There’s no denying the Fujifilm GFX100 RF is an incredible achievement - a beautifully designed, medium format rangefinder-style camera that finally feels as good in the hand as it does on paper.
With its sharp lines, minimalist controls, and a sensor that captures life with breathtaking clarity, the Fujifilm GFX100 RF could easily be my forever camera. And yet, as someone who lives behind a lens daily, one thing holds me back: the fixed 28mm equivalent lens.
Now, I get why Fujifilm went for the 28mm equivalent. It’s wide enough to be immersive, discrete enough for documentary and street work, and, for many, it's the ideal everyday field of view.
I even use 28mm on my Leica when I’m photographing family life - kids racing through the living room, or breakfast sunlit on the kitchen table. It’s the perfect way to tell those honest, messy, intimate stories. But when I step out into the world, when I want to distill a scene, when I need to isolate and simplify, I always reach for a 50mm.
A 50mm is my truth-teller. It’s the lens that I reach for when I’m working, the one that feels most like my eye. It brings balance, structure, and intimacy to images without shouting.
Yes, I could crop in on the GFX100 RF to simulate a 50mm field of view - but that’s just mimicry. It doesn’t replicate the depth, compression, or that unique signature look you get from an actual 50mm prime. A crop is a compromise. What I want is authenticity.
Everything else about this camera sings. The ergonomics are spot-on, with controls that are intuitive and responsive without overthinking things. The styling is pure photographic lust - minimal, robust, and beautifully balanced. And then there’s the sensor.
Medium format delivers a tonal richness and dimensionality that APS-C and full-frame can’t match. It’s the kind of file you want to live in. I pick it up and immediately feel like making pictures. It invites creativity without demanding it.
But the lens - the fixed lens - is the only thing holding it back from being my perfect camera. If Fujifilm had built this with a 50mm equivalent instead, I honestly think I’d never need to look at another body again.
I’d carry it everywhere, from Cornish lanes to foreign cities, from slow Sundays to fast-moving commissions. It would become not just a camera I use, but an extension of how I see.
I know camera design is a game of compromises, and Fujifilm had to draw a line somewhere. For many, they got it right. But for me, it’s so close, and yet, not quite.
I’ll keep admiring the GFX100 RF - maybe even shoot with it from time to time. But unless they make a 50mm version, it’ll remain the one that got away.
