Fuji GW690 with real "B" setting

[Bruce Butterfield]

I saw this on eBay and had to snag it -- I'd been looking for a GW690II for a while but I like to do some low-light photography and I wasn't crazy about the bizarre T shutter behavior on the camera (you have to move the shutter or aperture setting to close the shutter during exposure.) Took a bit of a gamble since I only found one reference to the existence of a real B setting on early versions of this model. Turns out to be true, behaves like a real B (closes when shutter is released.) Yay! Can't wait to try this beast out! It's in apparently excellent condition; lens is gorgeous and mechanicals seem fine. Think I lucked out. Certainly a better camera than I am a photographer.

 

[250swb]

(you have to move the shutter or aperture setting to close the shutter during exposure.)

No, not really, you just put the lens cap on and advance the film. Given you are making a long exposure anyway quickly capping the lens is something many large format users know about already and it makes no difference to the actual exposure. It does help if you aren't using fancy after-market cut-out lens hoods though which create a problem in finding the solution.

 

[Bruce Butterfield]

Sure, each to his own. One could also use a bowler hat to cover the lens without touching the camera just like the old days. I just find it interesting that Fuji seems to have screwed up an otherwise perfectly fine design -- maybe I'll discover that this shutter is more delicate or less accurate than later "T" shutters.

In any case with this camera I can use any lens hood I want (another advantage over subsequent models!) and I don't have to own a hat to use it! Win-win!

 

[Bruce Butterfield]

And yes, I meant "advance the film" instead of "adjust the aperture" in my original post. Mea culpa.