UPDATE 2022

Long exposure photography with medium format is a subject that hasn’t been covered extensively so far. My goal in this article is to fill this gap and provide more information about how you can create the best long exposure images when shooting with a medium format camera. The camera I am using to analyze long exposure photography with medium format in this review is the new Fujifilm GFX 50S.

I am working with this camera for a few years already and  I have also made a complete Fujifilm GFX 50S review that you can find on my website. It is the most extensive Fujifilm GFX 50S review available at this moment and if you are interested in this camera I would recommend you to start by reading the main review and then continue here.

Before starting with this review let me tell you that for even more information and tricks & tips about long exposure photography, you can read my Long Exposure Photography Extensive Tutorial that I have published some time after this review, where you can find all the details about this technique in a complete guide.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT

FORMATT-HITECH ND FILTERS & EQUIPMENT

10% OFF – CODE: JULIA10

INTRODUCTION

LONG EXPOSURE WITH MEDIUM FORMAT AND HIGH-RESOLUTION CAMERAS – WHAT IS THE STATUS QUO

In a few words,  I have to say I am extremely pleased with the results I get when shooting with the GFX, both stills and long exposure. Contrary to my initial fears about shooting long exposure photography with a medium format, fears that were based on the information I had prior to using this camera, about shooting long exposure photography with medium format and generally with high-resolution cameras, my experiences with long exposure with this camera were definitely positive and this was a huge relief since long exposure is a big part of my work, as you can see in my gallery.

The norm so far was that when shooting long exposure photography with a high-resolution camera, DSLR or medium format, one should expect increased noise and hot pixels, which in some cases were rendering the files unusable. This was happening because the sensor was warming up too much during a long exposure, which was creating noise and hot pixels. This is still the case when shooting with most high-res DSLRs, due to the fact that the pixels are smaller in the case of a DSLR and they become hot quite fast, but in the case of modern medium format cameras, and especially in the case of the Fujifilm GFX 50S, technology has progressed enough so this phenomenon to have become almost negligible.  In the case of a medium format camera, the pixels are larger, thus more resistant to longer exposure times than in the case of the DSLRs, so I was expecting better results with the GFX than with a DSLR with the same resolution, but I was still afraid because of the high-resolution sensor that could create issues. However, I was impressed with the quality of the long exposures I captured. In some cases, I don’t even need to use a denoiser when processing these long exposure images, which is standard practice in long exposure, unless the exposure becomes truly long.

Further on in the review, I will provide for download a number of long exposure files at a native resolution so you can analyze the quality directly. I will also provide different other examples of long exposure images I have shot, some of them already processed images and some of them straight out of the camera. In all cases, I will accompany the image with its EXIF data so you can see what you can achieve when you use different settings.

For instance, the image above, leading this article, was shot on the first day I was working with this camera, while still fiddling with the settings, and it was my second long exposure shot with the GFX. You can see below the settings I used for this image.

Immaterial Intricacy – Brooklyn Bridge, New York

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 240 sec (4 min), 64mm
ISO 100
Aperture: f/7.1
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

I have already mentioned some aspects of shooting long exposure with the GFX in my main Fujifilm GFX 50S review I quoted above and  I am going to repeat here some of them, so you can get the full picture of shooting long exposure photography with medium format, even if you haven’t read the full review. I will elaborate then on these aspects while adding more details and tips for creating this type of photography.

LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEDIUM FORMAT

WHAT IS LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY

First, let me mention a few long exposure facts for those who are not familiar with this technique.
If you know my work, you know that I am using extensively long exposure to create my images, so I have a lot of experience in this field, which gives me the tools I need to be able to judge objectively the long exposure capabilities of this camera.

In simple words, shooting long exposure photography means using longer shutter speeds to capture an image. This means that the sensor will be exposed to light for a longer period of time.
You can shoot long exposure photography for 2 reasons, if you don’t have enough light available to capture the scene with a short exposure, or in case you want to use long exposure for creative reasons. In both cases, you will need to lengthen the shutter speed so more light enters the camera and creates the right exposure in a longer time.

When you don’t have enough light available, you will use the camera as is and will wait for the sensor to gather enough light for the right exposure. Most of the time this technique is used in night photography or when shooting interiors. In the second case, you will need to use neutral density filters to reduce the amount of light entering the camera, so again you need a longer time to create the image on the sensor. This type of long exposure is usually used by day (even if it can also be used by night) and the result is creating artistic effects, like creating long streaks of clouds or smoothing the water.

 

If you want to learn to work with long exposure to create fine art photography, you can find all the secrets in my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography where I’m breaking down this technique and explaining step-by-step what you need to do to create compelling long exposure images, and I also describe in an e-book accompanying the course the processing workflow you can use for creating fine art black and white long exposure images from start to finish.

What you need to work with when you shoot long exposure is mainly neutral density filters and some accessories that help you immobilize the camera for the duration of the exposure so you get sharp images without motion blur.

The neutral density filters I am using are the ones from Formatt-Hitech which I consider the best on the market and if you want to use the same filters or any other accessories, you can purchase them from Formatt-Hitech website by using my 10% discount code JULIA10 that Formatt-Hitech created for my students and followers. Just go to the website, choose any Formatt-Hitech product you need and use the discount code at checkout and you will get 10% discount. You can click on the banner below to access the website.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT
FORMATT-HITECH ND FILTERS & EQUIPMENT – 10% OFF – CODE: JULIA10

I am recommending you to use a 10-stop, a 13-stop (or a 14-stop) and a 16-stop neutral density filter for best results and for covering most exposure times needed. Alternatively, you can use a 3-stop (or a 4-stop), a 6-stop and a 10-stop neutral density filter and combine them by stacking them to create higher densities. Or you can use the entire set of 3 (or 4), 6, 10, 13 (or 14) and 16-stop filters to cover the entire range of exposures you may need to shoot. I am talking more about recommended neutral density filter densities and how you can combine them best in my extensive long exposure photography tutorial where you can find many more other tips.

You can choose between circular or square filters and in the case you use square filters, I would recommend you to use the new anti-light leak holder from Formatt-Hitech that will remove the danger of getting light leaks when you shoot long exposure. You can use my discount code for this holder also.

Also, speaking about equipment for shooting long exposure, in terms of tripods and the likes I could also recommend the Gitzo and Manfrotto tripods, which are among the best quality long exposure equipment you can find. Right now I am mainly using Gitzo tripods but I have used Manfrotto tripods for a long while and I still use them sometimes. I have negotiated a 10% discount for these brands too for my students and followers, as well as for all the brands Manfrotto represents and you are free to use it at any time by going to the specific brand’s section that you can access from the Manfrotto website. To receive the discount you have to use the 10% discount code JULIA10 and order from this link on the Gitzo website for Gitzo tripods and equipment and from this link on the Manfrotto website for Manfrotto tripods and equipment. The link is from the USA website but you can find other international stores on the website where you can use the same code.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT
MANFROTTO & GITZO
JOBY, LASTOLITE, SYRP, RYCOTE, LOWEPRO,
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, AVENGER, COLORAMA
10% OFF – CODE: JULIA10

USA, UK & INTERNATIONAL STORE AVAILABLE

ALL GITZO PRODUCTS
Best tripods & tripod accessories on the market
10% OFF – CODE: JULIA10

USA, UK & INTERNATIONAL STORE AVAILABLE

SHOOTING LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE FUJIFILM GFX 50S

The Fujifilm GFX 50S can shoot up to 60 minutes long exposures, either in bulb function or in T (time) function.

One of the things I like most and that I found to be one of the most practical things about this camera is that now you can shoot exposures longer than 30 seconds without being in Bulb mode, which means that in many cases you may not even need to use a remote control to actuate your exposure.
You can shoot up to 60 minutes long exposure without needing to switch to bulb mode or use a remote control if you set the shutter dial to the T mode.

Since the camera is mirrorless, you don’t need to worry about vibrations introduced by the mirror that you would have to worry about in a DSLR, and for this reason, you would need to activate the mirror lockup function. In a mirrorless camera, there is no mirror that needs to move out of the place when you take a photo, so there are no vibrations. This means that if you are careful you can actuate the shutter by simply pressing the button, especially when you’re shooting a longer exposure of a few minutes when a slight vibration, in the beginning, will not harm the final sharpness.

I found myself shooting even more long exposures like this, because I didn’t need to attach a remote control every time I wanted to take a long exposure, and for long exposure photographers this will feel truly liberating. It’s almost like you can shoot long exposure just as easily as you shoot a short exposure.

The only catch is that if you don’t use the bulb mode you are limited in choosing the exposure time and you will be able to choose exposure times that are in certain increments. For instance, the available exposures will be: increments of 10 seconds from 30 seconds to one minute, and then you practically have accessible exposures that are the double of the previous exposure time, for instance: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes, 16 minutes etc. up to 60 minutes. This can be sometimes limiting if you need to set the exposure in between these set values, but since 4 minutes is an exposure that covers a wide range of situations, you may stick to it and only use the bulb mode when you need to change it. Sometimes 2-minute and 8-minute exposure are also useful, but for everything in between, you will need to switch to bulb and attach a remote control, like for instance the Fujifilm RR-90 Remote Release. I still haven’t found a workaround to choosing preset exposures when you use the T mode, as you can do on the Phase ONE cameras, but it would be a really great feature if the exposures could be chosen freely in T mode, which would make the use of the bulb mode and the use of the remote control redundant and would make shooting long exposure much easier. So, hopefully, Fujifilm will address this in a future firmware update.

The image above is another long exposure image I have taken with the Fujifilm GFX 50S and I have fully processed. It is not a single image but a panorama I made by stitching 5 long exposure images. You can see below the settings I used for these images.

Athens Blues – Stavros Niarchos Foundation

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 30 sec (1/2 min), 32mm
ISO 100
Aperture: f/22
ND Filter: 10-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

TIPS FOR SHOOTING LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEDIUM FORMAT AND GENERALLY

Some of the tips I will mention here are specific to shooting long exposure photography with medium format cameras and more precisely with the Fujifilm GFX 50S, but you can use most of them when shooting long exposure photography with any camera so you get the best results and the best quality captures.

AUTOFOCUS/MANUAL FOCUS – BUTTON PLACEMENT

One thing you have to have in mind is that with the GFX you will need to switch from autofocus to manual focus not by using a button on the lens, as you would do in most DSLR cameras, but by using a dedicated button on the camera. It needs a little bit of getting used to because it’s a different system and sometimes you may forget to switch it back from manual to autofocus or from autofocus to manual when you shoot long exposure, so this is something to keep in mind and make a mental checklist when you shoot long exposure photography. But after a while, like everything in life, you get used to it.

FOR IMAGE QUALITY REASONS USE THE SHORTEST EXPOSURE POSSIBLE TO GET A CERTAIN EFFECT

Shooting long exposure photography means anyway stressing the sensor more than what would happen in a short exposure, so my advice for everyone shooting long exposure would be to shoot the shortest exposure you can for a certain effect to be achieved. This means that there are no rules saying that you have to shoot a certain exposure to get the best result, but you have to think about the effect you want to create, for instance, shorter or longer streaks of clouds, softer or harsher surfaces of water, and also think about how agitated the water is at the moment you take your photograph, or how fast the clouds are moving, and then decide what the shortest exposure is, that would create the effect you aim to create, considering the circumstances. This approach needs a little bit more time to get used to these conditions, but it is the best approach you can have to long exposure photography and it gives you the best results, both from an aesthetic point of view and as for the quality of the image resulted.

COVER YOUR CAMERA TO AVOID LIGHT LEAKS IN THE CAMERA

One thing I do almost every time I soot long exposure photography, especially when I use tilt-shift lenses, is to protect the camera from light leaks. In order to get the highest quality image when you shoot a long exposure, the light has to reach the sensor coming exclusively through the lens and the ND filter in front of it. However, when the shutter is open for a long time the camera becomes vulnerable to light leaks that can mostly occur through the viewfinder, the lens or the small openings between the filters and the lens. The viewfinder can be an issue only in the case of a DSLR, since it communicates with the sensor through the mirror, while in the case of the mirrorless camera there is no mirror and since the viewfinder is electronic, it is independent, thus not communicating with the sensor. However, even with a mirrorless, you can still have light leaking through the lens, if you shoot with a tilt-shift especially, which has moving parts were the light can come in from, or through the opening between the lens and the ND filter when you shoot with square filters. You need to prevent this to preserve the quality of your image and there are some workarounds for this.

One option and something I am doing always when using a tilt-shift is to use a cover the entire system, camera and lens, which will keep the light from reaching the camera altogether. This approach is the best when you shoot with circular filters that are not vulnerable to light leaks. You can see my setup for these cases below and here you can find a practical camera cover you can use for this purpose.

USE ANTI LIGHT-LEAK FILTER HOLDERS TO AVOID LIGHT-LEAKS THROUGH THE FILTER

Another workaround, this time when you shoot with square filters which are more vulnerable to light leaks, is to use a special Anti light-leak holder made by Formatt-Hitech that is built in such a way that keeps out the light from entering the camera through gaps between the filters for the filter and the holder. This is the best and most elegant solution for protecting your camera from white leaks when you shoot with square filters. See my setup for this case below.

In the above example, I am shooting with a lens that doesn’t have issues with light leaks. However, if I shoot with a tilt-shift lens and square filters I would use both the cover for the camera and the special Formatt-Hitech anti-light leak holder. That would give me 100% protection, even when I shoot with a DSLR because it would also cover the viewfinder.

WIFI AND CAMERA REMOTE CONTROL APPLICATION

A feature that can be used when shooting long exposure photography with medium format or in general, whenever you need to actuate the camera from a distance is that the camera can connect via Wi-Fi and you can also use the Fujifilm Camera Remote application to control some basic commands and shoot remotely.

This feature can be very useful when you shoot long exposure so you don’t introduce any vibration to the camera when pressing the shutter button and it is easier than using a regular shutter release or a dedicated remote control.

You can also review and browse on your phone the images you shoot with the camera and delete those you don’t need. You can send images from your camera to the phone and you can also geotag images in your camera by using your phone.

WiFi connectivity is a feature that can be found in other new cameras too, DSLR or mirrorless, and there are different applications that can connect to the camera, either wirelessly or with a cable, that can help you control the camera remotely or do tether shooting. So this is a tip that can be useful for other systems too, and you only need to research the available tools for your camera.

NOISE IN LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY

Noise in long exposure photography is an issue that is well known and feared in the long exposure circles and an issue I was afraid of myself. Traditionally it tends to become worse in medium format cameras, for reasons I explained in the introduction of this article, so when I bought the Fujifilm GFX 50S my main concern was to see how my long exposure images would look like from the noise point of view. Much of my work is done in long exposure so it was a very important aspect for me, especially that I hadn’t seen any review that was addressing shooting long exposure with the Fujifilm GFX 50S camera. So in this respect, this review is the first that treats these aspects in a more analytic way and I hope it will be useful for everyone shooting long exposure photography.

Despite my initial fears, I was very happy to discover that the noise in the long exposure images I’ve shot was not only reasonable but even less than what I was getting with my Canon 5DMKIII and much less than what I was getting with my Nikon D7000. So this is great news for long exposure photographers. If you shoot exposures of reasonable length, around 4-6 minutes, and you don’t shoot in very hot temperatures, above 25-30 Celsius degrees (75-85 Fahrenheit), when the sensor heats up anyway to much, which creates noise, then you can rest assured that you will not have serious problems with noise with the Fujifilm GFX 50S. I have lately shot also some longer exposures with this camera, up to 10 minutes exposure, and the results were surprisingly good, as you will see further on. However my principle is to always try to shoot the shortest long exposure I can to achieve a certain effect and not shoot longer long exposures than needed, so I can retain the best quality of image possible, which is what I recommended in the previous section with tips for shooting long exposure.

LONG EXPOSURE NOISE REDUCTION (LENR) – SHOULD YOU USE IT AND WHY

Long exposure noise reduction (LENR) is a feature most cameras have and it is a tool one can use to improve the quality of a long exposure image when the RAW capture is too noisy and contains hot pixels. What this tool does is that it helps you correct later in post-processing the hot pixels resulting from a long exposure.

The camera automatically takes a second capture right after the initial long exposure capture and you can combine the second capture with your initial capture in post-processing to map out and clean up the hot pixels. This capture has the same settings and exposure as the initial capture and the difference is that the camera doesn’t open the shutter during this exposure so no light is reaching the sensor. The result is a completely black capture with all the pixels intact and not touched by light in any way. This way the pixels are in perfect condition and can be combined with the pixels of the main long exposure image to replace the information that was lost due to heating up the sensor which resulted in hot pixels. It appears that the fact that the sensor is heating up and damaging some pixels is due to the light reaching the sensor and not the exposure itself, which means that a black capture can be used to repair the noise issues in your main image.

While this tool is very useful and you could use it with all your long exposure images, the downside is that it is going to double the time you will need to take a long exposure since the camera will take a second long exposure after your main image that will have the same exposure as the first one. This means every time you will shoot a long exposure you will have to wait twice for it to finish up. This may not be an issue when you have enough time but it can be an issue when the light is changing fast or when you need to shoot more, and especially when you are shooting quite long exposures since the waiting time will become really long. But in the case where you have to choose between getting an image that will have too many issues with hot pixels versus waiting longer to get a better image, I would always go for the second option.

On the other hand, despite the waiting time, this tool can become very useful when you are shooting really long exposures where you cannot avoid noise and hot pixels issues and it is also used with some cameras that are known for having this kind of issues during long exposures. I know many users of the Nikon D800 and the D810 have this kind of issues with long exposure and in some cases using LENR is the only way to get usable files when shooting long exposures.

Now, as for if you should use this feature when shooting with the Fujifilm GFX 50S, I would say that you will only need to use it when you are shooting in very warm conditions or when you are shooting very long exposures. As you will see further on, the camera behaves really well when it comes to the quality of the long exposure file so the times you will need to use LENR are not going to be too many. I would recommend, depending on your conditions and the temperature you have during your shooting session, to experiment with your camera and see what works best in your case. However, when in doubt, I would go with using the LENR function to be sure I get the best quality of the image and save time in post-processing since I will have fewer corrections to make.

LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE TILT-SHIFT

You can see above my setup for shooting long exposure with the Canon 17 mm TS-E f/4L tilt-shift lens, with the Formatt-Hitech Firecrest 16-stop square ND filter applied to the lens on a holder.

For an extensive practical guide to working with the tilt-shift lenses, you can read my Essential guide to the Tilt-shift lens that provides many details about working with these lenses.

While shooting long exposure photography with the tilt-shift lens is in principle no different than shooting long exposure with any other lens, there is one particularity that you have to keep in mind when shooting long exposure with the tilt-shift lens. This particularity is that, as I mentioned before, the tilt-shift lenses are not necessarily made for shooting long exposure so they are not sealed against light leaks. The tilt-shift lens has moving parts, so you can tilt and shift it, and these moving parts have small openings between them that can let the light infiltrate and reach the sensor. When you shoot a normal exposure with the tilt-shift the amount of light that reaches the sensor through the small openings between its moving parts is negligible but in the case of a long exposure the light creeps in, in a much larger amount and it can create artifacts in the image and wash out the colors and contrast.

So what you need to do in this case is to make sure that you have covered the lens, in order to keep the light from entering the camera and reaching the sensor.

In addition to this, you have to make sure that the light is not coming in through the openings between the filters and the folder when you shoot with square filters. I’ve shown you before how you can use the Anti light-leak holder made by Formatt-Hitech (as I mentioned you can get this holder and any Formatt-Hitech products with 10% discount with code JULUIA10) and you can use this holder with any regular lens, the tilt-shift included. I am using it with my Canon 24 mm TS-E f/3.5L tilt-shift lens when I shoot with square filters, but because of the geometry of the 17 mm tilt-shift lens, and the bulky glass element, this holder cannot be used with these lenses. So in this case what I do is that I use duct tape and isolate the holder from light leaks by taping the filters and holder together along the edges, as you can see in the image above.

Below you have the final set up including the cover I use to protect the camera from light leaks all around.

LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEDIUM FORMAT LENSES VS TILT-SHIFT FULL-FRAME LENSES

Another thing to keep in mind when you shoot with a tilt-shift lens and the Fujifilm is that, since the tilt-shift lenses are made for full-frame cameras, when you use them on medium format cameras like the GFX, you will get a slight vignette around the edges, that you will need to crop later in post. In the case of the tilt-shift lens is the vignette is not very pronounced since the tilt-shift lenses have a larger image circle, but you will still have to deal with it. I have elaborated on the use of third-party lenses in my extensive Fujifilm GFX 50S review and you can have a look over there for more details.

Also when you use the tilt-shift lens’s or generally third-party lenses with the GFX with a manual adapter, you have to keep in mind that you will not be able to set the aperture unless the lens you use has an aperture ring, because the camera will not communicate electronically with the lens. This means you will only be able to use the widest aperture of your lens and will need to consider that and compose for that when you shoot, to be sure that you have in focus all the elements you need in the image and that you have enough leeway to crop the image if needed.

Below you can see 2 examples of long exposures I took, a 240 seconds long exposure taken with the Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR at 32mm (25mm in full-frame terms) and a 120 seconds long exposure taken with the Canon 17 mm TS-E f/4L. While in the case of shooting with the native Fujifilm lens, what you see what you get, you can see that in the case of using the 17 mm tilt-shift lens there is a slight vignette around the edges and the areas that are closer to the camera (on the edges) are softer due to using a manual adapter in which case I could only use the widest aperture of the lens which is f/4, so the depth of field was quite shallow. In this case, I will need to crop the image to remove the vignette and the softer areas, but I had this in mind already when I composed the image and I knew I will have to do this so my vision aligns with the results. However, you have to keep this in mind and account for it when you shoot with this setup. When you use an electronic adapter that can control aperture, you will not need to deal with softness due to the shallow depth of field but you will still need to take into account the vignette you will get.

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Medium format Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 240 sec (4 min)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/18
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Full-frame Canon 17 mm TS-E f/4L
Exposure: 120 sec (2 min)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/4
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

If you want to know more about how to use ND filters, here is an extensive review of the 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter where you can find out more details about working with long exposure.

FULL- SIZE LONG EXPOSURE FILES DOWNLOAD

270, 330, 420 AND 540 SECONDS EXPOSURES

Below you can find a series of long exposures I have taken by increasing constantly the exposure so I can test the quality of the image at each exposure. Starting from 4 1/2 minutes which is an exposure land I am using very often and going up to 9 minutes exposure which is not my usual exposure length but it is a good exposure to test the camera.

You can download the high-resolution JPEG file of all these images and study them to see what you can expect when shooting with the GFX at these exposure lengths. I have to say I was very pleased to see the quality of the files in all cases and the fact that the noise is minimal even at 9 minutes exposure. What you can see on the left hand of the image is a small flare due to the sun changing its position during my shooting and it moving towards the front of the camera. You can ignore it since it is not changing the quality of the image. Initially, I intended to reshoot the scene at a different moment but then I thought leaving this flare would be a good way to test how the camera is handling this kind of issues.

I have taken all these exposures mostly for research purposes, to see the quality of the file at each exposure and the amount of noise you get as you increase the exposure. Noise is the number one enemy of long exposure in digital cameras and I am very pleased to see that the Fujifilm GFX 50S is handling the noise in long exposures so well. The good noise behavior of the Fujifilm combined with a wise use of exposure lengths, meaning not shooting longer exposures than you need for creating a certain effect, can give you the best quality of the RAW capture possible.

EXPOSURE: 270 sec (4 1/2 min)

This is a 270 seconds (4 1/2 minutes) exposure, straight out of the camera, with no denoising applied or any other processing done, other than converting to JPEG. This is the range of exposure length I use for most of my long exposure images, and the noise due the exposure is minimal, as you can see in the full resolution file.

Download Full-size JPEG of the RAW file here

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 270 sec (4 1/2 min)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/14
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

EXPOSURE: 330 sec (5 1/2 min)

This is a 330 seconds (54 1/2 minutes) exposure, straight out of the camera, with no denoising applied or any other processing done, other than converting to JPEG. I am often using this exposure length, especially when the level of light requests it and I find the quality of the image I get from the GFX at this exposure is great.

Download Full-size JPEG of the RAW file here

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 330 sec (5 1/2 min)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/14
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

EXPOSURE: 420 sec (7 min)

This is a 420 seconds (7 minutes) exposure, straight out of the camera, with no denoising applied or any other processing done, other than converting to JPEG. I am using this exposure length sometimes, when the light is low or when I need to soften the surface of the sea in seascape images.  It is not my regular exposure but when I need it I use it with confidence.

Download Full-size JPEG of the RAW file here

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 420 sec (7 min)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/16
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

EXPOSURE: 540 sec (9 min)

This is a 540 seconds (9 minutes) exposure, straight out of the camera, with no denoising applied or any other processing done, other than converting to JPEG. This is not the regular exposure I use but it is sometimes needed when the conditions request it: low light, very agitated water or very slow clouds, when the effect I need can only be achieved through a longer exposure. Here too, the amount of noise is very low and there are no hot pixels.

Download Full-size JPEG of the RAW file here

Camera: Fujifilm GFX 50S
Lens: Fujinon GF32-64mmF4 R LM WR
Exposure: 540 sec (9 min)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/18
ND Filter: 16-stop Formatt-Hitech Firecrest ND filter (get it 10% off with code JULIA10)

FULL SIZE 100% CROPS

Below you can also see a 100% crop full-size comparison side by side of the 4 exposures, where you can see better the quality of the capture at each exposure. As you can see, the quality is almost similar, which is great news since it gives us much more freedom in choosing the exposure that works best, without fearing a decrease in quality at longer exposures. Click on each image to see it enlarged.

Related to what I was recommending earlier about choosing the shortest exposure that would give you the effect you need in your image, so you can preserve the best quality of the file, you can see in these 4 examples of long exposures, taken with different exposure lengths that, even if the exposure time has doubled from the first image to the last one, the effects of the long exposure have not changed radically. This is because, with the amount of motion I had in the water and in the sky, I could create the effect I wanted already with 4 1/2 minutes exposure so I didn’t need to go further, since a longer exposure wouldn’t have given me a significantly stronger effect.  This way I am able to preserve the best quality of the RAW file that will give me the best quality in the processed image.

CONCLUSION

As I was mentioning in the beginning, I have the best impression after a few months of working with long exposure with the GFX.

In many aspects working with long exposure with the GFX, and by extrapolating, working with long exposure photography with medium format, is no different than working with long exposure with regular full-frame or crop frame cameras. Where you can see a difference though is in the quality and the detail of the rope captures you get from the medium format which is outstanding in the case of long exposure just like in the case of short exposures.

I have to say my findings were a pleasant surprise since I was prepared for more issues due to the higher resolution of these cameras, but it turned out that my fears were not funded, on the contrary, the results I get with the Fujifilm GFX are even better than what I’m getting with my Canon 5DMKIII.

THE VERDICT
TO SHOOT OR NOT TO SHOOT LONG EXPOSURE PHOTOGRAPHY WITH THE FUJIFILM GFX 50S

Either you made it to the end of the review and you now know everything about shooting long exposure photography with the Fujifilm GFX, or you jumped straight to the verdict because you’re the impatient type who only wants to see the results, here’s my verdict about shooting long exposure photography with the GFX.

And the verdict is that, if you are long exposure photographer considering switching to medium format or more specifically to the Fujifilm GFX 50S, you can do it without fear and I am recommending it wholeheartedly.

The only thing I would change about the camera to improve the experience of shooting long exposure and make it more practical, and this is a friendly wink-wink suggestion to Fujifilm, is to be able to shoot a custom exposure while being in T mode without needing to go to bulb and use a remote control, and not to limit this option only for certain set exposures. Which is what Phase One does. This would almost make shooting long exposure with the GFX as simple as shooting Street photography.

I hope this review and the previous main review of the Fujifilm GFX 50S were useful and that they help you work better with this camera and with long exposure photography with medium format or any format. If so, I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments and I would truly appreciate if you shared these reviews further, so they can help more photographers.

RELATED TO

Related to the subject of this article, you may find interesting my video tutorial Long Exposure, Architecture, Fine Art Photography – Creating (en)Visionography a hands-on tutorial about long exposure and fine art photography, accompanied by an eBook presenting my processing workflow.

Also, as I was mentioning in the beginning, for even more information and tricks & tips about long exposure photography, you can read my Long Exposure Photography Extensive Tutorial that I have published some time after this review, where you can find all the details about this technique in a complete guide.

Also, to find out everything about the Fujifilm GFX 50S, see my extensive Fujifilm GFX 50S review, the most complete GFX review you will find. I will get back with whatever interesting findings about the GFX in the future. If you want to receive the news you can subscribe and get them in your inbox.