dougmiles

<p>Timing is pretty good for me, fortunately, as I've been vacationing on Maui with a flaky internet connection throughout the RFF outage. Getting out and about using an M9 as I trail my wife around the shopping venues. The waitress at Ruby's Diner this evening said the M9 looked like a cool camera, as I took a couple shots of them doing the credit card the old manual way since their system was down...<br>

Hope you'll be feeling better soon Joe</p>

<p>It's a test of dedication and determination. :-)</p>

<p>Hard to do without RFF! This problem comes after the servers were moved from one city to another in a different state. Makes sense that such a move opens up opportunities for problems to arise. Hope it gets fixed thoroughly and soon.</p>

<p>There are two P67 zooms, the more useful for you would likely be the 55-100mm f/4.5. It's big, heavy, optically excellent, and hard to find. By contrast the P645 55-110 f/5.6 is quite small, and also hard to find... Do you really "need" a zoom? :)</p>

<p>AFAIK there are no third-party zooms, so you have just one choice in that range: Pentax 45-85mm f/4.5 SMCP FA 645<br>

There are also a 33-55 and a 55-110mm on either side.</p>

<p>I've enjoyed the P67 system for many years, and have the 45, both 55/4, 75/2.8 AL, 90, 100 Macro, early & late 105, 120 Soft, 135 Macro, 165/2.8, 165/4 LS, early & late 200/4, and the plain 300/4. That 75 AL is one of my all-time favorite lenses on the big Pentax.<br>

I have an adapter to use these lenses on the Leica S2 medium-format digital SLR. I think the S2 puts more pressure on lens optical performance than the P67. No great testing, but in real-world use at mid-apertures the 45 and late 200 are quite excellent, the 100/4 Macro is excellent even wide open, while the 165 LS was disappointing (I was at f/6.7 - f/13). It's "good", just not as crisp as I expected from using the others; maybe mine's a slightly off sample, but it looks fine. I plan to try some of the others eventually, noting that the S2's standard lens is 70mm.</p>

<p>They're both fine... The 90 is the newer design, less common, and is smaller, and focuses closer. Its focal length is almost exactly the same as the film diagonal, so it's the "natural" normal lens choice, like 43mm is for 24x36. In either case, enjoy!</p>

<p>All Fuji GA models have AE and AF. The Fuji GS645 models are all manual. Also the big Fuji GW670/680/690 models are all manual.</p>

<p>Introduced in early 1998, so not many years of production. In 2007 B&H had it listed at $1600 new. Has it gone higher now?</p>

<p>Mine is the GA645Wi, with the 45mm lens. I had my share of mis-focused shots, often sharp on some object behind or in front of the subject. It took some struggled familiarization but I finally got the hang of it, and it's been useful and reliable.<br>

My GS645S, bought earlier used at a camera show, was a hard luck case from the start, with the RF sticky in one direction and badly fitting front cover. I took it to a pro repair tech in Seattle who said it was basically junk, not repairable. So it sat until I heard on this forum about Camera Wiz, Frank Marshman, who is a Fuji specialist. He lubed and adjusted the RF, and found broken plastic lens mount parts inside, which he replaced. It came back like new, and at very modest cost.</p>

<p>The GA is a few years newer than the GS, and so it's very possible the lens coatings were improved in going from EBC (Electron Beam Coating) to Super EBC. Conceivably this could help a bit with flare and contrast, both for B&W and Color.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I don't know one photographer that uses th Leica S2 for work or even for personal use. Maybe it's the company I keep! - Eddy</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Well, it's a rather new system, and quite an expensive one. There are forums with owners discussions...</p>

<blockquote>

<p>It is great that they are offering adapters, primarily because it will allow people to get into the system without having to buy a full kit of lenses. Since it is a totally new system, everyone HAS to buy lenses, and there is no stock of existing lenses, which is adding to the availability problem. - Stuart</p>

</blockquote>

<p>A point well-made. I already had an extensive P67 kit, so being able to adapt these lenses to the S2 has been very useful. Having to use the lens's stop-down switch is less hassle than expected. So far I've used the 4/45, 4/100, and 4/165 with excellent results.<br>

My adapter is the one made in Korea by Kim Camera, sold by them on eBay for $750, but I got it in March from Dale Photo for $600 after their own QA inspection. I wonder if the availability of the Leica-branded item will put pressure on Kim's prices.</p>

<p>Do you have a link? I don't see these adapters as new products on the Leica AG website.<br>

There are third-party adapters, certainly, as I have the Korean-made item for Pentax-67 lenses... and have been using it. Dale Photo is a good source for these.</p>

<p>Yes, I've had a Fuji GA645Wi for some years and like it a lot. The W model has the 45mm lens... Very nice to see the framelines adjust for field size as you focus as well as parallax. The camera is quiet and reliable, my only gripe being that when using Fuji film the camera reads the ISO barcode on the backing paper and sets the camera ISO automatically. That convenience is inconvenient for me because I always want the ISO 2/3 stop lower than box speed (for C41 films).<br /> Anyway, note there is the original GA645W and the later slightly improved GA645Wi which should be a bit higher cost. You could even get a matching GA645i with the 60mm lens as a companion to the W, and these will sell for less than the W models.</p>

<p>The P645 is indeed sleek and compact for a 6x4.5cm SLR. But it shares with its competitors the long "video camera" shape largely due to the folded film path. I'd suggest borrowing one for familiarization before committing to a purchase.<br>

It's certainly a matter of personal preference, but I like the P67 configuration better; it's just more comfortable for me. This is also a reason to prefer the Leica S2 over the P645D despite the cost. I've not taken my P645NII's on a trip, though I have packed a P6x7 or P67II several times and would do so again.<br>

You might also consider a 6x4.5cm rangefinder, perhaps a Bronica or one of the Fujis, very light and compact.</p>

<p>Close-up filters are a solution for cameras having fixed lenses, for example. I've always been a bit suspicious of the optical quality of the run-of-the-mill close-up filter. These work on the principle of making the focal length shorter, causing the lens's normal extension to focus to a shorter distance. They come in different strengths; a one-diopter close-up filter will cause the lens to be focused to 1m when set to infinity focus. Of course you can additioinally use the lens's focus ring to focus even closer. A two-diopter filter leads to a 0.5m focus.<br>

I prefer extension tubes. The Pentax auto extension tubes come in a set of three thicknesses, often available individually. Try the thinnest first. The 2.8/165mm will natively focus to 5.2ft (1.6m). Pre-1986 the 4/200 focused down only to 8.2ft (2.5m) so that extension tube came out frequently. Fortunately the later 200 (with 77mm filter size) gets down to a very useful 4.9ft (1.5m) without extension tubes.<br>

I agree the 4/135mm Macro is an inexpensive and convenient solution too. It focuses to 0.75m.</p>

<p>Very nice examples from an excellent and possibly under-rated lens! Mine cost $103.88. One attraction is its optical design, a true Heliar of the later type, a symmetrical design which gives better correction for close up and macro shots. The M version like mine and yours has the same optics as the following A version and the 100mm Bellows lens.<br>

Pentax brochure comment: Suitable for close-up and macrophotography, as well as normal shooting. Especially useful for shooting nature pictures, for reproduction work and for portraiture. Because of its longer focal length, this lens provides greater magnification than the Macro 50mm f/4.</p>

<p>As to the first issue, I'll suggest that foam seals need to be replaced. I had the same issue develop over the years with my Pentax 6x7 prism. Have fun with your new rig!</p>

<p>Your lenses will work ok on the 645D. For the rest of the question, there is a long and complex answer. Of course the artistry of your photos doesn't change, but for the technical and practical aspects you might go to diglloyd.com and subscribe to Diglloyd Advanced Photography and read his extensive review of the 645D and a bunch of lenses.</p>

<p>Oh, and on the GS645S, I found if I set the self-timer that the loud CLACK occurred when the timer was triggered with the shutter release button, and then after the set delay there was a very discreet little shutter click, just as one might reasonably expect from a well-behaved leaf shutter.</p>

<p>If Fuji is consistent in their designs, it appears the answer is no. Some years ago I sent a GS645S for service to Camera Wiz, a Fuji repair expert. In the repair instructions I asked if the shot counter could be made quieter or disconnected. Nope.<br>

The GS645S shot counter is much louder than my GW670III, and I had to suspect Fuji made it loud deliberately. Perhaps to prevent sneaky pics...?<br>

Wouldn't hurt to ask Frank Marshman at Camera Wiz 1-800-471-8133</p>

<p>Not unusual to stop down the lens for more depth of field in macro shots... But softening due to diffraction should start being detectable around f/11, and get softer as you stop down further. So if you were at f/22 or f/32 then that might be the answer...<br>

Also, some lenses aren't corrected well for close/macro distances. Lenses with a symmetrical arrangement of elements tend to have an advantage for this; Planar and Heliar types for example.</p>

<p>Larry West hit on what I noticed too, about that question... three of the answer choices could be construed to be the same, therefore the correct answer had to be the other one, C.<br>

I would hope there's more to the certification that a written test...</p>

<p>I had some focusing problems with my GA645Wi after getting it, but it was only a matter of getting used to single-point AF. If you can eliminate user error as a cause, then it sounds like an AF calibration matter. Maybe contact Camera Wiz, the Fuji expert... Harrisonburg VA 1-800/471-8133</p>