Are the any users of Fuji GX680 out there?
I am still new to 645 and larger but this camera drew my attention. Not least due to what I read in Danny Burk's review.
Looking for any information and tips I can find..
The movements are nice, but the camera is so huge and heavy that you might as well use a 4x5. The GX680 makes RB67s look small. Danny Burk says the GX weights about 10 pounds minimum. My old Toyo 45D monorail weights about 11 pounds with my lightest LF lens and it gives me full movements and a MUCH larger negative. I've used the Toyo in the field a couple of times. It gets pretty heavy once you bring a long a meter, tripod, loupe, holders, etc. but it's still manageable. Even the lighter 4x5 field cameras will give you much more in the way of movements. Remember that you can always shoot 6x7 or 6x9 rollfilm in a 4x5 camera as well.
If you absolutely want movements without going LF, there are "baby" view cameras like the ones by Linhof. I don't have any experience with them but they seem interesting. Another possibility is the Hasselblad flexbody, which I've also never used or seen.
If you don't need movements, go for a 6x7 system like the RB or RZ. Parts and glass are much easier to find for these systems.
That's a tad too heavy for handholding..
I am not entirely up to 4x5 at this very moment but I am looking for something optically as close to "perfect" as possible.
I had a look at the Fuji 6x7 and 6x9 rangefinders, and thus slipped into gx680. Additionally I found quite a few of them for sale in Japan, though never a complete system.
There were few treads on FM discussing RZ advantage over RB so perhaps that would be a reasonable system to have a look at. I am also looking at Pentax 6x7 of which there are over 9000 for sale here..
I looked at all these too. I ended up going with an RZ67 and Mamiya 7. The GX, while appealing with it's various bits and parts, can end up being pretty expensive to acquire all the little bits you need (check out the battery situation, for example), and sometimes its not easy to find those things.
Optically I think the best RZ lenses are better than the GX lenses, from what I have seen. The Mamiya 7 lenses are even better than that.
Plus, the RZ, while heavy, is still very hand holdable. I've shot probably 100 rolls with mine and haven't had it on a tripod yet, but still get fantastic results.
I have one and love it. Took it out west through Utah and California. Got everything into a pelican case (several lenses, 50, 80, 210 and 300, viewfinders, film, etc) and pulled it out whenever I came across something worth taking some time on.
I always shot with it on a tripod, although for short bursts and plenty of light it wouldn't be impossible hand-held. There's a great video floating around with some fellows that took it out to do candids on the streets of england with a *neck strap* of all things. I enjoy the fact that it slows me down and forces me to work on the finer points instead of just shoot it all and let the PC sort it out with my DSLR.
This is just insane, but I think it goes to show that if you have a good idea/concept, you can make good photos under any circumstances! The GX680 is *huge* and very heavy!
If they're using a Phase One P25 back, that's roughly 36x48mm, when Fuji itself is natively 60x80mm. So, a some of the tilt and/or rise/fall capability is cropped out - could have been even more "expressive" in that regard, if that's what they were after. Why not use a larger sensor?
Or conversely, if using it as a straight, non-movement camera, I don't see the point in using a GX680 over any 645 body, unless the part of their concept is to merely start the conversation by having an (obviously) massively oversized camera body out on the street which in reality is capturing only 33% or so of the available image area versus shooting 120.
I guess as Carsten says - it's an idea or concept - I don't really "get it" but it is nice to see results of any kind.
"I don't see the point in using a GX680 over any 645 body,"
Well, unless you want to use the better medium and shoot it with film, in which case the 6x8 size comes in pretty handy for doing nice big enlargements... ;-)
That video is pretty crazy... but they should have manned-up and used the prism, not the WLF. ;-) (and of course should have shot with film too.)
The GX680 looks like a beast - my kind of beast. Have so far resisted the temptation. Its advantage over any 645 is the tilt/shift capability (on non-S models). I think this camera was Fujifilm's answer to the SL66.
Last year I stumbled across a good deal on a GX680 kit and I've been very happy with the results the few times I've shot with it. Mine came with an AA battery holder so I don't have to worry about that particular issue.
Obviously the camera is big and heavy but once I put it in a bag with a spare film back and a couple of lenses the kit is not noticably bigger or heavier than the bag with my DSLR and a few 2.8 zoom lenses or my bag with a Mamiya 645 and an assortment of primes.
I know that I could have gone for a 4x5 and had a lighter weight kit with larger pieces of film, but since I was already using 645 I liked that I only need to keep one type of film, one set of developer tanks, etc.
At some point, the stability of using a tripod outweighs the larger negative when you're looking for enlargability. I honestly don't think there's any point in using a 10lb 6x8 camera handheld when you could far more easily use a Pentax 67.
That AA battery holder is a big bonus. Mine came with it, and even though it's only listed as compatible with the III model, it works fine on my I variant. My recharchable batteries just plain old don't work. I've seen some people open up the casing and replace the battery with an array of rechargable AA's, but the AA holder is just much simpler.
Wow...Thank you all for taking your time and your answers!
Well, obviously hand-held is off the map!
I am fairly strong, so I can lug it around, but obviously with some logical limit!
One problem I have at the moment is that I keep encountering something resembling parts of the camera advertised as Gx680...I have no frame of reference of what I have to assemble to have a working kit...
Anyway, the lenses are generally insufficient for digital use, according to discussions in the MF forum on LL, so if you want to have more future options, get an RZ67 or something similar.
I always thought it was intended almost purely for high-end studio use...agree with rico, the other system it reminds one of is the do-everything Rolleis. Over-engineered blast from the glorious film past, or well-intentioned curio piece?
Whatever, I am sure they can turn out wonderful results...has Fuji ever made a truly bad camera? That's a semi-rhetorical question ;-) The large format landscape guys just love the results from their tiny, high coverage, slow 5x4 and 10x8 LF lenses. One camera I cannot sell is the humble GA645, with a retractable lens fitting that looks like a first year apprentice's machining output.
Krosavcheg wrote:
Finally just got one!.. Really looking forward to start sho....looking at its functions and what it can do...
Wow, you're my kind of crazy. Which model? I, II, III, tilt capable, lenses? Enquiring minds want to know. It's a pity projectors for MF only reach 6x7 coverage. (Did he say projector? ).
rico wrote:
Wow, you're my kind of crazy. Which model? I, II, III, tilt capable, lenses? Enquiring minds want to know. It's a pity projectors for MF only reach 6x7 coverage. (Did he say projector? ).
Hehehe.. Model III Pro. Tilt capable. Deal included original case, bellows, 135/5.6 lens, remote shutter and few more bells and whistles. Now I suppose I will be looking at few extra loaders, prism and something wide for landscapes..
These are not as heavy as people are making them out to be. Of course it depends on which lens you have mounted.
They are wonderful cameras and the tilt and shift abilities are outstanding.
I have put together a kit of four bodies and lenses ranging from the 50mm, 80mm, 125mm f/3.2, 180mm f/3.2 and the 250mm for less than the cost of my Hartblei 45mm Super Rotator Digital for my Pentax 645 (and I got a nice deal on this lens).
The video referenced was shot in Toronto, Canada. The owner of CaptureTek is on the boards here and he rents out GX680 kits as well as sometimes having GX680 pieces for sale - mirlada is his handle here.
Have so far resisted the temptation. Its advantage over any 645 is the tilt/shift capability (on non-S models). I think this camera was Fujifilm's answer to the SL66.
Which model? I, II, III, tilt capable, lenses? Enquiring minds want to know. It's a pity projectors for MF only reach 6x7 coverage. (Did he say projector?