
Do you remember eagerly awaiting the strip of film on the light box? Eyes darting all over it, franticly searching for that illusion hit…… and then the disappointment of realising they’re all out of focus, by just a tad:))
But you get my point?
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Tubers get commissions for several reasons. First, many brands haven’t discussed photography in at least five years. Their marketing meetings are about metrics. That’s it. Who has the numbers? And in many cases, there isn’t anyone in those meetings who knows what good photography is anyway. Two, many commissions come from people who don’t know what else to do. It’s like people telling photographers they need to be on IG. “How can I find out what you are doing if you aren’t on IG?” Good God. So lame, so lazy, and so in tune with turning a blind eye to the indiscretions of the platform. If someone said that to me I’d never, ever work for them. If I wanted to spend my life around sheep I’d move to the farm.