Plaubel-Makina-W67-tips and advises

[norm123]

Hi
I'm interested to get a Plaubel-Makina W67. I don't know the brand. I like street, landscape and cityscape photography and travel. Do you have experience with it? I need advise and tips to use it. Why it is so expensive? What's about the lens?

Regards

Normand

 

[RattyMouse]

Hi
I'm interested to get a Plaubel-Makina W67. I don't know the brand. I like street, landscape and cityscape photography and travel. Do you have experience with it? I need advise and tips to use it. Why it is so expensive? What's about the lens?

Regards

Normand

It's expensive because there are not too many of these cameras. The lens is considered very fine and the camera collapses nicely to make it very compact for travel. High demand and low supply means prices are high.

 

[Steve Goldstein]

A very similar camera (120 film, 55mm lens, rangefinder) is the Voigtlander Bessa IIIW, which was also sold under the Fuji brand. Both the Bessa and the Makina you're looking at have 55mm lenses. I don't watch Makina prices much so can't say how they compare, but it's another option to consider.

 

[Trask]

I have a W67, and it is a fine camera, especially for travel as (as RattyMouse noted) it collapses quite flat. I've found the meter (in the viewfinder, not TTL) is quite good. The focusing is a bit unusual as you have to turn a knob on top of the camera concentric with the film advance. It's a camera that merits careful, not necessarily delicate, handling: remember to always set the focus distance at infinity before collapsing the lens, don't release the lens to move forward and then let the lens snap out on its own -- better to manually control it as it extends (there are those who think it's a switchblade).

 

[gijsbert]

It's fine camera indeed, pretty easy to use, the 3 meter leds are less convenient than a shutter speed indicator, but again it's easy to get the hang of it.
Recently I saw a few a bit cheaper than a few years ago, both on ebay and here on apug, and they hold their value pretty well. He he, that's what I tell myself but I can't imagine selling it though
Would love to see a sharpness test for the W67 and the fujifilm gf670w/bessa!

 

[adrianlambert]

I'm on that search too. I received one from a eBay seller the other day. Unfortunatly he hadn't done a very good job of describing it to me and are were some things on it that need attention. I've made enquiries and found that repairs are super expensive and parts in very short supply. Plaubel themselves used to offer a repair service but have now suspended it because it wasn't viable to them. Amazing wonderful camera, but choose carefully.

 

[gijsbert]

May I ask how you know Plaubel's repair service is suspended? Their site still mentions it, although admittedly their site looks like it hasn't been updated the last few decades
Darn, I even said to myself I should send mine in before they stopped doing it, but I found it too expensive and except for the rare few millimetre overlap it works fine.
Had a scare the other day with the meter not working, but it was just the batteries, I think the meter button might have been pressed while I stored the camera.
Anyway, I find them a joy to use, shot a roll with a 67 a few days ago!

 

[adrianlambert]

I emailed them last Friday. They said the services were being suspended and that they were considering outsourcing the repairs. Would have been nice if they'd have put something in place before they suspended the service though. I'm in contact with some repairers in the US as a result but the postage premium isn't small change so it's not ideal.

 

[jbmia]

Check with Frank Marshman for repairs. camerawiz@msn.com Had him CLA a Makina 670 a few weeks ago...

 

[adrianlambert]

Check with Frank Marshman for repairs. camerawiz@msn.com Had him CLA a Makina 670 a few weeks ago...

Thanks, is Frank based in the U.K.?

 

[adrianlambert]

Just googled him. Appears he's in Virginia.