Mamiya 7II or Fuji GSW690

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Bumbleberrie

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Hi,

I'm new at this forum and hope that you can give me some advice.

My intersts are wildlife and landscape photography.

For wildlife I use my Minolta gear (digital and film)

For cityscape I use a Leica Digilux 1, and my collection of old ragefinders (Yashica Electro 35 GSN, Canon Canonet QL17GIII and Minolta 7S

For Landscape and Macro I use a Zenza Bronica 645 ETRSi with a 40mm, 45-90mm, 100mm macro and 150mm.

And now comes my question: the Zenza gear is becoming to heavy to lug it around a complete day. So, I was thinking about something lighter. But what to choose: a Mamiya 7II with a 43 mm lens or a Fuji GSW690 (in new condition) Because I will keep the 645 ETRSi, the Mamiya will only be used with the 43mm or perhaps 50mm.

Thanks in advance for your advice
 
I recently went through the same issue. I'm going with the fuji myself and selling my mamiya7II. I prefer mechanical cameras as opposed to battery operated ones. Plus the aspect ratio of the bigger negative suits me too. I had the 65mm on the M7 and it was really nice, but I like a wider perspective. The mamiya is hands down one of the finest cameras you can acquire. Either one would be a good choice.
 
Well I had such a problem:I wanted a light,trusty MF/RF camera to go around. at the end I bought a Bronica rf645 with 45/65/100 lenses,flash,double shoes adapter and a 903swc for go wideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.hope it helps
 
Well the Fuji solves an ongoing problem....

Well the Fuji solves an ongoing problem....

First, it's a great camera. I highly regard the big Fuji rangefinders. For me it solved a much greater problem.

Since it's a fixed lens camera... THERE IS NO lens GAS. You shoot what's on the front of the camera. You learn to work with one focal length. Well, unless you get GAS for the GSW with the 65mm lens.

However, the lens choices stop there.. And what great lenses they both are.

No battery dependency. Reliable. High IQ and very few decisions after you have one or both.

And, the inventory is high and prices are reasonable. You should be able to buy one of each for a total price less than the Mamiya with two lenses and only one body.

WHOOPS!!!! I just noticed you are talking about the GSW....
See... only one decision after all?!? How about that!
 
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I've been through this decision very recently. I bought the Fuji with the 65mm lens, in excellent condition. Image quality was first class in every respect. Build quality was not. The rubber grip on the lens started to tear, for no obvious reason. The shutter is quite loud, and it sounds tinny. The viewfinder is unimpressive, as is the RF patch (small, low contrast).

So I sold it and got a Mamiya 7ii. I now have the 43 + 65 + 80 + 150 lenses. It's a very fine camera. Superior viewfinder, whisper quiet, feels more solidly built, not as huge to hand-hold, and with interchangeable lenses. IQ is every bit as good as the Fuji.

A final thing to bear in mind is that servicing/repairs for the Fuji may be significantly harder to find.
 
I thank you all very much for the advice. I 'm very sure now to go for the Mamiya 7II, starting with the 65mm (same as the Fuji) and afterwards, when I know the camera with a 43mm (separate vieuwfinder)
 
it's not fair to compare the fuji to the mamiya 7II with a wide lens. Costs at least 3 times less! Also, why not comparing it to the GSW670 instead, which is the same 6x7 format?

Really, if you have the $ for, and especially for extra lenses, i guess it makes more sense to get the mamiya. To me it made more sense to get the fuji gw690ii.

These cameras (or, at least the FUji 690) won't be much smaller than a bronica 645 with one lens, though!
 
Do you still want to shoot macro?
How big do you print?
Depending on the answers, is 35mm SLR a better option, considering you already use it for wildlife?
Will another big camera with one lens (to solve your weight/size problem) hinder your style/technique if you currently use multiple lenses?
 
I print my landscapes 24 x 30 cm and 30 x 50 cm. That's the second reason, apart from the weight, that I'm looking for a larger negative. The Bronica with the metered prism and 45-90 zoom, 120 magazin is appr. 3 kg. 35 mm is only for wildlife (AF is a big advantage) and citiscapes (the old rangefinders) All the rest is done with the Bronica. My first idea was a Fuji but after reading all your posts, I think the Mamiya 7II is a more versatile camera. It's also very difficult to find a mint GSW670III with little use on the counter.
I thank you all for the help and I'm still greatfull for more advice
 
Bumbleberrie said:
It's also very difficult to find a mint GSW670III with little use on the counter.
Click to expand...

The 6x7 and 6x8 variants are much less frequent than the 6x9, which reflects in their pricing. Besides, a mint one is not the thing you should look for if you need a camera to use - old unused cameras usually are in a worse working condition than those that were loved and cared for, and come at a collectors surcharge. The counter should not be an argument at all - it can be set to an arbitrary value within a minute or two, and the condition of the Fujicas I've had or seen was almost entirely independent of the counter value...

Sevo
 
The Fuji GSW690 is capable of producing superb images and it's fixed lens, all mechanical design certainly keeps things simple. Despite the plastic, the tinny noise, the fiddly fixed lens hood it is outstanding particularly as a landscape photography camera. It has been a personal favourite for many years and then a very reasonably priced Mamiya 7 became available to me. The Mamiya has opened up new avenues of photography and is certainly more versatile. Both deliver incredibly sharp images. However I doubt I will part with the GSW 690 - using it primarily for landscapes, on a tripod with an accurate separate lightmeter - it never disappoints. Not an easy choice
 
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Mamyia 7II or Fuji GSW690

Mamyia 7II or Fuji GSW690

I can't give you an answer. It's entirely up to you. I can only relate my personal experiences with my Mamiya 7II. I work with it using only two lenses. The standard and the 150 f 4.5. This camera is certainly a wide angle choice. The 65 f 4 or the 50. But this camera has going for it over others is the beautiful 6x7 chromes or B&Ws, or color prints. The accuracy of the internal meter is scary. Along with the sharpness of the lenses. For portrait work use a filter to cut down on the sharpness in the face. It has a rangefinder that is awesome to view through. Clean, clear and very bright. The lens bright lines are easy to see and work with. It is an easy camera to load, and unload. You talked about weight from your present equipment. This is a dream, one body, two lenses and film plus incidentals weighting very little.
OK, that's my $0.02 cents.:
 
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