Photography Project: Lessons, Struggles & Our Take on Fujifilm Medium Format

[@mamoastudio]

Beautiful work, you both!

[@studioseciao]

Thanks as always Mateus! Means a lot! 🫶✨

[@WhoIsSerafin]

Lovely photos

[@studioseciao]

Thank you! :)

[@Bassieboy123]

Beautiful to hear you guys analyse your project. People often are interested in the end result, but the proces towards it is as interesting as the end result to me. Gives us a peek in the mastermind behind it!

[@studioseciao]

Thank you! Exactly! We tend to forget that results come from processes often lasting years or whole lifetimes. ✨

[@emredalgaa]

stunning video and images. well done to you both!

[@studioseciao]

Thank you so much for your kind words! Sending you many blissings for the new calendar year! ✨

[@YOUAREMYKIN]

Happy to have found your channel!! Beautiful work❤

[@studioseciao]

That's lovely! Welcome here on seciao and in this little community! Thank you for your support! 🤍

[@yarenyal]

Greetings from Turkey, I love your works

[@studioseciao]

Thank you! Amazing to have you here watching from Turkey! Greetings from Austria ✨

[@KNURKonesur]

I'd say most people miss a huge unique aspect of Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad X1D/X2D. There's lots of talk about resolution, dynamic range, pixels, film simulations etc. I'd say for most people who don't have disposable amounts of money - the medium format jump is NOT worth it. A FF mirrorless camera is going to be cheaper and do a better job in most aspects (if you aim at a non top of the line body, but higher end from a couple years back, second hand, you can get 98% of the performance for 40% of the price). The "unique aspect" of those 44x33mm sensors is that compared to "traditional" medium format cameras, they have no mirror box, so you can adapt or DIY exotic lenses or (because the sensor being only slightly bigger than FF) use some of your FF lenses beyond their official capabilities, achieving a wider angle / shallower depth of field / punchier bokeh. I think even Fuji and Hasselblad missed the mark on that with all of their OEM lenses, which are gigantic/dark/expensive, but have super high resolution and correction. A good example would be the Helios 58/2.0, or my personal fav, the Minolta Rokkor 58/1.4, both of those lenses are a bit too long for me on FF, they have great bokeh for some artistic purposes, and the GFX can squeeze some more punch out of them, both lenses cover the bigger sensor with room to spare. My fav vintage FF lens, the Contax Carl Zeiss Planar 50/1.4 has some vignetting but works great with a GFX, although it becomes a little too wide for my liking, giving an angle of view similar to a 40mm lens on FF. There are dozens of FF lenses that can work on a GFX and I think that's where the system really really shines.

[@studioseciao]

Thank you so much for your detailed response! I totally agree on your points about the OEM lenses. I've recently also looked into that topic. It's amazing how deep one can dive on adapting lenses. I found a whole google sheets document on reddit about adapting lenses to the GFX system. (I'll leave the link below) Do you have any experience with the Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 65 mm f/1.4 for GF? Also what adapter brand would you recommend? Thank you!

[@studioseciao]

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uxvvpxJ9QVFFyh0pW2rs9KBmUW9vlh-d-VnbcLDCTn8/edit?usp=sharing

[@KNURKonesur]

@@studioseciao oh you found my favourite spreadsheet on the internet :D The Mitakon is cool for many reasons, it's new, comes with a warranty, works "out of the box" without any additional adapters etc., it's got a nice aperture and feel to it ergonomically, good image quality, I just don't like the bokeh that much. I adapted a Minolta Rokkor 58/1.4 which I absolutely love to shoot with now. Started with a simple K&F Concept adapter, they make like 15 kinds of them, but didn't like how far the focus ring was when holding my GFX 50R, so I took the optical block out of the shell, glued it to a thread and screwed into a helicoid, so the lens can collapse into a "pancake" for transport, and gets macro close up focus if I need. The only issue is it doesn't have a working aperture, but I don't mind that. If you want to build your own adapter for any weird lens (especially cinema projection lenses), then RAF Camera in Belarus makes a lot of CNC parts with threads on them so you can just screw one piece into another if you buy a corresponding size helicoid from eBay/Amazon. Happy digging into this rabbit hole, it's a trip :D

[@studioseciao]

It's definitely a gigantic little spreadsheet :D Thanks for your insights, tipps and value! They'll definitely come in handy some time :) All the best!

[@jurrevandermeer4857]

Beautiful pics and such a useful video. I'm currently on sony full frame and have invested in good lenses for that system, but like you, I'm also interested in the dynamic range and color depth of medium format. I wonder if your experience would've been different on a Hasselblad X2D, with its 16 bit color and seemingly better dynamic range than Fuji... Subscribed!!😊

[@studioseciao]

First of all thank you very much! I think medium format is another deep dive (just like Leica e.g.). It's a bit of a hustle owning two systems. It's so much about lenses that one can't really savor any system with just one zoom lens. Maybe we'll try out other Fuji GF lenses or switch to something else for the sake of workflow because we also film with the Sony FX3. We'll soon talk about what we recently found out about the dynamic range of the GFX. All the best, Samuel

[@studioseciao]

Forgot to add: The Hasselblad X2D is probably way more of a "Leica" experience. More dialed back yet at the same time it has all the functionality you need. Also build quality wise. Not to mention their glass... Would be amazing to try out one day :)

[@jespyfilms]

you have the most gorgeous content :O, just wondering what lenses are you using on your video camera?

[@studioseciao]

Thank you so much! 🤍 We use a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 (Mark 1) :)

[@snxgfi]

"... see whole body and dress ..." isn't environmental portrait. Environmental portrait is something that resonates with the subject and its relation with the environment - usually home or work environment. Environmental portrait is more of a story telling that offers insights to the subject's identity.

[@studioseciao]

Thank you for your interesting comment! 🤍 Yes, you are absolutely right. However, in this case, the definition of "environmental portrait" is also applicable, as Eva works as a model, often featuring brands in natural settings. The subject is positioned to emphasize her relationship with the environment, portraying Eva in her preferred working environment.

[@snxgfi]

@@studioseciao Thank you for the clarification :)

[@johnyoung1606]

WTF WHY ?????????

[@WhoIsSerafin]

What are you asking?

[@studioseciao]

?

[@fleshmuseum]

You both seem lovely. Have to be real though,that f/4 kit lens has to be the most mediocre lens in the GFX line up; its a fantastic camera, but that lens makes it feel...dull.

[@studioseciao]

Thank you! We totally agree! The GF 32-64mm F4 is a bit dull and mediocre. Maybe we'll delve deeper into the GF lenses or switch systems to something more utilitarian for our use case. We also film with a Sony FX3 and sharing lenses in one system would be quite neat. Cheers!