I have the GW690 mark one. It did need a repair of the winder. The tech said the winder is the weakest part of the camera. Luckily there was a donor body so it was repairable. He told to not really horse the winder and don’t let it snap back. Maybe the 690 II &III have a more robust winder I don’t know. He also asked me if I wanted the counter on the bottom rolled back to zero. He said it very easy to do when the bottom plate is off. So don’t really trust the counter as being all that accurate. Other than that it is a nice camera and easier to use than its size would make you believe
Mine was the original too and loved it. My winder was quite strong to advance so maybe had been serviced or just how mine was. It a remarkable camera that I think is getting a lot more attention now then it did say 3 or 4 years ago
Great video, I really dig this camera. I've been using one for about five years now, and I love it. You can also shoot 35mm in this camera with an inexpensive adapter, The images come out amazing, if you like to see the sprocket holes of course. Thanks for posting this. ...Cheers from SW Florida.
Thanks for the nice comment, unfortunately this camera is no longer with me as I had too many.and needed to sell some to make room - but it's the only one I regret selling!! So one day I'll get it back jaha
The counter on the bottom is shots divided by 10, so if it shows 36 it has shot 3610 frames since it last rolled over or was last reset. That counter was meant to be the maintenance counter since it was supposed to get a CLA every 10k shots. It was designed for commercial work, so you could take the negative and produce a fast contact print. That's also why they have the short roll setting 😉 In that commercial use case these could easily hit that 10,000 mark.
@@SebastianOakleyDid you sell your GW690? I have thought about selling mine but am kind of torn, it’s a nice camera makes a nice negative, but the cost of film can be prohibitive. I have a Hasselblad 500 C/M, Mamiya RB67 and a 4x5 large format camera, the only advantage to keep the GW690 for me is the easier carry size for a GW690.
@@CalumetVideo yes, I sold it to make room for my Leica gear and also somewhat of the film cost relating to shooting medium format over 35mm. But I regret it massively selling it, as I feel I'm more rounded with my film photography that I could really make some wonderful work with that camera now. - however, it is nice knowing I have more images than 8 on a roll, if I had to buy it again, I'd go for the Version II to have the camera strap lugs on the both sides of the camera, and not all on one side like the version 1 in my video. Overall, I'd buy it again at a good price, as I miss it, but guess I'd just have to swallow the 6x9 film cost
I’ve used reversal film in my mkiii and the results are stunning. Pretty much all landscape but the the results knock colour neg into touch. Was a mixture of Fuji Provia and Ektachrome, both were superb.
I just ordered a round vented hood off eBay and it worked perfectly for what I wanted - it's a 67mm filter thread. I hope you enjoy your new camera, I loved it!
I have a Fuji GSW690 that has a fixed 65mm f/5.6 wide-angle lens. It has replaced my Nikon SLR mounted with 28mm f/2.8 Nikkor wide-angle lens that I was using for landscape photography. However, it cannot replace my Nikon SLR because the Nikon is so versatile.
Hi! I just received mine today, very excited to shoot. A bit of a random question but I wanted to buy a lens hood and cap but I did not know what size is needed for the gw690 with fixed 90mm
Hi thanks for the comment, it takes a 67mm thread, I went with a round ventilated lens hood but you can also pick up square ones too - whatever your preference. I hope you enjoy the camera, I find it amazing!
@@svij40 I do my own black and white developing at home with a monobath - I made a video about it on here - ant for color I take it to any photolab, just give your local one a ring and make sure they do medium format developing as some only do 35mm now - hope that all helps?
Mine cost US$40. It was missing the little plastic bit that holds in the level. I made one from polymer clay. You can't tell the difference from the original.
@@waistlevel it's a wonderful camera and the size and resolution of the negatives are amazing, sadly for me it was a cost thing, pure and simple. I didn't have my whole film process dialed in to give it full justice, and I was using my Leica M-E more and more, made sense to let someone else enjoy it - I do however regret selling it and will one day buy another. But as cheeky hint, check the links in the video description and you can find listing for this camera on eBay (US and UK) - I will get a kick back of you do buy anything, just making you aware but it's a good way of supporting the channel of the video has been helpful 😀
