Fujifilm’s GFX100 II For Adventure

Medium format power in a relatively compact body, equally adept for shooting stills and video, means the world is adventure and nature photographer Josselin Cornou’s oyster

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French-Australian landscape and nature photographer Josselin Cornou’s imagery reveals his love of finding the spectacular in the everyday and delivering shots with an instantly Instagrammable wow factor. 

Combining a love of travel and adventure for him means finding a portable and practically compact camera body, yet one up to the task of delivering high-resolution, saleable images for large print. It’s no surprise, then, the 102-megapixel FUJIFILM GFX100 II is Cornou’s current creative companion.

Recently returned from a two-week trip to China, where he visited the Great Wall, Shanghai and its surrounding countryside, Cornou reveals that his favoured pro-grade lenses are the FUJINON GF20-35mmF4 R WR, GF80mmF1.7 R WR and GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR.

Previously, he used the FUJIFILM GFX50S, GFX100 and GFX100S. He now notes about the newer GFX100 II: “The EVF is the biggest pro for me, with 1.0x magnification. When you use a manual focus lens, it’s easy to focus because the image is very bright. It’s the closest thing to using an actual optical viewfinder.

“Something else I like is the top screen, which is large and contains all the information I could need. The camera’s autofocus is snappy, too, and the eye detection is actually fantastic. I do feel like lenses such as the GF80mmF1.7 also behave much better, simply because of the improved autofocus.”

Fast track to the express lane

Cornou further rates the FUJIFILM GFX100 II’s provided CFexpress Type B and UHS-II SD card slots, highlighting that not only can they cope with huge file sizes, but also shooting at between 5fps and 8fps with almost no buffering.

“When you’re travelling with the camera and want to capture a particular moment or event, it makes it very easy,” he continues. Another plus for him is the camera’s modernistic design, which he says is giving him an experience that’s expected from a contemporary, cutting-edge brand.

Handling and EVF aside, obviously a major selling point for the FUJIFILM GFX100 II is the huge resolution provided, which the photographer also feels is essential for his work.

“There are several advantages; first of all in being able to re-frame the shot as you need. Then there’s the prints, especially of landscapes – which look beautiful – allowing you to print quite large because the files are very sharp.” While a lot of Cornou’s photography is editorial, being able to sell high-resolution prints direct is another welcome revenue stream the camera provides.

Fujifilm’s unique built-in Film Simulation effects likewise can come in handy for the image maker, particularly when he needs to share something quickly that’s both immediately appealing and doesn’t require significant time to edit.

“It’s useful when you’re shooting in the snow; on some cameras this wouldn’t look white. Here, it enables me to get appealing results straight out of the camera and share them swiftly. With the GFX, I’m also finding I don’t need to ‘stack’ photos that often to achieve more dynamic range – so it’s reducing the amount of work I am required to do in post-processing software.”

Time saved means more hours spent shooting in far-flung, unspoilt locations. Recently, these have included Australia and Iceland alongside the likes of China, and ultimately leads to more images for the rest of us to enjoy.

“With the FUJIFILM GFX100 II, it’s a complete, all-round system for travellers. When shooting stills and videos, you don’t need to carry two systems any more. It’s probably the only medium format system that is such a reliable all rounder,” the photographer concludes.

First published Issue 113 of Photography News.