
It’s not often that we get to combine our passion and our hobby in life (and even less often to get paid for it), but we recently had the opportunity to do so. On a warm spring day on a holiday weekend, we were tasked with two things – checking out the photographic opportunities in the Adirondacks, an area where scenery is its own dimension, and take a camera of our choosing that we think was up to the challenge.
Around Town
Five hours north of New York City, our destination is Long Lake, NY, our home for the next week is the Adirondacks and our camera du jour is the Fujifilm GFX 50S. By no means an exaggeration, this camera is revolutionary. It is among the first medium format digital cameras to realistically “appeal to the masses.” It is lighter in weight, smaller in size, and easier on the wallet than any medium format offering before it. And it is certainly one of the best high-end options for travel photography available. This week we are using the GFX to navigate the Adirondacks—the unique mountain region, park, and forest preserve steeped in equal parts history and sublime beauty.
Making our way upstate, we exit the Thruway and are on Highway 30, climbing the foothills of the region. Everything is suddenly quieter, trees are stiller and somehow more vibrant in the cloudless sky. The road winds as it climbs, wrapping around lakes and ponds and meandering through rustic-if-not-dated summer resorts and pay-per-night campgrounds. We blast through towns like Northville and Hope and Wells and Speculator, alongside Indian Lake, and finally pull into the sleepy town of Long Lake a few hours before sunset. We are staying at the Adirondack Hotel on Long Lake—aptly named as the 14-mile-long lake sits immediately across the street from the front door.
The hotel, originally built in the 1850s, a traditional Adirondack property. Modest in its opulence, the historic inn is fitted with taxidermy, and contains a restaurant, café, and verandas on the first and second floors that overlook the lake. Rumor has it that Mick Jagger and John Wayne stayed here. The floors are creaky; the air is stale. Time moves slow.
The town whispers quaint in the subtlest of ways. Its small downtown consists of typical Americana – a public library, restaurant and pub and gas station are all the amenities you find, and probably all you need. On day two, we realize that the GFX has taken a backseat to the beauty of the region, but in a positive way. The GFX has versatility, sure, and it is loaded with more features than most would know what to do with. But the best feature it has is that it can get out of the way and let you take photographs. Simple things, like the tilt adapter for the viewfinder or the three-way tilting screen, make it easier to hold and shoot with without any gimmicks. Physical controls for setting exposure become second nature and delving into the menu is just optional.
With a solid feel in the hand and a medium-format sensor delivering exceptional image quality, the GFX is an outstanding pick for this trip. It is also lightweight for its class, making our treks through the woods much more manageable.
Near Town
Pushing beyond Long Lake’s immediate grasp, we ventured further into and above the Adirondack region. This second part to our weeklong test of the Fujifilm GFX 50S takes us away from town to some neighboring sites and a bit further into nature. Straying from the convenience of a car, we had the opportunity to exploit one of the GFX system’s greatest assets: relative portability and its lightweight design. For this part, we would be hiking and climbing mountains, but we begin close to Long Lake at Buttermilk Falls. This low-but-wide falls of the Raquette River proved a scenic break from the heat and sunlight. Large boulders protrude from the falls rendering it a rugged staircase and dappled light produces a variety of colors on the water’s surface. Long exposures produce either a silky effect of the water in motion or a milky quality saturated with colorful reflections.
From the nearby falls, we first headed northwest towards Tupper Lake, where we began to take on the Adirondacks by foot. We make the two-mile roundtrip hike up Mount Arab to a fire tower to gain a bird’s-eye view of the region. Used in the early 1900s as a lookout for spotting forest fires, these ominous steel structures now cater to the adventurous as a perfect reward for the midpoint of your hike. The fire tower rises five stories—approximately 40’—above the 2545’ summit and has a cramped 6 x 6’ cab at the top. The walk up is worth it, though, as the full 360-degree panorama offers immense views and a unique sense of scale within the Adirondacks.
An elevated view in the midst of this wilderness provided a clear line of sight to plenty of far off scenery. Using the GFX and the ultra-wide GF 23mm f/4 R LM WR lens we could capture the entire scene in extraordinary detail, showing in a single frame individuals hiking the trail below along with the forest and lakes that dominate the landscape.
Doubling back, we retreated through Tupper Lake and Long Lake, again, this time heading east of town to Newcomb. Our stop here was the Adirondack Interpretive Center (AIC), an educational outpost for SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) program. We head out back to their vast network of trails, one of which had recently flooded due to beavers damming the nearby Little Sucker Brook.
Walking the trails at the AIC, this is also one of the first times we get to mix up our lens selection a bit and try out the brand new GF 250mm f/4 R LM OIS WR lens. This medium telephoto prime allowed us to photograph a variety of small fauna, including dragonflies and birds. Surprising lightweight for such a focal length, the 250mm also has the added benefit of five-stop-effective image stabilization that truly helped when shooting under the shady canopy of the tree-lined trails.
Finishing our days near Long Lake, we got to enjoy a pair of sunsets: one over Tupper Lake and one closer to Newcomb. Between Long Lake and Tupper Lake, on Highway 30, there is a pullout when crossing the Raquette River. With water on both sides, facing west is an immersive view of Tupper Lake along with a richly colorful sky and the sun just setting behind Mount Arab.
Spending more time with the GFX—carrying it up mountains and shooting with it for days—it becomes noticeable how easy it is to adapt to the camera system. Haptics and ergonomics play an important role in the success of the GFX, as it is an intuitive system in regard to the fundamental controls. When reviewing imagery each night, the sensor’s performance begins to take center stage. Handling the camera becomes such second nature that it falls out of the picture and lets you admire the image quality from the larger sensor size. There is a discernible sense of depth to the images—something that becomes more noticeable with larger sensor sizes, but not something you can really put into words or even objectively prove. Resolution charts or pixel-level comparisons are not the way to highlight the quality advantages of a larger sensor; seeing how light interacts with subjects and how space and color are rendered are much more the strengths of this system, and it became evident the longer we worked with the GFX.
Out of Town
The final segment of our week-long exploration of the Adirondacks has us moving further away from the Long Lake locale, both laterally and vertically. As covered in the previous two segments, this shooting trip has been all about using the Fujifilm GFX 50S in a situation it seemed well-suited for. We were inspired by its flexibility, its intuitiveness, and of course the image quality. Going out of town would continue to press these issues, with another hike up a mountain, a visit to a historical abandoned mining town, and even a trip around and above the entire Adirondack region in a seaplane. More on that later.
The final day of our week upstate, we started the morning with a four-mile out-and-back to the top of Goodnow Mountain. At 2690’, this summit is roughly the same height as Mount Arab, but being at some 40 miles south and east, we were rewarded with a completely different view of the High Peaks region. The fire tower at the peak rises a lofty 60’ up and provides stunning 360-degree views, although it was cloudier on this day.
Our outward exploration continued with a visit to Tahawus, which still contains sites of mining history, including the impressive McIntyre Blast Furnace and several ruins and structures from the nearby village, and is also home to Henderson Lake, where the Hudson River officially begins. Working with a tripod we captured some architectural shots of the furnace and neighboring structures as well as details of the ruins being slowly reclaimed by nature.
Closing our week in the Adirondacks, we were also fortunate enough to travel above the region. Way above. With the help of Tom Helms, of Helms Aero Service, we took to the skies in his seaplane, or more accurately a floatplane, to enjoy impressive and expansive views of all of the High Peaks, numerous lakes, and backcountry wilderness. Beyond being a skilled pilot, Helms is also an apt tour guide and seemingly endless source of knowledge on all thing Adirondacks. During our 45-minute flight, he spoke almost non-stop, pointing out some of the region’s treasures, identifying peaks and communities, and giving commentary on the history of the area.
We began our flight immediately across the street from the Adirondack Hotel, taking off southward from Long Lake. We quickly circled back, gaining a view that truly highlighted the reason for the name ‘Long Lake’. From here we ventured north, flying over some of the Great Camps near Lake Saranac and Lake Placid; back over Tahawus and the nearby mines; viewing many of the fire towers of the region from above; and then heading over the High Peaks Wilderness area, seeing remote nature, both thriving and ailing, due to the wildlife population.
Inside the plane feels cramped. Fortunately, the GFX had enough heft to handle more turbulent moments, but was small enough to be easily moved around the cabin. The camera’s physical controls were critical for working quickly in the air, as light tended to shift dramatically as Helms maneuvered the plane around the mountains and through the region. Another benefit was the 50MP resolution, allowing us to work with our wider optics so we didn’t have to worry about swapping lenses midflight and we could choose later whether or not to punch into the scene.
Closing the week upstate, and reflecting on working with the GFX, we realized that photographing this region with a medium format camera was actually pretty impressive. It is often suggested that you use a small camera system with a comfortable zoom to match the more active type of shooting you encounter. When photographing while hiking, exploring, or any other general travel-type of shooting, rarely would you consider a medium format camera as a “hiking” camera. With the GFX, however, it not only makes sense, but it greatly ups the rewards in regard to image quality.
2 Comments
"There is a discernible sense of depth to the images—something that becomes more noticeable with larger sensor sizes, but not something you can really put into words or even objectively prove. "
I believe there are several differences. One - much better dynamic range, resulting in more detail in the shadows and - frankly - "introducing" detail in the highlights. Not such a great difference in the shadows, but in the highlights it is truly remarkable on MF cams. In the selection of photos shown here, it is particularly noticeable in the lace curtains in the hotel.
And two - this cam doesn't exceed the "pixel count" of the D850 or Canon's leading FF cam. But that's only part of the picture. Cramming that number of pixels onto the smaller FF sensors necessarily means the pixels are smaller. Larger pixels capture and store the data better. Below MF it is a bit of a balancing act and really, I don't see the point of "more" pixels in FF cams now that they reach the 50MP mark Their 50MP is not the same as an MF cam's 50MP anyway - and above that level, the NF cams have the market to themselves.
Your analysis of highlight retention on larger sensors is spot on. It is perhaps the biggest advantage of the MF systems and while this is true and easy to speak about, we were talking about the images as a whole, not something so easily defined by a single technical advantage. Medium format is truly remarkable and make better use of higher pixel counts. Hope you enjoyed the piece!