RichyD
Established
I have seen a Bronica RF645 for sale with 65mm lens but without the hood. Does anyone have any experience on shooting without one and under what conditions would the lack of it be most noticeable.
Thanks
Thanks
Monz
Monz
The lens hood is tiny, almost vestigial. Probably does very little. If the price is good, get the camera!
Bronica RF645: Le Petit Bijou by *monz*, on Flickr
Bronica RF645: Le Petit Bijou by *monz*, on Flickr
Gordon Moat
Established
I think KEH in Atlanta has an extra hood. The hood is the same for the 45mm and 65mm, so if you have both lenses you can swap hoods. While the front element is set deep in the 65mm, the lenshood does offer some shading. Overall the lenses are very flare proof.
picker77
Established
I've used my RF645 65mm for three years now without the tiny, shallow little Bronica hood that came with it--beginning right after I got the camera and realized that using filters with the range hood was a pain in the butt. I shoot mostly B&W and often use orange and red filters. Truthfully, I've never missed the hood and have never seen that it would have made a difference.
GREAT camera, BTW. I've never seen anybody pick mine up and handle it that didn't immediately say they wanted one and ask "why did Bronica make so few of them?". I just wish non-65mm lenses weren't so danged expensive and that there was more of a focal length choice. It's a shame some other series of Bronica lenses (ETRxx?) has never been adapted to fit the 645, even for manual exposure modes. If I could buy an adapter that would allow that I'd be happy to pay a TON of money for it. Any clever lens gadget manufacturers out there in China-land listening?
GREAT camera, BTW. I've never seen anybody pick mine up and handle it that didn't immediately say they wanted one and ask "why did Bronica make so few of them?". I just wish non-65mm lenses weren't so danged expensive and that there was more of a focal length choice. It's a shame some other series of Bronica lenses (ETRxx?) has never been adapted to fit the 645, even for manual exposure modes. If I could buy an adapter that would allow that I'd be happy to pay a TON of money for it. Any clever lens gadget manufacturers out there in China-land listening?
Gordon Moat
Established
I actually looked into a few adapters for the Bronica RF645 flash and the lens mount. Unfortunately Tamron are unwilling to release the pin-out information. I tried going through some service centres and they did not have information on the pin assignments. Basically that is all that is needed to make a flash adapter or a lens mount adapter.
There is an interlock on the lens mount electronic pins that prevents the shutter from firing, unless the multi-exposure button is pushed. An over-ride button or workaround would be needed to use manual lenses. However, I would be happy to be able to fit a 35mm focal length lens to the RF645.
The flash mount seems like a different issue and I have tried through trial an error to get a Nikon Speedlight to register as mounted and fire correctly. Unfortunately I have not been able to get this to work yet. This would probably be an easier problem to solve than the lens mount, if I knew the pin assignments.
Paying an engineering firm to reverse engineer an RF645 would not be cost effective. The resulting adapters would need to be quite expensive in order to recover the research costs. Unless some engineer with an RF645 wants to volunteer/share this information, this is not an economical choice.
There is an interlock on the lens mount electronic pins that prevents the shutter from firing, unless the multi-exposure button is pushed. An over-ride button or workaround would be needed to use manual lenses. However, I would be happy to be able to fit a 35mm focal length lens to the RF645.
The flash mount seems like a different issue and I have tried through trial an error to get a Nikon Speedlight to register as mounted and fire correctly. Unfortunately I have not been able to get this to work yet. This would probably be an easier problem to solve than the lens mount, if I knew the pin assignments.
Paying an engineering firm to reverse engineer an RF645 would not be cost effective. The resulting adapters would need to be quite expensive in order to recover the research costs. Unless some engineer with an RF645 wants to volunteer/share this information, this is not an economical choice.
RichyD
Established
I got another one with a hood but tried it without hood on a test roll and got quite a bit of flare on some shots in a covered market with a glass, multi-pitched roof, sun above and slightly forward. To be expected I suppose. However, this one had a clunky winder and sratched viewfinder so I returned it.
Another one came up which is pretty mint, running a test roll now but the winder also has a little rough spot at the end of the stroke. I think that must be normal for these reading through past forums. I love the compact size and handling.
I read somewhere that a Nikon SB-15 works well with these and I have one so will try it out too.
Another one came up which is pretty mint, running a test roll now but the winder also has a little rough spot at the end of the stroke. I think that must be normal for these reading through past forums. I love the compact size and handling.
I read somewhere that a Nikon SB-15 works well with these and I have one so will try it out too.
whitecat
Lone Range(find)er
Used to have one and never used the hood. Amazing optics on this camera.
Gordon Moat
Established
I found an easy fix for a slightly notchy winder on my RF645. When using Fujifilm I make sure to have a Fuji spool loaded first, and when using Kodak film I have a Kodak spool loaded. The other thing is not to flick the winder quickly like you would with 35mm cameras; slow and steady works best. Sticking to that usage has meant no winder issues for me.
Most of the Nikon Speedlights will mount, but they will not work in TTL. Also, there is no readylight and the Speedlight does not communicate with the RF645. You can set a Nikon Speedlight in Auto and it will handle the flash exposure properly. My suggestion is to set the shutter speed on the RF645 when using a Nikon Speedlight, and not to use A or P settings on the RF645 with a Nikon Speedlight. You can set some later Nikon Speedlights manually and they will work nicely. Most of the time I use an SB-27 with my RF645.
I have some cables to test pin connections on the RF645, but so far it is proving tough without an diagram telling me what each pin does. Eventually I hope to modify a Nikon Speedlight cable, or have a Nikon flash foot connection swapped for the Bronica connection.
Most of the Nikon Speedlights will mount, but they will not work in TTL. Also, there is no readylight and the Speedlight does not communicate with the RF645. You can set a Nikon Speedlight in Auto and it will handle the flash exposure properly. My suggestion is to set the shutter speed on the RF645 when using a Nikon Speedlight, and not to use A or P settings on the RF645 with a Nikon Speedlight. You can set some later Nikon Speedlights manually and they will work nicely. Most of the time I use an SB-27 with my RF645.
I have some cables to test pin connections on the RF645, but so far it is proving tough without an diagram telling me what each pin does. Eventually I hope to modify a Nikon Speedlight cable, or have a Nikon flash foot connection swapped for the Bronica connection.