Blackmagic RAW recording on the Fujifilm GFX100 & GFX100s

Fujifilm’s announcement

Last month during the 2021 Fujifilm X-Summit, Fujifilm announced their GFX 100 & GFX 100s cameras will be able to record Blackmagic RAW (BRAW) video. Blackmagic RAW is the world’s only truly modern, high performance professional RAW codec. This is an exciting announcement for many who already shoot stills on the GFX series or are looking for a high quality hybrid camera. You can now download the free firmware update allowing 12-Bit RAW recording.

June last year, Fujifilm announced the GFX 100 would be able to record ProRes RAW over HDMI to the Atomos Ninja V. This was passed on to the GFX 100s early in 2021. Blackmagic now has teamed up with Fuji to allow their 12-bit RAW video format, Blackmagic RAW, to be externally recorded from the hybrid medium format cameras.

8-Bit vs 12-Bit

Your Bit colour depth determines how many colours your image will have. This proves helpful not only in getting better quality footage but also better colour grading in editing. 8-Bit images only have 16 million colours, where as 12-Bit has over 68 Billion colours. The extra colours allow for better dynamic range and also the ability to push your colours further in grading. Below is a good example of how the extra colours allow for better/ smoother looking footage and high dynamic range.

Video Assist monitors

You need the Blackmagic Video Assist 12G monitors to achieve this. These come in a 5″ size and a 7″ size monitor option. We recommend HDMI 2.0 as a minimum as this is fast enough to handle the speeds of RAW video. The Blackmagic RAW recording feature is in the same location as ProRes RAW recording. Under the cameras’ ‘F-Log/HLG/RAW RECORDING’ option in the movie menu. BRAW can record at DCI 4K up to 30 fps.

This is a very exciting announcement for hybrid shooters who can now make use of a medium format sensor. This also opens the door to a longer running Fujifilm/ Blackmagic collaboration. As much as this is all speculation for now, we are looking forward to seeing some sample footage of this medium format / BRAW combination.

To process Blackmagic RAW footage you will need Da Vinci resolve or an up to date Adobe Premiere Pro. Using Da Vinci Resolve offers the smoothest workflow and one of the most powerful colour grading software’s on the market. Da Vinci Resolve has also proven to be a great tool for object tracking.

It’s important to remember that even though this is a Blackmagic RAW video file it’s still Fujifilm video specs and colour.

Written by: Matthew Lewis