Astrophotography with Fuji Rangefinders

Greetings to all......Has anyone attempted to shoot wide field astrophotography

with the GS670/GS690? It is something I would like to do, if I can get some

positive comments from people that have.

They don't have a normal Bulb setting. You have to fire the shutter a second time for it to

close. You would have to cover the lens fir ehte shutter. Then cover the lens again and

fire the shutter to close it.

That doesn't pose a problem for me.When using my Agfa Isolette to photograph fireworks,I set the shutter to "b" and use a thick piece of black cloth to cover and uncover the lens to expose the film to several bursts on a single frame before moving on to the next frame.

How fast is the lens? When you're shooting the stars, faster is better!

I got my GSW690 III many years ago with astrophotography in mind. The problem was the bulb setting. I may have made a few photos (don't recall specifically) but nothing great. I think that a Pentax 67 II would be a better choice.

One key to astrophotography is getting to know your equipment well enough to use it in

the dark without being able to clearly see controls/settings. More important than the

camera is a steady mount with smooth tracking of the sky. There are very few good films

left for astrophotography. You needs to experiment to find out what works best you. The

first thing to do is to take a few short exposures wide open, and then stopping down in

steps for up to two stops to see where the lens aberrations are at an acceptable level.

Astrophotography is one of the most severest tests of a lens. You don't want to spend a

whole night guiding photos only to find out that the stars at the edges look like comets or

triangles.

 

Taras

When I said "short exposures" in my previous post, I ment on the order of 30 seconds to a

few minutes, and not a fraction of a second. I am used to taking exposures of an hour

long and over when shooting some of my astrophotos, so sometimes I take some things

for granted. I've been shooting both Fuji Provia 400 and Kodak Ectachrome E200 slide

films for my film astrophotography. I do not know if there are any good print films left in

medium format for astro work. Lumicon may have some discontinued film, but usually it is

a good idea to test the film you are going to use so you cam better understand its

characteristics and then use it accordingly.

 

Taras

I have used the GW670II & III for extended exposures. Basically I opened the shutter and used a cap or hat to control the light. The 90mm lens is a near-normal FOV for this format. The lens-shutter is similar to any fine quality, LF shutter. Overall, the picture quality of this type of rangefinder is excellent, but is a limited system. "Wide-field" astrophotography can be done with this rangefinder. I prefer the SLR solution and sold my GW670s in favor of greater flexibility.