KEH Camera ratings - help needed

[PHOTOTONE]

It's arrived. I can tell why everything is BGN except the lens which is really immaculate. I don't mind that their BGN is BGN. Everything seems to be in good working order.

So, who has experience with their return policy? This beast is over eight pounds and I don't think it's meant for me.

Any of the 6x7 SLR's are going to be BIG, the Fuji, the Pentax 6x7 or the Mamiya RB. It is really a tripod camera, in my opinion, owning one myself. But you should shoot a test roll thru it before you return it. You may become hooked on the negative size.

 

[jstraw]

Any of the 6x7 SLR's are going to be BIG, the Fuji, the Pentax 6x7 or the Mamiya RB. It is really a tripod camera, in my opinion, owning one myself. But you should shoot a test roll thru it before you return it. You may become hooked on the negative size.

Yep, I'm working my way through a roll.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

Yep, I'm working my way through a roll.

Glad to hear that. I have to chuckle, though, when you talk about the cameras bulk. My 11x14 Eastman 2d view camera is bulky, now. Makes the RB-67 seem like a minature. Seriously many award winning images have been taken with the RB-67 system. I regularly go out with a 4x5 Super Graphic, several dozen film holders and a large group of lenses and shoot all day. That is bulkier also.

Mamiya made a quick-release plate (compatible with Hasselblad) that you could leave on your tripod. The camera then just slides on quickly, and you turn a little lever to lock it down. This saves time in set-up. You could acquire either a Hasselblad or Mamiya QR plate. It is one piece, nothing needs to be affixed to the camera body, as the ledges for the plate are built into the bottom of the camera, just like on a Hasselblad 500 series body. Due to the shutter-lag common to all big SLR's, the Mamiya is not really a "candid" camera. Only leaf-shutter RFDR type medium format cameras have little lag, as they have no big mirror to swing up out of the way. I prefer using the RB with waist level finder, and this takes away quite a bit of bulk and weight. Since it is on a tripod already, a WL finder is not a drawback.

 

[PHOTOTONE]

Oh, forgot to mention. IF you use your RB-67 on a tripod, and you use a cable release, you "CAN" do candids easily. In addition to the shutter release on the camera body, there is a cable release socket on each lens. Around this socket is a two position ring. You lift out to turn. You can set this ring so the tripping of the mirror with the shutter release on the camera body does not fire the lens. When set this way, you pre-trip the mirror on the camera body release, then wait and fire the shutter on the lens with the cable release at the "decisive moment". This also can result in sharper photos in general as it separates the vibration of the mirror trip from the time of exposure.

 

[jstraw]

It's worth noting that I don't think that with a film holder and any of the lenses that I have, am I able to make my 4x5 weigh as much as this RB67 setup I bought.

 

[msuchan]

My first experience with KEH

I read through this forum and decided to buy a lens from KEH instead of going through Ebay. I chose one listed in excellent condition only to put it on my camera and have it only work with the flash attached. Now after factoring in my time and money I will spend on shipping ect., I could have bought a new lens instead of a used one.

 

[Paul Sorensen]

I read through this forum and decided to buy a lens from KEH instead of going through Ebay. I chose one listed in excellent condition only to put it on my camera and have it only work with the flash attached. Now after factoring in my time and money I will spend on shipping ect., I could have bought a new lens instead of a used one.

I am sorry to hear that, I have gotten an item from them that didn't work correctly and they took very good care of me, I strongly suggest giving them a call about it before getting too down on them. They paid return shipping and cross shipped a replacement so I was only out a little bit of time, not any additional shipping cost, either way. If you decide you don't want something that works correctly, such as jstraw and his RB67, then you would pay return shipping. Come to think if it, I also bought a smaller item, a Mamiya 645 Super left hand grip where the electronics didn't work properly and they refunded my money and told me to throw it away rather than return it. They were happy to trust my assessment that it didn't work properly, which I think is impressive.

 

[snegron]

I have shopped at many places in the past few years and I must admit that the best place to shop is at KEH. Recent items I purchased withing the last year were:

A Nikon F body with FTN finder in EX condition. The camera's meter works well, the camera had virtually no dings or scratches except for a dark scratch on the outside of the prism (cosmetic only). The camera still works extremely well.

A Nikon F2A body in EX condition. The only cosmetic imperfection on it was that the small clear window located on top of the viewfinder seemed slightly split, does no affect metering. The camera appears to be in near mint condition.

A Nikon F3HP and MD4 motor drive in EX condition. There was some brassing and the serial number began with 123*** indicating that it was an early production model.The camera works flawlesslyand is with me as my everyday user camera.

A Nikon F3HP in EX condition. I am convinced that they most have made a mistake and sent me a LN- camera instead. I am still examining this body after4 months ans I still can't find any marks on it.

Several Nikon lenses as well:

A Nikon 35mm 2.0 AIS in LN- condition with caps. The lens appeared to be in mint condition. It lives on one of my F3HP's.

A Nikon 24mm 2.8 AIS lens in EX+ condition. It looks and functions as well as the LN- 35 I purchased before.

A Nikon 105mm 2.5 AIS in EX+ condition. Again, almost new, clear, no dust, no marks anywhere.

A Nikon 50mm 1.4 in EX condition. The external metering prong was slightly bent and it made it difficult to mount on my FTN. I ended up replacing the prong with one sent to me by Nick Fagan (a fellow Apuger! Thanks again Nick!). Lens works great.

A 55mm lens for my Mamiya 545 in EX+ condition. This lens looked like it just got out of the box. Truely amazing.

I have purchased a number of miscellanous items as well such as batteries, chargers, AC chargers, caps, new cameras (a Nikon D200), and used digital cameras as well.

The only problem I had with the was with two (forgive the "D" reference) Nikon D1X camera bodies in that appeared to have a small scratch on the sensors. One was in EX+ condition, the other in LN-. They seemed a bit worned to me. I was able to then exchange them for a couple of D1X's in LN condition without a problem. They are in perfect condition. Customer service was very helpful, light years ahead of Adorama and those other New York companies.

p.s. Thanks for reminding me. I need to place another order this week!

 

[jstraw]

Shipped the RB67 back this morning and ordered this:

SQ-A WITH PRISM MEDIUM FORMAT SLR MANUAL FOCUS CAMERA BODY BGN $94.00
120-I BACK BGN $109.00
FIBER STRAP 1.5" BLUE/GOLD WITH HARDWARE STRAP EX $13.00
80 F2.8 PS/B (67) WITH CAPS MEDIUM FORMAT SLR MANUAL FOCUS STANDARD ANGLE LENS EX $133.00
SPEED GRIP S GRIP BGN $69.00

I think I'll be happier with this gear.