"The world just does not fit conveniently into the format of a 35mm camera." With this quote from W. Eugene Smith, Fujifilm today announces its new GFX camera system, which is built around a massive 43.8mm x 32.9mm CMOS sensor and designed to be the elite companion to Fujifilm’s critically acclaimed X series of cameras. Like the X series, the GFX camera is mirrorless, helping it be more compact, reducing "mirror shock" that can create vibration when shooting, and making for easier lens design.

The new G-format sensor is 70 percent larger than 35mm format, which is in itself significantly larger than the APS-C sensors that are common in mirrorless and DSLR cameras today. Hasselblad’s mirrorless X1D is the most direct and immediate competition to Fujifilm’s new GFX, costing close to $9,000 just for the body.

New camera system demands a new lens system, too

The first GFX camera will be called the GFX 50S, weighing in at 800 grams. It will have a detachable viewfinder that latches on via the hot shoe at the top. There’s also an alternative viewfinder option, intended primarily for video, that gives you a rotating viewfinder. The GFX 50S will have an articulating display as well, which tilts vertically.

Fujifilm’s GFX camera system has a 51.4-megapixel resolution (8256 x 6192). A new camera system demands a new lens system, and Fujifilm today also introduces a G-mount lens setup. It starts with the GF63mm prime, an f/2.8 lens to be released in early 2017, alongside the launch of the 50S body and two more lenses: the GF32-64mm F4 and the GF120mm F4 Macro. A couple more prime lenses will follow in the middle of the year, the GF45mm F2.8 and GF23mm F4, though neither of them is quite the sort of pancake lens you can get with smaller-format cameras. Such is the tradeoff of going to medium format, of course.

Pricing hasn’t been finalized yet, but Fujifilm says it has set a price target "way under $10,000" for GFX 50S plus the GF63mm lens and the default viewfinder in the box. The GFX 50S will be available to buy early next year.