Fuji Rumors has reported that Fujifilm are developing a fixed lens GFX camera for release in 2025.

Although plans change, and for a number of practical reasons this camera might never see the light of day, if Fuji Rumors says it then I believe that such a camera is at least in development.

And with X100VI demand far outstripping supply, sales up across the whole X series, I would be surprised if a product like this didn't come to market.

This is super exciting to me. The X100 is my favourite series of cameras, but also I've always been curious about larger formats. Yet I don't want to get sucked into a new lens ecosystem, and I'm also a little put off by their size, price and weight.

In theory, without the mount, any fixed lens camera should be capable of achieving the cheapest and lightest form factor for a given sensor size.

The thought of my potential dream camera coming next year has got me thinking what it might look like.

So in this post I will, with a mix of educated guesses, past comments from Fujifilm, and wishful thinking, lay out what I think a fixed lens GFX might look like.

Form factor

Over the last few years I've seen numerous YouTube videos and blogs pairing the retro-dialled GFX 50R with the small GF 50mm lens as a kind of X100 big rig. So it makes intuitive sense that a GFX X100 would take a similar form.

In a different report, Fuji Rumors recently revealed that Fuji have no plans for a 50R successor. With the upcoming GFX 100S II sticking with PSAM dials, there's a gap in the range for a camera with retro dials.

Additionally, if this camera was to maintain the X100 spirit, I think there's a perception that it's a fun camera to own as a second shooter. The X100S was my primary shooter for almost a decade but I understand why this is a sensible approach.

Looking at the Fuji lineup, for their speed and accessibility PSAM dials tend to be reserved either for the very entry-level S20-like cameras, or the professional HS2-like cameras. "Head" cameras.

Whereas retro dials find themselves on weekend cameras like the X-Pro, X-T and X100 series. "Heart" cameras.

Given all the above, I think it would be very surprising if this, a fixed lens camera, wasn't a retro-dialled body somewhere in size between the X100 and the GFX 50R (much closer to the latter).

Fuji have made big moves in miniaturising their IBIS units recently, with the X100VI containing IBIS so small that the size of the camera is essentially the same as the X100V.

However, with bigger sensors comes more powerful, expensive IBIS units and bigger power draw. Fuji will want any fixed lens camera to exploit the opportunity to offer a small and light unit so I suspect IBIS wouldn't make the first iteration of a fixed lens GFX.

Sensor

The new 40MP sensor introduced in Fuji's recent fifth generation X series has collapsed the resolution gap between cameras like the X100VI and XT5, with the lower-end GFX cameras like the 50R and 50S. So if they're going with higher resolution as a selling point of this camera, 50MP isn't a great story.

Of course, physically larger sensors offer many more advantages than resolution, like a shallower depth of field, higher dynamic range, better low light performance.

You can achieve all of that with a 50MP sensor.

On the other hand, Fuji don't seem to have plans for any new 50MP camera. They've also stated over the years their desire to bring the price of medium format down to strike within full frame territory. Consolidating the sensor lineup behind the 100MP sensor might be one way to achieve that.

That said, many consider 40MP in the X100 overkill. 100MP is firmly within professional territory.

With a lower resolution you also get some benefits in terms of filesize and speed for burst modes. But then, is that really what medium format is about?

There's also economics to consider. Is it worth making 50MP sensors just for this one camera? Or is it better to increase the volume of 100MP sensors and bring the cost of that sensor across the whole range?

There's too many unknowns here for me to make an educated guess. Though personally speaking, I would rather deal with a 50MP sensor.

Lens

To me, there's multiple angles from which to think about a potential lens for the fixed GFX.

1. The X100 perspective

2. The Leica Q3 perspective

3. The GFX lens line-up perspective

To start, let's assume for a second that Fujifilm wants to get close to the X100 experience but with medium format. The X100 has been a runaway success, so it would make sense.

The X100 has a 23mm lens, which because of the 1.6x crop factor, is 35mm in full frame terms. A very "normal" perspective lens.

It's also essentially a pancake lens, protruding very little from the front of the camera.

GFX cameras have a 0.79x crop factor, so the equivalent of a full frame 35mm would be close to the GF 45mm.

At 490g, it's almost as heavy as the X100VI itself. Costs the same, too, at €1800. It's also quite long, around 88mm. It just isn't the X100 experience.

However, for just €1000 there's the GF 50mm. Compared to the 45, this lens is 30% lighter and almost half as long.

Indeed, in terms of weight distribution you can see why it matches so well with the GFX 50R. But, at a full frame equivalent of 40mm, this would be a slightly tighter shooting experience than the X100.

Alternatively, we can think from the perspective of the Leica Q3, a fixed lens full frame camera.

It has a 60MP sensor and provides a much wider 28mm lens (something like the X series 18mm).

The reason why this works so well on the Leica is the higher resolution sensor offers a lot of digital zoom power. Many would argue this goes against the spirit of a fixed lens camera but personally I like the flexibility.

So you could see that with a higher resolution, especially with a 100MP sensor, Fuji could be tempted by a much wider angle lens than the 50mm.

But looking at the GF lineup, both the 30mm and 45mm are much bigger in terms of size, weight and cost, than the 50mm.

The 45mm is much faster though, at f2.8. From an X series perspective this seems slow, but actually the GF f-stop equivalent of the X100's f2 lens is f4.5.

I don't know more about the fundamental optical limitations at play but a slower 45mm lens could be much smaller.

Given these tradeoffs, I still feel Fuji would favour the balance and size of the camera over shooting versatility, as this is a unique opportunity to offer a small and light GFX.

So if they can develop a smaller, slower 45mm lens I think we're going to see that, but if not then I think they'll go for 50mm over something bigger and wider, despite the digital zoom potential of a fixed lens.

Price

There's two fundamental opposing pressures in regards to the price.

There's an acknowledgement within Fuji that the X100 series has acted as a gateway to the X series, and that a fixed lens GFX could do the same here.

The GFX series is very expensive, with a used 50R going for around €2700 and the GFX 100S II expected to land at €5500.

I suspect if Fuji went with a 50mm lens and a 50MP sensor it would be possible to land a camera around the €4000 mark.

However, the overwhelming and ever-increasing success of the X100 series has allowed its price to balloon close to the €2000 mark.

Likewise, the popularity of the retro-dialled 50R has allowed its second hand price to remain as high as it has, higher than its PSAM cousin, the 50S.

I suspect both these two facts are acting as an upwards pressure on the target price, and we could be seeing something around €5-5.5k.

Conclusion

So that's what I think. A retro dialled, probably 50MP, 5000 euro fixed 45-50mm pancake lens GFX without IBIS.

I'd buy that camera. After a few trips down the back of the sofa, of course.

What do you think the fixed GFX might look like? Hit me up on Threads.