Good review. I just received a mint condition GL690 with a 50 and a 100mm and having so much fun shooting with it. It checks all boxes: portable, great focal, as solid as a tank, reliable. Greatly underrated cameras.
The GL690 is the origin model of this series of cameras. Relative to later, fixed lens models, it presented the following limitations: (1) There were some weaknesses in the internal design which lead to mechanical failures, mostly shutter related. Today, repair parts are nonexistent. (2) Very few were sold outside Japan. Finding a decent one today could be quite a snipe hunt. (3) A number of lenses were offered for the camera. However, low sales of the body meant that lens sales were also few. Most compatible lenses are impossible to find. Some were offered but never marketed outside Japan. A couple of the late lenses had electronic functions, which were unreliable. All of these problems are probably why Fuji ditched that model in favor of a more basic, fixed lens camera with impeccable, fixed optics. The lenses for the G/GL690 series were so rare that they never got a published report as far as I know, but It is rumored that some of them reappeared much later, fitted for its last studio MF camera, the GX680. Back in the late 1970s, I was looking for my first medium format camera system, and I took a long, hard look at the GL690. 35 years ago, I passed on it as buying into unsupported, expensive headaches with lenses which even then were practically impossible to find at any price.
Great discussion of his reasoning in acquiring this fixed lens, medium format camera to compliment his other equipment. Thankfully, not one more of those videos about "here's the aperture ring; here's the focus ring, etc." In the past, I looked long and hard at the line of Fuji GW690 and related models, but I never acquired one because I have several alternatives and know that I'd probably never really use it. One consideration not mentioned is the choice of format offered for this camera, which I believe is unique. Both this camera and its wide angle lensed brothers were made in three formats 6x9 (as here), 6x8 and 6x7cm. After printing 35mm for decades with its 2x3 format dimensions, I know that I almost never use the full length of the long side of the frame, one of the reasons I moved "up" to MF. Since I have all of the 6x7cm format I'd ever need, if I were to buy one of these, I'd be contrarian and shop the 6x8cm version, which commonly prices a bit cheaper because most folks think the format is odd or foreign..
Thanks for sharing your reasons for buying your Fuji GW690II. For general subjects, I shoot a 6x7cm medium format Fuji rangefinder with a fixed 90mm f/3.5 normal lens. For landscapes and architecture, I shoot with a 6x9cm medium format Fuji rangefinder with a fixed 65mm f/5.6 wide-angle lens. Love these two cameras when I need image quality that is higher than my small format 35mm cameras can deliver and/or I need to carry cameras that are smaller and lighter in weight than my 4x5 inch large format view camera.
I didn't find an affordable GW690ii until I stopped looking. I contacted a FBM seller just minutes after they listed one and scored mine for just $120. I has a few scuffs on the body and the finder needed a good cleaning, but the lens is perfect and the shutter count is low. Such a fun camera and those big negatives are a joy to print.
Nice commentary on your reasoning. I too have a full ETRSi kit and then sprung for a GW680 (yeah, the weird middle child) for much the same reason. I also never used a rangefinder before and wanted to try it. GAS can be fun!
thanks for your opinions,, I appreciate them, but I would like to ask you if the focus is easy to get due to the rangefinder?... is it good quality for detailed objects like leave trees as much as a face in a portrait? thx
I am seriously considering a GW690 but I will more likely sell some of my other camera equipment to offset the cost of the GW690. UPDATE - I bought a GW690II on ebay from a seller in Japan. The camera arrived this week and is in very good condition thought there's a little haze in the viewfinder. I shot a test roll of Fujifilm 100 color that the seller included with the camera. I hope to get those negatives this week. I used a tripod for all my test shots along with a shutter release cable to ensure complete sharpness of the pics.
@@jasosik I contacted the seller in Japan and explained the haze and dust. She immediately offered a full refund. I refused the refund because the camera is in such great condition nearly NIB in appearance and in performance. I tried to get the camera cleaned here in the US but the pirates wanted nearly as much as what I paid for the camera. So asked the seller if I sent the camera back to Japan if she could get it cleaned. Two weeks later she emailed me though eBay and told me that Fujifilm service center where she lives would take care of it. I sent it back after she paid for the return shipping to Japan. She paid not only paid for the shipping back to Japan and for the return shipping to me as well as the cleaning. The service center cleaned and recalibrated the viewfinder, cleaned the lens and replaced the light seals and charged $75USD. I got the camera back a week after she got it back from the service center and it is now nearly flawless. I now keep the camera sealed in a zip lock bag when I am not using it as I do all of my other cameras. To answer your question yes the images came out clear and sharp. This is the third camera I bought from Japan and each sale was stress free and exactly as described.
My subscription is made. One comment on use of the GW690II with a 35mm adaption for panorama shooting. With no physical film gate to support the edges of the film as it crosses the medium format gate, I would expect enough film curvature along the top and bottom of the film edges to make for some pretty gross out of focus results. If you try this panorama shooting, you might post some results with this potential problem in mind.
i find 4x5 cheaper. you just wont waste your shots on things that arent amazing. sometimes I go out to take photos, and i setup, wait for an hour for the sun to go to a certain spot, and clouds roll in. I dont take a photo, I try again another day, if you can change your mindset about film. you will find 4x5 incredible
Good review. I just received a mint condition GL690 with a 50 and a 100mm and having so much fun shooting with it. It checks all boxes: portable, great focal, as solid as a tank, reliable. Greatly underrated cameras.
The GL690 is the origin model of this series of cameras. Relative to later, fixed lens models, it presented the following limitations: (1) There were some weaknesses in the internal design which lead to mechanical failures, mostly shutter related. Today, repair parts are nonexistent. (2) Very few were sold outside Japan. Finding a decent one today could be quite a snipe hunt. (3) A number of lenses were offered for the camera. However, low sales of the body meant that lens sales were also few. Most compatible lenses are impossible to find. Some were offered but never marketed outside Japan. A couple of the late lenses had electronic functions, which were unreliable. All of these problems are probably why Fuji ditched that model in favor of a more basic, fixed lens camera with impeccable, fixed optics. The lenses for the G/GL690 series were so rare that they never got a published report as far as I know, but It is rumored that some of them reappeared much later, fitted for its last studio MF camera, the GX680. Back in the late 1970s, I was looking for my first medium format camera system, and I took a long, hard look at the GL690. 35 years ago, I passed on it as buying into unsupported, expensive headaches with lenses which even then were practically impossible to find at any price.
Great discussion of his reasoning in acquiring this fixed lens, medium format camera to compliment his other equipment. Thankfully, not one more of those videos about "here's the aperture ring; here's the focus ring, etc." In the past, I looked long and hard at the line of Fuji GW690 and related models, but I never acquired one because I have several alternatives and know that I'd probably never really use it. One consideration not mentioned is the choice of format offered for this camera, which I believe is unique. Both this camera and its wide angle lensed brothers were made in three formats 6x9 (as here), 6x8 and 6x7cm. After printing 35mm for decades with its 2x3 format dimensions, I know that I almost never use the full length of the long side of the frame, one of the reasons I moved "up" to MF. Since I have all of the 6x7cm format I'd ever need, if I were to buy one of these, I'd be contrarian and shop the 6x8cm version, which commonly prices a bit cheaper because most folks think the format is odd or foreign..
Thanks for sharing your reasons for buying your Fuji GW690II.
For general subjects, I shoot a 6x7cm medium format Fuji rangefinder with a fixed 90mm f/3.5 normal lens.
For landscapes and architecture, I shoot with a 6x9cm medium format Fuji rangefinder with a fixed 65mm f/5.6 wide-angle lens.
Love these two cameras when I need image quality that is higher than my small format 35mm cameras can deliver and/or I need to carry cameras that are smaller and lighter in weight than my 4x5 inch large format view camera.
I didn't find an affordable GW690ii until I stopped looking. I contacted a FBM seller just minutes after they listed one and scored mine for just $120. I has a few scuffs on the body and the finder needed a good cleaning, but the lens is perfect and the shutter count is low. Such a fun camera and those big negatives are a joy to print.
lucky lucky
Nice commentary on your reasoning. I too have a full ETRSi kit and then sprung for a GW680 (yeah, the weird middle child) for much the same reason. I also never used a rangefinder before and wanted to try it. GAS can be fun!
I would’ve jumped on a 680 myself if the price was right, that extra frame per roll is a nice bonus!
Do you have a Bronica video? Love to see it, can’t seem to find it though 🎞️
Great video in every respect. Great visual setting, good sound, clear explanation and informative graphics. Well done.
I have one of these fine cameras in a Domke F3x bag with some Fomapan 400 and Portra 400. Perfect walk around camera.🌟🌟🌟
thanks for your opinions,, I appreciate them, but I would like to ask you if the focus is easy to get due to the rangefinder?... is it good quality for detailed objects like leave trees as much as a face in a portrait? thx
I am seriously considering a GW690 but I will more likely sell some of my other camera equipment to offset the cost of the GW690.
UPDATE - I bought a GW690II on ebay from a seller in Japan. The camera arrived this week and is in very good condition thought there's a little haze in the viewfinder.
I shot a test roll of Fujifilm 100 color that the seller included with the camera. I hope to get those negatives this week.
I used a tripod for all my test shots along with a shutter release cable to ensure complete sharpness of the pics.
how was it ?
@@jasosik I contacted the seller in Japan and explained the haze and dust. She immediately offered a full refund. I refused the refund because the camera is in such great condition nearly NIB in appearance and in performance. I tried to get the camera cleaned here in the US but the pirates wanted nearly as much as what I paid for the camera.
So asked the seller if I sent the camera back to Japan if she could get it cleaned. Two weeks later she emailed me though eBay and told me that Fujifilm service center where she lives would take care of it. I sent it back after she paid for the return shipping to Japan. She paid not only paid for the shipping back to Japan and for the return shipping to me as well as the cleaning.
The service center cleaned and recalibrated the viewfinder, cleaned the lens and replaced the light seals and charged $75USD.
I got the camera back a week after she got it back from the service center and it is now nearly flawless. I now keep the camera sealed in a zip lock bag when I am not using it as I do all of my other cameras.
To answer your question yes the images came out clear and sharp.
This is the third camera I bought from Japan and each sale was stress free and exactly as described.
I bought same but 65mm lens which is 28mm equivalent my favorite landscape focal length
Where did you get the eye piece? If you bought it seperate id like to know where. Thanks
I have the 6x7 version and agree the lens is amazing!
I will check your channel to see if you have completed the review of the Fuji 6x9 camera.
My subscription is made. One comment on use of the GW690II with a 35mm adaption for panorama shooting. With no physical film gate to support the edges of the film as it crosses the medium format gate, I would expect enough film curvature along the top and bottom of the film edges to make for some pretty gross out of focus results. If you try this panorama shooting, you might post some results with this potential problem in mind.
I wonder if the pictures would be better with the lens cap removed.
i find 4x5 cheaper. you just wont waste your shots on things that arent amazing. sometimes I go out to take photos, and i setup, wait for an hour for the sun to go to a certain spot, and clouds roll in. I dont take a photo, I try again another day, if you can change your mindset about film. you will find 4x5 incredible
I have an RB67 and a Mamiya C3. I do not need this camera but I want one.
Thanks for the video, I am planning to buy this camera in the near future. However, don't you find that the non removable lens is a disadvantaga?
Not at all! Focusing on the strengths of 1 focal length clears my brain of trying shots that I know won't work.
@@zachpav1 Thanks, greetings from Greece!
What’s up with this camera? I don’t see any more videos about it from you. Not what you expected?
what lens is it? 😊
When I think about complaining about the cost of shooting 6x9, I have to remind myself how much 4x5 costs.
At least you’re honest with yourself about GAS lol
And nice blooper!
The first step towards recovery is admitting you have a problem 😂
Hell yea brother
Nice nice 💯
why i ate pizza today