Fuji GX680

This is probably the last camera (for now) that I want for my collection of cameras that I've coveted in my life, as I wrote about 3.5 years ago in a previous blog post.

This is a monster of a camera. It's a medium format camera that shoots 6x8 negatives but has the features of a large format view camera. The GX680 has a front standard that allows you to move it with swings, tilts, and shifts, just like a view camera. What this does is allow you incredible perspective and control over your depth of focus.

Just like my other medium format camera, the Mamiya RB67, it uses bellows focusing. But unlike the RB lenses which uses a leaf shutter, the shutter is actually built into the camera via a focal plane shutter. Both cameras are beasts, weighing at over 6 lbs, and both can shoot 6x8 (I modified my RB67 to shoot 6x8 with a 6x8 light baffle, rotating adapter, and a 6x8 motorized back), and both use bellows focusing, but that's pretty much it for similarities.

The RB67 is all manual and pretty much all metal all the way, which is why it's so heavy. The GX680 is controlled primarily with electronics and is primarily plastic in construction, which is why it doesn't weigh twice as much as it already does.

The reliance on electronics means it requires a battery, and boy does it have one. It's the equivalent of 2 Canon 60D batteries in size, but it only outputs 7.2 volts, and the battery is only available in a NiCd variety. There is a AA battery back available but accessories are difficult to come by for the original GX680. There are 2 other versions, with the GX680 III being the most recent and having significant battery upgrades -- it primarily uses a lithium battery or a AA battery pack that has greater availability.

The bulk of the GX680 means it's primarily a studio camera though there have been people who have taken it around as a street-shooting camera. There was even a neck strap available for the GX680 (there are no strap lugs on the original GX680 as there are in the Mk III), though using a neck strap for such a heavy camera may require some training of your neck and back muscles to compensate for the extra 10 lbs that your neck would have to support.

Like the RB67, the GX680 lacks a light meter and auto exposure unless you buy an AE finder that is only available for waist level use, while the RB67 has an available eye-level, AE finder.

It's going to be interesting to lug the GX680 around for some test shots.