Last Updated on 03/16/2018 by Mark Beckenbach
Fujifilm, staying true to form, has just released another firmware update for their GFX 50S!
Fujifilm is known for their strategy of constantly updating and improving their cameras through firmware updates. My primary camera, the [amazon_textlink asin=’B01A8DUR74′ text=’X-Pro2′ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’9f41a2f7-26f2-11e8-91c5-511b632271b7′] is on its 4th firmware version since its launch, and today, Fujifilm released the version 3.00 firmware update for its mirrorless medium format GFX 50S camera, which includes a couple of pretty notable additions to the camera.
The first, and likely most notable update for current GFX owners is the addition of Focus Bracketing to the [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MZARM64′ text=’GFX 50S’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’a71d0c79-26f2-11e8-95ce-9f13c4d55367′]. This new feature will allow the photographer to set up focus bracketing in the camera, with a maximum of up to 999 frames. This will be incredibly useful for most landscape and macro photographers, but really for anyone who would like to use focus bracketing to improve the overall sharpness and image quality of their images with deep focus.
The new focus bracketing mode works by automatically moving the focus location in the frame after every shutter activation by a user-defined ‘focus shift’ step of 1 to 10. In other words, if you set it to 1, then after every shot the camera will automatically move the focal point one ‘step.’ Whereas if you set it to 6, then the camera would move focus 6 steps after every shot (up to 999 shots anyway).
The other big feature update to the [amazon_textlink asin=’B01MZARM64′ text=’GFX 50S’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thephobl-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’ec98fbd4-26f2-11e8-ab36-971acfcfcc74′] is the addition of a 35mm Format Mode. This mode will automatically crop the images in camera to fit the standard 35mm frame, which on the GFX 50S comes out to roughly a 30.5MP image (still rather impressive). This will make the process of shooting on the GFX with 35mm adapters much less cumbersome. Thanks to the camera automatically doing the cropping the photographer will not have to manually crop those images to fit a standard 35mm frame in post-production.
This, of course, is not a major use for the camera. I think most would agree that if you spent that much on a mirrorless medium format camera the idea of wasting a lot of the sensor on 35mm lenses is a bit of an odd choice. However, for those who maybe want to take advantage of a 35mm lens on their GFX, this will make the process easier, which really isn’t something to complain about.
If you are a GFX 50S owner, you can download the V3.00 update over on the Fujifilm website.
As an additional note, Fujifilm also updated the firmware of their H Mount to G Mount lens adapter to version 1.1 and also announced an update for their Tether Plugin Pro for Lightroom Classic CC to version 1.8. Further details about those updates can also be found over on the Fujifilm website.