Bronica RF645 Revisited

[trooper]

I've made a decision to downsize and am rethinking a possible purchase

of the Bronica RF645. I've gotten so that I'm not taking the P67 and

accompanying big supports, etc into the field as willingly. I did the

test of reviewing the pictures I've done over the past few years and

realize that for the subject matter, enlargement levels and

expectations, the 645 would have have handled 95% of it. I've got

high grade 35mm equipment that handles most of the rest. I resist

giving up the 67 negatives but have a Fuji 645 that has always

satisfied me and is apt to be along for the trip, too! I even prefer

the vertical format for the quicker work and don't mind flopping it

over for the typically more methodical horizontal subject matter. I

haven't seen any detailed, long term reflections on the Bronica. Does

anyone have a good history of experience to share? Are they rugged,

do the lenses satisfy in varied situations? Is there a revised

version on the horizon?

[greg bates]

Craig: I made the same assessment as you did and have purchased the RF645, 45mm, 65mm, 135mm and flash. The largest print I make is 11 x 14 and this camera does the job, even hand held. Over all this 645 kit is a lot lighter and more compact than anything else that I looked at and travels very well. The lenses are sharp and contrasty and are capable of much larger enlargements. I love walking around in an urban area and have the camera on program mode for quick street style photos. It also does great on a tripod for landscapes. The only thing that it doesn't handle is close-ups. I use my Graflex with ground glass focusing for still lifes. I did a review of the camera at www.photographyreview.com which you may want to look at as well as the other postings. I have the option to do 6 x 7, but I seem to want to lighten the load and love the RF645 much better.

[jerry_hyman2]

Gregory, I have not had a chance to see the 645 in person. With the 100mm and 135mm (I understand the 135mm has been discontinued)do they focus close enough to do portraits? If so, are we talking waist up, or head and shoulders?

 

Regards,

 

-Jerry

[greg bates]

Jerry: The 135mm is not being offered any more at Robert White & Co. where I purchased that lens, but do have the 100mm. My 135mm will focus down to 6 feet+/- and seems to do head and shoulder portraits at about 6-7 feet. About the same as what you would see with an 80mm on an SLR. The 100mm, also with a 6 ft minimum focus, you may have to get down to the minimum 6 feet to get the same coverage.

[greg bates]

Sorry made a mistake! should have read the following:

My 135mm will focus down to 6 feet+/- and seems to do head and shoulder portraits at about 7-8 feet.

[jerry_hyman2]

Gregory, I wonder why Bronica decided to pull the 135mm if you could do head and shoulders without a problem? It sounds like a great camera and I am going to try to get my hands on one when I go to Boston this week.

 

-Jerry

[greg bates]

Jerry: The 135mm was pulled because of focusing problems. The camera's overall size apparently was not large enough to accomadate the proper size rangefinder to handle the 135. It required adjustments in the focusing cam on the lens as a compromise to make it work. When I purchased my lens, Robert White was the only camera dealer selling them, and only would sell them if you sent your camera to them for the adjustments on the lens to match your camera. I couldn't sell the 135mm separate from the camera now because of the special matching to the camera. Anyone thinking of buying this camera will have to examine closley the type of photography they are intending to do with the limited range of lenses available now. It is an amazing camera for landscape, street and art photography, but may not be as good for head shot portraits or telephoto landscapes. You need to try one out. Glazers Camera Store in Seattle were renting them last time I was there. You might call ahead to a store in Boston to see if they have one available.

[kenneth_rowin]

I have been very pleased with my RF645 with the 45mm, 65mm and 100mm lenses purchased this spring. A minor problem with the battery door cover caused me to loose my batteries & so not have a usable camera during a hike - corrected by Bronica. The 100mm lens focuses to about 4.5 feet (although the last focus mark is 6 feet) and is fine to use for head and shoulders portraits. All of the lenses are sharp and a pleasure to use.

[robin_barnes]

I have an RF645 (with 65mm and 135mm lenses) and am very pleased with it. I wanted a medium format outfit I could carry for long periods of time without crippling myself and am very satisfied in that regard. The body weighs 810gm, the 65mm 300gm and the 135mm 540gm. (the 45mm � which I do not own as I am waiting to see if Bronica brings out a wider angle lens - weighs 330gm). The whole kit (including a third lens) will fit into a small bag � I use a Lowepro Nova 2. The build quality is very high and the lenses I own are very sharp and effectively distortion free.

 

The only serious criticism I would make of the design is that the exposure compensation dial (which is on the back of the camera) should have a lock on it because it is possible to accidentially alter the setting without realising that this has happened. It would also be nice to have a warning signal in the viewfinder if you leave the lens cap on when taking a shot � I admit to losing a few pictures that way!

 

The story of the 135mm lens is something of a saga. Bronica announced it at the same time as the other lenses but when they started selling the system it was only with the 45mm and 65mm. They said that the 135mm would be released a few months later. Many months went by and no information was forthcoming � rumours circulated photonet � it would be out by Christmas, it was beset by manufacturing problems, it didn�t focus properly, it didn�t exist! Then Tamron USA announced that it was being replaced with a 100mm lens and Bronica announced on its Japanese website that it (the 135) had been cancelled. End of story leaving those of us for whom the promise of a 135mm had been an important influence on our decision to buy the camera in the first place high and dry! Well no because the next thing that happened was that Robert White and a number of other photographic stores here in the UK started selling it!

 

What had happened was that Bronica had somehow managed to design a lens which they could not guarantee would focus accurately on all RF645 bodies � however everything was fine when a specific 135 lens was adjusted to �match� a particular body. So rather than have the bother of getting their service agents around the world carry out this work they decided to cancel the 135mm and introduce a 100mm instead. However they had already manufactured a batch of 135s and Introphoto (Bronica�s distributor in the UK) was prepared to take on the task of matching lenses to bodies and so they obtained the exclusive right market all the 135s Bronica had made. Hence why this lens has only been sold in the UK � however a number of photonet members living in the US have bought one by mail order from Robert White. Unfortunately supplies now appear to have run out as Robert White is no longer advertising it on his website � www.robertwhite.co.uk. I bought mine about three months ago and, as I didn�t want to send my camera body through the mail, Robert White arranged for me to take it into Introphoto�s service department myself � they carried out the matching process while I waited � they said it could take a couple of hours but in fact they managed to do it in a little over an hour.

 

All RF645s now being made are set up to take the new 100mm. That is, the telephoto bright line which appears in the viewfinder when the lens is mounted matches the field of view of the 100mm (the bright line on early bodies like mine matched the field of view of the 135). It is not possible to have the viewfinder set up to serve both lenses.