I made the jump to medium format 3 years ago when I first bought a Pentax 67II with a few SMC lenses, including the two zoom lenses. However, the P67II just too heavy to carry around for landscape photography and absolutely requires a tripod. With that in mind, I ended up purchasing a new Fuji GW690III, which has the sharpest lens I've ever used, however I quickly discovered that can't do evening/night photography well with it because the "T" shutter setting just doesn't work like a normal "T" shutter setting would - to close the shutter you have to either advance the film or move the aperture dial, which obviously causes camera shake, particularly in the 2 to 30 second range. It also not having a light meter is problematic even though I have small Voigtlander hot shoe light meter rigged on it. It would, unfortunately, either overexpose or underexpose much of the time.
So now, to do the landscape photography work that I want to do with the ability to quickly get in and get out, that leaves me wanting a light medium format rangefinder that has an internal light meter and has a functional "Bulb" mode for my evening/night photography.
That said, I've been looking into the Fuji GF670 and the Plaubel Makina 670. (The Mamiya 7 is just a bit too out of my price range).
Do any of you have experience with any of these cameras and can maybe guide me in the right direction?
I'm not familiar with the Fuji rangefinders, but what is the issue with touching the camera to close the shutter after a 30-second exposure?
As a percentage of total exposure, the possible movement you introduce before the shutter closes will be essentially nothing, so I can't imagine it causing a problem for image sharpness. I used to do something similar all the time with LF gear and it has never been an issue in practical terms. I wouldn't want to have that at the beginning of the exposure, but at the end, I'm not concerned at all.
If you are concerned about the camera moving, one option to eliminate that is to use the old "hat shutter" approach to snuff the light first and then you can move the shutter speed selector to 1 second to close the shutter. This approach would be great for shorter exposures as well, because you could rapidly snuff the light on a 2-second exposure and then close the shutter and there will be no chance to have the camera move.
All you have to do is put the lens cap on and your exposure is done. No bumping the camera then you can do whatever is needed to close the shutter. We used to keep a black card next to the camera, y'know, pre Photoshop for night shots and just hold the card in front of the lens whenever a plane was about to fly through the frame. And, if I remember correctly, the T setting on the RZ lenses were such that you had to start to push the film advance/shutter cocking lever to end the process. Never an issue. And what the previous poster says about bumping the camera at the end of the exposure for such a short percentage of the overall exposure is true. It will not matter.
When it's extremely dark, after a 30 second exposure on the GW690III there's usually no issue as I gently put the lens cap back on. However, I have had problems where I tried doing this and ended up dropped the lens cap when it touched the lens and accidentally moved the camera position, which ruined the shot completely. I've also had instances where a backlight would shine right onto the lens cap - which is somewhat shiny - right when I put the lens cap back on, which also ruined the shots.
The real problem is when I shoot in "T" mode between 2 and 15 seconds. That's short enough that the lens picks up everything. Practically all of my photographs shot on the GW690III within this range are unusable or blurry. I'm not fast enough to put the lens cap back on. In any case, unless it's pitch black out, light still gets through to the lens whenever I tried using a hat. Doing these gymnastics just to stop the light from entering the lens isn't something I enjoy; I've wasted too much film with this camera.
In any case, I'm planning on selling my GW690III as I don't like the 2:3 aspect ratio (same as 35mm film) and because of the issues above. It's a great camera, don't get me wrong, it's just not for me.
Years ago, I had some version of the GW690III and really loved it. Sweet design. I regret selling it but I feel that way about many of the cameras that I have used and sold over the years!
I made the jump to medium format 3 years ago when I first bought a Pentax 67II with a few SMC lenses, including the two zoom lenses. However, the P67II just too heavy to carry around for landscape photography and absolutely requires a tripod. With that in mind, I ended up purchasing a new Fuji GW690III, which has the sharpest lens I've ever used, however I quickly discovered that can't do evening/night photography well with it because the "T" shutter setting just doesn't work like a normal "T" shutter setting would - to close the shutter you have to either advance the film or move the aperture dial, which obviously causes camera shake, particularly in the 2 to 30 second range. It also not having a light meter is problematic even though I have small Voigtlander hot shoe light meter rigged on it. It would, unfortunately, either overexpose or underexpose much of the time.
So now, to do the landscape photography work that I want to do with the ability to quickly get in and get out, that leaves me wanting a light medium format rangefinder that has an internal light meter and has a functional "Bulb" mode for my evening/night photography.
That said, I've been looking into the Fuji GF670 and the Plaubel Makina 670. (The Mamiya 7 is just a bit too out of my price range).
Do any of you have experience with any of these cameras and can maybe guide me in the right direction?
Anyway, I want to thank you all ahead of time! ...Show more →
Don’t advance the film, that’s why your shots are ruined, it moves the film with the shutter open. Just ove the shutter dial to 1.
Don't know anything about the Plaubel, but I had the GF670 for a year or so, and I really enjoyed it. The lens is very sharp and with a nice character. The viewfinder is fantastic! Big, bright and with parallax correction.
Folded, it fits in a large coat pocket. Build quality is great and it feels like a Leica M or so; quite "premium".
I eventually sold mine because I found the rangefinder slightly too inaccurate. Could have been a calibration issue too.
Edit: Oh, and it can switch between 6x6 and 6x7 which is really nice.
C_Rolo sent me a private message saying that he has a GF670 to sell. I can't seem to respond to him via private message, so I hope he sees this message below. (I, of course, don't expect this, but if someone could help me out and contact him to let me know I'm interested in his GF670, that'd be very much appreciated.)
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Hi C_Rolo, thank you for your message. I really appreciate it.
I'm indeed interested in your Fuji GF670, if you're planning on selling yours.
Can you tell me a little bit about your camera and its condition? Not that it's important, but would you happen to have the original box, original strap, and instructions? Let me know if you have any images of your GF670 that you can share.
My best contact method is via my website: kristianwolfe.com
I had two of the Fuji 690 cameras, the 90mm and the 65mm lens versions. Generally speaking, they were amazing lenses mounted on, er, rather quirky camera bodies. Can't say I ever loved the cameras, but the final transparencies were quite something.
WRT to long exposures, carry a small black card and hold it in front of the lens to end the exposure.
