Great Wall on the Great Wall: Shooting with My Great Wall DF

[jacksonwade]

I took my Chinese-made Great Wall DF camera to the Great Wall itself.

The Great Wall DF is a fully mechanical, medium format SLR from China.

Key Features:

· Format: 120 film (6x6).
· Shutter: Unique "flip-flop" shutter. It's a single curtain that drops down from the top. It's loud and has noticeable shake.
· Lens: Standard 90mm f/3.5, 39mm mount.
· Operation: Fully manual, no light meter.

Shooting with it is a slow, hands-on experience. Carrying this special camera on the hike was a workout, but using it in such a historic location was a fitting tribute to its design.

Can't wait to see how the rolls turn out!

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

Never heard of this camera. Would love to see some pics from it.

 

[ntenny]

I didn’t know it was P6 mount. A long time ago, I passed up the opportunity to buy one from a dealer in Xi’an, partly because I didn’t have anything that interoperated with it and I didn’t feel I needed another all-manual one-lens camera. It’d be fun to play with the variety of P6 lenses on it, though. Thanks for posting the shot.

-NT

 

[4season]

I think it was a modernized take on the old German Pilot-6 SLR.

I like the top photo, with the blurred background looking almost impressionistic, what did you shoot it with? It looks vintage digital in an interesting way.

 

[loccdor]

Information online is saying that the mount is a Leica 39mm, and that only one lens was made for it. Have you confirmed that yours mounts Pentacon Six lenses? It seems to be lacking the locking ring of the P6 mount as well.

 

[jacksonwade]

Information online is saying that the mount is a Leica 39mm, and that only one lens was made for it. Have you confirmed that yours mounts Pentacon Six lenses? It seems to be lacking the locking ring of the P6 mount as well.

You're right, I might have been mistaken about its lens mount—I referenced inaccurate information.

 

[jacksonwade]

I might have been mistaken about its lens mount—I referenced inaccurate information.

I didn’t know it was P6 mount. A long time ago, I passed up the opportunity to buy one from a dealer in Xi’an, partly because I didn’t have anything that interoperated with it and I didn’t feel I needed another all-manual one-lens camera. It’d be fun to play with the variety of P6 lenses on it, though. Thanks for posting the shot.

-NT

 

[jacksonwade]

I think it was a modernized take on the old German Pilot-6 SLR.

I like the top photo, with the blurred background looking almost impressionistic, what did you shoot it with? It looks vintage digital in an interesting way.

My mobile phone.

 

[John Wiegerink]

I almost took one in trade when I was doing camera shows years back, but my much wiser and more camera informed friend talked me out of it. Still, I think it's a simple camera that has a lot of potential. Kind of a medium format KISS camera. I want one!

 

[Dwight Anderson]

Here's an in depth review of the camera.

Great Wall DF-3 (1984) - mike eckman dot com https://share.google/BfpszTbHFMLgtuW51

I lent my camera to Mike for the review, if anyone's interested, it's for sale.

 

[MattKing]

Two threads merged into one.
One suggestion - uploading that many large images may work better if you upload them as thumbnails - particularly for those viewing Photrio on a small screen.