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Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 6:07 pm
by androgynousectomorph
Basically because I am stubborn. A rangefinder isn't the best of camera for studio because you can't see depth of field and because of the large format, depth of field is very shallow. I shot these at approx 1 metre distance with Fuji Astia 100F and the 100mm normal lens at f5.6

http://www.flickr.com/photos/androgynou ... 149365479/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/androgynou ... 3150200132

At the same time I used my Fuji 680 with Rollei Pan 25 rated at iso 12 (to be developed in slow/fine grain developer) just because I want to see what it looks like.

If I use the 690 again I will back off to about 1.5 metre and stop down to f8 or f11...

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:24 am
by Abbazz
Great portraits, thanks for posting these.

If you can find the "Auto-Up" attachment for the 100mm standard lens, buy it at once. It decreases the minimum focus distance to 0.58m while retaining the rangefinder coupling, allowing some really impressive portraits:

Image

Image

Image

Happy new year to everyone!

Cheers!

Sebastien

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:09 pm
by Peter Evans
s_lallement wrote:If you can find the "Auto-Up" attachment for the 100mm standard lens, buy it at once.


They're excellent portraits.

My guess is that a hundred or so of these were made, twenty were sold, half of these were chucked away because people who discovered them later had no idea what they were for, some were broken, scratched or mildewed, and you've got one in fewer than five still in existence. I mean, do you have any reason to believe that anyone else, anywhere in the known universe, has ever used one of these?!

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:31 am
by androgynousectomorph
Peter Evans wrote:
s_lallement wrote:If you can find the "Auto-Up" attachment for the 100mm standard lens, buy it at once.


They're excellent portraits.

My guess is that a hundred or so of these were made, twenty were sold, half of these were chucked away because people who discovered them later had no idea what they were for, some were broken, scratched or mildewed, and you've got one in fewer than five still in existence. I mean, do you have any reason to believe that anyone else, anywhere in the known universe, has ever used one of these?!

A flickr bud of mine who has a fuji 690 with the 100mm lens has the idea of fitting a voigtländer close up kit and with some minor adjustments get it to work. Anyway, the 690 is not really a studio camera anyway with lack of depth of field preview etc.

The GX680 however is. Here are 2 shots from the studio using Rollei Pan 25 rated at iso 12 and developed in Rollei slow developer. Not very succesful light setup, but I accomplished what I was aiming for, total lack of grain
http://www.flickr.com/photos/androgynou ... 256753312/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/androgynou ... 255980667/

The Fujinon EBC lenses are as great as it gets

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:19 am
by Abbazz
Peter Evans wrote:They're excellent portraits.

Thanks for the compliment, Peter, but I don't deserve it. The framing is completely off, because the close-up attachment doesn't correct for parallax and it is quite difficult to adjust for it at such close range. Furthermore, I used Fuji Pro 800z film, which delivers superb results in color but is not particularly well suited to black and white conversion, especially when scanned at the nearest Fuji Frontier joint.

Peter Evans wrote:My guess is that a hundred or so of these were made, twenty were sold, half of these were chucked away because people who discovered them later had no idea what they were for, some were broken, scratched or mildewed, and you've got one in fewer than five still in existence. I mean, do you have any reason to believe that anyone else, anywhere in the known universe, has ever used one of these?!

If only twenty were sold out of a production batch of a hundred, then there must be eighty languishing in some warehouse in Japan. :roll: Time to start to hunt for them!

Cheers!

Abbazz

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:39 am
by Abbazz
androgynousectomorph wrote:A flickr bud of mine who has a fuji 690 with the 100mm lens has the idea of fitting a voigtländer close up kit and with some minor adjustments get it to work. Anyway, the 690 is not really a studio camera anyway with lack of depth of field preview etc.

I'd like to have some details and see pictures of this contraption. Please ask your friend to share them here.

androgynousectomorph wrote:The GX680 however is. Here are 2 shots from the studio using Rollei Pan 25 rated at iso 12 and developed in Rollei slow developer. Not very succesful light setup, but I accomplished what I was aiming for, total lack of grain

The GX680 is the studio camera. But it frightens me.
The results you get from yours are wonderful. What a classic look! You get this "August Sander"touch:

Image

Image

Image

androgynousectomorph wrote:The Fujinon EBC lenses are as great as it gets

I can believe that!

Cheers!

Abbazz

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:38 am
by androgynousectomorph
Wow! I love that first photo with the short haired woman smoking, beautiful, timeless

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:01 pm
by Abbazz
androgynousectomorph wrote:Wow! I love that first photo with the short haired woman smoking, beautiful, timeless


I knew you would like it! Here's one more from the same series:

Image
"Secretary at a Radio Station" by August Sander

Cheers!

Abbazz

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:29 am
by Texsport
I am very happy to report that I have finally acquired the entire Fujica 690/670 lens system, as well as the right angle eyepiece and the Auto Up lens attachment. Probably bragging, but I couldn't help it.

I can't believe how fortunate I have been.

Hard work and good luck paid off. :blob9:

Any further tips concerning the use of the Auto Up attachment would be greatly appreciated. For instance, can the Auto Up attachment be used with the 150mm lens? I note that the original camera operating instructions don't seem to limit it's use to the 100mm. (I'll report on my attempts once I try this).

Does anyone have experience using the Sports Finder accessory? I've seen a comment, on line, indicating that it might have been meant for use on the GM670 camera.


Texsport

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 5:05 pm
by Texsport
I'm reporting on my experiments and answering one of my earlier questions.

The Auto Up accessory works fine on the 150mm as well as the 100mm, cutting the minimum focus distance in half.

I'm studying the use of the Sportsfinder as a parallax correction guide while using the Sportsfinder.

Texsport

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Thu Sep 01, 2011 12:04 pm
by Abbazz
Hi Texsport.

First, let me apologize for not answering sooner your posts and messages here as well as on RFF, but I have been away for a few weeks with very limited internet access.

Congratulations on your acquisition of the entire G690 lens system, and especially the Auto-Up attachment, an item which is as rare as useful!

I see that you have answered your own question about using the Auto-Up with the 150mm lens. I must confess that I never used mine with any other lens except the 100/3.5. Now I will certainly try it with the 150mm...

Regarding the Sportsfinder accessory, I have never used or even seen one. Please report on your use of the Sportsfinder as a framing accessory for the Auto-Up.

Cheers!

Sébastien

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:05 pm
by Texsport
I assume that.the Auto Up is at home on the 100/3.5AE as well?

Texsport

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:12 am
by Abbazz
Texsport wrote:I assume that.the Auto Up is at home on the 100/3.5AE as well?

Yes, it works just like on the regular 100/3.5. As the lightmeter sensor is located on the front bezel of the lens and inside the lens barrel, metering is not affected. As you said on RFF, this system is really, really well designed.

Cheers!

Abbazz

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Tue Feb 04, 2014 5:21 pm
by Texsport
I've recently acquired a second Auto Up accessory as a back up. My first one is showing some wear.

I duplicate the 3rd photo above frequently -wide, shoulder up environmental portraits on 6X9. When blown up to 12"X18" they make impressive wall presentations.

Regarding the exterior metal rangefinder accessory, I'm using it with the Auto Up for aiming, as the center of the image is slightly shifted by the Auto Up.

I use the outside edges of the metal rangefinder, instead of the inside edges, if that makes sense. The center of focus is shifted slightly to the right and down by the Auto Up, if I remember correctly.

Texsport

Re: Tried my 690 in the studio

PostPosted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:12 pm
by Abbazz
Texsport wrote:I've recently acquired a second Auto Up accessory as a back up. My first one is showing some wear.

Congrats!

Texsport wrote:I duplicate the 3rd photo above frequently -wide, shoulder up environmental portraits on 6X9. When blown up to 12"X18" they make impressive wall presentations.

Regarding the exterior metal rangefinder accessory, I'm using it with the Auto Up for aiming, as the center of the image is slightly shifted by the Auto Up.

I use the outside edges of the metal rangefinder, instead of the inside edges, if that makes sense. The center of focus is shifted slightly to the right and down by the Auto Up, if I remember correctly.

Thanks for the tip.

Cheers!

Abbazz