Let’s have a detailed look on how to build a professional Large Format Cine Camera around a FUJIFILM GFX 100 II as a core. For all tech-nerds a little bit of extra info (Scroll to the very bottom): If you want to enjoy an even larger sensor, you have to rent an ARRI ALEXA 65 somewhere. We will start with the cage and base plate and go outwards from there. The camera body is safely secured in the SmallRig FUJIFILM GFX 100 II cage. The SmallRig Shoulder Rig Kit combined with the Quick Release plate let’s you go quickly from shoulder operation to tripod-mode. Two shorter SmallRig 15mm Rods make it easy to mount a Matte Box like the PolarPro Stage 3 VND kit or the SmallRig Modular Matte Box and a follow-focus system if needed. For the top- and side-handles the SmallRig ARRI Top- and NATO-side handles give a stable and balanced way to lift, hold and operate the camera - it is a heavy rig.
For the lens, we chose the Super 35 DZOfilm Catta Ace 18-35mm T2.9 Cine lens. It comes with native PL-Mount, so an adapter is needed. In most cases a ‘Focus-Iris-Zoom’-control unit like the SmallRig Magic FIZ is in use. As an alternative - when operating the camera more in a ‘run-and-gun’-scenario, the SmallRig Mini Follow Focus F40 is a good choice. We will talk about various lenses and their advantages / disadvantages in Part 4 - Optics. The SmallRig Modular MatteBox allows the easy use of the industry standard 4x5,65” filters that are mounted into a frame that glides into the front frame of the Matte Box.
In order to have the best possible control over your image composition, the exposure and focus control there is no way around a bright external monitor. To keep the size of the rig decent, we are using a 5” Hollyland MARS M1 or a 5” ATOMOS Shinobi. Both have all professional assist-features like false color (dark, mid-range and bright areas of the live image are shown in different colors, allowing to judge the exposure with one quick look on the monitor), focus assist, framing guidelines and more. The Hollyland comes with built-in WiFi connectivity which makes the use of a second unit as a director’s monitor very simple.
Image 1:
Cine GFX (FUJIFILM GFX 100 II) fully rigged.
Image 2: (right side)
SmallRig Modular Matte Box, Hollyland Mars M1 5” monitor, SmallRig Top Handle, Patona V-Mount battery. SmallRig Shoulder Rig (with arms folded in).
Image 3: (left side)
SmallRig Modular Matte Box, Hollyland Mars M1 5” monitor, SmallRig Top Handle, Patona V-Mount battery. SmallRig Shoulder Rig (with arms folded in).
To power the whole setup with one external battery, an industry standard V-Mount battery is used. There are many different brands on the market. We are using the SmallRig VB Pro and Patona Vxxx PD100 series batteries. Depending on the job capacities from 50 to 200 Wh are available. The SmallRig V-Mount Adapter plate come with D-Tap, 8V, 12V and USB ports and is equipped with a power button - very nice to switch off all power, when not shooting. The monitor is connected via D-Tap. The camera itself is powered through the 8V-port. Here a word of caution: Don’t you ever plug in the camera into the neighbouring 12V port!! This would fry the camera electronics right away. I color-coded the port in order to make it visually stick out. There are still USB-A and USB-C ports left to power other units like follow-focus motors or audio recording.
An old saying in the film making community is that “the best cinematography is worth nothing with a bad sound”. So, don’t think the internal microphone of your camera is doing the job (as you want it to be done). Even a simple external microphone like the Simorr Wave S1 or a more versatile system linke the Hollyland LARK M2 (we recommend getting the combo set, as it does not only include two super small, wireless noise-reduction microphones but also USB-C and Apple Lightning receiver units, which transform your smartphone into an external recording device). For more professional microphones there is a ton of information and tutorials on the web.
Image 5:
SIRUI PL to GF mount adapter. Here, with a DZOfilm Catta Ace 18-35 zoom lens.
Image 6:
SIRUI PL to GF mount adapter. The solid support foot keeps the adapter safely attached to the base plate.
Cage & Baseplate with Rods:
SmallRig FUJIFILM GFX 100 II Cage #4201
SmallRig Shoulder Rig Kit Pro #4274
SmallRig Quick-release Plate VCT-14 #2169
SmallRig Rods 15mm (various length, set)
Top & Side Handles:
SmallRig ARRI Top Handle #2165C
SmallRig NATO Sidehandle #3847
Monitor:
SmallRig ARRI Monitor suport #2903B
Sound:
Sennheiser xxxx
Hollyland LARK M2 (combo set)
Image 7:
SmallRig Modular Matte Box, attached to a DZOfilm Catta Ace 18-35 zoom lens.
Optics:
PolarPro Base Camp - VND Stage 3 Kit
Smallrig Modular Matte Box #3641
Focusing:
Smallrig MagicFIZ Wireless Follow Focus #3918
Power:
FOTGA Dummy battery NP-W235
ATOMOS Dummy battery-plate
Patona V200-PD100 V-mount battery
SmallRig VB99 Pro V-mount battery #4292
SmallRig V-mount battery Plate #3203
Accessories:
Image 4:
Cine GFX (FUJIFILM GFX 100 II) fully rigged.
Image 8:
Internal SSD-drive. Connected via USB-C cable to the camera.
Let’s talk about money for a moment! All components as seen in Image 1 above add up to around 3100€ (May 2024). The price of the camera itself is 8000€, which brings the Cine GFX to a total of 11.100€ - without lens - if you start from scratch. This is with just one SmallRig 4x5,65 ND filter. The more pricey option is the PolarPro Stage 3 VND kit, which adds 1500€ to the bill.
The assembly of these components is rather straight-forward and neither needs special tools nor lots of experience. We recommend simply starting with the cage and a top handle and expand from there. As product lines come and go, some components listed here might not be available anymore when you read this article (the Mini Top Handle we used during our production e.g. is not available anymore - the one in the component-list down below is a good replacement, though). Doing the research, trying out new components to make your rig really custom-built for your next project is part of the fun - so enjoy it and please share your rigs and special tips&tricks with the community.
We will try to keep this and all coming article up-to-date.
Let us finish by saying … Go out and shoot .. !
One more thing …. We mentioned the large sensor size at the beginning. An ARRI ALEXA 65 comes with a 54,12x25,59mm sensor which results in an image diagonal of 59,87mm, Aspect ratio 2,1:1. The Cine GFX with its 43,80x32,90mm sensor results in a 54,78mm image diagonal. But what does that mean for you as a film maker?
The amount of different camera recording settings are frankly speaking quite confusing if you are not an advanced user or an expert. The GFX100 II is a professional filmmaking system. Due to its refined sensor and processor pairing, 4:2:2 10-bit internal recording is possible at 4K/60p and 8K/30p. High-speed 120p frame rate is also available at FHD resolution. In the most advanced workflows, creators can record 8K/30p 12-bit ProRes RAW or Blackmagic RAW footage to a compatible Atomos or Blackmagic device. A full list of recording settings can be found here (scroll down to movie settings).
The four illustrations below show the image circles of the GF-format (image diagonal: 54.8mm) , Premista format (image diagonal: 46.3mm), 35mm format (image diagonal: 43.3mm) and 35mm Anamorphic format.