Fujifilm will soon be launching its new GFX100S II medium format camera on May 16th, and might do so for a surprisingly low price.
The company has already reshaped the landscape of what it costs to get your hands on a medium-format digital mirrorless camera with the release of its flagship GFX100 II shooter and its GFX 100S.
However, the impending launch of the GFX100S II might take that to a new level with all the features that the camera is expected to include.
With the GFX100 II Fuji released an extremely powerful medium format shooter that costs a (for this type of camera) very reasonable price of $7,499.
Then, with the 102MP GFX100S, Fuji took the cost of a medium-format camera to a new low by pricing it at just $4,399.
Now, according to Fuji Rumors, with the GFX100S II, you’ll be able to get the brand’s newest medium format camera for just $5,000.
If true, this will be an aggressive pricing move from Fuji towards further unsettling the dynamics of buying a high-end, high-resolution mirrorless camera.
The reason why is simple enough: currently, full-frame cameras come priced at these levels while medium format devices with even larger, sharper sensors, usually cost a fair bit more.
With a brand new medium-format shooter like the GFX100S II costing just $5,000, the temptation among many serious photographers will be to just go for the more powerful device and forego full-frame alternatives.
Normally, medium-format devices are almost exclusively in the domain of studio professionals and career field photographers.
With the price of a camera in that line dropping steadily lower thanks to Fuji’s efforts, that will possibly shift.
That Fujifilm is the brand behind such cameras makes their adoption by full-frame users even more likely. Fuji is a known, respected brand and the quality of its cameras is broadly recognized.
Thus, a user who might normally prefer Sony or Nikon and go for one of their full-frame cameras at a price range close to $5,000 could just decide to make the switch to medium-format.
With all the extra sensor power that the GFX100S II would offer at a price like the one being rumored, it would be a powerful option even for dedicated fans of other brands.
The dynamic range, detail, overall image quality and sensor performance of medium-format cameras is notably superior to that of what full-frame normally offers.
Full-frame cameras are superior for certain types of photography, especially for fast-paced field work that requires a combo of both quality and speed,
However, for portrait, fine art, still life and landscape photographers currently using full-frame, $5,000 and cheaper medium-format cameras could be a serious draw.
If Fuji really releases the GFX100S II for $5,000, it will possibly force its competitors to start working on similarly affordable medium-format cameras in the near future.
