Fuji GA645ZI for weddings?

[ned1]

Has anyone used a Fuji GA645zi for weddings? That's their AF 645

rangefinder. They don't make them anymore but I found one for sale

used. My first reaction was it would be great for weddings, but I'm

concerned by two things: max 90mm on the lens (this is a medium

format, remember, so that's about 55mm in 35), and what appears to be

a lack of true manual focus. I'm not sure I want to depend on

autofocus for those key scenes. But there's a lot I like about it and

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with them.

[f_p]

Hi. I had one of these MF point-n-shoot cameras. It is the ONLY Fuji camera that I could not learn to love. Focusing is slow, difficult to manage, and automated. The flash seems to have a mind of its own, but to be fair, I am not partial to using flash. I found this to be an extremely frustrating camera. Thing is, even with that zoom lens, when subject is in focus, it is extremely sharp.

 

I would recommend one of Fuji's 6x9 cameras for a wedding. If you want auto exposure and auto film advance, I'd recommend one of their other 645 rangefinders. They have manual focus. I would not want to be in the situation where all the formals of the bride and groom showed fuzzy people and sharp backgrounds. It's a good camera if you focus at infinity a lot...

[andrew_ito]

I differ from the above comment. I had a GA645zi as my travel camera and used it to

shoot weddings as well, before I got my 10D a few years back. Although the camera has a

very limited focal range, it did very well for wedding work. You just have to work within

the limitations of the camera.

 

The flash is useless, but the camera syncs at all speeds since the lens has a leaf shutter. I

used it with a Sunpak 120J for excellent results.

 

The focal range is ok but limited. If you don't expect it to work like a 28-105mm on a

35mm format then you should be ok. It's kind of a luxury to have a zoom at all shooting

medium format. When I shot Hasselblads I only used a 50, 80 and 150 with the occasional

use of a 250. The zoom on the zi isn't "smooth". It has stops at different focal lengths

like 55, 65, 75, 90 if I remember correctly. The lens is also very slow, so I wouldn't expect

great bokeh or shallow DOF.

 

The manual focus is junk. You have to select a distance on a digital readout to focus. It's

not really manual focus as you and I are used to. I found that the autofocus worked out

great for me though so I didn't miss it at all.

 

It's also very lightweight and built strongly. I think it has a titanium frame. And it can

print your exposure info on the film above the frame. Very convenient. All in all, I found

it to be a great solution for wedding work, especially during the reception. If you're

shooting medium format I'd recommend this camera if it's priced below $800. Anything

over that and you're overpaying IMHO. It is what it is. If you're willing to live within it's

limitations it should provide excellent image quality with sharpness, contrast and ease of

use.