After spending several weeks testing my recently acquired Leica X Vario, I’d decided to make a return to present day technology.

On a recent hike through Sai Kung in Hong Kong with my wife, I swapped the vintage experience for the Fuji GFX100RF, and the jump in performance was staggering.

Shooting with vintage digital cameras is good fun, yes. But the comfort of modern day, mature technology is something worth enjoying as well.

And with the Fuji GFX100RF, I confirmed, once again, what I already knew: this is a camera that produces beautiful, beautiful colours.

In this latest outing, several photos featuring the sky and greenery reminded me of the outputs from colour slides.

If, like me, you started photography in the 90’s, perhaps you will be able to see what I see.

Since I shoot RAW, I don’t play with the film simulations – only in Lightroom when I’m post-processing. I mainly use PROVIA though, which is the camera’s standard profile. Occasionally I do play with VELVIA, which adds lots of punch to the colours.

Still, PROVIA is the gold standard for me.

I’d owned several Fuji cameras. I have a Fuji X-Pro3 now, with which I shot extensively in a summer break last year. I also had a medium format GFX50R before.

But none of my Fuji cameras – I’m starting to think now – none of them comes close to the PROVIA film like colours from the GFX100RF.

And I guess the GFX100RF doesn’t just mimic the color of Fujichrome slides. It captures the dynamic range and micro-contrast that define the medium format look.

Whether due to its 16-bit color depth or the considerably larger sensor size, I’m not sure.

Would it be fair to admit that the sensor of the GFX100RF bring a tonal graduation to the PROVIA film simulation that the smaller APS-C sensors simply cannot replicate?

Even with the GFX50R. I can’t recall getting the same richness in colours I’m getting now with the GFX100RF.

And the fact is, I’ve been playing with so many cameras in the past few years, including high caliber ones like the Sony RX1Rii and the Leica Q2.

Both full frame with excellent prime lenses, highly praised by the photo community. But I wouldn’t put them in the same league as the GFX100RF.

So what’s the recipe? I really don’t know. All I know is, whenever I bring the Fuji GFX 100RF for an outing, it never fails to deliver PROVIA colour slide feel photos that I absolutely enjoy.