Diagnostics of the commercial flagship FUJIFILM GFX 50S

The FUJIFILM GFX 50S is the ancestor of Fuji's modern medium format system. With a 51.4-megapixel sensor and stunning ergonomics, this camera has become the de facto standard for high-budget advertising, interior and fashion photography. Like any purely professional tool, the GFX 50S works hard. When purchasing this camera from the aftermarket, it is your responsibility to conduct a thorough inspection of its mechanical health.

In an advertising studio, the camera often works on a tripod, connected to a computer. Outwardly, it may look like it was just taken out of the box. But in one shooting day, the shutter can slam hundreds and thousands of times. Considering the cost of spare parts for a medium format system, buying a device with an exhausted resource is a financial disaster. Only an accurate system counter will show you the real picture.

Mechanical shutter lifespan in medium format

The GFX 50S bolt group is a massive and very complex mechanism. The focal length shutter must quickly and accurately cover a huge sensor area, which requires powerful drives and an effective vibration damping system (shutter shock). Fujifilm officially declares the guaranteed life of this mechanic at 150,000 operations.

For studio work this is an impressive figure. Practice shows that the shutters of these cameras are very reliable and are capable of exceeding the stated threshold. But if you're considering buying a camera with over 100,000 shots, you'll need to bargain until the last drop of sweat, since replacing the medium format shutter block will cost a pretty penny.

Extracting wear data from Fujifilm RAW files

The control system in top Fujifilm cameras works flawlessly. The camera processor strictly records every movement of the shutter blades. This data is not just in the service menu, it is automatically built into the structure of each generated graphic file.

The system log (Shutter Count) is written to MakerNotes deep tags in EXIF ​​format. This information is protected from user intervention. In order to find out the truth about the camera's mileage, you need an original photo (it is best to use RAW RAF format), which has not been cropped or color corrected in third-party programs.