oftheherd said:
Thanks for the HU Bill. I not only don't have the money right now, I wouldn't want it since I have some 6x6/645 folders and the Mamiya Super Press 23. However, no doubt somebody will get a nice deal on this. I don't know anything about them really. Any idea why a dark slide wouldn't go in other than being malformed?
Well, the G690 is really a big honking rangefinder. I know people like to go on about this or that camera being a "Texas Leica" but to my mind, only two cameras really resemble big huge Leica's - the Graflex Combat Graphic, and the original G-690 (or GL-690, or 670).
However, the G690 is different from a Leica in that it has leaf shutters in each of it's available lenses. So, if you take the lens off (a breech-lock, very much like the old Canon FD mount only bigger), you expose the film inside. The dark slide is therefore more like a curtain on a roller - think of the focal shutter for Graflex Speed Graphic. It is spring-loaded and you have to turn the camera upside down, unlock a key, and wind the curtain across the frame by turning it. It locks into place when you complete that action, and then you can remove/replace the lens safely. When you are done, you trip a little lever next to the winding key, and it winds back onto it's internal roller, exposing the film again. Not like a traditional dark slide in that sense.
I would guess that if the spring were broken, the slide would unwind and then refuse to rewind, which would suck. Or, maybe the slide is jammed and won't unwind. Or, it could be missing altogether. I'd want to know more from the seller, myself.
My own G690 does not have that problem, but it has the problem that when you take a shot, it will not wind on, as if you had not taken a shot. You have to press the shutter button down very hard and hold it as you begin to wind, and then it will wind on. Kind of a pain, and I'll get it fixed one fine day.
The G690 is not in the same class image-wise as the folders (all of which are fine, I agree). I can't speak to the Mamiya Super Press, not having ever had one. But the 100mm standard lens of the G690 is an awesome thing. Imagine sharpness and contrast like unto a sweet Nikon, only on a 6x9 neg. It makes grown men weep. Well, this one, anyway.
The G690 also weighs about as much as your average economy car. Big hunka love.
Best Regards,
Bill Mattocks
