X Story – GFX100RF x Craig Whitehead
GFX100RF: Street Photography x Craig Whitehead
With the FUJIFILM GFX100RF in hand, Craig Whitehead explores the passages of Seville
“As much as I try and get away from it, I’m definitely under the umbrella of street photographer,” notes UK-based image maker Craig Whitehead. “That does describe me best – but more of the fine art and less of the documentary.
“A lot of people want scenes with people, but for me they’re kind of an afterthought. I’m more interested in cleaner scenes – using people as props,” he remarks. “A good gesture is ideal, but I’m not interested in what the person looks like; only where they fit in the composition and what they’re doing.”
For Craig, aesthetic value is the primary concern. “Some people use street photography to document where they live in a certain period. I definitely like things that are of the time if I can include them, but the image has to be good to begin with,” he asserts. “It’s not enough for me to just document something that happened.”
Equipped with the FUJIFILM GFX100RF, Craig hit the streets of Seville seeking serendipitous moments filled with aesthetic value.
GFX100RF
A camera like no other, the GFX100RF combines the unparalleled 102-megapixel GFX sensor with the iconic design and tactility of cameras like the FUJIFILM X100VI. For Craig, using it offered a mixture of familiarity and discovery.
“For a long time, I had a FUJIFILM X100. It tended to be in my pocket, and I’d have the FUJIFILM X-Pro2 in my hand. Usually, I’d be using the FUJINON XF35mmF1.4 R or XF56mmF1.2 R APD, so if I needed something a bit wider I’d grab the X100 out of my pocket and I was good to go.
“I always use primes, but something like the X100 is a bit too wide to use all the time. I much prefer longer focal lengths. But the GFX100RF has a much bigger sensor, so I can use the digital teleconverter to get compositions I’m used to framing.”
With its fixed 35mm lens granting a full-frame equivalent of a 28mm in 35mm format, the GFX100RF’s default view is ideal for getting more into frame, but the digital teleconverter function also offers focal length equivalents of 36mm, 50mm and 63mm in 35mm format – perfect for Craig.
“With that 102-megapixel sensor, you can crop down huge amounts and still get very usable files,” he notes. “That’s how I look at the world. In some Seville scenes, I used the full sensor readout, but for the most part I was using the digital teleconverter – that’s how I think and frame.”
Of course, cropping into an image can always be done in post-production, but Craig suggests there’s no alternative for getting things right at the moment of acquisition.
“It’s so useful for framing up,” he points out. “I always work in both JPEG and RAW. I want to work off the RAW file anyway, but a setting that does both gives you the option to see the crop in-camera. There’s no substitute for that – you can’t walk around and frame with that crop in mind the whole time.”
Rangefinder design
What makes this camera truly special to Craig is its lightweight, rangefinder design. Fitting a 5.76 million dot EVF into its sleek, 735g build, it perfectly suits his method.
“I prefer rangefinder ergonomics,” he explains. “Being left-eye dominant, I like having that dominant eye open, picking up what’s going on in the scene. But whenever I use a central viewfinder, my left eye just goes to that viewfinder.
“If I have a rangefinder camera, I’m forced to keep it to my right eye. I’m less likely to miss something working that way round because I can walk around with both eyes open and just compose with my right eye. Meanwhile, I can look at what’s going on with my left eye actually seeing the world, rather than through a viewfinder.
“It also means you’re not hiding your face behind the camera,” he adds. “It’s more open, a bit friendlier for street photography.”
While he’s long been a fan of the X100 range of cameras, there’s something about the GFX100RF that particularly appeals.
“In many ways, I prefer the ergonomics of the GFX100RF – it fills my hand better,” he suggests. “It’s crazy seeing that form factor – they’ve fit that sensor into a body I arguably prefer holding to the X100VI.
“They’ve refined the design. They’ve nailed the digital teleconverter and front dial placement as well – it’s so quick to access and you can change it all without even thinking.”
Familiar formats, new files
All new to the GFX100RF is the Aspect Ratio dial on the front, allowing users to explore image formats from some of Fujifilm’s most iconic cameras.
“The Aspect Ratio dial lets you work in all the different medium format aspect ratios Fujifilm has had over the years,” Craig explains.
With just a twist of this control, users can access ratios like 4:3 from the FUJIFILM GX680, panoramic 65:24 from the legendary FUJIFILM TX-1 and 1:1 from the FUJICA Six.
The GFX100RF’s 102-megapixel, 16-bit RAW files also offer amazing fidelity for avid post-processors and pixel peepers. Craig is quick to point out, though, that the most crucial work must still happen at the photography stage.
“It’s polish in post, but the composition and gesture have to be there,” he notes. “You can tweak colours – though for me it’s more about subduing colours I don’t like – and exaggerate contrast, but if it’s not good in the first place don’t try to rescue it.”
For those who simply enjoy the art of editing, however, files from the GFX System never disappoint. “People who spend more time in the edit will get a flexible file because the sensor is amazing,” Craig enthuses. “People that like to pull their shadows up a lot are going to love this sensor.”
Professional performance
Spending days on end pressing through bustling streets in search of the perfect composition, Craig requires equipment with a certain amount of robustness – and the aluminium-milled GFX100RF doesn’t disappoint in that respect.
“Switch the adapter ring out on the front of the lens, put a filter on and the whole thing’s weather sealed,” Craig describes. “There’s a nice metal lens hood for it as well. This is a must for me because I always sling my camera around me, hitting it against things. So, with any camera that doesn’t have a metal lens, I swap it out anyway.”
While Craig insists a careful practitioner can still make a living without weather-resistant equipment, he points out that it’s never a feature any sensible photographer would turn down.
“I’ve worked with non-weather-resistant lenses the whole time I’ve been using Fujifilm equipment, and I’ve never had any issues,” he reveals. “But being able to make it weather-resistant with just a filter – I don’t see why you wouldn’t do that. It’s not like it’s getting in the way!”
Combining the best elements of the fixed-lens X100 series with the incredible imaging performance of the GFX System, the GFX100RF has certainly made its mark in Seville.
“The whole thing is familiar. After an hour out in the street, it feels like using an X100 – I feel at home with all the ergonomics,” Craig sums up. “This means the results are very much like what I would get from that, except the file is bigger, more croppable, smoother and less noisy. It’s so flexible – exactly what you’d expect from the GFX sensor.”
