don_carter1

I have used a Sekonic L408 for the better part of the last year. I found that with transparency film in incident mode I got the best results by setting the ISO one setting less than the rating of the film, and sometimes even two.

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I am assuming of course, that you are twisting the lumisphere out of it's recessed position.

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I hope this helps.

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Don

I have owned 2 Fuji GS645 folders. One cost me $795 without the hood or case, but it had a new bellows installed. The second one cost me $550 with the hood, case, strap, book, case for the hood and a Hoya filter, shipping included. I wouldn't sell it for less than $850, without the hood, as it has a noticeably sharper lens than my first one. This one needed a new bellows. ($125 to $295 depending on where you send it.) Email me for a good repair place in Arizona if you ever need a bellows installed. ( $40 Parts + $85 Labor)

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Make sure that the bellows is light tight before you purchase it, or make it clear to the seller that if the bellows are in need of replacement, the cost will come out of the selling price.

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The hoods are usually hard to find, and if you can find one, you might pay between $25 and $75 for it with or without the Fuji Case for the hood. I would not sell mine for less than $100 because of the difficulty in finding one. You will need it if you want to use filters, as there are no threads on the lens itself. If you like to use polarizing filters, you will most definitely need the hood.

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I think that $750 with a tight bellows is an OK price. Good luck on the decision.

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Don

Pete Su has a good point. The Prego 90 when zoomed to 90mm has a maximum aperture of f10.2

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That limitation understood, I would still vote for the 28mm/f3.7-90mm/f10.2 camera in my pocket, in place of a 35mm SLR with a nice f2.8 80mm lens, in my truck, back at the trail head. ,?.

I have heard of people getting very good results shooting Velvia through the Rollei Prego series of cameras. The Prego 90 has a 28-90mm Zeiss lens in it. Rollei also offers one with a 35-120(?) and a 35-70(?)

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Here are some specs on the Prego 90: http://www.ee.nus.sg/~zhu/photo/compact/Rollei_Prego_90_AF_s.html

This sounds like the behavior of a sickly animal. I have heard of coyotes getting quite close to humans when they are suffering from a serious ailment of some kind such as hydrophobia or parvo(?).

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Another possibility is that this particular coyote was raised from a pup by humans and then either escaped or was released into the wild.

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Coyotes are encountered quite often where I live, and they run at the first sight or smell of humans, except for an occasional curious pup.

Every 6x7 I own or have owned, produces image area extending outward in the corners like what you are describing. Some more than others. (Pentax 6x7, Mamiya RB, Bronica GS1, Mamiya 7)

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As far as I know, this is normal, and nothing to worry about.

Every Fuji GS645 folder I have ever seen either had a new bellows already installed, or needed one.

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What is the deal here? I have some cameras that are over 30 years old that have light tight, original bellows.

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I have been quoted $110 to $325 by various Fuji warranty repair shops to replace GS645 bellows. I personally think that Fuji should be replacing all of them for free with a bellows that lasts more than a few years.

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The bellows problem must be one of the reasons that this camera was discontinued. Is there anyone else out there that has had this problem, or am I cursed?

Every Fuji GS645 folder I have ever seen either had a new bellows already installed, or needed one, including the one I currently own that looks like it has never been used at all.

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What is the deal here? I have some cameras that are over 30 years old that have light tight, original bellows.

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I have been quoted $110 to $325 by various Fuji warranty repair shops to replace a GS645 bellows. I personally think that Fuji should be replacing all of them for free with a bellows that lasts more than a few years.

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The bellows problem must be one of the reasons that this camera was discontinued. Is there anyone else out there that has had this problem, or am I cursed?

Every Fuji GS645 folder I have ever seen either had a new bellows already installed, or needed one.

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What is the deal here? I have some cameras that are over 30 years old that have light tight, original bellows.

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I have been quoted $110 to $325 by various Fuji warranty repair shops to replace GS645 bellows. I personally think that Fuji should be replacing all of them for free with a bellows that lasts more than a few years.

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The bellows problem must be one of the reasons that this camera was discontinued. Is there anyone else out there that has had this problem, or am I cursed?

Frank,

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If it gives you any comfort, after examining dozens of transparencies taken by John Haley with his GX680, I sold my Bronica GS1, my 4x5 w/Schneiders, and I am selling my Mamiya 7 and my Fuji GS645, to purchase my own Mr. Fuji, as John calls his 680. You can get a complete 3 lens, used package for under $5000 if you shop around, and are not in a hurry. Used GX's are not too common.

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It only weighs 2.1 pounds more than a Mamiya RB ProSD package with the same 3 focal length lenses, 50mm, 110-130mm, 250mm, and that includes a heavy battery for the Fuji.

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As for 4x5, I tried one for about 3 years out in the desert here, and found it for my tastes to be cumbersome, way to slow for the rapidly changing light of landscape shots, and very unforgiving of operator error. I guess that makes me a girley-man wimp.

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On the plus side for 4x5, if you purchase LF lenses that are in the same price range as the Fuji GX680 lenses the image quality ( and I don't mean aesthetically) can be quite a bit better than what the Fuji will produce.

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Good luck with the decision. I wish I had followed my instincts 4 years ago and had gone straight to the Fuji instead of doing the Pentax 67, RB ProS, Bronica GS1, M7, 4x5 Shuffle.

It is a small molded plastic shade that clips on similarly to a lens cap. It is threaded for 40.5mm filters. If you wish to use a filter, this is the only way to do it easily.

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I have owned 2 GS645 folders, both of which needed a new bellows after only a few years I might add. The first did not have the hood. I tried to purchase one and the best price I found was $75 (Yikes!) from Charlotte Camera ( I passed on that one). No one else could ever come up with one.

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I find it much easier using polarizer and gradient ND filters with the hood on the Fuji, than using those filters on my Mamiya 7, where I have to keep taking the filter off to align it, or use two filters, one on camera and one off, with orientation marks. If you don't need to use filters, just use your hat like Ansel Adams did to shade the front element.

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It does not provide much shading of the lens, but is better than nothing.

Thanks Boris, I am on my way there as I type.

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Strange that Infoseek produced nothing.

Thanks for the information.

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WOW! $8K and the size of a Pentax 67....There was nothing in the photograph of the Nikonos RS that gave a hint as to it's size. I imagined it being the size of an F2 or maybe a tiny bit larger.

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The Ewa-Marine Bag sounds interesting. I saw various Ewa products listed at B&H in Shutterbug magazine from $59-199. The one that sounded most applicable by it's name only was the Hurricane Hood. I really need protection from hard rain more than for underwater use.

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Is there a website for them? I was unable to find one in an Infoseek search.

I saw a Nikonos RS AF ALR underwater SLR on the Nikon page. This must be a new item as there was very little information about it there. I did a few searches on the web and in this forum, and found nothing. The first thing that came to mind when reading about it was that it would make the perfect 35mm nature / outdoor camera, in addition to underwater use.

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The number one question I have is: Will it accept standard Nikon AF lenses?

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Where might I find more info on the web? Thanks.

You are correct Struan, the colors are more visible when looking straight through the polarizer, off camera. They are less noticeable in the viewfinder, and even less on the film, but, they are there. I have had several shots that were wrecked by this. I looked at every circular polarizer in a photo shop here in Kanab, and they all did it to some extent.

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Thanks for the explanation. I will cancel my Tuesday therapy session dealing with hallucinations.

Forgive me for not answering your question, but when I read it, the following thought popped into my head and forced me to type it in the box:

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You might consider the RZ Pro or RZ ProII body instead of the Pro-S or the Pro-SD. Either of them will accept all of the RB and RZ lenses that exist, as far as I know ( not simultaneously of course ). In adition, if you get the RZ Pro II model, or use the Pro II AE finder on the RZ Pro, you will have 1/3 shutter speed increments with the RZ lenses.

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With the Adapter G you can even use RB Pro-S backs on the RZ if you want to. My good friend has been using an RZ for several years and is very happy with it. I think his RZ is taken afield more often than his Hasselblads.

I have seen the rainboe effect that Mike mentioned. Especially in the winter, but this is something different. I am sure there is a reason for it, but I have no idea what that reason might be.

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The "rainbows" are in the filter itself. I can see them move with glass of the filter as I rotate it. I have noticed this in two different circular polarizers, One was a 77mm Hoya, the other a 65mm B&W(?) The distortion has only shown up in circular polarizers. If the distortion happens to be in a lighter area of the image, it shows up on the film. None of my normal pola filters have ever exhibited this strange anomaly.