Where to find a Fuji GSW680III ?

[db1]

Fuji made a GSW680III as well as the GSW690III but never brought the 680 to the USA.

 

Any idea where I can find one?

[stuart_richardson]

If you can't find one at KEH, CameraWest, Mpex, or any of the other larger used camera

stores in the US, then you might want to try Japan. You can try contacting Map

Camera...they are mapcamera.com and if you click on the English section, you can email

them. I am not sure if they will ship outside Japan even if they do have it though. For some

reason, Japanese companies are very wary about international shipping. There is a

recourse though, there is a company called "Price Japan", www.pricejapan.com. They will

buy electronics for you in Japan, charge you a 5% fee and then ship them to you wherever

you live in the world. I bought some headphones through them and it went very well. If

you email them, they may be able to help you, but given that it is a used item they may

not do it...I am not sure. But they are a good bet. Or, try to find someone on photo.net

who lives in Tokyo to help you out....

[trooper]

A nice one (may have been a GW680III) just went through KEH for (I think) $899. They seem to have them from time to time and I'm never feeling flush when they have them. If you let them know you want one and in what condition/price, I'd bet they could have one for you in a few months. My instinct would be that for the GSW lens, one may be better off with the 690 for extra angle advantage, though.

 

It's always seemed to be an ideal format, even for the fact that negative storage and proofing would be more efficient than 6X7 stuff. I've never seen one over the years on eBay (I've had an automated search going) but who knows?

[david_littleboy__tokyo__ja]

They're fairly common on the shelves at the used camera stores here in Tokyo, and are a bit cheaper than their 6x9 brethren. But like anything used, one tends to see a lot more of them when one isn't looking than when one is, so you'd probably have to do some serious running around to actually find one. For the first couple of years after Fuji discontinued them, there were almost no Texas Leicas to be seen, but now they're a dime a dozen. You'd think they'd drop the price, but they still go in the US$1000 to US$1500 range. A friend reported sighting a "II" version for under US$600, but the only II I saw today had a US$1000 tag on him. Also, the GSW versions seem to be rare, the GW versions common.

 

One of the department stores on the Ginza has a used camera fair once a year, and I finally made it down there, today actually. There were a few 645 Fujis here and there, and one store had a long row of G(S)W690s with one or two G(S)W680s. Everything was painfully pricey, so I only came home with a Zeiss Ikon 515/2 (6x9 folder). The store I bought it from is running a photo walk around Yokohama with the new Rollei film: US$30 gets you two rolls (ISO 100 and ISO 25) plus processing and a contact sheet. Sounds like fun...

 

(Sorry for the stream of conciousness: it's been a long day.)

[db1]

well...if you guys ever see one, let me know.

[tinko_czetwertynksi]

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