Refreshing comments on Fuji GX680 III, please.

[mario_mab]

I'm just a click away to buy a new GX680 III but something tells me

to wait. I have been reading everything possible about Fuji GX680 in

this forum, which posts are dated '97-'98. I would like to read more,

especially from new users and outdoor shooters. Please any comment on

this camera is very much welcome. Thank you for help.

[djphoto]

How do you plan to use the camera?

[l_a_k_h_i_n_d_e_r]

Well, if you have not tried this camera for yourself, then don't buy it. Rent is first--your question somehow gives the impression that you have no hands on experience with it.

 

You shall find many responses on Fuji 680 to be only few weeks old!

[mario_mab]

I intend to use this camera outdoor. I did rented for a weekend and I had a good impression, not because it has sophistication that no other camera has, but for the capability of lens movements. With Fuji I would be able to use more often focal lens other then 55mm, in fact I would be able to get everything on focus with any lens. What I�m concerned is that maybe after a certain period I could get tired of carrying around a big camera like that. I�m afraid that because of the bulkiness I would not get used to carry it around like I do with a P67 or Hassy. I don�t mind the weight only the bulkiness concerne me. I think that this camera has a potential love at �first sight�, which could induce me to make a decision to buy it without calculations in practical terms. I thought that new user�s GX680 III could post their idea about it. Did they have any second thoughts?

Thank you for help.

[steve_baggett]

I've had my GX680 III for two weeks now and the romance is still in full flower. It is a bulky camera but the results are worth it, IMO. I recommend you get the "Extended Wide angle Bellows" MFG 05013059 (B&H #FUBEWAGX), as this will allow the most movement with the 50mm, 65mm, and 115mm lenses. It will also allow full extension with the 80mm extension rails. I got 80mm extension rails to allow closeup work. With the 115mm and these rails (and the bellows mentioned above) I can get just beyond 1:1. The front tilt is especially useful with getting the foreground-to-background focus in scenic shots. This camera was my first move into MF from 35mm. So far I have no complaints and the camera has exceeded all my expectations.

[nhat]

I have been shooting with a this camera for about a year now

and my neighbor at my studio shoots with it exclusively for his

medium format work.

 

But we use it for studio work, as it was mostly designed to

function as IMO. It's a wonderful peice of photographic

engineering. The information on the backs' lcd screen is a plus.

 

I shot products with it and that's where it's lens movements are

so valuable.

 

Outdoor use? I don't know about that. I shoot location work on

occasions and must say that trekking that camera around does

take the pleasure out of using it after a long day of shooting.

After using the GX, I found my Nikon F4s and Bronica EC to be

feather weights and remarkably tiny in comparison.

 

It just seems like so much bulk to carry around. The battery

alone is bulkier than some point and shoot camera

 

I shot outdoor landscapes one summer during college and I

carried an old Graflex Century Graphic 2.1/4 x 3.1/4 folding

camera. I had the Graflok back on it and it took the 6x7 rollfilm

backs. It offered limited front movements and was extremely

light, compact and yes affordable!

[triblett_lungre_thurd]

Listen to Nhat, Mario. If you want movements on a outdoor camera in a light totable package buy a woodfield or similar. The GX should be sold welded to a camera stand. You'll end up leaving it at home because of the burden.

[l_a_k_h_i_n_d_e_r]

The bulkiness of this camera is a big negative (no pun intended).

Not every nature shot needs camera movements. And mostly one needs lens tilt. You may want to look at Rollie sl-66 for that. I think sl-66 is heavy but not bulky.

 

I love this camera, but considering the camera movements are somewhat limiting for nature shots (particularly the rise and fall), I carry a 4x5 along with a 35mm camera. That said, it could well be that I carry just a fuji 680, and more than make up on the ease of setting a 4x5 up. With a 4x5 I get one real good shot, and by that time you could shoot 5 rolls of 120 with bracketing ;-). And of course by that same time, my 35mm camera would take xxx shots!

 

But in all fairness, I must say that which ever format I have tried, 35mm or 6x6 cm or 6x8 cm or 4x5 inch, the results have been limited only by my creativity--or lack thereof-- and not by sharpness/format/size/speed.

 

Most people are charmed by the smoothness of tones from a 4x5. You shall always have that void. But you shall have many more shots, which would be missed in just setting up 4x5! You won't have to worry about light leaks on a sheet of film, or missing an exposure, or double exposure etc etc!

 

Please also consider the filter size of all these lenses! They are really large!

 

Yours Refreshingly,

[stephen_poe1]

please excuse the fact that I type today without capitals -- I have an injured hand and using the shift key hurts...the Fuji is not really that heavy(being mostly plastic) but it is big. The lenses are slow compared to most 6x6 cameras - 5.6 makes for hard focussing in dim light and the view screen is dark. Aside from Mamiya porroprisms, I find this to be one of the hardest cameras to focus because of the dark, low contast screen. The camera has a slight flex to it -- I guess it is intended to bend ans spring back instead of breaking -- I prefer something more rigid. It has a lot of movement for an SLR but much less movement than a view camera or field camera --- NO movements on the rear standard. Its a lot more money than a few models of wood field camera...www.mwpex.com sells Tachihara 4x5 wood field cameras for around $600.00 --- i would consider that with a modern coated lens like the Nikkor 135 f5.6 for "outdoor shooters" before I would buy the Fuji. Woodfields are surprisingly light and durable and have much less to break/fail/get out of whack that the Fuji.<p>

perhaps I could offer you more to the point advice if you told us more about exactly what you wanted to shoot outdoors. If its landscape or architecture, I would pick a woodfield or a monorail or even a folding rollfilm camera. I like the compact 6x6 rollfilm SLRs or 35mm for other subjects.<p>

The Fuji makes for a good multipurpose in-studio camera -- it goes to macro with only a small inexpensive extension rail and would be excellent for shooting where only minimal perspective adjustments are needed. It doesn't offer more movements than a $300 crown graphic camera though, it is not really suitable for handheld use like a rollfilm SLR due to its ungainly shape. I think the designers actually tried to make it do TOO many things (a rollfilm viewcamera with SLR viewsystem and revolving back and macro, etc, etc, etc...) and as a result, they got an ungainly beast of a camera.

[donaldc]

I use a Fuji GX680 outdoors for landscape work ( never have used it indoors....) It is definitely bulky, but only a few pounds heavier than my RZ outfit was.

 

I keep telling myself I should get a nice little hassy and a wooden field camera, but when I think about all the shots I missed because of the cumbersome old 4x5 I stop myself.

 

There simply isn't a finer MF outfit available in my opinion. I see no need to go with the model III unless you need the multiformat backs. My GX680I outfit cost me less than half the price of the model III.