So… when Fuji offered to send over the new GFX 100RF for review, I was pumped. I’d only seen it for a hot second at a local camera store, and getting real time with it? Yes please.

Then reality hit. My trusty 2013 Mac Pro looked at those RAW files and basically said, “Nope.”
Sure, I technically could’ve opened them in Lightroom or Photoshop — if I could update my OS. Which I couldn’t. So instead of your standard full-bore review, you’re getting something a little different. And honestly, it might be better that way — because it’s really the story of how I fell in love with this camera.
Let’s start with the feel:

If you’ve used the Fuji X100 series, the GFX 100RF feels like coming home.As you can see the size diff is not that extreme.

Menus? Easy to set up. Dials? Super intuitive. Grip? Deep enough to feel locked in, but still comfy. Everything just felt right in my hands. My only gripe? The joystick. Bit tiny, bit stiff. But we’ll let that slide. The included strap was excellent and felt solid. A little rigid, and maybe after some use it would loosen up but it held the camera at a perfect height on me.
Now here’s where it gets personal.
Many years ago, I got obsessed with panoramic photography. There’s something about that wide cinematic frame that just tells a story differently. I tried the Noblex, the Widelux, even a point-and-shoot pano mode. I hacked together systems — like using a Minolta spring-loaded pano adapter between the shutter curtain and film plane, then xeroxing a custom pano frame to tape onto the mirror/prism. I wanted to see the frame I was actually shooting right in the viewfinder. Seeing my true frame lines gave me the choices I needed when shooting. It was all film then and making a choice was/is important.

Ridiculous? Maybe. Effective? Definitely.

Nicole Brown/Ron Goldman murder scene: Brentwood, California.

I even incorporated the pano format into magazine assignments, filling the available space with triptychs

Fast forward to digital. Sure, I could crop in post — but that felt like cheating. I missed the process. The intentionality. I stopped shooting panos because it just didn’t feel the same.
Until this Fuji.
With the GFX 100RF, I turned the crop dial to 65:24 and — boom — full panoramic framing in the viewfinder, LCD, and playback.

The catch? Only in JPEG. RAW still gave me the full frame, but since I couldn’t open the RAWs anyway, it was like the camera met me exactly where I was.

2 SuperFine files from the GFX 100RF:

That was my lightbulb moment. I set the cards to SuperFine JPEG and hit the streets. And let me tell you — it was a joy I hadn’t felt in years.

The framing was right, the image quality was incredible, and the camera controls felt natural, and placed just right.
I didn’t want to put it down.

As far as the JPEG file quality at SuperFine here is a sample shot from the 100RF, with ISO 5000, f/4, and 1/250 sec, the full and the crop:

I’ve included some shots from my Minolta pano hack days, above and below, and some fresh ones from the GFX 100RF, above. It’s wild to see the evolution, and how a camera can bring you full circle.

As for this Fuji? My review window has closed — now I just have to figure out how to afford one.