Fuji 690 advice

[mshchem]

680 ◡̈
developing and scanning the first rolls tonight!

I checked out the actual dimensions from Fujica. 6x8 is 56x76mm, 6x9 is 56x82.6mm so not loosing much.

 

[pdccamerqs]

I have a GW690III, easily my favourite camera. I do wish it had a light meter though.

I picked up one of these for my 690 - works and looks nice on the camera:

 

[Craig]

I had thought of one of them, but the reviews seemed to indicate that the accuracy wasn't all that great. I'd be interested to hear your experience with the meter.

 

[mshchem]

I picked up one of these for my 690 - works and looks nice on the camera:

View attachment 338435

Sacrilege! I bought a really nice little Sekonic incident/reflection meter at a junk store for $12, works perfectly.

Camera top reflection meters like this are tricky for sure. Looks cool!

 

[pdccamerqs]

Sacrilege! I bought a really nice little Sekonic incident/reflection meter at a junk store for $12, works perfectly.

Camera top reflection meters like this are tricky for sure. Looks cool!

LOL sacrilegious, I know, I have a couple of very nice handheld meters as well, but sometimes, you just feel lazy! And yes reflected light meters can be tricky - especially ones with fairly narrow angles of acceptance. I usually do the old trick of metering my palm and opening up one stop.

 

[mshchem]

LOL sacrilegious, I know, I have a couple of very nice handheld meters as well, but sometimes, you just feel lazy! And yes reflected light meters can be tricky - especially ones with fairly narrow angles of acceptance. I usually do the old trick of metering my palm and opening up one stop.

The metering off your palm is a good trick. I remember when I moved from a Pentax Spotmatic to a Nikon F2. It was a major transition for me going from averaging to center weighted metering. My Kodachrome slides were all over the place. I got hooked on incident metering, still use for most things. Easy for my simple brain

 

[pdccamerqs]

I had thought of one of them, but the reviews seemed to indicate that the accuracy wasn't all that great. I'd be interested to hear your experience with the meter.

I have had good results, but I also haven't used it in any really challenging lighting conditions. I also meter off the palm of my hand and I am careful to make sure that Ithe light falling on my hand is roughly similar to the light on the subject, than I open up one stop. Finally, I have only had a chance to try it out with B&W HP5+ rated at ISO 320, developed in D-76 for 13 minutes. I print on a Beseler 23CII condenser enlarger - and the exposure/density of the negatives has been consistent and easily printable.Soon I am going to really put the meter through its paces by shooting some slide film. I'll let you know how it works out!

Paul

 

[mshchem]

I have had good results, but I also haven't used it in any really challenging lighting conditions. I also meter off the palm of my hand and I am careful to make sure that Ithe light falling on my hand is roughly similar to the light on the subject, than I open up one stop. Finally, I have only had a chance to try it out with B&W HP5+ rated at ISO 320, developed in D-76 for 13 minutes. I print on a Beseler 23CII condenser enlarger - and the exposure/density of the negatives has been consistent and easily printable.Soon I am going to really put the meter through its paces by shooting some slide film. I'll let you know how it works out!

Paul

Slides are amazing. I have a couple of nice Nikon F5 cameras, I always bracket (use the auto bracketing feature) either 1/3 or 1/2 a stop. These modern type AF SLRs are the only SLR cameras I can use in auto exposure mode. Bracketing isn't necessarily needed to get acceptable shots, but it's nice to have, especially when you use different commercial labs etc.

I would expect given your technique you should get nice transparencies. 6x9 chromes are sweet.

I process my own E6, have since E3/E4 days. You really need to watch 1st developer time/temperature, something you need to do some basic testing.

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'm surprised I apparently haven't already chimed in on this particular thread. I own both a GW690ii and a GW690iii. I keep black and white film in one, color in the other, and regard these as perhaps my smartest camera purchases ever, even if my latest and possibly last ones. There's just a fixed 90mm lens; but the earlier interchangeable lens versions come out darn near as heavy as my Pentax 6X7 comparably equipped, and without anywhere near the same range of lenses, if you even still find them at all. These two camera have a modest amount of bulk, but don't weigh all that much. And they're so ergonomic that their easier for me, with my small hands, to shoot handheld than my NIkon. Great lens. I've had the older one out in some pretty bad weather for days on end. No problems. I pamper the iii one because I bought it nearly new, but still routinely go out and shoot it. The lack of an internal meter is no big deal. I use handheld Pentax spotmeters for everything anyway.

Around the same time as trying to decide about one of these, I had the opportunity to buy a clean demo GF670 at a reasonable price; but it just didn't feel right in my hands, and I was concerned about the scissor and bellows construction out in the weather. I also looked at a very clean M7 6X7 at a reasonable price. But already having a full Pentax 6X7 system, and coveting something with a longer 6X9 rectangle; for less that the sum of money for either of those, I got BOTH an excellent user GW690ii and a mint 300EDIF tele for my P67, which I had long wanted. I feel confident I made the right choice for my needs. Then I made a teak kitchen counter top for someone for the cash to buy the GW690iii (actually made quite a bit more than necessary for that - these Fuji "Texas Leicas" are a comparative bargain).