What now for hybrid cameras with tilting electronic viewfinders like my ageing GX8? Does Fujifilm have a large format answer with its GFX100 II?

I’m in the midst of catching up on the latest cinema and hybrid camera and lens announcements by Blackmagic Design, Fujifilm, Panasonic and others in between processing a backlog of photographs from our too-infrequent trips into the city of Sydney.

Tomorrow I’ll be attending a workshop at Fujifilm Australia’s Fujifilm House of Photography in Sydney and I’m hoping it will be an opportunity to take a look at the company’s recently-announced GFX 100 II and its three new GF tilt-shift lenses, the Fujinon GF 30mm f/5.6 T/S and GF 110mm f/5.6 T/S Macro, as well as a lens for all lights and seasons, the nearly perfect-normal 44mm-equivalent GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR.

Fujifilm GFX100 II with vertical battery grip, tilting viewfinder, two tilt/shift and one “lightweight cine-style prime”

Fujifilm GFX100 II with VG-GFX100-II Vertical Battery Grip and Fujinon GF 50mm f/3.5 T LM WR prime lens (40mm equivalent in 35mm). Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm GFX100 II with VG-GFX100-II Vertical Battery Grip. Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm EV-TL1 Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) Tilt Adapter. Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm EVF-GFX2 Removable 5.76m-Dot OLED EVF with FUJIFILM EVF-TL1 EVF Tilt Adapter for Fujifilm GFX50S and GFX100 large format cameras. Image courtesy of B&H.

fujifilm_ec-xh_wide_eyecup_02_1024px_80pc

Fujifilm Wide Eyecup EC-XH W. Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm FAN-001 Cooling Fan. Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm Fujinon GF 30mm f/5.6 T/S 24mm-equivalent tilt/shift prime lens. Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm Fujinon GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR 44mm-equivalent “lightweight cine-style prime lens”. Image courtesy of B&H.

Fujifilm Fujinon GF 110mm f/5.6 R WR 87mm-equivalent “lightweight cine-style prime lens”. Image courtesy of B&H.

optimized_linhof_master-technika_classic_4x5_10_1024px — Linhof Master Technika Classic 4″x5″ “Snow” sheet film view camera. Image courtesy of Linhof.

While there is no guarantee that any of the three will be on display there is a chance and I’m particularly keen to see them.

Two of my key magazine editorial portrait styles grew out of using 4″x5″ sheet film view cameras mostly with a moderate wide-angle lens for environmental portraits and a moderately long aka telephoto lens for close-up face-only portraits.

All my hardware was stolen by a colleague after I moved to London and I’m wondering whether the current residents at 19 Chipstead Street, Parson’s Green SW6 3SR found it hidden in their basement? I can provide a list and it is extensive.

No matter: the analog era is well and truly over and I’ve been hoping that Fujifilm might some day make the gear to allow a similar approach be taken in this digital age.

fujifilm_gx680iii_01_1024px — Fujifilm Fujica GX680III 6x8cm format 120 roll-film camera. Image found on eBay.

Fujifilm’s promotional video for the 110mm T/S lens positions it for food, products, commercial and still-life photography but movements like tilt, shift and rotate are just as useful in portrait photography especially in close-up with a telephoto lens to rapidly and selectively focus on an eye and a lip, say, or an eye and a highlight on the tip of a nose.

Fujifilm used to make some of the finest view camera lenses ever though I never had the privilege of using them as they weren’t available here and the same applied to the company’s reportedly superb GX680 analog cameras for 120 roll film in 6cm x 8cm format.

They offered camera movements not unlike those in view cameras was well as a large collection of excellent lenses and were used for magazine editorial and other applications such as portrait photography by luminaries including Greg Gorman.

I would have loved one!

rolleiflex_4.0_ft_twin_lens_reflex_tlr_telephoto_02_1024px_60% — Rolleiflex 4.0 FT twin lens reflex telephoto portrait camera, special edition. Image courtesy of DHW Fototechnik.

Fujifilm’s GX680 series also apparently offered a choice of viewing options like the one in the photograph above as well as, presumably, a folding waist-level viewfinder with magnifier similar to the ones in Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex cameras and various brands of 120 roll-film single lens reflex cameras including Hasselblad, some models of which, incidentally, were made by Fujifilm as well as their lenses.

Another item I hope to see in action at Fujifilm House of Photography tomorrow is the GFX 100 II’s upgraded viewfinder with, I assume, optional EVF-TL1 EVF Tilt Adapter.

Since losing my 120 roll-film cameras with waist-level viewfinders the closest I’ve come is Panasonic’s Lumix GX8 flagship compact but pro-quality rangefinder-style Micro Four Thirds camera which I still often carry to supplement my Fujifilm X-Pro2 digital rangefinder camera when waist-level viewing is an essential to get the image I need without having to bend over or kneel on the ground.

_DSF9014_1024px_80pc — Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX8 camera with tilting electronic viewfinder and Panasonic Lumix G 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 Power OIS zoom lens. Image by Karin Gottschalk.

I’ve tried flipping other cameras’ monitors up to try viewing downwards but that’s next to useless in bright sunlight or cloudy days with lightbox skies.

The hinge of the GX8’s built-in tilting EVF could certainly be a little tighter but nothing that a left-hand thumb can’t keep in position tilted upwards at 90 degrees.

Waking about in city crowds with a little tilting EVF camera is not unlike a cloak of invisibility and allows me to be up close and unobtrusive as some of the images below show.

DxO PhotoLab Elite’s DeepPRIME XD denoising and demosaicing feature does an excellent job of resolving fine details from Micro Four Thirds and, for that matter, APS-C sensors but imagine what it could do for raw files from medium format aka large format sensors such as those in Fujifilm’s GFX cameras: 100 megapixels with DeepPRIME XD, wow!

blackmagicdesign_bmpcc6kpro_07_1024px — Blackmagic Design’s Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 6K Pro aka BMPCC 6K Pro. Image courtesy of Blackmagic Design.

This week’s announcement by Panasonic of its SLR-style Lumix G9 II M43 hybrid camera with PDAF, improved IBIS and amazing video capability on par with its GH6 is impressive and I’m also looking forward to seeing one of those when they eventually appear in Sydney, but it makes me wonder if there will ever be a worthy successor to my beloved GX8.

Tilting viewfinders, like tilt/shift lenses, have a place in moviemaking as well as stills photography and it’s assuring to see that Blackmagic Design is continuing to offer an optional tilting viewfinder for its newly announced Cinema Camera 6K but Blackmagic’s EVF only tilts up to 70 degrees and not 90 degrees as I would prefer.