GF670W Bessa III W

sem said:
Congratulations!

Hope you are satisfied with your new toy!

Nice shot.
Best
Click to expand...

So far, yes. Great in the hand and very tempting to use without a tripod or external light meter. Not that much wider than a M7 but a lot deeper. Incredibly quiet in operation, in fact alarmingly so. Super sharp lens.

Only downside is the lousy weather in the UK. Not inspired to go out and use it!

LouisB
 
I love "weather" for B&W, my preferred film. Overcast. Cloud banks. Mixed sun and dark skies. Or rain, shiny streets and umbrellas. Fantastic. Try shooting in Los Angeles, where it's clear and bright most months of the year. You'll look forward to your flight back to England.
 
More samples

More samples

A few more taken hand-held while walking around Whitechapel and Spitalfields just before sunset on a late January evening. The one on the bridge was f4.5 at about 1/30th.

GF670w, Kodak Porta 400.

whitechapel 01.jpg


whitechapel 02.jpg


whitechapel 04t.jpg
 
louisb said:
A few more taken hand-held while walking around Whitechapel and Spitalfields just before sunset on a late January evening. The one on the bridge was f4.5 at about 1/30th.

GF670w, Kodak Porta 400.


whitechapel 04t.jpg
Click to expand...

This last one is great, I like shots of London showing how grubby and grimy it is.
 
Thegman/Rattymouse - thanks for the positive comments.

Actually, I mad a bit of a mistake with the footbridge photo. I focussed on infinity and I think it would have worked better if I focussed on the foreground.

I would judge the lens to be good but so far not better and possibly slightly inferior to my 30 years old Hasselblad 50/4.

However, the major innovation is the size, weight and handling. No way can I wander the streets any longer lugging the nearly 2Kg of the Hasselblad and 50/4 but the GF670w is a breeze. And the inbuilt metering is very good indeed. No need to lug my Sekonic as well. All in all a convenient and powerful package when you consider you can use 6x6 or 6x7 negs - so much more detailed than from a 35mm rangefinder.

LouisB
 
louisb said:
Thegman/Rattymouse - thanks for the positive comments.

Actually, I mad a bit of a mistake with the footbridge photo. I focussed on infinity and I think it would have worked better if I focussed on the foreground.

I would judge the lens to be good but so far not better and possibly slightly inferior to my 30 years old Hasselblad 50/4.

However, the major innovation is the size, weight and handling. No way can I wander the streets any longer lugging the nearly 2Kg of the Hasselblad and 50/4 but the GF670w is a breeze. And the inbuilt metering is very good indeed. No need to lug my Sekonic as well. All in all a convenient and powerful package when you consider you can use 6x6 or 6x7 negs - so much more detailed than from a 35mm rangefinder.

LouisB
Click to expand...

I like that the far houses are sharp, I'm not a "bokeh" guy, and would often rather far objects to be in focus.
 
Jamie123 said:
....
In the end I sold it because I just didn't fall in love with the lens. Resolution was great but the ''bokeh'' didn't look too nice and there was some distortion at close focus distances which was bad for the kind of head and shoulder portraits I like to do.
Click to expand...

Sorry for budging in like this.

I'm keen to see how much distortion (barrelling I suppose) there is on close-up (70cm) shots. Only thing holding me back to get one of these sweet things 😀, so if anyone would like to share some close up portraits shot with the 667W/GF670W...
 
Camera arrived today! I can't believe how quiet the shutter is! Does anyone know what size lenscap the hood takes? I have a roll of provia 400 x in now. Will post scans when I get them back
Thanks
Nik

Btw this thread was some inspiration for buying the camera. I actually traded my d800 e for it. I am loving it in use so far feels like a Leica on steroids, the shutter is actually much quieter and vibration less
 
Roboflick

Ha-ha! You'll love it.

Man after my own heart - first thing I do when I get a camera with a branded lens cap is get a cheap replacement and put the branded lens cap in a safe place.

The lens cap is 58mm as is the filter thread. Another thing I did was get the UV filter with the camera to preserve the lens.

Like you - it took me a year to make my mind up. A lot of money for a film camera but several advantages:

1. built in meter really does work very well, imho - what other compact 6x7 camera has this today?

2. lens is of the finest quality - easily on a par with the best from Nikon, Canon and Leica, imho.

3. very nicely built and finished. Would have liked a black one (seems to only available in Japan) but the silver finish is very elegant.

4. Also, the film transport seems to keep the film very flat in that all my scans so far have been unbelievably sharp.

Enjoy - look forward to seeing your results

LouisB
 
bad news the meter was off, I noticed that it was giving me the same exposure for f4.5 as for f 16 aggghhh, I only noticed this after 3 rolls 🙁 The good news is that the seller is taking it back without any hassles, and I'm buying a new one from Japan through Japan camera hunter aka Bellamy, for the same price with warranty,
I can't wait to see my slides, and scans, at least the ones shot at smaller apertures. And I figured out a lens cap for the hood is 67 mm.
and great shots louisb!


Nik
 
I've asked this somewhere, but forgot where, and forgot the answer: what is the field of view of this 55mm lens relative to 35mm film? I have the 667 folder and love it. In fact I seem to be pulling that camera out to shoot more often now than anything else, so beginning to seriously wonder about this 667W. Though, I've never been a huge fan of the super-wides, hence my question. The shots from this camera sure look good!
 
Since 6x7 is not the same ratio as 24x36, I would say that horizontaly you have the field of view of a 35mm (maybe a bit wider) and vertically the field of view of a 28mm.
So, not a super-wide
 
This thread has just cost me quite a bit of money 🙂....the GF670 will arrive in my warm, fuzzy hands in about 2 weeks.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom