I want to say right here, I don’t really have a preference for a particular sensor size and I shoot everything from Micro Four Thirds to Fuji’s GFX. Each has their own pros and cons in my opinion, all are capable of producing excellent photos in the right hands and like most things within photography, its normally a case of working out your priorities and where you are willing to compromise. I use my cameras for specific tasks or sometimes, just because I feel like using a certain camera on any given outing. I recently wrote about why I’m now using the GFX100S more than ever.

One such recent outing was to my local loch and mountains. I decided to take the Fujifilm GFX100S and Fuji GF 20-35mm f/4 lens as I’ve been shooting a lot of Nikon lately and my GFX was giving me evils.

I’m not a particularly dramatic type of person, think typical British, understated and calm. If something is better I don’t say it’s the best in the world/most amazing ever or any of those superlatives that are thrown around on Youtube so often.

As I said, I’ve owned the GFX100S for 2-3 years now, I’ve shot some of the best lenses on the system and I’ve always been impressed with the image quality. It definitely gives a different look to other systems. I’m not going to go on about some vague medium format look like so many do, without being able to specify what it is.

I see it too, but it’s really a result of the way focal lengths behave on a sensor of this size. You get a wider field of view for a given focal length and that results in differrent depth of field and focus fall off than on other systems. What I’ve never really quite appreciated until recently is just how incredibly detailed the files are. Of course, Ive seen it but its never really mattered before because I have tended to shoot portraits and people with the GFX and therefore often found myself shooting with a relatively narrow depth of field, where detail across the whole image wasn’t a factor. That was until I took the GFX100S out in Scotland over the last week or so.

Now I should be clear, I think the image quality from every sensor size is more than usable these days depending upon the subject, and I’m also of the opinion that a detailed photo does not by itself make it a good photo. A great shot on a Micro Four Thirds sensor is still going to look way better than a mediocre or poorly composed shot on even a Phase One back. However, the photo that I shot in the Highlands of Scotland this week really showed me what the GFX 100mp sensor is capable of.

So, rather than trying to explain it, here’s the image that made me stop and rethink what the GFX100S is capable of in terms of detail. I didn’t go out with the itention to test this. But this particular file genuinely impressed me so much that I wanted to write about it. Don’t forget, this is hand-held.

I have uploaded a full resolution file that you can view over on Flickr.

What’s staggering to me is the amount of detail in the distant mountains, it’s beyond anything I’ve shot on any other system in terms of pure detail except for perhaps 4×5 film.

What is also noticeable is just how much sharpening the GFX100S files can take as well as how easily the sensor dealt with the dynamic range in this scene, with the histogram being comfortably within the sensor’s parameters, neither blocking shadows or blowing highlights.

I didn’t go out with the intention to maximise detail or sharpness, in fact I was shooting handheld. But nevertheless, when I opened this image in Lightroom and zoomed in to the foreground rocks and then again to the distant mountains I was stunned at how sharp, crisp and detailed the image was throughout the entire frame. I’ve shot this location before, admittedly in different light, with the Fuji X-T5 and Nikon Z8 as well as other cameras and although the Z8 didn’t have one of the professional top tier lenses mounted, the difference between the files off it and the GFX100S in this case was stark. So much so, that I’m now going to buy in the Nikon Z 24-70mm f/2.8II in order to do some direct comparisons between the various sensor sizes and ensure that I am giving each one a fair crack at the whip by mounting only the best optically performing lenses for each system.

It started off in the Philippines, trying to sell our belongings and arrange our international family move back to Scotland. Sorting out all the loose ends while also getting a home organised from the other side of the world was a bit of a logistical nightmare.

However, we managed to arrange everything after basically culling our belongings down to the bare minimum.

At the end of January, we arrived in Scotland and spent the next few weeks making the new house feel like a home. Buying the essentials, finding suitable furniture and helping Sofia settle into school.

Things finally started to calm down a little.

Then I received a phone call from the lettings agent.

The call left me stunned.

We had taken on the house as a long term let, somewhere to settle and build family life here. A place to give Sofia and Isabelle a secure, comfortable environment to grow up in.

But after the call, everything changed again.

The owners of the house had changed their minds and decided they wanted to move back in themselves. So with just two weeks before my wife and Isabelle arrived in the UK, I suddenly found myself desperately searching for another house for us to call home.

By that point Sofia had settled into school really well, made new friends and joined the local horse riding club, so I had to limit my house search to somewhere within a reasonable commute because I wasn’t prepared to disrupt her again.

With the whole move being driven largely by our developmental concerns regarding Isabelle, and with her arrival already delayed due to the situation around Iran making the usual transit through Dubai unsafe, I was suddenly juggling rearranged flights alongside trying to secure another home and dealing with uncertainty over how long we even had left in the current one.

I didn’t tell my wife about the house situation at the time.

I didn’t really see the point. It was up to me to sort it out and try and do so without making her worry even more during an already stressful move.

Now, nearly two months after their arrival, I’m relieved to say that I found another home for us.

It’s a bit smaller and a bit further away from Sofia’s school, but it’s in a lovely countryside location and it genuinely feels like somewhere we can make home.

So for the last few weeks, I’ve really struggled to think straight, let alone get out for as much photography as I’d like.

We’re settling Isabelle into nursery life here, arranging medical appointments and thankfully she seems to be adapting really well to life and routine in Scotland.

My mental load though still hasn’t really reduced.

There are still tensions within the house and unfortunately I suspect those tensions are going to come to a head over the next few weeks as I look to ensure that my youngest daughter’s best interests remain prioritised, even if that creates some conflict.

With all of this going on, and having spent a lot of time lately shooting wildlife with the Nikon Z8 — a camera built around speed and responsiveness — for the last few days, whenever I’ve managed to muster the energy for small local walks, I’ve found myself taking the Fujifilm GFX100S instead. If you want to see how detailed GFX100S files are then I wrote this post about them.

A camera that even when it was released back in 2021 wasn’t exactly considered fast.

And honestly, I think that’s part of why I need it right now.

The fact that it isn’t a fast camera forces me to slow down a little. It forces me to focus more carefully on shooting technique because that 100 megapixel sensor is brutally unforgiving of sloppy handling.

But more than that, after shooting a lot of bursts lately with wildlife on the Z8, I think my mental space right now requires something slower, more purposeful, more meaningful and ultimately more calming as I sense an oncoming storm building again. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve been using it more lately. I’ve also written in more detail about that choice in my latest GFX article.

I’ve also been exploring the opposite end of the spectrum recently, returning to the compact Fujifilm X100VI for a family walk through local woodland.