bronica rf645, what to pay attention to when buying

[gameone]

I am about to but a bronica rf645, and I have the change to pick up the camera, so there will be time to examine the camera.
As the title says, what should I give some extra attention when I buy a used bronica rf645? Are there common weak spots? things that are often not 100%?
All tips are welcome, thanks!

 

[Matus]

I never had the camera, but one of things you may want to check is whether the camera has frame lines for 100 or 135 lens. Most have the ones for 100.
Be aware that 100 is hard to find and the 135 even harder. They also command high prices.

I considered this camera some time ago and the difficulty (and price) of the long lenses kept me away (I use the 150 on Mamiya 6 quite a bit). On the other side body + 45 + 65 lenses can be had for less than Mamiya 6 with 50 + 75.

 

[gameone]

thanks matus,
I am pretty sure I'd only use the 65mm and 45mm,
but thanks for the comment,
anyone else suggestions?

 

[emraphoto]

they are still being serviced by Tamron so get one in good nick, from someone you can trust and you should be ok.

 

[John Lawrence]

If you haven't done so already, have a look at the discussion thread in the Flickr group for them. People usually list problems they have (or had) and it often grows into quite a useful check-list.

John

 

[Matus]

BTW, gameone - welcome here on the forum!

I think the main reason why you do not get large amount of answers and warnings is the fact that this camera does not have any big weak points. The weakest point was probably the marketing at the point of introduction. It is supposed to be very nice to use (never had it in my hands).

There was a detailed comparison to Mamiya 7 done somewhere on RFF - look for it. Lot of interesting information.

 

[Walter Leporati]

Bronica RF645

Bronica RF645

I purchased this camera two years ago. I got it with the 45, 65 and 100mm lens, flash and viewfinder for the 45mm. It came in beautiful condition and I have had no problems with it. Just remember the film goes through the camera in a vertical position, as such you must turn the camera vertically to get a horizontal - that took me quite a while to get use to. The view with the 45mm lens on the camera is almost what you would see without the 45mm viewfinder on the camera. It will take 220 film (no longer made in black and white - I have about 50 rolls in my frig). The flash is more than adequate.

 

[jslabovitz]

Beware of loose winder/crank

Beware of loose winder/crank

The only potential defect I know about with this camera is that the winder/crank can become loose. This has happened with mine, although it doesn't seem to be getting worse. I tried to have it fixed, but the repair person (in Vancouver, WA) said it was not easy to fix. He said to just treat it carefully, and wind it at a constant, smooth rate.

I think the true nature of the camera is as a single-lens machine. Keep the 65mm on there, or move to the 45mm if you need to.

Otherwise, it's a fantastic camera. I've run dozens of rolls through it, and been extremely happy with the results. It's my go-to travel camera these days.

 

[bwcolor]

I only have the 65mm and so far no problems. It is a bit smaller than my Mamiya 7. I like the vertical format.

 

[gameone]

The loose crank lever winder thing, is it something I can detect when examining the camera before buying? Is it's movement quite heavy by nature, or light?
(Does the camera have a one stroke film advance mechanism, or one and a half like 6x9 fuji's?)

 

[SteveM]

I've had mine for a few years now and it's by far my favourite camera. I've not had the winder problem, but in regular film advance the stroke is quite light, very little resistance. Before buying mine, I read a lot of reviews and didn't come across any reported chronic problems. A very high proportion of owners really like this camera. Some complain about the vertical format, but it's really no big deal. I shoot at least half of my images vertical anyway. Regarding the 100mm lens, I have it and paid $650 in mint condition. They show up periodically and despite the claims of being rare etc. they don't sell quickly. I don't consider this "expensive" compared to Mamiya lenses or even Leica, and the other two are quite a bit cheaper. When you have a look at the camera, you might also want to take along a roll of 120 to load as you can't fire the shutter without film. That way you can also check the winding and smoothness of the advance. It's a great camera.

Steve

 

[Keith]

The Bronica has a couple of features that I really like. The ME (multiple exposure) button and the electronic self timer are brilliant. One thing I'm not so keen on is the way the metering display powers off way to early IMO and if you're being fairly pedantic about metering a scene you are constantly tapping the shutter button to wake the damned thing up.

The only thing I do read about potential weaknesses is regarding the film advance mechanism. Mine would skip a frame occasionally when I first got it but seemed to come good on it's own and hasn't done it for ages. The camera had just been serviced by Tamron before I got it so maybe something hadn't quite settled in. You can actually fire the shutter without film in the camera by pressing the ME button first.

They are really a superb camera IMO ... unfortunately mine has the 135mm frame lines and I have a 100m lens and would have to send the camera overseas to get the framelines changed ... so it stays like it is. The ergonomics are as good as any 35mm rangefinder I've used so you're never aware of the size of the camera ... and it's not really that large anyway!

 

[kuzano]

Film windon perceived as problem of RF645 by some...

Film windon perceived as problem of RF645 by some...

Issues related to frame spacing, film bunching and film jamming on the windup spool are occasionally mentioned with regard to RF645 Bronica's, and often in error. It is more often user error in film loading.

It is consistent with all 120 roll film cameras that transport the film horizontally and are loaded in spools at each end of the film frame, that film will be loaded loosely and not held tight during closing of the door. This is true of the Fuji Rangefinders, Pentax 6X7, and the Bronica RangeFinder, among others.

The 120 SLR cameras that load on inserts have the film tight when inserted in the film back.

I've used a number of horizontal transport cameras, and found that the film needs to be on the start line and held snug with the windon lever as the door is closed.

So, before attempting to blame these types of problems on the camera, test your film loading technique.

I do know in the case of the Fuji Rangefinders, making sure to load film tightly is dealt with in the user manual for many years of production on the 645 and 690 models.

I,m not sure if Bronica ever figured out how poorly many users handle 120 roll film, and mentioned it in the manual. I do know that there have been complaints of frame spacing and jamming issues on Bronica RF645 posted on the internet, and corrected by developinga better loading technique.

 

[Pablito]

Only complaints I have heard heard have to do with the film transport: overlapping frames etc. But I never experienced this with mine.