Pete Askew
Admin
Following on from my teaser shots of yesterday (http://www.realphotographersforum.com/film-conventional-cameras/7101-ive-had-enough.html) and a request from Dan, I spent half an hour at the end of today taking a few more shots of the newest addition to the stable. This was not a planned purchase at all but a result of Paul at Commercial Cameras (http://commercialcameras.co.uk/) asking, half jokingly, if he could tempt me with a GF670. I of course said no but after he reminded me that you could switch between 6x7 cm and 6x6 cm formats my will was broken. Actually I was quite interested in this camera when it was first released but convinced myself that my Mamiya 7II fulfilled the role perfectly (and it probably does). But the idea of a modern folding camera for travel was still very tempting and so now I have one!
As mentioned above, this is a dual format camera capable of shooting both 6x7 cm and 6x6 cm onto 120 (and 220) roll film. It has a fixed 80 mm lens (f1:3.5) with a shutter in the it (not a true leaf shutter as such but a sort of vertical multi-blade unit) that is extremely quite (it has a high-pitched, slightly metallic ring to it). It has TTL metering and manual aperture and shutter speed selection plus aperture priority automatic. It is of course manual focus and uses a range-finder coupled to the lens' helical screw. The range finder is fairly bright and similar to a Mamiya 7 but the double image is not as clear as say a Leica. But more than up to the job.
Here is the camera as viewed from the front showing the Fujinon lens (there is also a hood that snaps on). You can also see the main viewfinder, the rangefinder window and the bright line illuminator 'window'. To the left is the lens cover and you can make out the bellows.
Looked at from the side you can see the form factor of the camera better.
This shows the door that closes over the lens / bellows when the camera is 'folded'.
The top-plate houses the controls for the camera with the shutter speed on a dial on the left along with the ISO setting.
On the right is the film advance and frame counter and the shutter release. The advance is via a thumb wheel and this can be done easily using just your thumb. The frame advance stops when the next frame is lined up so you don't need to watch the numbers in the counter.
On the back of the camera is a window showing whether 120 or 220 film is loaded (one has twice the number of frames to the other but 220 has no backing paper). There is also a holder for the pack cover so you know what film is loaded.
Inside the back cover of the camera is the adjuster for 120 and 220 film. This not only changes the number in the indicator but also increases the force of the pressure plate to ensure the thinner 220 film is held firmly at the image plane.
Inside the rear of the camera is also the framing adjuster allowing you to switch between 6x6 cm and 6x7 cm negative formats. This changes both the masks (visible to the left and right of the back of the lens - note the camera is folded in this shot and normally the lens would be some distance forward) and the indexing of the frame advance. You can also see the start points for the two formats where you wind the first index arrow on the film to before closing the back. The take-up spool can be seen on the right. Once the film has been wound onto this, the film is removed (by releasing the spool holder via the orange button) and the feed spool is moved from the other side into its place as usual with roll film.
And when you've finished shooting, you set the lens focus to infinity, push the catch and simply fold the front cover into place and you end up with quite a compact package.
The camera is not light but then again not especially heavy, especially for the format, and weighs 1kg. And, this is a big plus for me, like the Mamiya 7II, it has a side strap.
As mentioned above, this is a dual format camera capable of shooting both 6x7 cm and 6x6 cm onto 120 (and 220) roll film. It has a fixed 80 mm lens (f1:3.5) with a shutter in the it (not a true leaf shutter as such but a sort of vertical multi-blade unit) that is extremely quite (it has a high-pitched, slightly metallic ring to it). It has TTL metering and manual aperture and shutter speed selection plus aperture priority automatic. It is of course manual focus and uses a range-finder coupled to the lens' helical screw. The range finder is fairly bright and similar to a Mamiya 7 but the double image is not as clear as say a Leica. But more than up to the job.
Here is the camera as viewed from the front showing the Fujinon lens (there is also a hood that snaps on). You can also see the main viewfinder, the rangefinder window and the bright line illuminator 'window'. To the left is the lens cover and you can make out the bellows.
Looked at from the side you can see the form factor of the camera better.
This shows the door that closes over the lens / bellows when the camera is 'folded'.
The top-plate houses the controls for the camera with the shutter speed on a dial on the left along with the ISO setting.
On the right is the film advance and frame counter and the shutter release. The advance is via a thumb wheel and this can be done easily using just your thumb. The frame advance stops when the next frame is lined up so you don't need to watch the numbers in the counter.
On the back of the camera is a window showing whether 120 or 220 film is loaded (one has twice the number of frames to the other but 220 has no backing paper). There is also a holder for the pack cover so you know what film is loaded.
Inside the back cover of the camera is the adjuster for 120 and 220 film. This not only changes the number in the indicator but also increases the force of the pressure plate to ensure the thinner 220 film is held firmly at the image plane.
Inside the rear of the camera is also the framing adjuster allowing you to switch between 6x6 cm and 6x7 cm negative formats. This changes both the masks (visible to the left and right of the back of the lens - note the camera is folded in this shot and normally the lens would be some distance forward) and the indexing of the frame advance. You can also see the start points for the two formats where you wind the first index arrow on the film to before closing the back. The take-up spool can be seen on the right. Once the film has been wound onto this, the film is removed (by releasing the spool holder via the orange button) and the feed spool is moved from the other side into its place as usual with roll film.
And when you've finished shooting, you set the lens focus to infinity, push the catch and simply fold the front cover into place and you end up with quite a compact package.
The camera is not light but then again not especially heavy, especially for the format, and weighs 1kg. And, this is a big plus for me, like the Mamiya 7II, it has a side strap.
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