Best MF Film Camera for LF Landscape Photographer?

[JosephBurke]

I have a nice Fuji 680 sitting here on the shelf.........

[thomasfallon]

I have a GX 680. Love it. You get basic view camera movements on every lens. Rotating back makes for easy changes from h to v and the camera stays balanced on the tripod. All the lenses focus close. Great as a macro camera. 190 soft focus is a great lens. Lenses from 50mm to 500mm. You can do Polaroids either to check something are just as little originals. It is not lighter than 4x5, but it is quick to set up. You can still find most of the lenses and accessories new. For an excellent review of the camera, see Danny Burk's website.

[John Rodriguez]

I have a GX 680. Love it. You get basic view camera movements on every lens. Rotating back makes for easy changes from h to v and the camera stays balanced on the tripod. All the lenses focus close. Great as a macro camera. 190 soft focus is a great lens. Lenses from 50mm to 500mm. You can do Polaroids either to check something are just as little originals. It is not lighter than 4x5, but it is quick to set up. You can still find most of the lenses and accessories new. For an excellent review of the camera, see Danny Burk's website.

Thanks Thomas. Are you using the angle view finder? Any issues achieving critical focus without a loupe, especially with tilts? I'm not worried about weight, as long as I can still fit it in my bag. It doesn't look like it would take up any more room with equivalent lenses versus what I currently carry: a 45A, 90mm, 150mm, 250mm and 400mm tele with 7 holders.

[speedfreak]

I've been going through the same dilemma recently. I looked at the GX680 pretty extensively. It seems the biggest hurdle to overcome has to do with the proprietary battery. You'd need to find the AA battery holder (which can be ~$100), modify one of the NiCd batteries, or buy an expensive adapter that uses Nikon digital batteries. The lenses are very reasonably priced (look at KEH.com) and are apparently very good.
Ultimintly I decided against it. If I'm going to carry the heft and bulk of a 4x5, and still have to apply the the movements required for a scene, I might as well get a full 4x5 sheet out of it!
I ended up going with a Fuji GW690ii. It's simple (no batteries), rugged, has superb optics, focuses quickly with the rangefinder, travels well, and produces a neg half the size of 4x5. Since I'm using a flatbed scanner, 6x9 should scan well with the betterscanning carrier, and with some careful setup I can get 6x17 with two shots. After some time of use, I may have to get the GSW690 to use as a bit wider landscape/architecture camera.

[Bernice Loui]

Use a GX680 for any amount of time and it become more like a monorail camera with specific trade offs. GX680 was originally designed as a studio camera and sort of on location camera. Using wide angle lenses with any significant movement requires their bag bellows. Beyond the battery problem, the GX680 is limited to GX680 specific optics. Then there is the question of which view finder to use.

My impression is the system is too limiting.


Bernice

I've been going through the same dilemma recently. I looked at the GX680 pretty extensively. It seems the biggest hurdle to overcome has to do with the proprietary battery. You'd need to find the AA battery holder (which can be ~$100), modify one of the NiCd batteries, or buy an expensive adapter that uses Nikon digital batteries. The lenses are very reasonably priced (look at KEH.com) and are apparently very good.
Ultimintly I decided against it. If I'm going to carry the heft and bulk of a 4x5, and still have to apply the the movements required for a scene, I might as well get a full 4x5 sheet out of it!
I ended up going with a Fuji GW690ii. It's simple (no batteries), rugged, has superb optics, focuses quickly with the rangefinder, travels well, and produces a neg half the size of 4x5. Since I'm using a flatbed scanner, 6x9 should scan well with the betterscanning carrier, and with some careful setup I can get 6x17 with two shots. After some time of use, I may have to get the GSW690 to use as a bit wider landscape/architecture camera.

[Bernice Loui]

Toyo 45A. Most shots I can get setup in time, but not always, especially when confronted with fast moving clouds. Seconds count.

Areas where I think I could save time -

*Consider a mono rail camera

- Mount on tripod, unfold,

*Monorail camera, no need to unfold. A tripod quick release makes for a near instant connection once the tripod is set up.

-lock everything down,

*Unlock the front/rear standards on the mono rail camera and it is ready to go.

-mount lens

*most often used lens is already on the camera.

-hook up release cable

*Leave a short cable release on the len's shutter. This also reduces wear on the cable release threaded fittings.

-setup dark cloth

*Add Velcro on the camera's rear standard and focus cloth. This prevents slippage and makes the focus cloth less of a problem. If the focus cloth is not too big, it can be stored with the camera already attached and ready to use.

-get out loupe

*Keep the loupe and light meter together and ready to use. Hang the loupe on a longish string on the camera. This keeps it from getting lost during the process of composing and focusing.

- Get under hood, compose, focus,

*The process...

-remove hood/focus cloth.

*No need to remove if the focus cloth is in place. Just drape it over the camera. This also helps reduce the risk of light leaks that may not be apparent.

-close shutter, set exposure,

-load holder, pull slide, shoot.

*Done..

- VS - Compose, focus, meter, set exposure, shoot.

This is the basic difference between using a view camera -vs- a non-view camera.

Practice will help make the set up process quicker. Get this process down to where it is pretty much a involuntary habit and less of a critical thinking process. Consider trying a monorail camera with lens on camera and tripod quick release and ... in place of a field folder. The hassle of setting up a field camera is why I have stuck to monorail cameras, unless there is significant hiking and traveling involved. Even so, the 6x9 Arca Swiss monorail is a viable solution in place of using a field camera.

With the "Compose, focus, meter, set exposure, shoot." there is great temptation to simply "shoot" rather than taking a moment to consider what the final resulting image may be. Slowing down just the right amount can help make better images in the long run.

The nature of using a view camera and the types of images produce are more of a crafted and conceived product rather than just responding or anticipating the moment.


Bernice

[cgrab]

There are assorted 6x9 Linhofs available on the used market. I doubt, however, that they would be much faster to operate than their bigger siblings, especially when it comes to tilt. From my experience with tilt on 24x36, it is difficult to get satisfactory results without a tripod. So I would recommend something like Linhof viewfinder, which allows you to find rapidly the exact place where to set up said tripod, which has speeded up my setting up considerably.

Christoph

[David Watts]

John, consider a Linhof Technika 70 if you can find one with the matching cam for the three lenses (which are good). It has a good viewfinder and rangefinder, shift and tilt on the front standard and the normal, flexible Linhof rear standard. Can be used with the GG if you need to use movements, or the viewfinder if not. Quick to set up.

David

[thomasfallon]

You might want to check the lenses for the GX680. I'm not sure all of them can be shifted.


Jeff Keller

The 50mm can only be shifted about 9mm. The others all have full movements.

[Ari]

Part of working with large format is to practice setting up and putting away the camera so it doesn't take so long, and in the process, you figure out how to make everything work faster, when you need to work faster. One of the reasons I like my Technika, is that I can work fast when I need to, shooting it like a big rangefinder camera, but I also have all the capabilities of a view camera, when I have time to use them.

Use a quick release system to mount the camera on a tripod.

Have a lens that closes with the camera and has infinity stops, so you can just open the camera, pull out the front standard and have it focused at infinity. If infinity stops aren't an option, then just mark the infinity position for each lens on the camera bed, so you can set up quickly.

Make a focus scale on the bed, so you can estimate focus for quick shots without movements.

Add a finder for composition. Old-style Linhof zoom finders aren't too expensive, and they should mount on the shoe on top of a 45a, if I'm not mistaken. The 45a is essentially a modified press camera, so you could even handhold it when it's feasible to do so, with or without a grip.

If you want to shoot press-camera style, you can leave a holder in the camera or use Grafmatics that hold six sheets.

With any camera that doesn't have a meter, it's good to be aware of the lighting conditions, meter and set the camera before you see something you want to photograph, so that if you have to get the shot right away, you're in the ballpark. If you have time, you can meter the shot individually, or if you want to determine the contrast range of the scene, you can even do it after you take the shot.

Areas where I think I could save time -

*Consider a mono rail camera

- Mount on tripod, unfold,

*Monorail camera, no need to unfold. A tripod quick release makes for a near instant connection once the tripod is set up.

-lock everything down,

*Unlock the front/rear standards on the mono rail camera and it is ready to go.

-mount lens

*most often used lens is already on the camera.

-hook up release cable

*Leave a short cable release on the len's shutter. This also reduces wear on the cable release threaded fittings.

-setup dark cloth

*Add Velcro on the camera's rear standard and focus cloth. This prevents slippage and makes the focus cloth less of a problem. If the focus cloth is not too big, it can be stored with the camera already attached and ready to use.

-get out loupe

*Keep the loupe and light meter together and ready to use. Hang the loupe on a longish string on the camera. This keeps it from getting lost during the process of composing and focusing.

- Get under hood, compose, focus,

*The process...

-remove hood/focus cloth.

*No need to remove if the focus cloth is in place. Just drape it over the camera. This also helps reduce the risk of light leaks that may not be apparent.

-close shutter, set exposure,

-load holder, pull slide, shoot.

*Done..

- VS - Compose, focus, meter, set exposure, shoot.

This is the basic difference between using a view camera -vs- a non-view camera.

Practice will help make the set up process quicker. Get this process down to where it is pretty much a involuntary habit and less of a critical thinking process. Consider trying a monorail camera with lens on camera and tripod quick release and ... in place of a field folder. The hassle of setting up a field camera is why I have stuck to monorail cameras, unless there is significant hiking and traveling involved. Even so, the 6x9 Arca Swiss monorail is a viable solution in place of using a field camera.

With the "Compose, focus, meter, set exposure, shoot." there is great temptation to simply "shoot" rather than taking a moment to consider what the final resulting image may be. Slowing down just the right amount can help make better images in the long run.

The nature of using a view camera and the types of images produce are more of a crafted and conceived product rather than just responding or anticipating the moment.


Bernice

I'm with David and Bernice on this one.
Rather than look for some other piece of equipment that will also have its limitations, spend more time honing your LF skills.
The two posts above give some excellent advice, and it's free.
I would add a Grafmatic to be able to bracket several shots in quick succession, but perhaps you're looking for a magic bullet.