Last year Fujifilm announced that it was developing its first digital filmmaking camera. The large format Fujifilm GFX Eterna is due to be released this year and now the company has revealed more details about the camera.
GFX Eterna
The Fujifilm GFX Eterna cinema camera will feature Fujifilm’s GFX 102-megapixel CMOS II HS large format sensor. This is around 1.7 times larger than a full-frame sensor and has a crop factor of around 0.79 compared to a full-frame camera. As a result, a 50 mm lens on a full-frame camera would effectively become a 40 mm lens on the GFX Eterna.
In addition, the GFX Eterna will be powered by Fujifilm’s X-Processor 5 high-speed image processing engine. These are the same sensor and processor as used in Fujifilm’s flagship GFX100 II still photography camera.
Open gate recording
Although the sensor in the GFX Eterna isn’t a new model, Fujifilm has tuned it to add some improvements. The first of these new features is open gate recording in 4K resolution. Fujifilm said that this is available because the GFX Eterna supports higher decoding. This means the company has been able to expand the read-out to a 4:3 aspect ratio.
Also, Fujifilm claims that the GFX Eterna will offer the tallest sensor available in a digital cinema camera.
Dual base ISO
Fujifilm has also revealed that the GFX Eterna will feature a dual base ISO. The camera will offer ISO800 and ISO3200 when you record in F-Log 2 and F-Log 2C. A camera’s base ISO is important because it represents the optimum performance in terms of noise and dynamic range. Cameras that offer dual base ISO deliver similar noise and dynamic range at both settings. In practice, this means that you can shoot in lower light using the higher base ISO and be confident that your video will look comparable to footage shot at the lower base ISO.
What we think
There is still a lot we don’t know about the GFX Eterna. However, Fujifilm had confirmed that the new camera will use the same sensor as the GFX100II. As such, we had expected a similar specification across both cameras. It’s therefore great to learn that the sensor in GFX Eterna has been tweaked to deliver open gate recording and dual base ISO. Both features are good to have on a cinema camera and will be welcomed by filmmakers. We will bring you more details of the GFX Eterna as Fujifilm reveals the full specifications over the coming months.
Pricing and availability
Fujifilm hasn’t given an update on when the GFX Eterna is due to launch, but it is still scheduled for this year.
You can add the GFX Eterna to your wishlist on B&H here.
