My First eight frames with the Texas Leica...
First impressions with a roll of Ektar 100…
Like a Leica?
I’m going to start this review on a bit of a downer but I do think it’s an important point to make. Whilst the Fujica GW690 is commonly referred to as the Texas Leica, the only Leica like attribute of this camera is the fact that it has a rangefinder. The build quality is good but it falls short in comparison to the more expensive smaller camera. I do really enjoy shooting this camera.
Unlike the rangefinders I am used to, the Fuji has a round rangefinder patch as a pose to a rectangular one. Nevertheless, the rangefinder on this camera is very good and thanks to the smooth focus on the lens it is very easy to focus. It has a very good effective base length which also helps with focusing. The only complaint about the rangefinder window I have is that for glasses wearers like myself is that the magnification is too high and you cannot see the full-frame lines. This is highly disappointing as one of the reasons I like shooting with a rangefinder is the ability to see outside of the frame. This can help with composition or anticipating a moment. The final point I want to make about the rangefinder is the fact that some parts are made of plastic. This is not a bad thing as it cuts down on the weight of the camera. It appears that some of the pieces of the rangefinder are either multi-coated or are tinted slightly blue.
The Japanese Elmar…
The GW690 features a 90mm 3.5 lens. It is the equivalent of 40mm in 35mm terms. The minimum focus distance is 1 metre, which is fairly decent but a 0.7m would have been nicer. As I have previously mentioned the lens is extremely well dampened and smooth to operate. The lens is quite sharp, a lot of people say that the out of focus areas are mediocre. On this day I shot everything wide open to test this theory. I haven’t shot any at the minimum focus distance but there as you can see there are still out of focus areas.
Conclusion
Whilst this is only a first impression I can’t critique the camera too much as I have only had a few outings with the camera, I have not had enough experience with it to compile a full review. I have shot three rolls through the camera, the first two to test the camera just to make sure everything worked correctly.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I think I would have been better off with a 670 rather than a 690 purely because it is my preferred aspect ratio. That being said it is nice having the extra room to recompose a shot.
I really do enjoy shooting rangefinders as a pose to SLRs, maybe that could be an article for another day, and this camera is an enjoyable camera to use even with some of the shortcomings I mentioned at the start. I’ll make a full review of this camera on my YouTube channel at a later date.
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