120 film with Fuji GW690 --- all photos unfocused (!????!)

<p>Hi,<br>

I shot my first roll of 120 film on a Fuji GW690 and (surprise) see all the photos have come off as completely out of focus (bokeh in the complete frame). This is baffling because i aligned the images in the center of the viewfinder to focus. Two shots were taken with my friend, and those two have just bokeh, so eyesight is out of the question. My vision is normal (I hope) and I do not wear glasses.<br>

Two photos which were landscapes and were exposed with f/8 and f/11 have a vague outline in them where atleast the forms are identifiable, the rest were portraits and were shot with the subject about 5 feet away from the camera at f/4 - f/5.6 and these are complete bokeh.<br>

I routinely use MF lenses and expose manually on a DSLR, so am struggling to make sense of the results I have got with this first roll. Have I missed something?<br>

This was my test roll of film before I leave on vacation in two days (with this camera). Tomorrow I am going to shoot a landscape scene with f/3.5 to f/32, hopefully that can throw some light (pardon the pun) on what the matter could be. Any suggestions are welcome.<br>

I just bought the camera from KEH and am considering returning it, however it would be foolish of me if I am returning a perfectly working camera but am operating it incorrectly. Help!<br>

Thanks for your time,<br>

Nikhil</p>

<p>http://www.cameramanuals.org/fuji_pdf/fujifilm_gw690_iii.pdf<br>

sounds like you have the pressure plate set for 220 film while using 120 film.<br>

linked manual page 8.<br>

120 backing paper is .006 inch thick and that much error at the film plane will result in some very out of focus images.<br>

the rangefinder may have become uncoupled in shipping if all settings are correct.</p>

<p>With the images so totally out of focus, as you describe, I doubt it's the positioning of the 120/220 pressure plate.<br>

If you had mistakenly shot 120 film with the pressure plate in the 220 position, images would be very useable, but not 'tack sharp.' <br>

My thoughts...the rangefinder is way out of adjustment or likely has become uncoupled.</p>

<p>Marc</p>

<p>You might try bypassing the rangefinder by focusing using the markings on the lens focus ring and estimating the distances to your subjects. If the resulting pictures look reasonably ok, then that would point you to the RF as the problem. If they're still out of focus, then you know there's something wrong with the camera/lens.</p>

<p>The rangefinder patch is not so visible and the depth of field of the 90mm lens is also limited at the wider f stops. I would simply use the VF-RF and try focussing precisely on contrasty subject matter at different measured distances (say 4 feet, 10 feet, 30 feet, and very distant= roughly infinity) and then looking at the distance setting on the lens in order to see if there is any great mismatch between what the RF indicates and that of the lens marking. That would eliminate the RF system as a probable source of trouble.</p>

<p>To test the accuracy of a rangefinder, do the following. Hang a mirror on a wall. Put a small piece of tape on the mirror. Focus on the tape from a measured distance of five feet (two meters, whatever). Use a tripod to ensure stability. Read the distance on the lens's scale. If it's way off, go no further. If it's close, focus on the reflection of the camera in the mirror. The distance scale should read ten feet. If it does, you're good, and the problem lies elsewhere.</p>