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Fuji GFX 100 Performance


Timing and Performance

Very good overall performance for its class, with some notable improvements over the 50S.

Startup/Play to Record

Power on
to first shot
~1.3 seconds

Time it takes to turn on and capture a shot.

Play to Record,
first shot
~1.0 second

Time until first shot is captured.

Powerup to first shot was sluggish compared to most DSLRs at about 1.3 seconds, the same as the 50S. Switching from Play to Record mode and taking a shot took about one second which is relatively slow, requiring one shutter press to get out of review mode and another to take the shot, though that's slightly improved over the 50S.


Shutter Response (Lag Time)
(EFCS (default) / Mechanical Shutter / Electronic Shutter)

Full Autofocus,
Single-point AF
0.159/0.197/0.708
second

Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, with the lens already at the proper focal distance setting. (All timing performed with the Fujinon GF 63mm f/2.8R WR lens.)

Manual Focus
0.111/0.158/0.706
second

For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

Prefocused
0.105/0.136/0.689
second

Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.

In terms of the GFX100's ability to determine that it's properly focused when shooting the same target multiple times (with no change of focus setting between iteration, to remove the impact of lens AF speed), its full autofocus shutter response was quite fast for a mirrorless camera, thanks to its new hybrid AF system. The GFX100's full-autofocus shutter lag (with the subject at a fixed distance) was 0.159 second in Single-point (center) AF-S mode using the default Electronic First Curtain Shutter mode. That's much improved over the 50S which tested at 0.476 second with its contrast-detect AF system.

When manually focused, the GFX100's shutter lag time dropped to 0.111 second, which is not bad, and also quite an improvement over the 50S' 0.270 second.

The GFX100's prefocused shutter lag of 0.105 second was a bit faster than the 50S' 0.108 second, but that's still slower than most cameras.

As you can see in the table above, we also tested the fully mechanical shutter mode which was slightly slower than EFCS, and the fully electronic shutter which was significantly slower.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.


Cycle Time (shot to shot)

Single Shot mode
Large Super Fine JPEG
0.41 second

Time per shot, averaged over a few frames.

Single Shot mode
RAW + LSF JPEG
0.56 second

Time per shot, averaged over a few frames.

Early shutter
penalty?
No

Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.

CH Burst mode
Large Super Fine JPEG
0.20 second
(5.03 fps);
47 frames total;
17.5 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 47 frames, then slows to an average of 0.51s or 2.0 fps when buffer is full.

CH Burst mode
Lossless Compressed RAW
0.20 second
(5.01 fps);
21 frames total;
7.5 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 21 frames, then slows to an average of 0.51s or 2.0 fps when buffer is full.

CH Burst mode
Lossless RAW + LSF JPEG

0.20 second
(5.00 fps);
13 frames total;
11.1 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 13 frames, then slows to an average of 0.69s or 1.5 fps when buffer is full, with a lot of variation.

CL Burst mode
Large Super Fine JPEG
0.50 second
(2.00 fps);
Unlimited(?) frames;
1.6 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over 40 frames, with no apparent buffer limit.

CL Burst mode
Lossless Compressed RAW
0.50 second
(1.99 fps);
26 frames total;
11.1 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 26 frames, then slows to an average of 0.64s or 1.6 fps when buffer is full.

CL Burst mode
Lossless RAW + LSF JPEG

0.50 second
(1.99 fps);
24 frames total;
11.2 seconds to clear*

Time per shot, averaged over buffer length of 24 frames, then slows to an average of 1.55s or 0.64 fps when buffer is full with a lot of variation.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Sony 64GB SF-G UHS-II SDXC card (R:300MB/s, W:299MB/s). Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode. ISO sensitivity and noise reduction settings can also affect cycle times and burst mode performance.

Single-shot cycle time was about 0.4 second when shooting Large Super Fine JPEGs and about 0.6 second when shooting lossless compressed RAW + LSF JPEG files. Again, this is an improvement over the 50S' 1.0 second for both.

The GFX 100's top continuous CH burst mode speed is rated at 5.0 fps, and our lab results confirmed that. That's quite good considering the sensor size and resolution. Note that mechanical shutter mode is needed at 5.0 fps (electronic shutter is limited to 2.9 fps and EFCS is limited to 2.0 fps).

Buffer depths at 5 fps were roughly similar to the 50S' at 3 fps in our tests, despite the higher speed and much larger files. The GFX 100's buffer depth in CH burst mode was 47 best quality JPEGs, 21 losslessly compressed RAW and 13 lossless RAW+JPEG frames, compared to the 50S' 40, 21 and 11 frames respectively. The GFX 100's spec'ed buffer depth is 41 JPEGs or 14 lossless RAW, so the GFX100 performed better than Fuji's claims in the lab. We didn't test uncompressed RAW files, however Fuji claims their buffer depth is only one less at 13 frames in 5 fps mode.

Continuous L mode is rated at 2.0 fps and that was confirmed in the lab as well. Buffer depths in this slower mode were unlimited best quality JPEGS, 26 lossless RAW or 24 lossless RAW+JPEG frames.

Buffer clearing times were reasonable with a fast Sony SF-G64 UHS-II SDXC card, taking between 7.5 and 17.5 seconds to clear after a max-length 5 fps burst depending on the file type. And the GFX 100 allows you to change settings and view just-shot images while the buffer is clearing.


Bottom line: the Fuji GFX 100's performance is much improved over the 50S' in terms of autofocus speed, cycle times and burst rate, though unsurprisingly, buffer clearing is much slower yet still reasonable given the massive file sizes.

Battery Life

Very good battery life for a large sensor mirrorless camera.

Operating Mode Battery Life
Normal / Boost
Still Capture,
(EVF, CIPA standard)
740 / 560 shots
Still Capture,
(LCD Monitor, CIPA standard)
800 / 700 shots

The Fuji GFX 100 uses two custom NP-T125 10.8V 1250mAh rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs for power (the same battery pack the 50S and 50R use), and comes with two dedicated battery chargers. In-camera charging via USB-C is supported as is USB Power Delivery, and the camera also has a 15V DC input jack.

The GFX 100 is CIPA-rated for 740 shots per charge when using the EVF or 800 shots with the LCD monitor in Normal mode, which is quite good for a large sensor mirrorless camera thanks to the dual battery packs. In Boost mode which increases EVF frame rate and/or AF speed, the ratings drop to 700 and 560 shots respectively, which is still pretty good.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of on fully-charged battery, based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions. While real-world battery life tends to be much better for mirrorless cameras, CIPA-rated battery life is still very useful for comparison purposes.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

 

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