Bessa III (80/3.5) is out - where is Bessa IV (50/3.5) ?

[johannielscom]

I'm interested in the round 'window' next to the RF window, does this camera have a lightmeter built in?

 

[thegman]

The GF670 does, I'd imagine this one does too.

 

[Fotohuis]

As you can read it's in the specifications. Same build in light meter system like the regular GF670/C.V. Bessa III 667.

 

[Jamie123]

I'm interested in the round 'window' next to the RF window, does this camera have a lightmeter built in?

Yes, that's the lightmeter. Same as the Bessa III. The lightmeter's pretty good and I always use my Bessa III on AE.

Actually, it looks like it's exactly the same body, except that the lens and folding door have been replaced by a lens board with a wide angle lens. They even put the shutter lock next to the lens so they didn't have to redesign the body at all.

I'm really curious about the lens performance, though, escpecially in regards to distortion. The 80mm lens on the Bessa III has a bit too much distortion, IMO, so much that it's starting to annoy me on close focus portraits.

 

[erik]

Not surprising at all. A symmetrical wide-angle designed for 6x7 is going to have a big, fat rear element that sits only a few mm from the film. It's not going to fold (although the sheer count of 10 elements in 8 groups suggests something other than a symmetrical lens). And wide-angle lenses are more unforgiving of front standard misalignment than normal lenses.

If you look at the Fuji GS645W, you'll see that when Fuji went wide after the original GS645 folder, the new camera lacked the folding mechanism.

What I find more puzzling is Fuji's statement in its press release that this is "latest addition to its lineup of medium-format wide-angle cameras." Fuji discontinued the GA645Wi, GA645zi, and GSW690III a couple of years ago - so this is in fact the only true wide-angle film camera Fuji makes (or licenses).

Dante

Fuji makes the Hasselblad H cameras, and they offer their own film version of the H2. Maybe that is what they are referring to.