What's Wrong With the Fuji 690 Series?

[JChrome]

Well boys. The GL is in rough shape :-(.

She was a really fine example and was brassing nicely. But She may have to be scrapped.

Context: at a wedding in Asheville, NC. I left the camera in a room that no one was using. Leaving today, I couldn't find it and assumed someone would and ship it to me.

They ended up finding it in the trash in this condition. The damage is significant. These things are built like tanks so I am assuming it rolled down some stairs or dropped and then rolled into some mud (we were at a campsite). Then the jerk tossed her in the trash.

I do know I shouldn't have just left it in that room (should have left it in my own room). I'm not really upset but it sucks.

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[Texsport]

The Fuji 690 is not heavy!

Examples of cameras which weigh considerably more ..... Pentax 67, Norita, Warner, Graflex 66, Nikon F4 and F5 with battery pack grip, Canon EOS3 with battery pack grip.

Texsport

 

[Moto-Uno]

^ Rough shape would be the way I left my Iskra ( search here and see), this looks to be in ebay speak as near new!!! Peter

 

[Spanik]

Apart from the dirt I just see a ding at the top right. Not that bad I'd say and surely savable. The lens seems undamaged as well. Don't jump to conclusions too fast.

 

[JChrome]

The first pic doesn't show it very well. There's a serious dent on the top plate. The VF was filled with water. The bottom plate isn't seating correctly. Neither is the back...




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[awbphotog]

Dang JChrome...what a disappointment. I hope you get back on your feet soon and pick up a fresh G or GL (or GM maybe?)! Best of luck.

 

[Prest_400]

The Fuji 690 is not heavy!

Examples of cameras which weigh considerably more ..... Pentax 67, Norita, Warner, Graflex 66, Nikon F4 and F5 with battery pack grip, Canon EOS3 with battery pack grip.

Texsport

And curiously, it is the one of the list that gets the most slack for being huge.
The P67 is called a behemoth et al but the "hugeness" doesn't seem to be so ingrained in its popular folklore. That 105mm f2.4 though must be brutal and worth the weight.

Sure for a RF it is big, if it were a SLR I don't want to imagine the magnitude of the thing!

The Bronica 645 has always been some kind of dream cam for me, but to be honest: am excellent 35mm neg is almost where a 6x4,5 neg is. (May the 645 God not struck me now!)
The real difference is provided by a sharp lens on front of a 6x9 film. 😉
(Am I being too blasphemous now?)

That's the second reason why I went for the Fuji 690. :angel:

But but, the Bronica 645RF is pricey (I remember so). Not Mamiya 6-7 pricey but still affords you a diverse kit if going all in the bang for the buck.
Browsed ebay in curiousity and there was a GW690 mkI for 200€ (no s&h). 😱

Good luck with the customs. The spanish ones took a couple of film propacks worth from my budget. 😀

JChrome: Sad to see that. Infact I think it is always sad to see a classic film camera get written off.

 

[SBergstrom]

I recently started shooting with a gw690 mark I. It's a gorgeous piece of mechanical design. Reminds me of the old Toyota Land Cruisers in a way: industrial grade toughness, no electronics to make things easy. I'd forgotten how big 6x9 negs are. My God, the resolution!

 

[JChrome]

What's Wrong With the Fuji 690 Series?

JChrome: Sad to see that. Infact I think it is always sad to see a classic film camera get written off.

It sure is. Well, I may come up with some hair brained ideas to put the internals to use. What's worse than a beat up old camera is one that has salvageable parts but that isn't put to use.

I just love these cameras. I do have a BL body that has some negligible problems that I could use instead.

I'm seriously looking at the Mamiya Press right now. I've got the itch to shoot lots of FP3000 Polaroids because the films been discontinued but I can still purchase it from BH.

But then I may also go with a travelwide 90 and Polaroid back... Decisions decisions...



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[Moto-Uno]

Not sure if this may be of interest, but last night while perusing Kijjiji in British Columbia
under cameras I came upon an add for a Mamiya Press kit (3 lens,etc) for about $150 Cdn. The seller was in Greenwood B.C , seemed a deal to me.
Regards,Peter

I believe it was the 7th page,yesterday.

 

[Spanik]

That's a great price for such a set.

But if you think the Fuji 690is big and heavy you're in for a surprise with the Mamiya Press 😀

 

[raid]

I have just won one of these on eBay and really looking forward to using it. My first big Fuji 🙂

It turned out that I have the G690 and not the GL690, plus the G690BL.

 

[JChrome]

That's a great price for such a set.

But if you think the Fuji 690is big and heavy you're in for a surprise with the Mamiya Press 😀

The Fuji is totally manageable 🙂. You can scour my posts for complaints on the weight and you won't find one.

Bigger is not a problem. Heft is more annoying. But can it really be much heavier than the Pentax 67 with its prism?

I had a friend who removed the top portion of the Press (called it the Headless Horseman... Even though it was a Mamiya). Without the rangefinder assembly, it's essentially a view camera, and a light, versatile one at that.

The biggest hurdle I think will be that everything is reversed on the Press! The RF eyepiece is on the right side and the grip and trigger is for the left hand... Why in the world did they do that?


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[awbphotog]

The Fuji is totally manageable 🙂. You can scour my posts for complaints on the weight and you won't find one.

Bigger is not a problem. Heft is more annoying. But can it really be much heavier than the Pentax 67 with its prism?

I had a friend who removed the top portion of the Press (called it the Headless Horseman... Even though it was a Mamiya). Without the rangefinder assembly, it's essentially a view camera, and a light, versatile one at that.

The biggest hurdle I think will be that everything is reversed on the Press! The RF eyepiece is on the right side and the grip and trigger is for the left hand... Why in the world did they do that?

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I believe, like the P67, this orientation was intended for use primarily with the camera in portrait mode. I couldn't figure out why in the hell the P67 grip was on the left side until I flipped the camera 90 degrees counter clock wise and...ohhh! Moment of realization. The Mamiya Press/Super is a great camera...I'm always blown away by the sharpness and beauty of the standard lens.

 

[Scapevision]

The Fuji is totally manageable 🙂. You can scour my posts for complaints on the weight and you won't find one.

Bigger is not a problem. Heft is more annoying. But can it really be much heavier than the Pentax 67 with its prism?

I had a friend who removed the top portion of the Press (called it the Headless Horseman... Even though it was a Mamiya). Without the rangefinder assembly, it's essentially a view camera, and a light, versatile one at that.

The biggest hurdle I think will be that everything is reversed on the Press! The RF eyepiece is on the right side and the grip and trigger is for the left hand... Why in the world did they do that?


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The fuji is actually lighter than the Pentax 67 with prism. 2kg vs about 2.5

 

[Spanik]

Mamiya Super 23 with the standard 100/3.5 lens, back and grip: 2.585 kg. And you don't even have the luxury of a prism...

Never tought that the grip at the left could be for portrait use. I'll try it out when I get the photo gear organised.

 

[Calzone]

I believe, like the P67, this orientation was intended for use primarily with the camera in portrait mode. I couldn't figure out why in the hell the P67 grip was on the left side until I flipped the camera 90 degrees counter clock wise and...ohhh! Moment of realization. The Mamiya Press/Super is a great camera...I'm always blown away by the sharpness and beauty of the standard lens.

Andy,

Back in the day the pros used their P67's in vertical mode extensively. It has been said that about 85% of all magazine covers back then were shot with a P67.

Cal

 

[JChrome]

Mamiya Super 23 with the standard 100/3.5 lens, back and grip: 2.585 kg. And you don't even have the luxury of a prism...

Never tought that the grip at the left could be for portrait use. I'll try it out when I get the photo gear organised.

That is some serious heft...

The Mamiya Press body alone is almost 2kg. The Fuji bodies are about 1 kg.

The GL690 with 100mm is 1.7 kg.

The P67 with standard prism and 105mm lens are 2.3 Kg.

Just for kicks, the Mamiya 7 with 80mm is 1.5 Kg.

The Fujis are looking great in the weight department (and the GW series even better)


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[JChrome]

The fuji is actually lighter than the Pentax 67 with prism. 2kg vs about 2.5

I was referring to the Mamiya Press being heavier than the P67. I can see how my post was confusing though.


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[kuzano]

Not as much acreage difference as you think.

Not as much acreage difference as you think.

My wife would consider that to be "bonkers" indeed. 🙄

The Bronica 645 has always been some kind of dream cam for me, but to be honest: am excellent 35mm neg is almost where a 6x4,5 neg is. (May the 645 God not struck me now!)
The real difference is provided by a sharp lens on front of a 6x9 film. 😉
(Am I being too blasphemous now?)

That's the second reason why I went for the Fuji 690. :angel:

The 645 format is 2.7 times greater than the 35mm format.

The 690 format is 4.6 times greater area than the 35mm.

That said. I still favor the 690. I can shoot 2 or 3 frames placed end to end with 10% overlap, drum scan, and stitch out of my GL690 to achieve 6X17 to 6X24 without the $3000 cost of entry into MF panoramic gear. I've done it and it works really well. The savings on gear price is meaningful to me.