Tell me more about the Fuji GW690?

[Roger Cole]

Weight? Ok, the RB is heavier but is it heavier than your 4x5 kit plus holders, etc you need to carry? Probably not. Also, I regularly carry a RB67 handhled around for shooting so don't know why people say it is a studio camera. You can even handhold it down to 1/15 with a 90mm lens, which sounds silly but it can actually be done. It is just different cameras and I can see myself owning both of these as they don't really replace each other.

My main concern would be the aspect ratio. For me the RB is a vertical camera, ie I shoot it in portrait orientation most of the time. It just works for me, I find the rectangular yet nearly square ratio for horizontal to not work as well compared to a 35mm camera. So think of that first and see how it compares to your 4x5 and final prints/images.

The RB is almost certainly way heavier, assuming a 4x5 flat bed. They're monsters compared to a flatbed 4x5 which can be quite small and compact. Really.

Not dissing the RB at all, in fact I've often been tempted to get one and sidestep the hassles of sheet film, but one reason not to is that my 4x5 kit even with darkcloth etc. can be a lot lighter than any comparable RB kit.

 

[Roger Cole]

Any reason that you didn't get 120 roll film adapters for your 4x5 and start shooting roll film this way?

One of the big differences I find when moving from camera to camera is the viewing system. It really affects how I compose, interact, etc. The 4x5 ground glass is a very specific way of composing, and the manner of shooting is very specific, i.e. slow and deliberate. A rangefinder, of any size, is a whole different game. You are not looking at a flat image. You are looking through, with a sort-of framing system of white lines. And then the Mamiya has the ground glass, but it is SMALL compared to 4x5. There are magnifiers, right angle finders, and such to overcome this.

I used a GW690 for a year or so. I first bought it as a simple 'view camera' for landscapes and such. I found that the lack of ground glass really through me off and that I wasn't really able to 'see' the image I was composing in the way I wanted. So I then used it as I would my favorite camera, a Rolleiflex TLR- slower street and urban landscape work. It was wonderful in its way- quick handling and framing, nice rangefinder, as good a framing as I need for that type of work. But for street work it was noisy as all get out, and the 8-frame thing became too cramped, so I went back to the Leica or Rollei. For urban landscape work, it was a little too sloppy since I didn't like it on a tripod but it was fun and great to carry all day, and the negatives are fantastic.

Did I mention how beautiful the negatives are from the Fuji?

I use a RF holder sometimes with my 4x5, mainly for color, but it has its limits. I find the smaller area makes using movements more difficult (but not impossible, which they would be on an RB barring a shift or tilt/shift lens!) and, more importantly, there are problems with lenses. My shortest lens for my 4x5 is a 90mm, which is wide on 4x5 but normal on 6x7. To use anything shorter I'd have to buy the lens and then deal with a very compacted bellows. Of course some cameras can take a bag bellows but that's another thing to buy and then to swap.

I find the RF back useful, but not a substitute for a MF camera. YMMV though.

 

[scapevision]

Revisited by Scapevision, on Flickr

The GW690 is brilliant for hiking and taking landscape shots without major filter use (polariser gets a bit tricky, but doable, grads are even worse).
I love having it hanging on my shoulder (wouldn't do the same with RB, but I never had one). The results you can get from 6x9 + modern lens coatings is simply making it all worth it. I think you'll love it due to its small weight and well ruggedized body.