fbf
Well-known
Came across a set of cameras recently. Looks very sturdy and well designed but I haven't really heard much talk about these cameras or lenses. How are they comparing to the modern rangefinders? (let's say Mamiya 7, fuji gf670/w) I know it's difficult to compare different format.
Anyone has any experience?
Anyone has any experience?
Lflex
Lflex
I have a GL with the 100mm. It is big and heavy but easy to use and magnificent image producing capabilities. Here in Japan they can be found for less than 200$ which is a steal.
ColSebastianMoran
( IRL Richard Karash )
You've probably already found this if you've been Googling, but Dante Stella has a nice writeup on all these cameras.
Texsport
Well-known
Magnificent cameras and lenses.
GL690 is the newer model.
Interchangeable lenses on these bodies.
Most coveted lenses are 50/5.6(Quite rare), 65/5.6, and 100/3.5AE(Very rare, and only Aperture Priority MF Lens Available On Any Camera).Others are 65/8,100/3.5, 150/5.6, and 180/5.6.
Most desirable accessory is close up/Auto Up lens, which reduces minimum focal distance for 100mm lens to 2-2.5 ft. Stunning 6x9 close up portraits are possible.
Bodies and lenses like tanks.
GL690 is the newer model.
Interchangeable lenses on these bodies.
Most coveted lenses are 50/5.6(Quite rare), 65/5.6, and 100/3.5AE(Very rare, and only Aperture Priority MF Lens Available On Any Camera).Others are 65/8,100/3.5, 150/5.6, and 180/5.6.
Most desirable accessory is close up/Auto Up lens, which reduces minimum focal distance for 100mm lens to 2-2.5 ft. Stunning 6x9 close up portraits are possible.
Bodies and lenses like tanks.
Last edited:
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I own a G690 BL, a GL690, GM670, 65/8.0, 100/3.5 and 150/5.6.
My G690 BL has had a CLA, but has diagonally dented corners from heavy use and abuse. The term "Texas Leica" suits this camera well, and they are rather savagely over built. Even when compared to a Nikon F3 with motordrive the Fuji's are heavy cameras.
I like the advances and upgrades of a GL690 over the G690BL (both are 6x9). First off the VF'er on the GL690 is of higher magnification, also the framelines are less busy and simpler. I also happen to find the additional/second shutter release to be handy.
The GM670 also has a huge magnification and is an ideal portrait camera if you have the 150/5.6 which is a Sonnar design. The only limitation is close focus where you are limited to head and shoulder shots unless you are able to get the Auto-Up close focuse assessory.
Overall the VF'ers are bright and from what I hear the rangefinder patch is better than the more modern fixed lens Fuji's. The weak point is the dark slide curtain who's spring gets weak over the decades. My G690 BL is not trustworthy to change lenses mid-roll, but the newer GL690 and GM670 have dark slides that snap open like shutters. Also My two newer Fuji's need CLA's. It seems the film advance has dried grease, and the VF'er is hazy. BTW these cameras are mucho heavy and are kinda oversized. In a different class than the Mamiya 6 with 50/4.0 that I owned. Kinda like comparing a hand gun to a rifle.
The glass is single coated and works well for B&W. Very sharp. I particularly love the 100/3.5 because it is a wonderful Tessar, can close focus, has wonderful bokeh, and has a delightful signature. I call it the "King Of The Tessars." The 150/5.6 on my GM670 ensures I will never need a Hassy. Lenses other than the 100/3.5 are hard to find or very expensive.
Anyways nothing like a big negative, but these Fuji's get a lot less use than my Rollei's and my Plaubel 69W Proshift. This may all change when I get the GL690 and GM670 serviced in the future.
Cal
My G690 BL has had a CLA, but has diagonally dented corners from heavy use and abuse. The term "Texas Leica" suits this camera well, and they are rather savagely over built. Even when compared to a Nikon F3 with motordrive the Fuji's are heavy cameras.
I like the advances and upgrades of a GL690 over the G690BL (both are 6x9). First off the VF'er on the GL690 is of higher magnification, also the framelines are less busy and simpler. I also happen to find the additional/second shutter release to be handy.
The GM670 also has a huge magnification and is an ideal portrait camera if you have the 150/5.6 which is a Sonnar design. The only limitation is close focus where you are limited to head and shoulder shots unless you are able to get the Auto-Up close focuse assessory.
Overall the VF'ers are bright and from what I hear the rangefinder patch is better than the more modern fixed lens Fuji's. The weak point is the dark slide curtain who's spring gets weak over the decades. My G690 BL is not trustworthy to change lenses mid-roll, but the newer GL690 and GM670 have dark slides that snap open like shutters. Also My two newer Fuji's need CLA's. It seems the film advance has dried grease, and the VF'er is hazy. BTW these cameras are mucho heavy and are kinda oversized. In a different class than the Mamiya 6 with 50/4.0 that I owned. Kinda like comparing a hand gun to a rifle.
The glass is single coated and works well for B&W. Very sharp. I particularly love the 100/3.5 because it is a wonderful Tessar, can close focus, has wonderful bokeh, and has a delightful signature. I call it the "King Of The Tessars." The 150/5.6 on my GM670 ensures I will never need a Hassy. Lenses other than the 100/3.5 are hard to find or very expensive.
Anyways nothing like a big negative, but these Fuji's get a lot less use than my Rollei's and my Plaubel 69W Proshift. This may all change when I get the GL690 and GM670 serviced in the future.
Cal
VTHokiEE
Well-known
Is that with a lens? I would love to get one of these with the 100mm and the 65mm...
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
28mm and 40mm equiv. in 6x9. Bonus is that a GL690 is like a M3 because of the added magnification.
Also want to say the VF'ers offer really nice parallex correction, even the external VF'er for the 65.
For superwide I use my Plaubel 69W Proshift which is a 21 mm equiv.
Cal
fbf
Well-known
Thanks for the input guys.
They certainly look interesting but I haven't seen much talk about the cameras, nor have I seen pictures from these cameras before.
I guess I need to start looking for a set of these...
They certainly look interesting but I haven't seen much talk about the cameras, nor have I seen pictures from these cameras before.
I guess I need to start looking for a set of these...
bob338
Well-known
My G690BL has been troublesome. I got it in a trade and it was not working when it arrived, so I sent it to Ross Yerkes. He CLA'd(for $200) the camera and lens, but when I ran a roll through it the final frame wouldn't advance and I ended up having to get the roll out in a dark bag. Ross has it for again.
I will not buy another one of these in the future.
I will not buy another one of these in the future.
raid
Dad Photographer
I have the 100 3.5 and the 100 3.5 AE, The lenses are tack sharp.
imhere
Peter
I have the GM670 with 100mm 3.5 the camera functions well and the lens is as stated by those above "tack sharp and nice bokeh" but it is quite heavy to carry around.
Lflex
Lflex
That's with a 100mm lens - some brassing, but fully fuctional - cosmetic nicer samples commands higher prices. Never saw the 65mm lens for these cameras and I suspect they are quite expensive.
P C Headland
Well-known
I've got a G690BL and really like it. I bought it with the 100mm f3.5 lens and have added the 65mm f8. Super sharp, and built like a brick outhouse. In spite of its size and weight it is surprisingly portable, and I find it handles very well.
There are some shots from it on my flickr & minus galleries.
There are some shots from it on my flickr & minus galleries.
VTHokiEE
Well-known
Wow now I wish I had a trip to Japan planned, I've seen a few examples on Ebay from Japan for over $200 w/o a lens. I've been thinking about a GW690 for sometime now, but the option find a wide angle (even if pricey) makes a GL690 an interesting option...
raid
Dad Photographer
I used for many years a Rolleiflex 2.8D on a heavy tripod for photography of lakes and mountains, and I would always switch then to use the 690GL with the 100mm 3.5AE. The Fuju gives a 6x9 transparency versus a 6x6 transparency for the TLR. Seeing a Fujichrome Velvia 50 transparency on a neutral light table is an experience that is hard to match.
Texsport
Well-known
Agreed.
I particularly appreciate the AE these days.
I got a lot of my 690 equipment in one lucky purchase from Australia.
Texsport
raid
Dad Photographer
I bought locally the 100 3.5AE with the GL, and then after many years, I bought a second camera body, and it cam with the regular 100 3.5. The AE is joy to use. AE Exposure is accurate for slide film.
kuzano
Veteran
Closing the door on a loose roll...
Closing the door on a loose roll...
Classic symptom of closing the door when loading, and not applying tension on the wind-on lever. You were close however. Usually on all 120 roll film camera's with horizontal film transport, the rolls will jam up on the takeup spool if the film is loose at the beginning of the roll.
Do you have the manual for the camera. This is spoken to in most of the fuji rangefinder manuals. It is also true of other mfrs using horizontal transport, even the Bronica 645RF, ... load it loose and expect to experience:
1)Roll jams somewhere during the roll... the looser the sooner
2)Frame spacing problems....
I've had G690, G690bl, and GL690. Still have a G690 and the dark slide snaps closed like a shutter, while later models have experienced slow and malfunctioning dark slides...
I never buy one of these expecting to use the dark slide. Furthermore, who in the H does midroll lens changes on a roll of 8 frames.
So, having learned the "loose roll" problem, I have never, out of 8 of these big rangefinders had roll jams or frame spacing problems.
Furthermore, out of all the Fuji's I have owned (and used), aside from the chronic bad dark slide, I have NEVER had a problem with one. Most reliable camera I have used aside from the Mamiya Press Universal. Reason.... they are both so overbuilt and simple.
I also never do midroll changes. I have the AE100 metering lens. It's great. I had the 65mm lens but sold it. It's far too wide. If I want wide, I shoot the normal focal length, overlapping 20% on each end. Then I have the two images scanned and I stitch them together for a 6X17 panorama.
6X17 with a $500 camera instead of a $2000 camera. Works great.
Most of my big Fuji's have been to Frank Marshman for any work or CLA. Knowledgeable and reasonable price.
Simple, battery independent, no shake because of the weight, great IQ.... Tons of them out there. Many on eBay... half from Japan. The Japanese camera's are abundant because these cameras were heavily used with short rolls (4 images) in the tourist industry in Japan. Use caution and watch feedback, but there are some excellent opportunities to try them cheap.
Going rate... far less than equivalent Mamiya 6/7 models with one lens and a bigger negative, unless you buy the 670 model.
The GM 670 model is same body, with 2cm less travel on the film transport. Otherwise same camera, same body, same weight, same lens system.
Lastly, the 5000 shutter inspection is pure bunk, according to both Frank and to the repair department at Fuji. They both say, shoot them until they fail. It's never happened to me.
Closing the door on a loose roll...
Classic symptom of closing the door when loading, and not applying tension on the wind-on lever. You were close however. Usually on all 120 roll film camera's with horizontal film transport, the rolls will jam up on the takeup spool if the film is loose at the beginning of the roll.
Do you have the manual for the camera. This is spoken to in most of the fuji rangefinder manuals. It is also true of other mfrs using horizontal transport, even the Bronica 645RF, ... load it loose and expect to experience:
1)Roll jams somewhere during the roll... the looser the sooner
2)Frame spacing problems....
I've had G690, G690bl, and GL690. Still have a G690 and the dark slide snaps closed like a shutter, while later models have experienced slow and malfunctioning dark slides...
I never buy one of these expecting to use the dark slide. Furthermore, who in the H does midroll lens changes on a roll of 8 frames.
So, having learned the "loose roll" problem, I have never, out of 8 of these big rangefinders had roll jams or frame spacing problems.
Furthermore, out of all the Fuji's I have owned (and used), aside from the chronic bad dark slide, I have NEVER had a problem with one. Most reliable camera I have used aside from the Mamiya Press Universal. Reason.... they are both so overbuilt and simple.
I also never do midroll changes. I have the AE100 metering lens. It's great. I had the 65mm lens but sold it. It's far too wide. If I want wide, I shoot the normal focal length, overlapping 20% on each end. Then I have the two images scanned and I stitch them together for a 6X17 panorama.
6X17 with a $500 camera instead of a $2000 camera. Works great.
Most of my big Fuji's have been to Frank Marshman for any work or CLA. Knowledgeable and reasonable price.
Simple, battery independent, no shake because of the weight, great IQ.... Tons of them out there. Many on eBay... half from Japan. The Japanese camera's are abundant because these cameras were heavily used with short rolls (4 images) in the tourist industry in Japan. Use caution and watch feedback, but there are some excellent opportunities to try them cheap.
Going rate... far less than equivalent Mamiya 6/7 models with one lens and a bigger negative, unless you buy the 670 model.
The GM 670 model is same body, with 2cm less travel on the film transport. Otherwise same camera, same body, same weight, same lens system.
Lastly, the 5000 shutter inspection is pure bunk, according to both Frank and to the repair department at Fuji. They both say, shoot them until they fail. It's never happened to me.
kuzano
Veteran
Wanna see a comparison...
Wanna see a comparison...
My G690 with the AE100 metering lens and EBC coating. By the way this was the only lens ever EBC coated for the interchangeable lens bodies. Raid, I think this is why you mentioned how good it is for color transparencies, since you have one.
This camera is sitting alongside my Olympus E400 and OM Zuiko 50mm f1.8 lens for comparison. This Oly DSLR is almost identical in size to the Olympus OM-1 camera from the 70's.
I've been through the Oly DSLR line and one PEN and settled on this E400, which was distributed only in Europe. I hunted this down as it is the very last and largest (10Mp) Kodak sensor used by Olympus. It's also only marginally larger than a PEN, yet is standard 4/3 mount, meaning it can use and rapidly focus all the standard mount Olympus 4/3 lenses including HG and SHG. Yet, it produces the great Kodak colors.
Wanna see a comparison...
My G690 with the AE100 metering lens and EBC coating. By the way this was the only lens ever EBC coated for the interchangeable lens bodies. Raid, I think this is why you mentioned how good it is for color transparencies, since you have one.
This camera is sitting alongside my Olympus E400 and OM Zuiko 50mm f1.8 lens for comparison. This Oly DSLR is almost identical in size to the Olympus OM-1 camera from the 70's.
I've been through the Oly DSLR line and one PEN and settled on this E400, which was distributed only in Europe. I hunted this down as it is the very last and largest (10Mp) Kodak sensor used by Olympus. It's also only marginally larger than a PEN, yet is standard 4/3 mount, meaning it can use and rapidly focus all the standard mount Olympus 4/3 lenses including HG and SHG. Yet, it produces the great Kodak colors.
Lflex
Lflex
Wow - my GL690 jammed for the first time today. Thanks to this thread I knew exactly what was wrong. I won't be changing film in a crowded metro train again
Fujica GL690 by mandoflex, on Flickr