Fuji 645zi Broken Lens

Hi,

 

I just bought a Fuji 645zi off e-bay and although advertised as mint

it turns out that the lens is loose and came out of the lens housing

as soon as I took the camera out. I can rotate it a little and stays

there but doesn't seem rigid by any means. Is it a common problem

with these cameras? (I haven't heard anyone make such a complain in

any of the forum posts yet) Is it worth trying to get it fixed or

should I just return it to the seller? Even if repaired, can the

optical quality be trusted anymore?

 

I was so excited about receiving this camera but am as much

disappointed right now.

 

Himanshu

Welcome to e-bay's definition of mint. If the camera looks new it must be perfect. Send it back, there are better Fuji's out there. Look at keh.com, they are very reliable and give a 14 day return.

Send it back and get as much of your money back as possible. I have the non zoom model

and it is superb. I would recommend it over the zoom version. I live in Japan, and these

cameras are plentiful and cheap as well as very well cared for. I will check prices on Ebay, and

if they are good, I will start buying and listing these. The GA645 has to be the easiest to use

MF camera anywhere.

 

Again, get your money back. Someone is trying to pass on their problem to you, bounce it

back to them. Good luck Himanshu!

stay away from that line of fuji.

I'm telling you, invest in some interchangeable lens camera. The quality of the glass is ok, but all the rest will make you hate that damn thing! imagine scratching the lens. Or imagine how focusing that thing is! DO NOT invest on 645 fujis.

Ebay is a gamble; I hope you can retrieve your hard-earned, Himanshu. I buy pretty much exclusively from keh.com, and have done so for many years now. To the poster who offered the rousing exhortation not to buy a Fuji 645 camera, your 'contribution' is wide of the mark.

 

I use both the GA and GA-zoom in some of the most hostile environments on Earth, high windy plateaux raked by dust storms, and superhumid temperate rainforest. I chose these cameras because shooting opportunities are often fleeting and weight, dust protection and quality are critical. The result? Hundreds of rolls of first-rate images, many of which would not have been possible with interchangeable lens (hence often slow setup), overweight cameras riding out of easy reach, somewhere in a backpack. Both have been a modicum of reliability from -10C to 45C, not even a battery failure. The GA in particular is a revelation, and has to be the best bang-for-buck in MF. Last time I looked most Fuji MFs are holding their value well - all are true bargain now MF prices are 'digital-adjusted'.

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks for your responses. I am in touch with the seller and hopefully I would be able to get my money back, let's see. If not, I will try calling my credit card company and see if they can do something (there should be some benefit of paying an annual fee on those platinum cards after all).

 

Although, I had a bad experience to begin with, I am definitely very excited about the Fuji 645s. I am going to get one again, this time from someone more reliable, may be KEH, may be from a better seller. I hate to wait for another few weeks to start shooting with it though.

 

By the way, I called a few fuji camera repair shops today and most of them gave an estimate of $160-250 for labor + Parts!! That just made sure that I don't even think about the repairs.

 

I will let you guys know what happens next.

 

Thanks,

Himanshu

Of, well, I would get your credit card company to do a stop payment immediately. I don't

know how you do it, but I have heard you can. Then tell the guy you are sending him his

camera back. Who knows, he may be honest, but I would accept no less than a complete

refund, if possible. Don't let him credit you for repairs. You should not have to fiddle around

with repairing it, when there are so many GA645s in good condition out there.

 

Good luck, and of course ignore the guy who was slamming the GA series as no good, they

are not just good, they are superb, and irreplaceable cameras.

Hello,

 

I got most of my money back from one bad deal on ebay when I raised a PayPal dispute on grounds that the item was not as it was advertised. Of course I lost the money I used for s&h, but anyway that was better than losing it all. Hope you paid the item with PayPal.

The Fuji GA 645 series is a small, fixed lens, autofocusing medium format camera at fairly low cost. It has no competitors with similar functionality. I would not necessarily recommend it as the only MF camera one should have, but there are many times when it is the most suitable and useful one. To say that interchangeable lenses are somehow a must, and better investment, is just a stupid generalisation. If one needs or wants autofocus, the options are very few and high cost. If one needs light and small size, the options are again few, apart from some 30-50 year old bellows folders. And if one needs both AF and small, there really is no competition. But I see all cameras as tools, not investments.