Whats the lightest 645 camera ever made?

Any ideas for a light useable semi-modern 645?
Thanks!

WolfTales said:

Any ideas for a light useable semi-modern 645?
Thanks!

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I am guessing that one of the modern Fuji folders might fit your needs. These cameras as quite light and compact and give negatives of high optical quality, much better than you would get from the vintage folders.

Sandy King

Bronica 645RF would seem to be another contender.

The lightest 645 ever made? I guess that would be a holga Is 140g light enough? of course then you have to put on 200g of tape and glue to combat the light leaks... :rolleyes:

I would broaden the search to 6x6 folders. I would consider maybe one of the Agfa Isolettes, or maybe one of the Zeiss Ikontas. Or maybe one of the original mamiya-6 folders. There are a whole bunch of 120/220 folders. There seems to be a pretty good list here...

http://www.pibweb.com/ross/Campix/folders.htm

Sandy is right though, if you are looking for a modern, non-folder 645, the fixed-lens Fujis are the probably lightest. Some of the models aren't exactly compact, but they are light and lots of fun. Nice thing about them: they are vertical (portrait orientation) 645s. Some people say they are plasticky, but actually they are very well built and can take some hard knocks.

P.S. I am a big proponent of the mamiya 6 (the modern one) and the body + lens weighs in a just over a kilo... comparable to a Nikon F100 + lens, if that says anything to you. And a 3-lens 6 kit is actually more compact than a typical F100 kit.

P.P.S. The lightest 645 slr that I possess is the mamiya 645 pro, which is considerably lighter than the pentax 645N, IIRC. But there are probably some slightly lighter ones.

Bronica RF645. Amazing camera. Can't seem to say enough good things about it.

brian steinberger said:

Bronica RF645. Amazing camera. Can't seem to say enough good things about it.

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For just a tad more weight, and less money on average, one could buy a Fuji GA645Zi, an auto-exposure, auto-focus camera with a 55-90mm variable focus lens. The quality of the variable focus lens is outstanding, on a par with fixed focus lenses at every one of the focal lengths, which as I recall are 55-65-75-90mm.

These cameras have been selling on ebay for around $500-600 USD.

Sandy King

The bronica ETR is a very small 645, if not one of the lightest, just look at it in comparison to the RB67

The Fuji and the Bronica seem like great little systems. I already work with Mamiya so I'd like to try another company out...

It's too bad they didn't make a little subminiature 645 camera... that would have been neet.

Thanks for the ideas!

WolfTales said:

It's too bad they didn't make a little subminiature 645 camera...

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Closest thing would be a folder, some of them are very compact.

The Fuji wins on small. But the Bronica RF645 is a much nicer camera to use and focus with. A RF645 is the closest thing to a medium format Leica. All three lenses are exceptional. The 100mm is sharp without hashness; good OOF rendering.

I use a Super Ikonta A with coupled rangefinder and tessar lens. Really small - can easily fit into ones pocket - and very usable.

Richard Jepsen said:

The Fuji wins on small. But the Bronica RF645 is a much nicer camera to use and focus with. A RF645 is the closest thing to a medium format Leica. All three lenses are exceptional. The 100mm is sharp without hashness; good OOF rendering.

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"Hashness"??? Have you been celebrating the 40th anniversary of Woodstock?