Fuji G690 BLP And More Internet Nonsense....
My new toy for today, I had to buy it, not even sure how it turned up in my EB search but it did and now it's here.
I've yet to see a bad review for the Lens and by some accounts the 100mm f3.5 that seems to be its standard lens is by far one of the best for it and it was one of the reasons I impulsely bought it, as it said the lens was clean, a good start.
For a 54 year old Camera it needs some TLC and as you can see it's had a life, the mount ring behind the Focus ring is supposed to be black in colour and the Shutter and Aperture No.s are faded but it works and it has clean glass and that's all that matters.
The Rangfinder needs fettling and the paintwork needs some attention but it would be easy to repaint it and make it look all nice and shiny but that would remove the scars of the beautiful life it has had and will be mostly left as it is, the only thing that bugs me is the frame around the Viewfinder on the front, that will be cleaned upand repainted just as a little cosmetic tart up.
So whats all the nonsense about....
Upon doing a little research I came across some comments about the Camera that reall pissed me off, they were just the opinion of one person but were just silly and I'll show you what I mean:
"Mythology of the Fuji G690BL GL690 GM670"
July 6, 2010. There are some things floating around on the internet that tend to inflame people's imaginations and inflate asking prices for the G series cameras and their lenses (G690, G690BL, GL690, GM670) We'll address each of these categorically. Maybe you can save some money. Maybe this will make your G-lust worse.
1. "I need a 6x7 or 6x9 camera." Yes, you probably need one like you need a hole in your head. Most people should think twice (or more):
- At least up to an 8x10 enlargement, you won't see any difference between a 6x7 or 6x9 camera and a 6x4.5.
- A 6x7 or 6x9 enlarger is about double the size of a 35mm/6x6 dual model.
- There are only 8 to 10 shots per roll of film. If you buy film at B&H and develop/print at A&I, that means your pictures cost $2.00+ apiece. That's a bit of money to drop per frame when it isn't 4x5.
- Even if you develop your own film, it's still $6 for the film and chemicals, which makes for 75 cents a frame - before any prints.
- Not only is the bulk of the camera double that of, say, a GA645, you're also carrying twice as much film for a given number of scenes.
- The 6x9 format (like 35mm) is not a great fit for the sizes of photo paper sold in the United States. If you need a full frame but also need something to overlap with a mat, you get a 6x9" image on 8x10 paper. To get a picture 8" wide (horizontal frame) requires 11x14 paper which costs about a dollar a sheet. To do the same thing with 6x7 only takes an 8x10 sheet.
OK, so lets make it clear and add the corrections:
"Mythology of the Fuji G690BL GL690 GM670"
July 6, 2010. There
are some things floating around on the internet that tend to inflame
people's imaginations and inflate asking prices for the G series cameras
and their lenses (G690, G690BL, GL690, GM670) We'll address each of
these categorically. Maybe you can save some money. Maybe this will
make your G-lust worse.
1. "I need a 6x7 or 6x9 camera." Yes, that's my choice so what has it got to do with you?
- At least up to an 8x10 enlargement, you won't see any difference between a 6x7 or 6x9 camera and a 6x4.5. (So what!}
- A 6x7 or 6x9 enlarger is about double the size of a 35mm/6x6 dual model. (So what!}
-
There are only 8 to 10 shots per roll of film. If you buy film at
B&H and develop/print at A&I, that means your pictures cost
$2.00+ apiece. That's a bit of money to drop per frame when it isn't
4x5. (It's not your money so.....)
- Even if you develop your own film, it's still $6 for
the film and chemicals, which makes for 75 cents a frame - before any
prints.
(It's not your money so.....)
- Not only is the bulk of the camera double that of,
say, a GA645, you're also carrying twice as much film for a given number
of scenes.
(So what!}
- The 6x9 format (like 35mm) is not a great fit
for the sizes of photo paper sold in the United States. If you need a
full frame but also need something to overlap with a mat, you get a 6x9"
image on 8x10 paper. To get a picture 8" wide (horizontal frame)
requires 11x14 paper which costs about a dollar a sheet. To do the same
thing with 6x7 only takes an 8x10 sheet.
(So what! Not everyone lives in the US and have you never heard of composition and or a sharp knife to trim the paper or where does it say it has to be 8" wide.....}
The silly article then goes on about how cheaply made they were....And yet here we are, 54 years later, still working and still producing breathtaking negs/trans as the day it was released.
If you want to try something take NO notice of anyone else, no one, just try it yourself and make up your own mind and the cost of my choices on this occasion was just £100 for the Camera and Lens.