clay_fraser1

About three years ago I was sitting on a curb in Ignacio, Colorado, talking with a Ute Indian boy in front of a school building that the tribal council had hired me to photogrph. He warned me not to go into the building in no uncertain terms. When I asked why, he whispered, "Hantavirus." It seems that hantavirus has become the new boogeyman of the Four Corners region. Despite his warning, I did go into the building, and I didn't contract hantavirus.

 

<p>

 

But a friend of mine died from histoplasmosis, a respiratory disease caused by inhaling fungal spores found in bird excrement. He had contracted the disease by inspecting and photographing historic buildings. I think about him from time to time as I muck around in pigeon and bat droppings, photographing interiors of abandoned buildings. Last year I shot a particularly nasty abandoned industrial complex that was also a wildlife refuge. Not only did I have to think about animal-borne disease agents, but also residues of cyanide, napalm, wheat rust, incendiaries, mustard gas, anthrax and Sarin nerve gas. I had an escort at all times just to see that I didn't die. Before the shoot, I practiced in various types of hazmat gear, including a full moon suit with self-contained breathing air. (For a good time, try operating a 4x5 camera wearing two masks, two layers of heavy gloves and about 40-pounds of life-support gear sometime.) Ultimately, I opted to go in unprotected, trusting in karma, because the gear was too constrictive. Again, I didn't suffer (much) from the shoot.

 

<p>

 

The point in relating all of this is this: Sometimes we worry too much about things that are either too obscure or beyond our control. (And coming from someone who has braved tarantulas, sidewinders, LDS Temple guards, et al., Dan, you have experienced probably most of the hazards of photography at one time or other.) There is an outside chance that in kneeling in mice droppings you are exposing yourself to hantavirus, but with a few precautions (keep your hands and face out of it, don't kick up too much dust, etc.) the risk is negligible. You stand a greater chance, statistically, in being struck by lightning. Stop worrying about the boogeymen.

I'm at a loss to explain our different experiences with this camera. To confirm my previous post, I focused my GX680 on the mountains outside my studio (a convenient point of infinity) and tilted the front standard successively with four focal-length lenses, ranging from 50mm to 250mm. With the bag bellows (which isn't so much a bag, like on a view camera, as it is a bigger, poofier accordian), I didn't find any impediment to lens tilting. The camera itself limits the amount of tilt to 12 degrees in either direction, but I could find no problems with lens focusing or bellows scrunching at infinity. Go figure.

In ansewer to your question, yes, the GX680 can be tilted fully while focused on infinity for all the focal-length lenses currently offered by Fuji. You will need the bag bellows for the wider angle lenses, however, to avoid impeding the front standard's movements.

Hey man, photography isn't for wimps!

 

<p>

 

Actually, I did have to stop a few times on the way up the mountain to suck air. We were doing some GPS mapping on the way down, so that turned into a bit of a forced march, but all downhill fortunately. Lugging a GX680 around in the field can be a chore at times, but the images are worth the effort, and, as you can see by my Internet provider below, I'm a glutton for punishment.

I believe that the old Darkroom Techniques once referred to the GX680 as Brobdingnagian, a word taken from Oliver Swift's Gulliver's Travels that means a place where everything is huge. It is the best term I've seen to describe this remarkable camera. Despite its ponderous size, I use one extensively outdoors for architecture and landscape photography, having traded in my Mamiya RB a few years back. The GX680 is large and expensive (the shoulder strap costs around $300!), but the optics are superior, the 6x8 aspect ratio is more flexible than 6x7, the camera aesthics and operations are a joy to behold, and it is one of the few medium format cameras with fairly unfettered lens movements.

 

<p>

 

I'm using a GX680 on a shoot this week at some prehistoric ruins in Montana. The cross-country hike in is about two miles, with an altitude gain of 1200 feet. In situations like this, I typically walk with a GX680 mounted on the tripod (I'm still saving up for the shoulder strap) and a Fuji G617 over my shoulder, with a couple of extra GX lenses and a handful of 120 film in my vest pockets. It's about as heavy as a view camera (actually a bit heavier, but by the time you've gotten to this point, who's counting ounces). Like a view camera, it is large enough to create a center of gravity of its own in the field, but it is much more accommodating to use than large format.

 

<p>

 

One shortcoming of the GX680 system used to be the lack of a wide-angle lens. Fuji has relatively recently corrected this by introducing a 50mm to the line, although you have to watch the shifts a little more carefully with this lens, and it and its appurtenant filters are, well, huge. The system still doesn't have a very long focal length available, but large-format lenses can be mounted onto the camera using Linhoff lensboards.

 

<p>

 

If you can get your hands on a good used GX680 system, and especially if you need lens shifts in a medium format (such as for architectural work), I would recommend it highly. Next to the G617, it is my favorite field camera.