Good/Bad-Makina w67

[vegas]

Hi guys..!

Just looking for some experiences with Plaubel Makina W67 how does it feel, and working with flash, is it possible...? or what would be your best RF Medium format camera for the run..?

Thanks in advance..

Vegas.

 

[gns]

I have one. It was pretty much my only camera from mid eighties to mid nineties.
How does it feel? Well, not like a leica, but easy enough to get used to. Much more fragile so you want to be a little careful with it. Film advance mechanism is finicky and prone to failure. I had that repaired once or twice. I never had a problem with the wiring harness that gets a lot of discussion, though. Flash is no problem (leaf shutter). You need a sync chord, no hot shoe. I used a Norman 200B with it.

Probably the most compact 6x7 rf, but If I were getting something today, I would probably go for the Mamiya 7. Sturdier and easier to get repaired, I think.

Gary

 

[kuzano]

No personal experience... Wanted one, but what

No personal experience... Wanted one, but what

Hi guys..!

Just looking for some experiences with Plaubel Makina W67 how does it feel, and working with flash, is it possible...? or what would be your best RF Medium format camera for the run..?

Thanks in advance..

Vegas.

I read and the prices....wow... not really..

1) Can't believe it's smaller than a folded GF670, which also shoots 6X7
2) Can't believe the glass is better than the GF670
3) Frail, plus the chronic wiring problem??
4) Far older than the GF670
5) Good examples cost as much or more than the GF670 if you search around.

Does it sound like I'm pimping for the GF670...

No, not really. I'm just making a comparison against ONE camera. There are others to compare it to, which will give it a good run.

Once I got over the lust, never looked back and never regretted not pulling the expensive trigger to buy one.

Just so happy I never went there. Can't be many of them around with the faults discussed. Nope, I said that wrong... probably many with the faults discussed, which seem to be chronic from the chatter.

 

[DrTebi]

I read and the prices....wow... not really..

1) Can't believe it's smaller than a folded GF670, which also shoots 6X7
2) Can't believe the glass is better than the GF670
3) Frail, plus the chronic wiring problem??
4) Far older than the GF670
5) Good examples cost as much or more than the GF670 if you search around.

Does it sound like I'm pimping for the GF670...

No, not really. I'm just making a comparison against ONE camera. There are others to compare it to, which will give it a good run.

Once I got over the lust, never looked back and never regretted not pulling the expensive trigger to buy one.

Just so happy I never went there. Can't be many of them around with the faults discussed. Nope, I said that wrong... probably many with the faults discussed, which seem to be chronic from the chatter.

You may have a point, but you are comparing a camera with an 80mm lens to one with a 50mm lens. Your points may be more accurate when comparing the Plaubel Makina W67 to the Fujifilm GF670W.

These two are in fact quite similar--the former has a 50mm lens, while the latter has a 55mm lens. They are however decades apart... so the question is, whether technology advanced enough to make the GF670W superior to the W67, and if manufacturing on the later camera was as good as back in the 80s when the Makina was made, or if they cut corners when producing the GF670W in order to save money.

Personally I am very happy with a Plaubel Makina 670; in fact, it is my absolute favorite camera of about 20 that I own. I did have to send it in once because of a winding fault, but repair cost was reasonable and done at the original factory, which still services the cameras even after more than two decades. I wonder if Fujifilm will provide their service for the GF670W in 2033.

 

[thegman]

I would not worry about the quality of the glass, as DrTebi says, is the GF670W enough newer that it's lens is likely to be better made? Or do they "not make things like they used to" and the Plaubel will be better. I think in reality they'll both have lenses easily good enough for pretty much all of us.

You always read about how great the Mamiya 7 lenses are, I saw a comparison made to a 50 years old Rolleiflex, looked pretty much the same. I think we're really into "diminishing returns" territory here, and any improvement you see is probably inconsequential.

 

[Michiel Fokkema]

Carl de Keijzer, a Belgium Magnum photographer used to use one. He used it primarly with a flash. So I guess it can be done🙂 Or am I confusing him with Martin Parr?

 

[sevo]

I would not worry about the quality of the glass, as DrTebi says, is the GF670W enough newer that it's lens is likely to be better made?

I doubt that there is anybody around who can tell that first hand. There can't have been many that have used both the Makina W67 and GF670W.

And you cannot go by the normal versions of either camera, the wide ones are distinctly different - the GF670W does not even fold, and the lens on the W67 was never considered quite as spectacular as that on the regular Makina 67 (but then the lens on the GF670 was not even close to that on the Makina 67 either).

 

[loranger]

Carl de Keijzer, a Belgium Magnum photographer used to use one. He used it primarly with a flash. So I guess it can be done🙂 Or am I confusing him with Martin Parr?

Actually M. Parr used the PM W67 in the 80's with flash, he did the "Last resort" serie with it.