Fujifilm unveils new GF 45-100mm f/4 lens to round out their standard zoom arsenal for GFX shooters
posted Thursday, January 23, 2020 at 12:00 AM EST
The GFX line of medium format cameras from Fujifilm, first debuting in early 2017 with the GFX-50S, has wowed both us at IR and many of the world's top landscape and portrait photographers for several years now. Today, the lens lineup becomes even more filled out as their standard zoom arsenal is now officially a trio with the addition of the GF 45-100mm f/4.
The first in the trio of standard zooms for the line came in the GF 32-64mm f/4, which is actually a 21-55mm model in 35mm equivalent terms. Next up was the GF 100-200mm f/5.6 released in 2018 and delivering a 35mm eq. zoom range of 79-178mm. The new 45-100mm will therefore slot in between these two and offer a 35mm eq. range of 36-79mm.
Of course, as with most lenses in the growing GF line, the 45-100mm f/4 sports robust weather sealing, and we at IR can attest that we've had terrific experience with Fujifilm weather sealing in both the field and in our new weather testing facilities. It comes equipped with 11 seals to keep out moisture and dust, and is rated to temperatures as low as 14 degreees F / -10 C.
And for such a useful zoom range and given that it's for a medium format camera body, the lens is actually surprisingly light on its feet at just 2.2lbs (1005g). It's reported to offer 5 stops image stabilization performance, which is a critical component to achieving crisp images with a medium format system, especially one with such high resolution potential.
For the technically minded among you, the lens consists of 16 elements in 12 groups, which includes three aspherical elements, one Super ED element and one ED element designed to control spherical aberration, field curvature and chromatic aberration. We hope to add GF lens testing to our lab testing protocols at some point in 2020, and will certainly bring you the results from this lens once a sample becomes available.
And, of course, we'll bring you a wealth of real-world images from the field... as soon as we finish fighting each other for the sample.
The Fujinon 45-100mm f/4 R will be available to the public in late Febraury for US$2299 / CA$2999.
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The GF 45-100mm f/4 brings the total current GF lens arsenal to 10 (or 11 if you count the 1.4x teleconverter for the system) and yet Fujifilm is certainly not stopping there! They are also now announcing development plans in their newly unveiled roadmap to bring GFX shooters two additional GF lenses!
Fujinon GF 80mm f/1.7 R WR
Starting with a lens sure to please you low light shooters out there, or dreamers of incredible subject-to-background isolation, the slated GF 80mm f/1.7 once available will mark the brightest GF lens to date (with the GF 100mm f/2 being the ranking current #1 for brightness). The actual field of view in 35mm equivalent terms will be 63mm (not to be confused with the already-existing GF 63mm of course, which sports an FOV akin to 50mm in 35mm terms.)
This will therefore sit somewhere between the classic 50mm "do everything" lens and more familiar portrait territory, but given the overall versatility of the system, shallow depths of field and incredible resolving power, the traditional use-cases don't necessarily apply.
Fujinon GF 30mm f/3.5 R WR
And in the trimmed down category, the GF 30mm f/3.5 aims to fall in the footsteps of the relatively svelt GF 50mm f/3.5 in offering a compact wide angle lens, especially for a body like the smaller GFX 50R. With a 35mm equivalent FOV of 24mm, this lens offers the most classic wide angle FOV for landscape shooters, and promises to be a nice companion to the 50mm f/3.5.
Based on the names, both lenses appear to be designed with weather sealing in mind, which is obviously a nice bonus with a robust system like this one.