How I Photographed Surfing with the Fujifilm GFX100 II
GFX100 II / GF80mm F3.5 :: ISO80 1/1000s @ f4.5
It wasn’t long ago that medium format cameras were tools meant for slow, precise processes usually found in studio or landscape photography. Occasionally, you’d see them on location in a controlled set for lifestyle work. That was until the release of Fujifilm’s original GFX100, a camera that started to change what medium format meant in the world of photography.
Fast forward four years and we have the release of the new GFX100 II, a camera that truly brings the flexibility of full frame cameras into a large sensor, 100 megapixel format. Not only can you now easily shoot everything from portraits to lifestyle, shooting in complex scenarios becomes possible too.
GFX100 II / GF80mm F3.5 :: ISO125 1/1000s @ f3.5
A few weeks ago, in late October I was trying to figure out a challenging place to test out the GFX100 II. My brain immediately went to surfing, only problem is at the time of this writing a water housing doesn’t yet exist. Not one to give up easily and after tinkering on the tailgate of my truck in the parking lot at the local break, I was able to squeeze this camera into an old housing. A quick prayer to the photo gods and I jumped in hoping for the best.
To my delight, the second I started photographing my good friend (and amazing DP) Brandon Bondehagen, the GFX100 II found his face, locked on and tracked it all the way through. The camera at 8fps kept up great as he glided through the wave, there wasn’t one time I thought I needed more FPS. Having a deep knowledge of your sport and knowing when and where to shoot goes a long way, much further than 30fps and an endless buffer in my opinion.
More often that not human error is what gets in the way, and that was definitely the case. Sometimes I would find sequences where the photo was ever so slightly back focused. The biggest reason for this is my own fault, rather than setting the aperture to something more appropriate for sports like f/8 I decided to shoot wide open (f3.5). This gives me a VERY narrow focal distance to work within, I’m 100% positive had I shot at f/8 or f/11 every shot would be tack sharp. Remember that in medium format f3.5 gives you a depth of field closer to f/2.8 and f/8 is closer to f5.6. Any camera system would struggle in this scenario, when choosing your aperture, be careful not to be too wide open.
GFX100 II / GF80mm F3.5 :: ISO80 1/1000s @ f3.5
How I got the shot:
AF-C // This allows your camera to track focus continuously as both you and your subject move.
Face Detection On // There’s a lot of elements moving when you’re swimming around the ocean, having something definitive for the AF System to look for helps your success rate. Make sure not to have eye detection on as it will slow down the AF system.
AF Boost // Make sure to turn this on, it gives a little extra power to the AF System
AF-C Custom Setting 2 (Ignore Obstacles) // At the time this seemed like the best option on the list. However, in retrospect I think Setting 3 For Accelerating / Decelerating Subject might be better. I was expecting far more obstacles like crashing water to deal with; The largest issue was the speed changes that were happening while my subject was on the wave. THIS IS WHY WE TEST!
ISO AUTO // Since the housing I was using was meant for a very different camera I did not have control of my settings. Putting it into ISO Auto with the parameters of shooting within the ISO 80-3200 range and a minimum speed of 1/1000s gave me a setup that I knew would freeze motion and I let the camera choose the ISO.
Aperture // You can tell by my Metadata that I had plenty of light to shoot a smaller aperture, and I should have. F3.5 was too big, F5.6 -F11 would have been ideal. I knew better but accidents happen and it’s now on my list of things to double check before swimming out.
Overall, I’m ecstatic for the results I got with the GFX100 II, especially given that I was working with a water housing not meant for this camera and it was the first time I’ve ever swam out with a medium format camera into the fast-paced environment of surfing.
The autofocus, frame rate and buffer is more than enough to achieve stunning results in scenarios like these. Is it a camera that anyone can spray away at 30fps and get 90% of the shots tack sharp? No. That’s what Fujifilm’s XH2s is for.
It is however a camera that can be taken out into challenging dynamic environments like this and with the right skill and knowledge of what you are shooting allows you to walk away with stunning images with a high rate of “keepers” thanks to the clarity of 100mp, that medium format “look” and most importantly Fujifilm’s stunning color science. I’m beyond excited to keep shooting adventure sports with this camera and it has earned its place as my go to for all of my assignments.
See the entire shoot here.
