Fuji G690BL: what never was

Dante_Stella

Dante_Stella

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g690chrome.jpg


If you see this on Ebay, rest assured it doesn't exist. Mine is the only one.

I was in Berlin in 1999 and walking along the Ku'Damm, I saw some chrome G690 lenses in a window, and I was pretty sure I saw "this." I went back and couldn't find it. Subsequent research proved that "this" did not exist. So I made it. I wouldn't recommend it, because blasting/plating are very hard on thin hand-fitted, hand-soldered brass. Also, very expensive and very time consuming.

Well, at least this explains the design of the X-Pro1.

Dante
 
That is lovely.

I'm not really seeing the similarity to the X-Pro 1 though.

I found your site about the Fuji 6x9 cameras very helpful when I bought mine.
 
They replicated the "web" between the main VF window and the rest of the top cover. The X-Pro1 and X100 both bear some styling cues from the G690/BL and the GL690.

The G series was really an homage to the Graflex Combat Graphic 70mm cameras, though.

Dante
 
Love it. Beautiful camera's, even in black. It will be the only rangefinder that survives in my collection.

Thanks for the site as well, have read it several times now.
 
Hi Dante,
What is it exactly that the photo is of? Is it a Fuji BL690 or another camera but with BL690 lens?

It looks very nice indeed.
 
Raid -

G690BL stripped, nickel-plated, sandblasted and chromed. The lens is an original G690-era model that languished at KEH until the price became irresistably low...

This actually takes more than one body to assure even as much success as I got (this actually took 3 bodies' worth of parts); it's very hard to find bodies with good covers in the first place; the aluminum parts on these bodies tend to corrode under the black paint (viewfinder window frame, winding lever), the plastic parts sometimes break when removed (eyepiece), and the sandblasting/plating process causes serious distortions in the thin brass plate that makes these things up. In fact, my repairperson had to hammer this back into shape in some places (he wasn't sure whether it was media blasting or the heat of plating that changed things). Some things actually change appearance; the viewfinder frame actually has sharp edges under the enamel. Dimensions can get messed up, and if you don't have the plating place mask properly, you can lose some critical dimensions, threads, ball bearing recesses, and c-clip grooves.

Everything about this was expensive and time consuming (total time was about a year), but unlike Lance Armstrong, I don't seem to know when to quit. If you want a silver G690BL, I would suggest stripping and using catalyzed car paint. Painting is probably within most owners' capabilities, and catalyzed paint is tough, chemical proof, and lasts just about forever.

Interestingly, when these are not black, you can see the massive degree to which the top cover was hand-formed.

Dante

raid said:
Hi Dante,
What is it exactly that the photo is of? Is it a Fuji BL690 or another camera but with BL690 lens?

It looks very nice indeed.
Click to expand...
 
in SHORT,

in SHORT,

I'm pretty sure Dante is telling us that there was never a Fujica Interchangeable lens camera body with a silver, chrome, or nickel plated top cover and bottom plate????

I'm pretty sure that is true of the G690, G690bl, GL690, and GM690. They were all black bodies. There where silver nickel/chrome plated lenses however. I believe that remains true of all of the GW and GSW series cameras (but they were plastic tops I think)

I too credit Dante Stella with firing me up about the Texas Leica models. I had been using Mamiya Press Universal up until that time, many years ago.
 
Kuzano - correct. The G690 had chrome lenses (no nickel from the looks of the "cold" color), but the most silver a body ever sported was a silver front edge to the RF/VF frame. There was a gold-plated GW690II, but that was vacuum deposited on plastic.

Nickel would actually be a cool color, aside from sometimes tarnishing withskin contact and exciting allergies in some people.

Dante
 
Thanks for the clarification, Dante. I have a G690 and a BL690. One comes with a black 100mm/3.5 AE and one with a regular 100mm/3.5 lens. Both in black.
 
and the sandblasting/plating process causes serious distortions in the thin brass plate that makes these things up. In fact, my repairperson had to hammer this back into shape in some places (he wasn't sure whether it was media blasting or the heat of plating that changed things)
Click to expand...

It's the sandblasting. This is a known problem when sandblasting brass in modelbuilding. Low pressure and glass instead of sand helps (but doesn't elliminate).

While on the tpic of those top plates, is there a way to get it flat again? Mine has a dent at the flash socket like it took a hit with a viewfinder in it. So the viewfinder is out of alignment.
 
Am I missing something? The photo looks like it's computer generated. Did you actually build this thing?
 
By the way, is anyone looking for a user 50mm? If so, I'll list it in the classifieds. I'm about to root through my Fuji menagerie and get rid of all but 2 bodies and one of each lens. That's one I definitely know I don't need two of.

Dante

P.S. Griffin, my iPhone does not have AutoCAD or Solidworks apps on it. If it did, that picture would be much cooler.
 
I doubt that picture would look better using AutoCAD :)

So do you use this camera as well? Have any more pics by/of it?
 
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