Fujica G690BL / Texas Leica - First Impressions
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
- I decided to give the Fujica G690BL (aka the Texas Leica) a go and went on an excursion to Seal Island to try it out! I put a roll of Fuji Reala and a roll of Portra 400 through the camera, and these are my first impressions.
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Big thanks to David for helping me make this, check him out @shootfilm_cpt
#filmphotography
Reference for G690 info; camera-wiki.org/wiki/Fujica_G6...
The g690 camera body looks like ah vhs tape n i cant unsee it haha
Dang it kind of does hey, and pretty much the exact same size just a bunch heavier haha
omg lol
I love how knowledgeable you are about cameras! ❤. It's an adventure and an education all in one. 🎉😊
I hope it wasn’t too tech heavy haha! Glad you enjoyed the adventure!
The shots of the Sentinel around 8.10 are really lekker. I remember shooting a story about 2 divers for Fair Lady magazine, close to the Sentinel, using my Mamiya 645 Pro TL. I got so seasick sitting in the boat waiting for the divers to finish, so I totally understand the dizziness! I was almost to afraid to swop backs 😂
first
Edit: 5:55 should've been a photo, also love that you kept the information about the seals uncut, nice to learn something new :)
Nicely done!
🐐
While fuji fans are excited about the new Reala Ace film sim, this guy is shooting the real deal
Hahah gotta roll with the originals out here!
My favorite "Texas Leica" is the GW680iii, since 4:3 is my preferred ratio. The mk III has better coatings, with a built-in lens hood. The GW also weighs 40% less than it's older sibling. I used a light blue flash gel to cover the viewfinder window, which has a dramatic impact on the rangefinder patch contrast.
My 'holy trinity' of mechanical MF cameras is the GW, the Hartblei 88 (aka a brand new Kiev 88), and the Mamiya C220. The Hartblei has a 645 back and a 45-degree metered prism, and I use the same prism with an adapter on my C220. I actually prefer the Hartblei vs the Hassie. Why? Because the lenses have closer MFD 😊 All of these are decently portable too. The RB and even RZ were too big for me.
I've actually never tried 6x8, maybe it'd be a nice in-between for the 6x7 vs 6x9 dilemma haha! What an excellent idea for a gel to cover the viewfinder window for increased contrast too, I'll definitely keep that in mind for when a situation arises where that'd be useful!
Your holy trinity is an excellent selection! Especially since they're all quite nicely priced as opposed to some of the more insane offerings haha. A closer minimum focus is also an excellent reason to prefer the Hartblei, I reckon that'd do it for me too, although those Hasselblad CFE lenses are kind of other worldly.
Wow, I think this is my first time seeing Reala. Fujifilm committed a crime by stopping production of that stock.
It's something else hey! Really enjoyed how matter of fact the rendering was in a lot of scenarios, very clean and clear. It scanned nicely on the imacon too as opposed to something like pro400h which is always a nightmare.
great video willy, there were some real bangers!
Once again, interesting and lots to learn! Some lovely photos too. Love the diversity in your work. Look forward to the next one! 🥰
I agree with you about the portability of the RB over the Fujica for travel.
I also found the Fujica rather unwieldy. It’s T-shape, heavy long lens connected to a lighter, wide square body made it difficult to carry, use, and pack.
I also agree with you about the aspect ratio. The 6x9 negative always made me think I was looking at an image made on a 35mm camera.
I love my 35mm rangefinders and had hoped I could have kept the BL as my only medium format camera, so I would be rangefinder consistent, but it was so slow and cumbersome to focus (both Rf patch and lens focus throw), it didn’t do what I wanted of it.
The idea of the camera is a great one. I just wish it’s implementation was better.
Love the video, love the seals 🌞🌞🌞
In case you ever come to Berlin I am happy to lend you my GM670 🌸💮🏵
I'd originally written a much more eloquent version of this comment but I think it got lost somewhere,
These days I mostly use this camera with 35 mm film as a much cheaper version of an X-Pan. It's a little jank but there are some pretty good guides online for how to use it that way. It's pretty fun and a 1x3 format is pretty cool to work with
Completely agree about the ergonomics though
Enjoyed the video and photography...nice first impressions view of the 6x8 Fujica!
Thanks Steve! Appreciate it!
Once again. Music selection man, incredible track.
Colors, framing, use of flash. Top tier stuff my friend!
Many thanks Degen! I decided to go full lofi for like the first time with that one track haha, I see the appeal of it now it flowed so easily with things! Glad to hear you enjoyed the images too!
I love my copy!
I have both the GL690 & GM670, and I’m about to sell the GM. I was able to procure a Mamiya 7 for a stupid great price so one has to go and I also have mixed feelings on 6x9; but I like the GL to much to sell it.
There are 5 lenses for the system and they are all rangefinder coupled. All but the 100 & 150 need an external viewfinder for composition, but all function great. The 50 is a pain to shoot with its hood on, the 65 (both f8 & f5.6) is a stellar lens all around, the 100 is stupid simple, the 150 is solid but I under use it, and the 180 will make your wrists feel it, but damn if all the lenses don’t produce fantastic results.
On repairability: the light certain spring & cable can and will go loose (looks like yours is already loosening) and then break, leading to a situation where you can’t change lenses. I’ve done some light looking here in the states (where I’m located) and I have a few leads. Can’t vouch for Capetown or South Africa as a whole. Good luck with your Capetown Leica!
Ah so awesome that you've got such a great selection of the lenses! Well done on your Mamiya 7 score haha! Thanks for the insight on the light curtain spring and cable, I wondered about it's slow return towards the end there haha. Not being able to change lenses would be less than ideal - I'll be sure to let David know, he lent it to me for this video! I doubt there are dedicated repair folks for them around here as they don't pop up particularly often, but there's a Pentax 67 guy who might have a somewhat informed ability to tinker with dodgy springs and such haha! Thanks so much again for the insights!
@@willysheepskin Sendeans in Shoreditch, London know how to deal with these cameras and their lenses.
That camera's a beast! Lovely shots Will, well done!
great stuff as always
Thank you kindly!
loved the video, and the shot of the man in front of the boat! hope all is well, excited to watch the roadtrip shoots when they come.
Thank you Amdahl! All is very well this side, hope the same for you! That shot of the man in front of the boat is my favorite from this video for sure, the Reala also rendered spectacularly in it! I'm hoping the roadtrip will result in my favorite images to date!
thank you for the valuable insight
You are most welcome! Thanks for watching!
CAPETOWN LEICA !!!
Ahah new name alert!
Lovely stuff man, been enjoying the consistency lately. Im with you with you 6x9 vs the 6x7. Often 6x9 just looks like too much in the frame for me. So stoked for this roadtrip business. Cant wait to see what you see. #sheepsquad
Cheers king Asher of Rivendell! Glad to hear someone else shares my opinion on the 6x9 business haha, the 8 frame situation also kind of freaked me out which is something I forgot to mention lol, painfully low hit-rate haha! I'm froooothing to head on this trip, early June I take on the world!
@@willysheepskin A guy I follow on insta takes insane travel shots on 6x9 and i love them but atill always think I wish it was a different ratio.
This will be amazing man, you been keen for a trip like this for so long.
Thanks for sharing this adventure Will. I’m struck by the similarities between what I saw in you experience in this video and trips here in Alaska. So far away, and so many commonalities. That camera is interesting, but I agree with you-6x9 isn’t preferable. Great to see you again. Enjoy your upcoming adventure. Cheers!
Hi Will, have you tried any folder cameras? Speaking of something travel friendly folders could be a good choice, some of them also has coupled rangefinder. Just shoot my first roll with soviet Iskra, quite cumbersome to use, but I like how compact it is, though I didn't yet get results from lab.
i love my Fujifilm gw690III....this medium format line is so good.
They seem like excellent cameras! I just wish I liked 6x9 as an aspect ratio haha
@@willysheepskin the field of view is almost like anamorphic, fixed focal length but wider on the edges. Surprisingly good for portraits! Try shooting some with it!
I completely hear you on weight vs. balance. I have an Instax Mini back for my RB67 that is incredibly light, and when it's mounted my RB becomes tremendously front-heavy.
Great video!
I have the GW690 and while it is a nice camera it isn’t my favorite to use. The rangefinder doesn’t seem all that bright but I’ve never had a real issue with focusing unless the light is very dim. Still the images from using it with E100 slide film is just spectacular and to my mind it is perfect for slides. Not sure about your version but in the GW series the winder is the weakest link. My tech told me that you shouldn’t use the winder lever like you would with any 35mm or Leica. Slower pulls and don’t let it snap back but slow it with your thumb. Also never trust the counter on the bottom plate because it is very easy to roll back when the bottom plate is off.
Yeah I've had a think and I reckon the movement of the boat might've been the determining factor in the blur I had in some of the images - although it really didn't feel rough enough to blur 1/500 haha! Excellent advice regarding the winder, I try to be delicate with them in general since my Mam7 has a very delicate one too, didn't actually keep your advice in mind when using this but I sure will now if I ever revisit it! Cheers Bob!
Off topic a bit but I just got 5 rolls of Kodak Vision 3 500T in 135. Have you ever used any of the motion picture emulsions that have been rerolled for picture photography. Cost per roll is way under anything other than the 100 ISO film. Of course processing is another story as there are very few places that will do ECN2 processing and I’m not really set up to do it myself
Vibey vid sir!!
WILLY!!
PAIIIIIN!
From the imaging and description of the viewfinder, I suspect that the camera needs to be opened on top and the viewfinder optics cleaned. His described softness, which is provably a little flare, is a hallmark of old rangefinder cameras in general. Ordinarily, the camera's viewfinder is described as exceptionally clear and bright. I'll second Will's disquiet of the 6x9cm format. Growing up printing from 35mm format negatives, I cropped most of them to the equivalent of a 6x7cm format, the rest being waste. 6x7cm format was introduced particularly over this issue. The G690 had 6 interchangeable lenses, with some variation among them, in addition. However, here in the US, we rarely saw them apart from the standard 100mm and the wide 65mm, so that's really a non-feature. Any number of times over the years I shopped for the later GW series models, in the 6x8cm format just to be contrary, but I never identified enough need to justify the price, given alternatives I already owned.
Ahh that makes complete sense! I'll relay that to David since he's always keen on tinkering with his cameras. Glad to hear my thoughts on 6x9 aren't too far out haha! Very interesting to hear that the 100mm and 65mm were the main two you got out there, I'd love to try it out with a 65mm but even those are apparently very tricky to get ahold of around here. Thanks so much for the lovely insights Randall!
@@willysheepskin If the owner decides to clean the rangefinder optics as a DIY project, please remind him that there are going to be one or two semi-transparent mirrors or prism surfaces. These are commonly "first surface" mirrors coatings (the reflective coating applied to the surface of the supporting substrate with no protection), quite soft and easily scratched or rubbed off. There would likely be no coming back from cleaning those surfaces with a Q-Tip and some rubbing alcohol. Look to a general camera repair manual for technique.
Love the music!
I'm glad to hear it!
Do you do something with texture when editing your photos? i always feel like your color landscapes have this very defined but fine grain, that looks nothing like what I get from my film shots. Your photos somehow look like they've been printed on sandpaper (in the best way possible).
I don't do anything special to em! The texture is just the Imacon magic I reckon, nice and sharp to the grain every time haha, glad you enjoy it though!
I have the Fuji gsw690 iii and I love it, I do agree with the weight being a lil too much especially with a strap, but the overall con is the expensive 8 frames you get, in which most of the time you only enjoy 1 or 2 shots per roll. Still the lifespan and the crisp shots justifies to keep it around.
Quality Quality 🤌♥️
Fuji and Mamiya made the most interesting/weirdest film bodies
They really did hey! Although something like the Konica Omega Rapid is pretty weird and interesting and in the same vein as these cameras haha, still keen to give it a go sometime
My favorite medium format camera is the Linhof Super Technika IV with the 53mm Biogon and 100mm Planar. It’s a heavy system but very versatile, HOWEVER, having an accurate rangefinder to focus but no parallax correction (it kind of has a manual one on the eyepiece but it’s not the best) makes it so much harder to use…
I'd love to watch and hear your thoughts on the Plaubel Makina 67
I think I know someone that has one and would love to give it a go - watch this space haha!
You got some nice photographs, I especially liked your flash images. With the TLA flash and a non-Contax camera, do you just use the Guide Number to arrive at exposures with that flash? Greetings from California.
-Hernando
Ayyyy the man with the Nikon camera finally has a name! Cheers Hernando! I use the TLA on pretty much every camera I can get it to work on, and since it's just one mega power output across the board I can kind of tell the aperture needed depending on distance from the subject at this point. If theres a close up I'm not sure on aperture for though I'll break out the Sekonic L308 and meter with it. Around 3-4 feet away and you have to be at like F32 on the RB haha! Really love it for how powerful it is
Thanks. No substitute for getting to know your film. I’ll keep playing with mine…
Do you have any advice for someone getting back into photography or just getting into it in general. I have this wonderful camera at home, but I genuinely don't really know where to start, I want to have a sense of direction. Thank you for all your informative and awesome videos!!!
I think the way I got into developing a feel for things early on and having somewhat of a sense of direction before everything sort of lined up was starting small photo series! Just deciding to notice things like repeating colors can be a good start, or like your countries flag displayed in places, cus once you start looking things start popping up everywhere. And then once you've got a little series going you can look over it and see what worked and what didn't and carry those ideas forward until they manifest themselves in photos you make in general. Then the photos can start to be about the ideas that led to the making of them as opposed to just making for the sake of making, and the lessons you've learnt along the way will end up carrying over into every image. At least that's the way I think things turned out looking back on it haha! Hope that helped, so glad you enjoy the videos!
Dope vid Will💯 surprised to hear that the RB is actually more comfortable than this! And that viewfinder is quite the tunnel🥴 The lens renders beautifully though, Fuji really has some magic to it🤌🏻 and that Reala was the cherry on top man🍒 Enjoy your trip, homes🏕
Cheers AJ! I dunno maybe my stance on the RB is just informed by years of rolling with it haha, but it really does feel much better to me! Glad you enjoyed the Reala!
Whooah you photographed a floating hat on the boat!! I've always been curious about the GW680... like Fuji really made a 67, 69 AND 68 format?!
Thanks for a really good video, both for the accurate description of this camera and also for the great shooting location. I have used 35mm film cameras for decades, plus from time to time, a 6 x 6cm TLR and more lately DSLRs also. In many ways I prefer film to digital, for all the usual and well rehearsed arguments, but have never been enthralled by the actual image sharpness of 35mm nor even 6 x 6 cm. So, a few weeks ago I decided to go the whole hog and purchase a GL690 plus the 65, 100 and 180mm lenses which, after much due diligence, I managed to find in near mint condition. The idea was to go for the biggest possible negative that 120 film can offer in pursuit of maximum resolution across the frame. I personally like the 3:2 aspect ratio, especially as it comes the closest of the 120 formats to fitting onto a modern computer screen. I have only shot 6 rolls so far (mainly Kodak Gold 200) but, from the very first photo, I have been knocked out by the fact that the images can be displayed at A2+ size without grain being visible. Added to that, all three lenses are super sharp from edge to edge, have no noticeable chromatic aberration and render detail in a lovely way. My own tests, comparing full 35 mm images to ones cropped from a 36 Megapixel DSLR, indicate that a 35 mm negative provides image quality equivalent to around 4 megapixels. This typically means that they can only be displayed or printed at up to A4 size before the grain is visible. With 6 x 9 cm, the negative is 5.5 times bigger in area and so provides, in effect, 22 Mp resolution. Hence the comment about A2+ size above. 22 Mp is comparable to the majority of modern digital cameras sold and the results from the GL690 certainly stand comparison with such. Obviously, to get the best from this 50 year old gear requires it to be in good condition throughout and therefore a professional CLA of the body and lenses is to be recommended - which should result in an improved viewfinder/rangefinder experience, by the way. Also recommended is downloading the .pdf of the user manual which someone has kindly put online. Without studying this, it is easy to get messed up because of the various interlocks in the camera body. Once mastered, I have found the GL690 to be a practical walk-about camera and one which, because of its smooth operation (i.e. no moving mirror or focal-plane shutter) and weight, is easy to use hand-held in decent light without camera shake issues. Actually, the weight is not too bad, being around 2 kg with a lens fitted. This is similar to my D810 plus a 24-120mm zoom and significantly lighter than 6 x 7 cm SLRs. So, hopefully, you will warm to your G690 in due course. I think that it is one of the all-time great film cameras and would take it over most of the other usual suspects any time.
Thank you so much for your thorough insights Michael! Really useful info for folks looking to get into it with a warming to the aspect ratio! I thankfully did read through the manual before taking it out, cus I'm certain I would've got caught up on some of it's intricacies if I hadn't haha! Thankfully my experience with the RB system has made me wary of interlocks and not forcing things. I hope your G690 brings you many more glorious images and experiences, and I'm very glad that you enjoyed the location choice!
You make great videos
Thank you so so much Jason! Really appreciate the compliment!
Hi Will, Justin here! Great video, rb rules! Have you got the rb hand grip?
Thanks for the content again Will! What did you shoot video at 4:55 with?
You are most welcome Etienne! It's one of Davids old handycams with a fisheye adapter, will get the model for you and reply back here!
It's a "Sony Handycam DCR-DVD108". Not the catchiest name ahah, but it has the DVC vibe without the headache of tapes! Main reason my tape DV cams are sitting around currently is they all have tape head issues, but Davids actually said he has a mate that might be able to fix my VX2100e for me so I'm going to be looking into that since it's the greatest Mini DV cam ever made haha!
@@willysheepskin INCROYABLE!!! Merci for the details!!
masayoshi takanka vibes on da boat
Good stuff! I love my G690BL, and go between that and my RB67 for nearly everything I shoot. Having used it about as much as the RB, the Fujica has gotten to the point where it’s more my walkaround choice while I grab my RB for sessions where I’m likely to use a tripod. I actually like the 6x9 because of the versatility. I do usually crop images from either camera to 4:5, but some scenes do benefit from the more expansive compositions 6x9 gives. It’s kind of my “no matter what” camera, where I can crop square, 4:5, simulated ‘Tex-Pan’ (hell, I can even engage in a little digital forbidden magic to stitch two frames into effective 6x17 with the spare centimeter of crossover), or leave uncropped as needed if I know elements might be fleeting and the opportunity to meet the scene is worth more to me than some lost film surface. I do wish I could find a wider lens though-I hear you on the balance of the 100. You were fortunate to get one with a working curtain - mine was removed, which I hear is common since they are often the first thing to fail on these otherwise everlasting tanks.
That sounds like an excellent way to make use of it, you've kind of hacked the format to suit your needs haha! The 6x17 forbidden magic sounds like it'd be awesome to be honest. A wider lens would have been my chief request for this maneuver, but they're prohibitively expensive when they do show up apparently so one would have to be really dedicated to the system to justify picking one up haha! Super interesting to hear about the curtain, I had no idea about that actually, although it makes total sense since it's my main fear in my Mamiya 7 even haha, the mechanism just feels like something thats prone to failure
I have one of these and I always get a 6x7 shot with dead space.
Yeeep that's pretty much how I felt about most of these haha!
@@willysheepskin I ended up getting a Mamiya 7 for EDC.
Do you hand print your images? Or is a negative scan?
Negative scanned on my Imacon 343, although with bodies of images where I want a particular look I'll go make some hand prints of certain frames to use as color reference for the negative scans. Someday I'll make a video sharing the hand prints of things haha, the look differs quite a lot sometime from where I end up with the final scans though!
@@willysheepskin On the other hand, you should totally make a video on how to scan a negative and post-production of the negative scans. Because I've never had this doubt. I watched every “film photography” video on the internet. Usually, you can tell that those 500 images for a CZcams video are scanned not printed. But yours are hard to tell.
lets fucking goooooooooo
Whooooooo!
This one is sought after by landscape photographers.
6x9 gives you shocking amount of detail and fuji lens are top notch.
Portability, compactness and ease of use aren't it's advantages for sure...
I reckon if I revisit it I'll treat it like the RB and chuck it on a tripod with a cable release haha, things would doubtlessly look spectacular then!
With which resolution do you scan? I suspect that a scan can easily have 100 MP, or more. The maximum print size at 300 dpi must be huge.@@willysheepskin
haha yes, 6x9 just doesn 't feel like medium format.
It's weird though cus I feel like when you go wider than that again things start to feel like they make sense, 6x9 specifically just doesn't do it for me haha!
looking shmexy mr willy
Thank you lovely Jono for creating fit Will!
Well, you made about dozen good arguments there, I give you that ... but isn't the name "Texas Leica" just badass? :D
Ahah I must say it is very badass indeed, and the camera is very cool in many ways, just has a couple of quirks that don't work for me, mainly the 6x9 haha!
Sheepskin X Seacow
Was keeping an eye out for my friend Larry!
Fujifilm has nothing to do with Texas and Leica.