I have the OOOLD G690 and GSW690III
I have the OOOLD G690 and GSW690III
considering the age difference and the 100 vs the 65mm lens, I personally can't detect differences in sharpness. The later lens ?may? be a little more flare resistant, but even that is not detectable to me.
While I like the GSW, I don't use it as much. Frankly, I'm not much of a wide wide person. The extra subject matter gets to be a bit much for me. Secondly, if I want a panorama, stitching the 100mm lens produces a more real panorama than stitching the 65. One rule in stitching for panoramas is to stitch with as close to a normal lens for the format as possible. This precludes some of the aspect distortion in the stitching process.
So, while people do tend to pay somewhat more JUST for the wide, I think it's counter productive on MF in 645 or 6X9.
When I stitch two 6X9's together, it comes out very near the look of a 6X17 depending on the overlap needed to blend the stitch. A 6X12 stitched with two 6X9's is a "no brainer" as long as you set up the two shots.
I don't use any expensive or complicated gear. I use a tripod and I level BOTH the rotation portion of the tripod and the camera. Then I simply turn the tripod head for a 25% overlap on frames and work quickly to avoid changing light.
So, while I have a GSW, it gets used less, and may go away one day. If I do get rid of the GSW, I will probably get a GW690 II or III. That's only if I have problems with the OLD TANK G690. It may live forever, but it's a bit heavy compared to the II and III fixed lens version.