The old adage of “you are only as good as your glass” rings as true today than it ever has in the past.  We are in the age of smaller and smaller pixel widths combined with sensor resolutions yielding higher quality than 8×10 film.  The demands on today’s optics are changing with every improvement in sensor design. Lenses that performed beautifully at 30mp resolution are falling apart at 100mp resolution.

With this said, we are always trying to perform tests that answer our customer’s questions or our own curiosity.  It is important that we are as knowledgeable as possible by finding the answers ourselves.  By doing so we become the partner that you can trust with real world examples and test results.

So with the popular release of the Fuji GFX 100 this fall, it was just natural to question what lenses can resolve this sensor and how does this system, and its lenses, compare to the Phase One IQ1 100 system and lenses.  We chose the IQ1 100 due to price.  We wanted to keep the 100mp sensor prices as similar as possible.  We also threw in the Canon TSE lens just to see how well it would perform at 100mp resolution……

Difficulties of testing

The first problem with testing lenses, sensors, or systems is that not all parameters are equal.  These two 100mp sensors are not the same physical size.  This changes the angle of view of the scenes and the size of the subject matter when viewing at full resolution.  In our multiple tests, we took this into consideration by moving the cameras to mimic field of view in one test and left them in the same position to illustrate the different angle in another test.  But again, this one significant difference means that testing will never be exactly perfect.

Secondly, no matter how honest and forthright we are, our intentions will always be questioned.   This isn’t to say that we are above questioning.   But since we want to be even handed, we will not be giving our opinion on our tests.  We will not be concluding this blog with our interpretation of the results.  Instead, the raws will be sent to you directly and we want you to decide the results for yourself.  At the bottom of this post, we will ask for your information.  Send us your e-mail and we will send you a link to all the raw data in Capure One EIP raw formats.  Pull them, push them, tweak them, sharpen them, and see how they process.   Then let us know what YOU think!

Test #1

Interior Ambient Architecture – Fuji GFX100 23mm vs. Phase One IQ1 100 35mm LS

• ISO 50, f/11
• Camera was moved in order to keep angle of view as equal as possible

Test #2

Fuji 23mm vs. Fuji-Canon 24mm TSE vs Phase One Rodenstock 23mm HR

• ISO 50, f/11
• Canon Lens adapter for Fuji GFX
• Cameras were kept in the same exact location to illustrate the different field of view

Test #3

 Fuji GFX100 32-64mm vs. Phase One IQ1 100 Rodenstock 32mm HR

• ISO 50, f/11
• Fuji Zoom lens shot at 32mm focal length
• Cameras were kept in the same exact location to illustrate the different field of view

Get The Raw Files

If you would like to receive the raws for all of these tests, please fill out the form below and we will send you a link to DF Studio for download.