The Medium Format Family Grows
As mentioned in another blog entry “The World of Medium Format Film”, i managed to get into the medium format world through the Yashica Mat TLR that i found while thrift shopping at my local Salvation Army. This really got me wanting to get an SLR/Rangefinder style medium format camera that would make life easier to shoot with.
You would have seen in other posts about me mentioning the camera i ended up getting, i opted for the Fuji GW690III. I’ve had the Fuji since the 30th of June 2019, reason I’ve decided to finally write a post about it is because I’ve been making an effort to shoot it more. I came across this Youtuber Russell Rabanal who has a bunch of videos with the Fuji GW690III, he’s just so enthusiastic about the camera and how good it is. I have been close to selling this camera recently but he really lit the fire under the Fuji and sparked that interest in me wanting to shoot with it again.
History / Info
The Fuji GW690III was released in 1992 targeting the landscape photographer, i also read that it was marketed at school photographers due to the larger negative producing higher quality images giving more definition to people in larger group shots. If you’ve come across this camera before you have probably heard the nickname its been given, Texas Leica. Everything’s bigger in Texas (so I’m told), it’s basically a big Leica M6, the 6x9 negative is essentially a larger version of the 35mm negative which makes it easy to adapt to the format.
The Specifications
Image Size: 6x9 negatives on 120 (8 exposures), 220 (16 exposures)
Shutter Speeds: 1s – 1/500s plus T-mode. full-stop increments
Aperture: f/3,5 – f/32 half stop increments
Lens: Fixed Lens EBC Fujinon 90mm, F/3.5 (equivalent to 39~41mm on a 35mm camera) , Leaf shutter.
Dimensions: H 119 mm x W 201 mm x D 132 mm
Weight: 1510g
About the Camera
There isn’t much to the camera, the shutter and aperture dials are on the lens itself which also has a built in hood. Of course the focus ring is also on the lens, but besides that there is a spirit level on the top plate, a dial to choose between 120 or 220 film, 2 shutter release buttons (front one has a lock), a shot counter and a hot shoe mount. What makes it so simple is the fact that it’s completely mechanical, no electronics or light meter. This is good and bad, good in that you’re not dependant on old electronics or batteries but bad in that you need to carry a light meter around with you (be it your phone or actual light meter).
The Body
The body is plastic which was probably done to reduce the weight of the camera, otherwise it would have weighed at least 5kgs or more if it was a metal body and panels. Even though its plastic it does still feel solid in the hand, although if your into that super high quality sounding/feeling stuff like Leica etc then the sound of the shutter release, winding the film and opening/closing the back door wont appeal to you :-D.
The Good
The main reasons you buy this camera are for the insanely large format of the negatives it produces and the sharpness of the lens. To put the negative size into perspective its 5 times larger than 35mm size negatives. This is as close as you will come to large format film photography before having to buy a large format camera. The sharpness of the lens even at f3.5 is pretty amazing, I’m yet to use this camera on a tripod to take landscape/cityscape type images but even hand held is amazing.
Why I Chose it
The reason i ended up going for this camera over so many others, was purely due to cost. I would have loved an inter-changeable lens medium format camera like a Mamiya 6/7, or Pentax 67 but the cost of a decent one with a 35mm equivalent focal length lens was way out of my price range. I managed to get my one in mint condition for $750AUD, for what you get for that price i think is pretty amazing. It was hard to find something else similarly spec’d in the same price range.
Cons
There are a few, i wish it had interchangeable lenses. Would be nice to have wider and tighter focal length lenses to switch out. The lack of an internal light meter, having to take out my phone or use another light meter can be a pain at times although it does slow you down which is a good idea when you only get 8 shots from a 120 roll of film (cost per shot shoots up). Lastly my only other issue with the camera is its size, to be honest its the only reason why i hesitate to take it out as often as id like to otherwise i would shoot with it a lot more. I understand why its as big as it is, if it wasn’t it wouldn’t be taking 6x9 sized negatives.
If you like the 39~41mm focal length (35mm equivalent), don’t mind a large camera, want a seriously sharp lens and are looking for large high resolution negatives, the Fuji GW690III is for you.
Enough with the words, here are some of my favourites I’ve taken with it so far.
