Loved it when it was new, but that was in the 1990s, and I figure it's designers expected it to have a useful life of 5-7 years tops. IMO, some of the very qualities which made them so appealing when new (light weight, great set of features) came at the expense of longevity.What does everyone think of the Fuji GA 645. It looks like a great camera and I was thinking about picking one up before vacation next month!
Loved it when it was new, but that was in the 1990s, and I figure it's designers expected it to have a useful life of 5-7 years tops. IMO, some of the very qualities which made them so appealing when new (light weight, great set of features) came at the expense of longevity.
GA is electronic which might be what you are looking for to have a PnS. I opted for the older GS with its perfect 75mm which is a wonderful camera. Foldable lens makes it super compact, but bellows can have light leaks. There is a version with a 60mm which has a bull-bar instead of the collapsible lens and no bellows. The Wide version with its 45mm has no coupled rangefinder so you need to use zone-focusing. I would pretty much recommend one of these older, mechanical cameras over having nightmares with failing electronics …
GA is electronic which might be what you are looking for to have a PnS. I opted for the older GS with its perfect 75mm which is a wonderful camera. Foldable lens makes it super compact, but bellows can have light leaks. There is a version with a 60mm which has a bull-bar instead of the collapsible lens and no bellows. The Wide version with its 45mm has no coupled rangefinder so you need to use zone-focusing. I would pretty much recommend one of these older, mechanical cameras over having nightmares with failing electronics …
What does everyone think of the Fuji GA 645. It looks like a great camera and I was thinking about picking one up before vacation next month!
Would love the hear what the consensus is
I have a Zi I really, really like. I would imagine the 645 is decent in its own right assuming everything is working properly.
Point Of Order: You NEVER go on vacation with untested camera equipment, or at least only untested cameras. I have seen/heard many horror stories of one-in-a-lifetime images lost to failed cameras, meters, old film batches, inoperable lenses and so forth because someone went on a trip w/o checking them first.
I use two GA series cameras - GA645 with EBC Fujinon 60mm f/4 and the GA645Wi with the 45 mm f/4 lens.
Both are still working flawlessly though they are not pampered.
I had the GAZi 645 too (with a zoom lens) but it has electronic failures.
AF is pretty slow and noisy but precise - just like exposure metering is. Lenses are tack sharp.
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I have the standard GA645 and the one with the wide lens. Both bought used 22 and 20 years ago*. Never had a problem.
The only fault they have, they do not focus precise at short distances (up to 3-4 meters). You still can use them for portrait but have to remember to look which distance it displays in the finder. If it is unreasonable long, try again, maybe the AF finds the correct distance. If not, you can (kinda) focus manually. The problem is, at longer distances the AF is precise, so you forget to check every time and will have some malfocused close range pictures.
* After reading the extensive, to the point, excellent review on the old (black background) Fred Miranda site. I only regret, being a purist back then, not having bought the zoom version too.
I have the standard GA645 and the one with the wide lens. Both bought used 22 and 20 years ago*. Never had a problem.
The only fault they have, they do not focus precise at short distances (up to 3-4 meters). You still can use them for portrait but have to remember to look which distance it displays in the finder. If it is unreasonable long, try again, maybe the AF finds the correct distance. If not, you can (kinda) focus manually. The problem is, at longer distances the AF is precise, so you forget to check every time and will have some malfocused close range pictures.
* After reading the extensive, to the point, excellent review on the old (black background) Fred Miranda site. I only regret, being a purist back then, not having bought the zoom version too.
* After reading the extensive, to the point, excellent review on the old (black background) Fred Miranda site. I only regret, being a purist back then, not having bought the zoom version too.
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