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GFX 100S II · Bank Addendum
C4 · Indoor Sport
& Artistic
Crossfit & Indoor Athletics
Monopod Support
GF 45–100mm primary
Motion as creative tool
Bank Architecture Change
This addendum replaces C4 · Night / Bulb with C4 · Indoor Sport & Artistic. In the current bank architecture, C5 is reassigned to Architecture and C6 is reassigned to Pixel Shift. Night / Bulb and Tethered are dropped from the active bank map. The updated bank map is below.
How to use this document
Use this when field conditions require specialist technique or failure-mode handling.
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Custom Bank C4
Indoor Sport & Artistic
Adaptive, motion-aware, and aesthetically intentional. This is where the GFX 100S II confronts a discipline it was not designed for — and produces something no dedicated sports camera can: 102 MP tonal depth, medium format spatial compression, and deliberate motion as a creative statement rather than a failure mode.
C4 · INDOOR SPORT
The C4 Shooter's Assumptions
You are at a Crossfit event. Athletes move unpredictably — cleans, box jumps, rope climbs, burpees. The light is artificial and mixed: LED overheads, possibly inconsistent across the venue floor. You are on a monopod: vertical stability is available; horizontal freedom is a deliberate choice. You have a GF 45-100mm on the camera by default, or the GF 100-200mm F5.6 when access or venue scale pushes you farther back. You are not making sports journalism. You are making art that happens to contain sport.
This means something specific: a blurred figure against a dark rack is an option, not a failure. A monopod-panned athlete at 1/60s is a legitimate creative frame. Keeper rate on this bank will be lower than C2 or C3. That is the correct trade for the images that land. The GFX rewards anticipation and editorial selection — make fewer, better decisions about which moment to commit to.
Honest limitation: The GFX 100S II's AF-C is measurably slower than APS-C or full-frame sports bodies. The buffer at 102 MP is finite. The GF 80mm's DC motor is deliberate, not fast. Accept these constraints going in. Design around them. The medium format images that come back from this session will look qualitatively different from everything else shot at the event — that difference is the point.
Shutter Speed as Primary Creative Decision
In this bank, shutter speed is your most important creative variable. It determines not just technical sharpness but the entire emotional character of the frame — whether the image freezes a moment of peak effort or expresses the duration and force of movement as blur. This is why C4 uses Shutter Priority rather than Aperture Priority: own the motion, let the camera manage the rest.
Freeze
1/800–1/1000
Peak moment locked. Barbell at the apex of a clean. Athlete at full extension overhead. The image is static — all weight is on the frame's geometry.
Sharp peak
Dynamic · Default
1/200–1/400
Subject mostly frozen, extremities show motion — hands, rope, bar. Reads as sport without becoming static. Set this as your C4 starting point.
Primary range
Blur · Intentional
1/30–1/125
Body blur suggests duration and effort. Monopod holds the camera; the subject creates the blur. Works best on strong, simple backgrounds. Requires editorial discipline.
Motion expression
Paint · Impressionist
1/8–1/15
Monopod essential. Tonal impressionism. Athlete becomes tone and direction. Pre-visualise the frame before firing — this only works when the background and subject separation are strong.
Abstract intent
A · Shooting page 2/3
Exposure & Metering · STILL PHOTO DISPLAY → MENU/OK → A SHOOTING SETTING → ISO / PHOTOMETRY
7 settings
| # | Setting | Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shooting Mode | S (Shutter Priority) | Set |
| Why S mode, not A: In an indoor sport context, the shutter speed is your primary creative control — it is what decides the aesthetic character of the image. Aperture Priority would let you control subject isolation, but at the cost of losing control over motion character. At f/4 on the GF 45-100mm, or f/5.6 on the GF 100-200mm when reach is required, you have accepted the lens aperture and the decision that remains is motion. S mode with Auto ISO means you set the motion intent, the aperture stays where the mounted lens demands, and Auto ISO absorbs the exposure variation as the venue's light changes across the floor. Alternative: M + Auto ISO if you want to lock both aperture and shutter and use ISO as the only exposure variable — valid for controlled-light areas of the venue. | |||
| 2 | ISO | AUTO ISO | Set |
| Auto ISO is correct here: indoor sport lighting varies significantly across a venue floor. A fixed ISO will produce blown or underexposed frames as you move between zones. Let ISO float; the sensor handles it cleanly to 6400. | |||
| 3 | Auto ISO Max Sensitivity | ISO 6400 | Set |
| Why 6400: The GFX 100S II at ISO 6400 produces files with meaningful grain but recoverable tonality. With LRC AI Denoise applied, ISO 6400 frames are usable at fine art print sizes — and at medium format, grain at ISO 6400 reads more like photographic grain than digital noise. If the venue is unusually dark and you are accepting artistic grain as intentional, you may push to ISO 12800 on a per-session basis, but set it back to 6400 as default. ISO 12800 on the GFX is a deliberate aesthetic choice, not a comfortable operating point. | |||
| 4 | Min Shutter Speed (in S mode) | Set manually per intent | Set |
| In S mode, you set the shutter directly — the Min Shutter Speed (Auto ISO) parameter only applies in A and P modes. Use the speed selector table above as your creative reference. Start at 1/250s as your default C4 position; adjust downward or upward by intent, not by accident. | |||
| 5 | Metering | CENTER-WEIGHTED | Set |
| Why Center-Weighted for moving subjects: Multi metering reads the entire frame and averages it — in a sports venue with bright overhead lights, dark equipment racks, and variable backgrounds, it will be influenced by elements you're not photographing. Center-Weighted biases exposure toward the center of the frame, where your subject typically is, without requiring you to lock and recompose on a moving target (as Spot requires). For subjects who fill the center zone, this is the most reliable and direct metering mode. | |||
| 6 | Exposure Compensation | +0.3 to +0.7 EV as starting point | Set |
| 7 | — | Skip | |
| Why expose slightly positive: Indoor sport venues under LED lighting are often calibrated to read darker than they appear to the eye. The GFX's Center-Weighted meter will tend to underexpose to protect the bright overhead fixtures from clipping. A +0.3 to +0.7 EV push compensates for this tendency and keeps athlete skin and equipment in the usable tonal range. Verify with the RGB histogram after the first five frames and adjust. The sensor has the headroom to absorb +0.7 EV without highlight damage in most indoor environments. | |||
G · AF/MF page 1/3
Focus System — Maximum Tracking Responsiveness · STILL PHOTO DISPLAY → MENU/OK → G AF/MF SETTING → AF MODE / SUBJECT DETECTION / RELEASE-FOCUS PRIORITY
8 settings
| # | Setting | Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Focus Mode | C (AF-C) | Set |
| AF-C is the only appropriate mode for moving athletes. AF-S will lock and hold — as the athlete moves toward or away from you, your focus plane falls immediately behind the action. | |||
| 2 | AF Mode | WIDE / TRACKING | Set |
| Why Wide/Tracking: Athletes performing box jumps, rope climbs, and overhead lifts move through the entire vertical and horizontal extent of the frame. Zone AF, however large, will lose the subject as they exit the zone boundary. Wide/Tracking has no such boundary — it lets the camera keep following the athlete across the frame. On this body, that behavior is not tied to a dedicated Human subject-detection mode. | |||
| 3 | Subject Detection | OFF | Set |
| Why OFF: The GFX100S II does not offer a Human subject-detection category in SUBJECT DETECTION SETTING. That menu is for animals and vehicles, not people. Leave Subject Detection OFF here and rely on Wide/Tracking as the base tracking mode; bring Face/Eye Detection back in only when a clearly presented face makes it useful. | |||
| 4 | AF-C Custom Settings | SET 4 | Set |
| Why Set 4: Fujifilm's SET 4 uses Tracking Sensitivity 0, Speed Tracking Sensitivity 1, and Zone Area Switching FRONT. It is designed for suddenly appearing subjects and quick subject hand-offs inside the frame, which fits erratic Crossfit movement better than the more persistent C3-style tracking preset. | |||
| 5 | Release / Focus Priority (AF-C) | RELEASE | Set |
| Release priority fires the shutter regardless of AF confirmation. On a moving subject at f/4 with depth of field measured in centimetres (at portrait distances) to half a metre (at medium distance), a slightly uncertain focus lock still produces a usable frame more often than a withheld shot. The peak moment of a clean does not repeat. Fire, select in post. | |||
| 6 | Number of Focus Points | 117 POINTS (9×13) | Set |
| Why 117 here: NUMBER OF FOCUS POINTS affects manual focus and SINGLE POINT AF, not Wide/Tracking itself. Use 117 as the practical session default because it keeps fallback point selection simpler if you leave Wide/Tracking temporarily. It is a workflow choice, not a hidden sports-tracking boost. | |||
| 7 | Pre-AF | Consider ON for this bank | Set |
| 8 | — | Skip | |
| Pre-AF exception for C4: The normal base setting keeps Pre-AF OFF to protect battery. For the finite duration of an indoor sport session, enabling Pre-AF can reduce the lag between raising the camera and achieving AF lock on an already-moving athlete. Disable it when you leave C4. Carry a charged spare NP-W235. | |||
A · Shooting page 2/3
Shutter, Drive & Stabilisation · STILL PHOTO DISPLAY → MENU/OK → A SHOOTING SETTING → SHUTTER TYPE / IS MODE / FLICKER REDUCTION
7 settings
| # | Setting | Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shutter Type | MECHANICAL (default) | Set |
| Why Mechanical as C4 default: Indoor sport venues are overwhelmingly lit by LED arrays or fluorescent fixtures, both of which cycle at 50 or 100 Hz. The electronic shutter reads the sensor progressively from top to bottom — in a flickering light environment, the top and bottom of the frame are read at different phases of the light cycle, producing horizontal banding across the image. Mechanical shutter exposes the entire frame simultaneously (or as close to simultaneously as the curtain travel allows), eliminating this risk. Switch to Electronic via Fn3 only if: (a) the venue has verified constant, non-flickering LED lighting, and (b) silence during a specific athlete's lift is required out of courtesy. Test for banding in the first burst sequence before committing to Electronic for a session. | |||
| 2 | Flicker Reduction | ALL FRAMES | Set |
| Always enable in indoor artificial light: Flicker Reduction synchronises burst shooting to the light source's cycle — it delays frame release until the light is at a consistent phase. With Mechanical Shutter in a fluorescent or pulsed-LED environment, this prevents uneven exposure across a burst sequence. The reduction in burst rate is minor and acceptable. Do not disable this setting for the duration of any indoor session under artificial light. | |||
| 3 | Drive Mode | CONTINUOUS (Low) | Set |
| Why Low burst, not High: The GFX buffer at 102 MP lossless 16-bit fills rapidly at full burst rate — sustained High burst produces buffer stall exactly at the point where you need the camera most. Fujifilm rates Continuous Low at 2 fps, which is still enough to catch the top of a clean, the apex of a box jump, or the full extension of a barbell overhead. More importantly, Low burst imposes a discipline: you must anticipate the peak moment and commit to it, rather than spraying frames and hoping. | |||
| 4 | IS Mode | CONTINUOUS | Set |
| IBIS discipline with a monopod: A monopod stabilises the pitch axis (forward/backward tilt) and to a significant degree the roll axis (lateral tilt). What it does not stabilise: yaw (left/right panning), residual floor vibration transmitted through the monopod from athlete movement on the venue floor, and micro-tremor in the hands at the top of the monopod. IBIS in CONTINUOUS mode compensates for all three of these residual movements. The net effect: at 1/60s on a monopod with IBIS, you have meaningful camera stability for environmental context shots even while athletes are active around you. Additionally: confirm the mounted OIS zoom has its barrel switch set to ON. With the GF 45-100mm or GF 100-200mm F5.6, both the lens OIS and camera IBIS work cooperatively — do not override either on a monopod. | |||
| 5 | Mounted OIS zoom barrel switch | CONFIRM ON (monopod) | Set |
| 6 | — | Skip | |
| The OIS switch on the mounted zoom must be physically checked at the start of each session. On a monopod (unlike a rigid tripod), both the barrel OIS switch and the camera IS Mode should be set to ON — the monopod provides partial stabilisation, not complete stillness, so the OIS/IBIS systems have real movement to correct. This is the opposite of the C1 tripod rule, where both are turned OFF. The same applies whether you are using the GF 45-100mm or the GF 100-200mm F5.6. | |||
| 7 | Electronic Shutter Sound | OFF | Set |
H · IQ pages 1-3/4
Film Simulation, Tone & White Balance · STILL PHOTO DISPLAY → MENU/OK → H IMAGE QUALITY SETTING → FILM SIMULATION / TONE CURVE / WHITE BALANCE
6 settings
| # | Setting | Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Film Simulation | ACROS | Set |
| Why ACROS for indoor sport artistic preview: Crossfit venues under LED are chromatically unflattering. Athlete skin is warm from exertion, background equipment is a mix of rubber, steel, and powder-coat colours, and the overhead light creates mixed colour temperature across the space. Shooting with an ACROS preview forces you to read the scene as tones rather than colours — which is the compositionally honest question in this environment: does this frame have tonal structure? A blurred athlete in ACROS against a dark deadlift platform tells you immediately whether the motion and the tonal drama work together. The RAW file retains full colour regardless. If a specific frame warrants colour treatment in post, the data is there. The preview discipline is the point. Alternative: ETERNA CINEMA for a desaturated, cinematic colour preview if you want to evaluate colour relationships while shooting. | |||
| 2 | Tone Curve — Highlights | −1 | Set |
| Preview only — does not affect the RAW file. A slight highlight compression in the preview reduces the visual impact of bright overhead LEDs that dominate the preview frame. Without this, bright fixtures behind or above the athlete compete for visual attention in the EVF and compromise compositional decisions. The −1 rolls them back toward manageable without distorting the mid-tones where the athlete lives. | |||
| 3 | Tone Curve — Shadows | +1 | Set |
| Preview only — does not affect the RAW file. Crossfit venue floors are typically darker than the overhead lighting, and athletes against dark equipment racks can be difficult to read compositionally in the EVF. A +1 shadow lift opens the preview shadow zone enough to evaluate composition and tonal structure without committing to the exposure decision that lives only in the RAW file. The RAW captures full shadow depth at every setting. | |||
| 4 | White Balance | AUTO · WHITE PRIORITY | Set |
| Why White Priority for sport indoor: Standard AWB shifts toward warm tones in LED environments, rendering skin and equipment with an orange cast that looks worse in the ACROS preview (as it shifts the tonal conversion) and worse in any colour output. White Priority AWB runs neutrally cooler — it is the more accurate reference under LED. For a single-venue session with consistent lighting: take a custom WB from a grey card at floor level under the primary lighting zone and lock it. Custom WB eliminates all inter-frame drift across a session. If you move between zones (window light near entry vs. overhead LED in the main floor), return to AUTO White Priority to manage the transition. | |||
| 5 | Grain Effect | WEAK · SMALL (optional) | Set |
| 6 | — | Skip | |
| Optional for preview only. With ACROS and slow shutter speeds, adding a Weak/Small grain effect to the preview simulation reinforces the tonally expressive character of the motion blur frames and helps you evaluate the tonal quality of the image as it will read after post-processing. This is an aesthetic preview aid, not a RAW parameter. Some photographers find it useful for compositing the emotional intent of the frame; others prefer to evaluate on clean signal. Try both across a session and decide. | |||
Monopod Technique for This Bank
A monopod is not a tripod and should not be used as one. It stabilises the vertical axis and provides a pivot point — the discipline is different from handheld and the creative results should be different too.
Freeze shots · 1/400s+
Lock and fire
Plant the monopod, brace the camera against your body above the monopod head. The monopod eliminates vertical sway; IBIS handles residual horizontal movement. Engage AF-C with Subject Detection before the athlete begins the movement. Half-press to establish tracking lock before the moment begins — don't acquire mid-lift.
Dynamic blur · 1/30s–1/125s
Pan with the subject
Use the monopod as a pivot point, not a support. Rotate the camera on the monopod axis to track athlete movement horizontally — this is the crossfit panning technique. At 1/60s, a panned athlete shows directional blur in the background while the subject retains partial sharpness. The medium format background blur quality at these speeds is qualitatively distinct from what smaller sensors produce.
Static moments · 1/15s or slower
Full monopod discipline
For chalk moments, setup positions, rest between sets — athletes are briefly static. Plant the monopod firmly, hold the camera with two hands high and low, exhale and fire at the bottom of exhale. At 1/15s with IBIS and a braced monopod, static subjects are achievable. Make 3–5 frames and select. The GFX IBIS at medium focal lengths with monopod support is reliable to 1/8s for static subjects.
Environmental context · any speed
Step back and frame
Some of the most powerful frames in any sport context are the space, not the action: empty equipment under dramatic light, chalk dust settling, a face between efforts. Switch to the 20-35mm, move back, let the environment become the subject. The monopod is irrelevant here — work freely. Return to the 45-100mm for normal action, or the 100-200mm only when distance genuinely demands it.
Lens Selection Within This Bank
Primary · Action & Environmental
GF 45–100mm F4 OIS
The correct lens for this bank. The zoom range allows compositional flexibility without repositioning — step back to 100mm for compression of an athlete against equipment, or pull to 45mm for environmental context shots. Wide open at f/4, there is meaningful subject separation from backgrounds at typical indoor sport distances (3–8m from subject). The linear AF motor is faster and more reliable in AF-C than the GF 80mm's DC motor. Default position: 60–80mm equivalent. The 100mm end gives strongest tonal compression; use it for deliberate, tight framing of a specific movement. If the venue is larger, access is restricted, or the strongest frames depend on working from further back, the GF 100-200mm F5.6 becomes the prudent longer-reach version of this same C4 logic. Barrel OIS ON.
Secondary · Portraiture & Isolation
GF 80mm F1.7
Use for non-action moments only: the chalk ritual, focused preparation, recovery, athlete's face between sets. At f/1.7–f/2, the subject isolation is extraordinary — an athlete's expression in sharp focus against a smoothly blurred equipment background is aesthetically unavailable from any other lens in this system. Accept that AF-C with the DC motor on a moving subject is a risk. For action sequences, revert to the 45-100mm, or the GF 100-200mm F5.6 when distance makes the shorter zoom too loose. When using the 80mm on this bank: switch to AF-S for static moments, accept the AF-C limitations for any movement. The images the 80mm produces in the right moment justify this bank's tolerance for uncertainty.
✗ Critical failure · Electronic Shutter + LED Banding
If you switch to Electronic Shutter in C4 and the venue has pulsed LED overhead lights, expect horizontal banding across some frames — one region of the image is exposed at a different phase of the light cycle than another. This is not correctable in post. The fix is Mechanical Shutter. Flicker Reduction is automatically disabled with Electronic Shutter on this camera, so there is no menu-based rescue for that banding. If you see it on any frame, switch to Mechanical via Fn3 immediately and do not return to Electronic for the remainder of the indoor session.
✗ Critical failure · GFX Buffer Stall at Peak Action
If you switch Drive Mode to Continuous High for a sequence and hold the shutter through a long burst, the camera will stall when the buffer fills — precisely at the moment you're expecting frames. Continuous Low is C4's correct drive mode. If you know a specific movement will require a longer burst (rope climb from bottom to top), pre-clear the buffer by releasing the shutter between sequences. Do not enter a peak moment with a full buffer.
Saving C4 to the bank: Configure all settings above in the camera. Then navigate to
H IMAGE QUALITY SETTING → EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING → C4 → SAVE CURRENT SETTINGS. Name the bank via EDIT CUSTOM NAME → C4 INDOOR SPORT. Verify with EDIT/CHECK before your first session. Auto Update Custom Setting must remain DISABLED — changes made during the event do not persist unless you explicitly save them back to C4.Complete C4 Reference — At a Glance
H · IQ page 3/4
C4 · Full Settings Summary · Save to bank via H IMAGE QUALITY SETTING → EDIT/SAVE CUSTOM SETTING → C4
27 settings
| # | Setting | Value | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shooting Mode | S · Shutter Priority | Set |
| 2 | Starting Shutter Speed | 1/250s | Set |
| 3 | ISO | AUTO ISO · Max 6400 | Set |
| 4 | Exposure Compensation | +0.3 to +0.7 EV | Set |
| 5 | Metering | CENTER-WEIGHTED | Set |
| 6 | Focus Mode | C · AF-C | Set |
| 7 | AF Mode | WIDE / TRACKING | Set |
| 8 | Subject Detection | OFF | Set |
| 9 | AF-C Custom Settings | SET 4 | Set |
| 10 | Release / Focus Priority | RELEASE | Set |
| 11 | Number of Focus Points | 117 POINTS (9×13) | Set |
| 12 | Pre-AF | ON (session-only exception) | Set |
| 13 | Shutter Type | MECHANICAL | Set |
| 14 | Drive Mode | CONTINUOUS · Low | Set |
| 15 | IS Mode | CONTINUOUS | Set |
| 16 | OIS zoom barrel switch | ON (monopod — not tripod) | Set |
| 17 | Flicker Reduction | ALL FRAMES | Set |
| 18 | AF Illuminator | OFF · Always | Set |
| 19 | Film Simulation | ACROS | Set |
| 20 | Tone Curve · Highlights | −1 (preview only) | Set |
| 21 | Tone Curve · Shadows | +1 (preview only) | Set |
| 22 | White Balance | AUTO · WHITE PRIORITY | Set |
| 23 | High ISO NR | −4 (universal) | Set |
| 24 | Image Quality | RAW · LOSSLESS · 16-bit | Set |
| 25 | Dynamic Range | 100% | Set |
| 26 | D Range Priority | OFF | Set |
| 27 | Auto Update Custom Setting | DISABLE (universal) | Critical |
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