Fujifilm GFX100RF Review: An X100 All Grown Up

Mar 20, 2025

Chris Niccolls

Fujifilm’s GFX medium format camera line features versatile and relatively affordable cameras in an industry normally dominated by prestigious names like Phase One or Hasselblad. However, Fujifilm also makes the insanely popular X100 series of cameras which make for a perfect compact companion to the traveling urban photographer. So what would happen if you combined the over-your-shoulder convenience of the X100 with the raw image quality of the GFX? The answer is the GFX100RF.

Before we get into the camera, we were told the GFX100RF cameras we tested were production hardware running pre-production firmware. I’m confident that we can effectively review the camera at this point but I want to state that we are dealing with pre-production units during this experience. As bugs are discovered and corrected, the GFX100RF will only get better.

Buy the Fujifilm GFX100RF new on Amazon.com Buy the Fujifilm GFX100RF used on KEH.com

Fujifilm GFX100RF Review: How It Feels

About all this camera has in common with the current GFX lineup is the powerful 102-megapixel medium format sensor. Everything else screams X100. From its design aesthetic to its control scheme, the 100RF is essentially a beefier X100. The body design is sleek and elegant with fully machined aluminum top and bottom plates. It even has a similar weather-sealed capability to the X100 as long as you keep the filter adapter and a protective filter in place.

A silver and black camera with a textured grip, featuring a Fujinon aspherical lens, is placed on a black grid surface marked with white lines, set against a dark background. — The GFX100RF is understated and stylish. It certainly feels like an expensive product.

Before we go further we have to address the two characteristics of the RF that could upset potential buyers. First, we have a brand new 35mm lens that is similar in field of view to a full-frame 28mm lens. But this lens has a maximum f/4 aperture which not only cuts some light but also limits how shallow the depth of field can go. In exchange, it is very compact with a 49mm filter adapter for the front and a smooth-turning manual focus ring. The aperture ring around it is knurled nicely and clicks to a satisfying tempo.

Close-up of a camera lens with a textured metal focus ring. The background features a black grid pattern. — The lens is surgically sharp and very compact but the compromise is an f/4 aperture.

Consider that a Leica Q or even the Fujifilm X100 lens with its APS-C sensor will offer very similar or slightly shallower depth of field than the RF and you give up one of the classic benefits of medium format cameras. That being said, Fujifilm doesn’t offer any wide-angle lenses that go that much brighter in the interchangeable GFX line, with f/3.5 being only slightly faster on the GFX 30mm wide-angle and f/2.8 being available on a not-very-wide 45mm lens. I’ll talk more about the overall lens quality shortly.

Close-up of a vintage-style camera lens with a textured metallic ring, positioned on a surface marked with a black-and-white grid pattern. The focus is on the intricate details of the lens design. — There is a filter adapter which also allows the hood to attach.

The other factor that will polarize buyers is the lack of in-body image stabilization (IBIS) on the RF camera. 100-megapixel sensors can deliver awesome resolution but only if the camera is stable and free of any movement while using slower shutter speeds. The RF has a leaf shutter capable of shooting up to 1/4000 of a second and the design helps to avoid camera shake but there will still be times when a shot at slower shutter speeds is desired and the RF could be tricky to hold steady.

Close-up of a silver camera's top panel featuring a mode dial with settings in black and red text. The dial includes numbers indicating shutter speeds from 30 to 4000. Adjacent to it are various buttons and controls on a gray metallic surface. — I like the pull-up ISO dial and manual controls that Fujifilm is famous for.

In a street shooting situation, photographers generally use faster shutter speeds anyway so I’m not too concerned in that particular scenario. However, I know I’m going to encounter landscape and architecture situations where I will need to bring a tripod or, alternatively, raise my ISO at the expense of image quality. How much this fact will bother you largely depends on the kind of photography you do. In practice, I was able to hold steady at around 1/30 of a second which is pretty good without IBIS but I did prefer to keep the shutter speeds around 1/60 to 1/125 to better ensure stability.

Close-up of a camera's backside showing a textured grip and several buttons: a circular button with a textured surface, and three labeled buttons: "Menu/OK," "Disp/Back," and "Play," next to an LCD screen. — The back of the camera has an autofocusing joystick that also navigates the menus.

Both of these potential downsides were implemented with a very clear design strategy: make the camera as small as possible. The result is a camera that gives us compactness and a powerful sensor — a combination we haven’t really seen before. The lens on the GFX100RF is very similar in size to the X100 lens and even the Leica Q lens seems rather ungainly in comparison. The question remains, though, if having the smallest size possible is really what users want out of a medium format camera but the handling of the RF is certainly intuitive and convenient.

Close-up view of a silver camera's top dials. The left dial shows shutter speed settings and a meter, while the right dial features exposure compensation numbers. The surface has a textured grip, set against a black grid background. — All the controls are easy to use and machined exquisitely.

The retro-inspired controls mirror the X100, giving you simple and direct control over the aperture, shutter, and ISO, without ever having to enter a menu. The ISO dial in particular is easy to use and I like that it stays locked up when pulled into place and can be adjusted very quickly. At the front of the camera, we now have a control dial which sits in between the on/off lever and a toggle switch dedicated to digitally zooming.

Close-up of a silver and black camera, focusing on its textured metal dials and lens. The camera features a sleek design with a small red dot button and a textured grip. The background is a dark gradient, emphasizing the camera's details. — A new front command dial design is set between the on/off switch and zoom rocker.

You can freely trade megapixels to crop the image with this toggle switch to a full-frame equivalent of 35mm, 50mm, or 63mm as you see fit. There is also a vertical lever much like we see on the X100 series but this now features a customizable button on it and offers four additional customizable controls merely by pushing or pulling the lever, as well as long pressing in either direction.

A vintage-style digital camera with a metal top and black leather grip is shown from the back. The screen and control buttons, including a menu and playback button, are visible. The camera is placed on a grid-patterned surface. — The GFX100RF is very customizable and easy to adjust.

There is also a vertically-positioned command dial on the back which is dedicated to different aspect ratios. Given the 4:3 native aspect ratio of the sensor, you can now crop to 3:2, 1:1, or 16:9, just to name a few. There are so many aspect ratio choices on this dial that I think it gets a little out of control. I did find that with extended use the various aspect ratios became a fun distraction that allowed me to pre-visualize scenes with a certain intention.

Close-up of a retro-styled silver camera top featuring a shutter speed dial, a textured adjustment knob, and a hot shoe mount. The design includes engraved numbers and letters, giving it a classic and mechanical aesthetic. — The new aspect ratio dial is functional but there are lots to cycle through.

There are a plethora of video aspect ratios given even though this dial only functions with photographs and numerous vertical orientations that throw away a lot of megapixels. Frankly, I’d rather just turn the camera sideways or crop in post but if you want to play with different ratios they are literally at your fingertips. The extreme double-frame ratios like 65:24 do provide the nostalgic joy that could be found in the Fujifilm T-X1 and Hasselblad X-Pan cameras of the past and I found myself enjoying this experience more than I thought I would. Of course, the ratios only affect JPEGs so I can still have an untouched RAW file to work with later.

Close-up of a vintage-style camera showcasing the viewfinder and adjustment dials. The camera has a metallic finish with textured black accents and a small knob on the side. The background is dark, emphasizing the camera's retro design. — There is a brilliant EVF and back panel on the GFX100RF.

I appreciate the view mode functionality which lets me decide the general look of the screen when I’m cropping the images in real-time. I can have the camera black out the cropped areas, show frame lines of the chosen crop while still seeing what’s outside the frame, or even have a darker, but still visible, viewpoint of the surrounding composition. This feature works for both aspect ratio cropping and when using the digital zoom function.

Close-up of snow-covered pine branches viewed through a camera's digital viewfinder. The screen displays various camera settings, including ISO 80, shutter speed 1/250, and aperture f/6.4, with a focus rectangle over the branches. — You can choose framelines, a hard crop, or a grayed out area, to show your current crop factor.

A vintage-style camera with a Fujinon Aspherical Lens, featuring a textured black body and silver accents, is placed on a gridded surface marked with angles and measurements. — The GFX100RF is only slightly taller than the X100 and the grip is comfortable.

All the knurled control surfaces are cut perfectly and the dials turn with a consistent resistance. It also has an incorporated four-stop ND filter which can be used when longer shutter speeds are desired for photos or video. The GFX100RF is designed to give users the same fun, stylish, and tactile experience, that they have enjoyed in the X100. But the GFX100RF isn’t just stylish good looks and retro charm.

A camera with an open battery compartment next to a removed battery. The camera is placed on a black grid-patterned surface with a visible "30°" marking. — Battery life was great with a full day of shooting easily possible on one battery.

Make no mistake, the GFX100RF is a pricey camera but I’m happy to see that it comes with high-grade displays to help justify that price. I was worried that Fujifilm might downgrade the camera considering its more niche and specialized design but we get a brilliant 5.76-million dot EVF which really helps when evaluating such high-megapixel images.

The back panel is a very thin display that tilts in the vertical axis but does not swing out the way the XT-5 screen does. However, it is bright and punchy with an excellent 2.1-million dot screen and I found it nice to use when shooting at awkward angles. The touch interface is a seamless experience, offering an alternative way to adjust the camera or to set the AF point.

Close-up of a Fujifilm GFX100RF camera body, showcasing its sleek, metallic finish and the model name printed prominently in black and red lettering on the top surface. — RF might be a reference to rangefinder style cameras but the X100 part in the middle is bang on.

We see the return of the Fujifilm W-235 battery which is also found in many of the current GFX bodies and this power source provides around 820 CIPA-rated shots which is quite impressive. This all may be possible because of the lack of IBIS but the longevity is welcome nonetheless. I was also surprised to find twin UHS-II SD card slots in the RF which provides the speed necessary to handle large files and gives the peace of mind of file redundancy.

Fujifilm GFX100RF Review: How It Shoots

The sensor is a known commodity because it is exactly the same as the GFX100S II sensor with some of the best overall image quality on the market today. All 20 of the famous Fujifilm Film Simulation modes return and you can shoot 16-bit RAW files with oodles of dynamic range. With a base ISO of 80, the RF promises to be an incredibly capable landscape camera and as long as the fixed lens is appropriate, will take stunning shots with excellent low-light capability and detail.

Historic European cityscape with Baroque architecture. A large church with green-domed towers stands next to pastel-colored buildings. Birds fly in a partly cloudy sky, and bare trees are visible, suggesting late autumn or early winter. — I had fun playing with different color profiles and editing with the malleable files from the GFX100RF.

A vibrant garden with white and orange tulips, yellow daffodils, and red primroses with yellow centers, against a light-colored wall. — Color and detail are excellent as usual on the latest Fujifilm body.

A large wooden door adorned with ornate metal studs and rings is partially open, casting a shadow on the stone floor. The door is framed by intricate stone architecture with a decorative column. — I loved the detail work on these cathedral doors and the way the light hit them.

Now, if we are going to have a fixed lens on the GFX100RF it better be a good one and the new 35mm f/4 delivers stunningly sharp results. Center sharpness is excellent at f/4 and I would happily shoot at this aperture for most of my work. Stopping the lens down isn’t really required to improve the image quality but does give more depth of field.

A sign with red lettering reads "K ZÁMECKÉ ZAHRADĚ" on a white wall. To the left, a shadow of tree branches is cast on the wall, creating an intricate pattern. — The Castle Garden is this way.

Black and white image of a historic building's courtyard with multiple windows. The view looks up toward the sky, showcasing dramatic clouds framed by the building's walls. — The monochrome mode with a red filter effect is always nice for blue skies.

A dramatic view of a historic building with intricate architecture, featuring tall spires under a partly cloudy blue sky. In the foreground, a tall, modern obelisk reflects sunlight.

I was very impressed by the corner sharpness as well, with plenty of detail present to the extreme edges. I also appreciated that the corners are in focus when the center is too. This makes the lens ideal for landscape and architectural work when shooting flat surfaces.

Black and white photo of a Gothic cathedral with tall spires on a cloudy day. Foreground includes old buildings and leafless trees. The dramatic sky adds a moody atmosphere to the scene.

Black and white image of a solitary figure walking on a cobblestone path in front of a patterned building. Bare trees cast shadows on the ground. The scene has a calm, historic ambiance.

Shadow of a tree on a stone building with two wooden doors. The ground is paved with cobblestones, creating a textured walkway in the sunlight. The walls feature a rectangular stone pattern.

The 35mm lens resists flare and ghosting incredibly well with no real issues in terms of contrast or lens reflections. Sun stars aren’t particularly dramatic, however, and tend to look more enticing at the middle of the lens’s aperture range. I also didn’t find the bokeh to be particularly pleasing with a fairly strong soap bubble effect and some busyness present in the highlights which leads to a somewhat harsh-looking rendering of the backgrounds.

The image shows a layered, mirrored sculpture of a face against a blue sky with clouds and sunlight. Surrounding buildings include a yellow one with ornate architecture. Reflective glass panels of a modern building are also visible. — Ghosting resistance is excellent, even when the aperture is tight.

A stone statue stands in the foreground with an ornate historical tower and building behind it. The sun is partially visible, creating a halo effect around the tower's top. The building features intricate architectural details and decorative elements. — Flare is very well controlled but the sun stars won’t blow anyone away.

A person with natural curly hair and a beard is wearing a bright blue puffer jacket with a black shoulder strap, standing in a narrow outdoor alleyway. The background features light-colored buildings with a wooden door.

Overall, this is a clinical-looking lens that maximizes the inherent detail of the large sensor and facilitates the ability to crop not only for tighter fields of view but also when implementing the various aspect ratios. The real magic of this design is in creating a system where the images can be feasibly cropped tighter while still retaining very usable levels of detail.

A cobblestone bridge under a dark blue sky, illuminated by street lamps. Statues line the path, with a distant city skyline featuring lit buildings reflecting on the water. — Charles Bridge as I waited for a potential sunrise that didn’t materialize. The 16:9 aspect ratio gave a pleasing frame though.

Black and white image of a person walking on a cobblestone street, casting a long shadow. The person is wearing a coat and sneakers, and the street is partly illuminated, creating contrast with darker areas. — The GFX100RF is a handy camera to walk around with and doesn’t feel anything like the larger GFX bodies.

A person in a suit stands alone in a spacious, sunlit corridor with a briefcase. Long shadows stretch across the floor from large arched windows, creating a dramatic effect. — All 20 of the latest film simulation modes are present including the much loved Acros.

The GFX100RF is clearly designed to be a street shooting camera and can shoot quickly and focus precisely. I found myself sticking with shooting one photo at a time to retain 16-bit levels of dynamic range but the GFX100RF can push to six frames per second with a minor sacrifice to 14-bit files. 40 RAW files can be fired in a row before the buffer fills and this provides an acceptable amount of time to get usable bursts off.

A black and white image of a religious statue with a cross, depicting several figures in a solemn pose. In the background, a historic building with a clock tower is visible under a cloudy sky.

A black and white photo of rustic cabinets set against a wall with a chalkboard menu above. Two buckets sit on top of the weathered surface. Sunlight casts shadows, highlighting the texture of the wood and the cobbled street below. — These kinds of scenes are what I love to look for with a camera like the GFX100RF.

Focusing is still a little frustrating on the GFX100RF as this uses the current autofocus algorithms of the GFX lineup. This means that single-point AF works great with predictable speed and excellent accuracy. The subject detection modes also do a good job for portraits or the occasional close-up animal shot for example.

A dimly lit street scene captures a person walking past a warmly illuminated restaurant with large windows. Inside, diners sit at tables beneath modern light fixtures. The surrounding buildings exhibit classic architecture. — Prague is beautiful at night but it’s quite dimly lit. It’s a good challenge for the GFX100RF.

Black and white image of a historic building with ornate architecture and statues. The statues stand beside a column in the foreground. The sun peeks through, casting shadows across the scene, enhancing the dramatic contrast. — The 65:24 aspect ratio became an instant hit with the creator crowd.

Aerial view of Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, showcasing the Vltava River, a wooden bridge, and the town's historic architecture with colorful buildings and church spires under a clear blue sky.

However, it also means that continuous shooting tends to constantly wobble and can struggle in low-light situations. Similarly, the tracking autofocus works if subjects are slow-moving or still but often loses the subject when the action speeds up. I do feel like autofocus performance is one of the areas that will need improvement across the Fujifilm lineup, but for the scope of this camera and the kind of photography it is aimed at, single-point recomposing or eye detection covers the majority of situations pretty well.

Black and white image of a spiral stone staircase viewed from a narrow-angle. Light illuminates through a small rectangular window with a metal grid, highlighting the textured stone steps and walls, creating an intriguing pattern of light and shadow.

Pigeons fly in a bright blue sky with scattered clouds above ornate, historic buildings. The architecture features decorative facades and red tile roofs. A larger flock of birds is visible in the distance.

A street scene at night with a blurred passing tram leaving light trails. A building displays multicolored lights in its windows, casting a vibrant glow. A cobblestone sidewalk and crosswalk sign are visible in the foreground.

Fujifilm GFX100RF Review: Video Performance

In terms of video performance, you can really look at one of two ways. First, compared to the GFX 100 II, video functionality is scaled back dramatically. High resolution, high frame rate, and high data rate record modes have all been removed, likely to control heat in such a small camera. However, looking at other compact, fixed lens enthusiast cameras the GFX100RF is surprisingly capable.

Microphone and headphone jacks can be found on the body, without requiring additional dongles like the X100 VI, and is something the Leica Q3 does not offer. Professional video assist tools like waveforms, vector scopes, and an RGB parade can be used to monitor exposure and white balance, and video can be recorded with the lovely Eterna profile for minimal editing, or F-Log and F-Log2 for additional post-production flexibility. As well, the four-stop ND filter is adequate for most outdoor video shooting. This is a substantial suite of video tools for this class of cameras.

Camera menu screen displaying shooting settings options, including Focus BKT Setting, Photometry, Shutter Type (MS), Flicker Reduction (Off), Flickerless S.S. Setting (Off), ISO Auto Setting (Auto3), Digital Tele-Conv. (Off), and ND Filter (On). — The built-in ND filter is great for video shooters and can be helpful for long exposure landscapes.

4K video can be captured up to 30p, though the slow readout of the sensor means this must be captured using pixel binning. This process reduces sharpness somewhat but keeps moire artifacts at bay. However, the biggest issue with the GFX100RF for video capture is really the omission of any form of stabilization. Handheld jitters are very noticeable when hand-holding, even if the camera is not being deliberately moved. Fujifilm DIS (Digital Image Stabilization) attempts to minimize these effects but requires a dramatic crop to a 37mm equivalent field of view and can result in some serious digital weirdness when using the slow shutter speeds preferred for video capture.

Man in a black jacket takes a photo in a shadowed area with a camera. Sunlit street and blurred figures are in the background. — The GFX100RF is a perfect travel-sized medium format camera.

So the GFX100RF doesn’t make the most sense as primarily a video camera. But, if a photographer finds themself out in a beautiful location shooting landscapes on a tripod, rest assured this camera can capture some solid video evidence of your journey as well.

Fujifilm GFX100RF Review: Surprisingly Versatile

I have to admit that this camera took a little while for me to come to grips with. The controls are excellent and the size is certainly compact enough to be a daily carry kind of camera, so that wasn’t the issue. What I needed to come to realize had more to do with the design intention of the entire camera. What I assumed was more of an exercise in seeing how small a camera could be while still having a large 102-megapixel sensor began to develop into a realization that the inherent quality of the sensor actually made a ton of sense in such a small body.

A scenic view of a city with multiple bridges spanning a river under a partly cloudy sky. On the left, historic buildings line the riverbank, and leafless trees frame the foreground. The sun casts a warm glow over the landscape.

A person walks down a dimly lit, arched corridor with textured walls. Two hanging lanterns illuminate the space. Sunlight streams through a large window at the end of the corridor, casting light on the floor. The image is in black and white. — One of the nice benefits of the 100-megapixel GFX sensor is its excellent high ISO performance.

There is no getting around the lack of IBIS and somewhat pedestrian f/4 aperture. Video shooters will legitimately miss having the IBIS unit but it wasn’t as big a detriment as I expected for stills capture. I found myself appreciating the fact that the GFX100RF feels like a full-frame camera in size and intention. There is nothing that feels GFX about this camera and if it didn’t say so on the top panel most people would happily remain ignorant to that fact. What the GFX100RF does unlock is the practical potential to crop, change aspect ratio, and zoom into the frame while still delivering excellent images.

Close-up of snow-covered pine branches, as seen through a camera viewfinder. The screen displays various settings including focus mode, ISO, shutter speed, and aspect ratio. The image captures a clear, wintry detail of the needles and snow. — Aspect ratios are fun to play with and actually usable on the 100RF.

Black and white photo of a flock of birds flying over historic architecture. The foreground features statues and ornate buildings. A prominent Gothic-style church with tall spires is visible under a partly cloudy sky. — Prague’s main square is a wide open space where the pigeons hunt for dropped food.

Brick wall with yellow and red graffiti next to a sidewalk. A metal barrier with red and white stripes blocks access to the grassy area beside the wall. Nearby, a parking sign and traffic sign are visible. Bare trees are in the background.

This is something that the Leica Q camera attempted to provide but I think that the Fujifilm GFX100RF better delivers on this concept. I am surprised by how stable the camera is to shoot at slower shutter speeds and how versatile it is at going beyond the constraints of its fixed lens. Everything that makes the Leica Q such a beloved companion camera is also present here in the GFX100RF and even though the $4,899 asking price is still expensive, I feel the camera offers more capability for less money than the Leica Q while providing a similar kind of unique and enjoyable shooting experience.

A building at night with large illuminated butterfly decorations on the exterior. The street and walkway glow with purple-pink light reflections. Bright storefront windows showcase various advertisements. Cobblestone street leads to a corner. — British Spitfire planes with butterfly wings and a lovely purple glow.

Stone statues stand on a dimly lit, cobblestone bridge at dusk. Warm streetlights illuminate the path, with historic buildings and a distant city skyline under a cloudy sky on the horizon.

The Fujifilm GFX100RF is a great example of taking a major design risk and seeing if it will pay off. But given the immense popularity of the X100 series of cameras, photographers now have an alternative that captures much of what makes the X100 great to use while providing a far more capable potential for image quality and versatility. The X100V was the first Fujifilm rangefinder-style camera to win me over, and now it looks like the GFX100RF has pulled a repeat performance.

Black and white photo of a tall, historical building with ornate details at night. Bright lights illuminate the upper facade and a statue on the roof. Streetlights are visible in the foreground. — I love square ratios and the sensor make this very possible without losing too much detail.

Are There Alternatives?

The Leica Q3 provides an excellent lens and 60-megapixel full-frame sensor which is almost universally loved. The price is still substantially more expensive on the Leica Q3 and remember that the old saying does state “there is no replacement for displacement”. Alternatively, you could get a GFX 100S II but as compact as they are compared to the GFX 100 series, they are not nearly as convenient to carry.

Buy the Leica Q3 new on Amazon.com Buy the Leica Q3 used on KEH.com