Chris Dodkin
West Coast Correspondent
I added to the Fuji stable today, after a foray on Fleabay, going old school and film - and keeping with the whole rangefinder vibe.
Managed to find a mint model in VA, really well looked after, and doesn't appear to have shot many rolls in it's lifetime.
Fixed 65mm lens - and aperture and shutter speed are set on the lens barrel.
All metal construction with a lovely knurled grip - you can see where the X-Pro1 design came from.
Classic rangefinder viewfinder with bright lines and a focus patch - nice and bright, seems easy enough to use.
No need for a 'Thumbs-up' on this model - it has an actual film advance lever!
Just like the X-Pro1, Fuji have helpfully labeled it as 'Professional'
So why is it called the Texas Leica I hear you ask?
Well, you know what they say - everything's bigger in Texas....
Well.....
Here is the GSW690II compared to my Fuji X100
Yes, it really is HUGE!
It's not 35mm, it's a 6x9 Medium Format camera - using 120 film - hence the super-sized physique.
It shoots just 8 frames on a roll of 120 film - 8 frames!
Looking forward to getting some film through it and seeing what a 6x9 negative can produce.
The 65mm Lens is a wide angle on a MF camera, like a 28mm Lens on a 35mm Camera.
It's a whole new world!
The GW690 series from Fuji has a long history, and a strange beginning.
Legend has it that Japanese bus tour companies required a large format camera to take souvenir group shots of tourists. 35mm didn't have the quality, so Fuji developed the 690 camera to provide an easy to use, MF camera. That was back in 1978.
Earlier Fuji MF cameras had had interchangeable lenses, but sales had shown that only two lens lengths ever sold (std and wide) so the GW690 was made with a fixed 90mm f/3.5 standard lens, and the GSW690 with a fixed 65mm f/5.6 wide lens.
The GW690II and GSW690II followed in 1985, with only minor revisions to the previous model.
Later GW690III and GSW690III models were also produced, but these had a 'modern' plastic exterior, instead of the now so popular all metal construction we see in today's X series Fujis.
Fuji also made 6x8 and 6x7 models - with very similar dimensions and features.
Talking of dimensions - the GSW690II body is 120mm x 200mm x 131mm - Weight 1,480g
I will not be hanging this bad boy on a wrist strap!
The camera has no electronics what so ever - it's all manual, and has no light meter.
It has a leaf shutter, and two shutter release, one for landscape, one for portrait orientation.
That's as far as I've got so far - will test it out with some Ilford 50 ASA, and I also have some Fuji Velvia 50 ASA coming from Amazon.
Looking forward to seeing what the extra real estate will provide - for reference, here's 6x9 compared to 35mm
Scans will come in at 4815x7588 pixels from my local lab - I'll post as soon as I have something to show
Managed to find a mint model in VA, really well looked after, and doesn't appear to have shot many rolls in it's lifetime.
Fixed 65mm lens - and aperture and shutter speed are set on the lens barrel.
All metal construction with a lovely knurled grip - you can see where the X-Pro1 design came from.
Classic rangefinder viewfinder with bright lines and a focus patch - nice and bright, seems easy enough to use.
No need for a 'Thumbs-up' on this model - it has an actual film advance lever!
Just like the X-Pro1, Fuji have helpfully labeled it as 'Professional'
So why is it called the Texas Leica I hear you ask?
Well, you know what they say - everything's bigger in Texas....
Well.....
Here is the GSW690II compared to my Fuji X100
Yes, it really is HUGE!
It's not 35mm, it's a 6x9 Medium Format camera - using 120 film - hence the super-sized physique.
It shoots just 8 frames on a roll of 120 film - 8 frames!
Looking forward to getting some film through it and seeing what a 6x9 negative can produce.
The 65mm Lens is a wide angle on a MF camera, like a 28mm Lens on a 35mm Camera.
It's a whole new world!
The GW690 series from Fuji has a long history, and a strange beginning.
Legend has it that Japanese bus tour companies required a large format camera to take souvenir group shots of tourists. 35mm didn't have the quality, so Fuji developed the 690 camera to provide an easy to use, MF camera. That was back in 1978.
Earlier Fuji MF cameras had had interchangeable lenses, but sales had shown that only two lens lengths ever sold (std and wide) so the GW690 was made with a fixed 90mm f/3.5 standard lens, and the GSW690 with a fixed 65mm f/5.6 wide lens.
The GW690II and GSW690II followed in 1985, with only minor revisions to the previous model.
Later GW690III and GSW690III models were also produced, but these had a 'modern' plastic exterior, instead of the now so popular all metal construction we see in today's X series Fujis.
Fuji also made 6x8 and 6x7 models - with very similar dimensions and features.
Talking of dimensions - the GSW690II body is 120mm x 200mm x 131mm - Weight 1,480g
I will not be hanging this bad boy on a wrist strap!
The camera has no electronics what so ever - it's all manual, and has no light meter.
It has a leaf shutter, and two shutter release, one for landscape, one for portrait orientation.
That's as far as I've got so far - will test it out with some Ilford 50 ASA, and I also have some Fuji Velvia 50 ASA coming from Amazon.
Looking forward to seeing what the extra real estate will provide - for reference, here's 6x9 compared to 35mm
Scans will come in at 4815x7588 pixels from my local lab - I'll post as soon as I have something to show
