German photographer, Tom Hegen took the new Fujifilm X-H2 Mirrorless Camera out to test its ability when shooting aerial photography. 

Starting out with graphic design, his interest in photography grew to such an extent that he received some of the most prestigious awards including the Red Dot Design Award, International Photography Award, Leica Oscar Barnack Award and the German Design Award. His work can be described as an artist painting with the earth’s surface as his canvas and camera gear as his tools.

In this project, he wanted to see how an APS-C system camera, specifically the Fujifilm X-H2, would perform against the high-end line of Fujifilm medium format cameras he is used to. To test its ability, he went to Namibia to capture breathtaking landscapes from a helicopter and small aeroplane.

Compared to the GFX system, he feels at home with the build of the X-H2, featuring similar layouts, settings and a quality standard he’s used to. He requires a camera that can produce high-resolution images, as his images are printed large scale and showcase immense detail. With the 40.2MP X-Trans™ CMOS 5 HR sensor, the X-H2 didn’t disappoint. “I was really surprised how the files compared to the same scenery shot on the GFX system. Even though we’re talking about a completely different camera category, the sensor beautifully renders details, providing stunning image quality”.

As you can imagine, shooting aerial photography can be quite a challenge as the aeroplane is constantly moving and shooting handheld in those shaky instances make focusing hard. To overcome this challenge, you need to find the perfect balance between aperture, speed and ISO settings. With the Image Stabilisation capabilities of the X-H2, you can create sharp, in-focus images, handheld, from moving platforms and low light conditions. The ability to go below 1/200 shutter speed, even from the open door of a flying helicopter and still get sharp results, is astounding.

The X-H2 captured striking sunrise and sunset images, even when light conditions are challenging. This is made possible with the ability to easily set the ISO to 1000 without undesirable noise. 

“When I did the first prints from the abstract sand-themed landscape images in Namibia, it was a real pleasure to see how much detail the camera captured.”

From 800 meters above the ground, the Fujinon X Mount lenses excelled; offering incredible detail of patches of dune grass, structures in the sand and animal trails on the ground. 

When looking at its video performance, it captures incredible detail in 8K/30P resolution, even in lossless ProRes compression. “When checking the video files, I wasn’t sure if I was looking at a photo or video. The resolution and details on 8K are just something else.” You can achieve continuous recording for up to 160 minutes and can be extended to 240 minutes with the external clip-on fan.

“It’s just amazing how much technology and features are packed into such a small body.” Learn more about the capabilities of the Fujifilm X-H2 Mirrorless Camera at Outdoorphoto.