matt_m__toronto_ Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 looking for an old stable 6x9 or wider format camera. what can one recommend in terms of best price and quality? dont need any frills such as flash sync, or light meter or name. can even be fixed lens as long as it's equivelant to 35mm or wider in the 35mmworld. thanks for any suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Matt, This may be heavier and bigger than you want, but I shot for a while with a 4x5 crown graphic fitted with a horseman 6x9 back. I used a 90mm lens and it worked great. The great thing was that I could switch to 6x12 when I wanted with another horseman back. You could also look for a 6x9 press camera, I think Linhof still makes one. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_m__toronto_ Posted January 15, 2007 Author Share Posted January 15, 2007 yeah, i used to have a 4x5 crown graphic. too limiting. i shoot 99.999 % handheld. just looking for a tool to have in the bag for panoramic street stuff. maybe a basic 6x7 would be the best option and add some framelins to the finder. other than the pentax 67 are there other options for 6x7 slrs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebastien_lallement Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Matt, Obviously, you will have much more choices if you go with the 6x7 format, even though I find 6x9 to be better suited for landscape/cityscape photography. For panoramas, you will get great results by cropping a 3:1 panoramic photograph from a 6x9 negative. - In 6x9: The old Fuji G690 is a very well made camera with interchangeable lenses ranging from 50mm superwide (21mm equiv. @ 35mm) to 180mm tele (77mm equiv.). It's a rangefinder camera styled like a big Leica, meaning that you can use it to shoot handheld like a (huge) Leica. The main drawback is that lenses are quite rare, except for the 100mm standard and the 8/65mm wide angle (28mm equiv.). With a little bit of shopping around, you should be able to find a working body + 65mm lens for around $600. Or go for the fixed lend more recent GSW690 (65mm lens). Check my webpage: http://artbig.com/ More common and less expensive is the Mamiya Press/Super23/Universal, which is also a very good camera offering interchangeable lenses ranging from 50mm to 250mm (107mm equiv.). It's more versatile than the Fuji with its removable back. The Super 23 even has a tilting bellows back. But it is bigger, heavier and more cumbersome to use than the Fuji (e.g. it has no shutter interlock to prevent blank/double exposures). In the same category but more expensive than the Mamiya, there is also the Graflex XL/XLSW: great lenses but delicate focusing mechanism. If you want something cheaper, go for a 6x9 Speed Graphic with a rollfilm back and a wide angle lens. Or even cheaper, an old 6x9 folder, but forget about the wide angle lens. - In 6x7: The Mamiya 7 is a great (expensive) camera with the finest (extremely expensive) lenses you can get. The FOV of its 43mm lens is the same as a 50mm on a 6x9 camera. The Koni-Omega has great lenses as well and is much cheaper, but it is very heavy and its widest lens is only 58mm. Nowadays, the best deals are with the 6x7 SLRs: Pentax 67, Mamiya RB, Bronica GS1. Many pro photographers are dumping them by the truckload to jump to the digital bandwagon. Lenses and accessories are plentiful and go for cheap. Cheers, Sebastien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Veriwide! There are a threee versions - the original Plaubel Veriwide which has s true 9cm width and the Brooks Veriwide (about 86cm wide). They each use a 47mm Super-Angulon, although the Brooks had a F5.6 version along with the F8. Plaubel is strictly F8. Got a couple of 'em. Good cameras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al_kaplan1 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Yeah, the Brooks Plaubel Veriwide 100 is a great camera. It takes seven 2.25 x 3.5 inch pictures on a roll of 120 and Leitz (Leica) made a special variation of their 21mm finder for it, engraved Veriwide 100. These cameras were made in the early 1960's. I had one for awhile a few years ago. Takes great pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runkel Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 If you go for a Veriwide, the 47/5.6 Super-Angulon is the lens to look for. It's stunning (and uses lanthanum glass, if you're into that sort of thing). I think these use a Compur 00 shutter, but S.K. Grimes works on these and has parts. You can get a Graflex adapter plate and replace the large, leaky original back with a small modern Horseman back. The result is a very compact wide-angle camera with flash sync but without a self-cocking shutter or any linkage to prevent inadvertent double exposures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwbob Posted January 16, 2007 Share Posted January 16, 2007 The Fuji GSW 690 with 65mm lens will give you 6x9 with a 28mm wide angle equivalent in 35mm terms. Rugged camera with unbelievably sharp lens. No longer in production but available on Ebay. Much in demand. I have one but not for sale. Latest version is the model 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_m__toronto_ Posted January 17, 2007 Author Share Posted January 17, 2007 hey rob how about a trade for a nikon d70. :) cant hurt to ask. this gw690 looks good for price/quality. the 65mm came in 3.5 ?? m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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