Why I Switched From the GFX100 to the Canon R5

Heads up: This is NOT a technical review. In fact, it’s not really a review at all. The truth is, back in April of this year when I was deliberating whether or not to get the Canon R5, Rachel gave me her blessing under one condition: “Write a blog post about why you made the switch.” So, here I am fulfilling my promise. :)

Yes, the Fuji GFX100 and Canon R5 are completely different systems for different styles of shooting. But that’s a lot easier to see in hindsight. So just sit back and enjoy the tale of how I once possessed a masterpiece of a camera only to realize it wasn’t right for me.

A Brief History of My Love Affair with Canon and Fuji

My first camera was the Canon Rebel T3i. It didn’t take long before I graduated to the 6D followed by the 5D Mark III. Canon is great, I loved those cameras and they served me well. But when Fuji came out with the X-T2 back in the fall of 2016, my interest was piqued. Mirrorless was the new kid on the block, DSLRs were dinosaurs. Plus, there was something especially intriguing about Fuji. The analog look and feel of their camera bodies and the built-in film simulations made it impossible to resist.

After purchasing the X-T2, I made a commitment to deliberately start incorporating it into my workflow. The more comfortable I got with the camera, the less I used my Canon DSLRs, until I eventually fully transitioned to the Fuji system completely. For the next four years, I shot exclusively with Fuji (save for my brief interlude with the Sony a7RIII), and to this day, over 80% of the images on my portfolio were shot with the Fuji X-T3.

The GFX100: A New Frontier

Last summer, I decided it was time to upgrade up my gear. The previous year had been the most successful year of my career — I was picking up more commercial work and landing bigger projects, it was time to invest in a tool that would deliver the very best image quality. That tool, of course, was the GFX 100.

It wasn’t an easy decision. A GFX100 kit is practically a small down payment for a house. But I justified my purchase as an investment -- this camera was going to represent the pivotal point in my photography career where I took things to a new level. (We’re capable of incredible rationalizations when we want new gear, aren’t we?)

When the GFX100 arrived along with the 45mm and 110mm lenses, my heart skipped a few beats. And the first time I snapped the shutter on the camera and reviewed the images, my heart probably stopped altogether. This camera was indeed the holy grail -- the images were breathtaking. Everything arrived not even an hour before a creative portrait session I had scheduled with my friend Tre. I was over the moon with how those images turned out.

Naturally, I shot with the camera every chance I could get. Corporate headshot? GFX100. Personal branding? GFX100. Fashion portraits? GFX100.

With every shoot, the GFX100 reaffirmed how much of an engineering marvel it was. Viewing portraits at 200% crop revealed tack-sharp details of eyes, fabric textures, foliage, and everything else I was shooting with it.

But every camera has its limitations and I soon discovered the GFX100 was no exception -- there were a couple of drawbacks that became hard to ignore.

Two Reasons Why the GFX100 Wasn’t For Me

First off, processing the GFX files was a pain. Even on my new (at the time) iMac with nearly maxed out specs, working in Lightroom and Photoshop presented some very noticeable hiccups. Basic adjustments in Lightroom weren’t too terrible, but whenever I opened even just a few images in Photoshop, the retouching process was incredibly sluggish.

Whenever I color grade and retouch in Photoshop, I usually work with multiple layers for each image, so it’s not surprising that the system suffered a bit, given how large the files are. (Even when shooting compressed, each file was well over 100MB.) Still, I didn’t think it was going to choke as bad as it did.

Now let’s talk about the main reason why I decided to switch from the GFX100. Sometime last November, I collaborated with my friends Karsu and Hannah on a shoot together. Karsu is also a photographer and she was shooting with a Sony a7III. It was during this shoot that I realized perhaps the biggest downfall of the GFX100 (for what I needed it for) — focus tracking.

The model we were photographing, Hannah, is prolific with her poses and expressions. She’s an absolute force of nature, moving like the wind from shot to shot, transitioning from stoic to exasperated in the blink of an eye. Karsu was clicking away, successfully capturing each breathtaking pose. Meanwhile, I was faltering. The GFX100’s face/eye detection was simply too slow to keep up -- I was only landing half of my shots with it. After much frustration, I decided to switch to single-point focus and use the thumbstick to place the focus box on Hannah’s eyes as she moved, but that was like trying to run the 100m dash while wearing ankle weights, there was no way I was fast enough to keep up with Hannah’s movements.

GFX100, 45mm, f/2.8, 1/400s, ISO 5,000 (Look how clean that high ISO is!)

Of course, I was able to get the shots I needed by simply asking Hannah to repeat some of the poses she had done, but that’s obviously a huge momentum killer. It became clear to me that the workflow and autofocusing tracking were dealbreakers for me given my style of shooting. I emphasize “my style of shooting” there because I want to be clear — The GFX100 is a hell of a camera. If you don’t need fast auto-focus tracking, the camera is one of the best that money can buy. Mere words can’t describe just how gorgeous the images look. The depth, the color, the resolution, it’s every photographer’s dream.

But what I learned from my time with the GFX100 is that it was simply overkill in its strengths and lacking in areas where I needed to count on it most. For what I shoot — portraits, model tests, and lifestyle & commercial work, I needed a camera that delivered a better balance of resolution, focus tracking, image quality, and intuitiveness.

Enter the Canon R5

After I sold the GFX100, I intended to just stick with my two Fuji X-T3 bodies for a while. After all, they had been my workhorse cameras for years so I was more than comfortable to continue shooting with them. Still, they had the same limitations that the GFX100 gave me, lackluster focus tracking. Not only that, I was starting to shoot more commercial work and could benefit from increased resolution for the added crop flexibility. A little more dynamic range wouldn’t hurt either. Needless to say, it didn’t take long before I convinced myself to pick up a new system.

After reading dozens of articles and watching hours of YouTube reviews, I settled on the Canon R5. But I needed to see what it was like to shoot with it before investing over $8,000 on the camera and a couple of lenses. So I went to lensrentals and rented the camera along with the 24-70mm and 85mm for a week and set up a few test shoots.

The results?

This was the camera I was looking for.

With 45 megapixels, it offers 1.7x what the X-T3 has. It’s arguable that 26 megapixels is more than enough for most applications, which I would agree with, but like I mentioned earlier in this article, it’s nice to have the flexibility to crop in when I need to without the image quality suffering.

Canon R5, 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/4.0, 1/250s, ISO 100

As far as colors, Canon and Fuji are two of the best. The only issue is that Adobe, as of this writing, still hasn’t created native camera-matching color profiles for the Canon R5. Which means the default color profile is “Adobe Color”, a profile that leaves much to be desired as far as skin tones. Fortunately, I discovered Color Fidelity, a third party that creates camera-matching profiles for the R5 (and other cameras). I’ve tested them out and they work great -- they look far better than anything Adobe offers.

Again, what sold me on the R5 more than anything was its incredible focus system. The face and eye detection are reliable and accurate. Servo + eye autofocus is basically cheating. Your subject can move erratically in any direction and you’re sure to nail the shot. When you don’t have to think about whether or not you nailed focus, you’re free to concentrate on building the connection with your subject and being creative together -- not finicking and getting frustrated with settings.

Canon R5, 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/2.8, 1/320s, ISO 100

Canon R5, 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/3.2, 1/160s, ISO 1250

As far as image quality, the R5 is solid. Sure, you might not get stunning detail when viewing a portrait at 400% crop as you would with a GFX file, but c’mon, is that really necessary? (Don’t answer that.) The R5 gives you more than enough resolution and dynamic range to work with for anything you’d want to shoot without being overkill.

Does the Canon R5 Replace the Fuji X-T3?

For me, it doesn’t. As we all (hopefully) know by now, there is no perfect camera. Every camera will have its particular strengths and limitations. The R5 has taken over the X-T3 as my main camera for client work. If I’m shooting a project where image quality is a priority and time is of the essence, I’m choosing the R5. But the X-T3 is still my go-to for travel and family photos. The built-in simulations are so fun to tinker with and it’s amazing being able to create analog-esque photos right out of camera. These areas are where the X-T3 shines -- being compact, lightweight, and just plain fun to shoot. I’m glad I have both systems to work with.

As for the GFX100, do I miss it? Sure, who wouldn’t? But I didn’t need it. It was a fun (and expensive) learning lesson, but I’m more than happy with my current kit.

Affiliate Links

Infinite Color Panel (Photoshop Color Grading Plug-in)