New GF670, some questions

[starzzz]

Hi, I just bought a new GF670 and I have some questions about this camera.

Framelines: is it normal that only the top and left framelines move during focusing, while the bottom and right framelines always stay fixed? [Update: according to the manual, this seems to be the way it works...]

Rangefinder alignment: should the rangefinder align perfectly for distant objects (say, a mile away) when the lens is set to infinity? Mine doesn't, it appears that either the lens actually focuses past infinity, or the rangefinder alignment is off.

Thanks!

[mathomas]

Originally Posted by starzzz

Hi, I just bought a new GF670 and I have some questions about this camera.

Framelines: is it normal that only the top and left framelines move during focusing, while the bottom and right framelines always stay fixed?

Rangefinder alignment: should the rangefinder align perfectly for distant objects (say, a mile away) when the lens is set to infinity? Mine doesn't, it appears that either the lens actually focuses past infinity, or the rangefinder alignment is off.

Thanks!

Regarding framelines, that sounds normal to me, if only because my Fuji GW690III is designed to work that way, too.

Something a mile away isn't infinitely distant. Folks have said around here that you won't necessarily focus "to the stop" to get something terrestrial and distant into focus. I'd say "going past infinity" is better than coming up short when focusing on something terrestrial. But I'll let others weigh in on this.

[starzzz]

Originally Posted by mathomas

Regarding framelines, that sounds normal to me, if only because my Fuji GW690III is designed to work that way, too.

Something a mile away isn't infinitely distant. Folks have said around here that you won't necessarily focus "to the stop" to get something terrestrial and distant into focus. I'd say "going past infinity" is better than coming up short when focusing on something terrestrial. But I'll let others weigh in on this.

Thanks, perhaps I have expected too much from the advertised "automatic parallax correction and frame size correction" when it turns out to be just two moving framelines, but I just wanted to confirm if my unit is working properly.

Yes focusing past infinity is not a big deal --- my Mamiya 7 does that too, but my other cameras don't, so I just wanted to see if this camera is designed to have some spare space on the far side or it needs to be adjusted.

[mathomas]

Oh, and as a (very long) past Kodak Tourist shooter, I envy you your GF670.

Maybe once they become used, I'll get one. I'll "limp" with my GW690III for now .

[Eddie90723]

My ghost image doesn't line up either for infinity. I was focusing (for those in Los Angeles) focusing on downtown la from to the Griffith observatory. Now I think I hav to send it back to where I purchased it because it's not focusing correctly even on closer objects. Sniff.

[starzzz]

Originally Posted by mathomas

Oh, and as a (very long) past Kodak Tourist shooter, I envy you your GF670.

Maybe once they become used, I'll get one. I'll "limp" with my GW690III for now .

I envy the 690 as well! In fact, for the size of the GF670, I wonder if Fuji can make a 6x9 version of it.

BTW, apparently I should have read the manual --- the manual refers to the top & left frame lines as "moving" lines so I suppose the other two lines are supposed to be fixed.

Originally Posted by Eddie90723

My ghost image doesn't line up either for infinity. I was focusing (for those in Los Angeles) focusing on downtown la from to the Griffith observatory. Now I think I hav to send it back to where I purchased it because it's not focusing correctly even on closer objects. Sniff.

Eddie90273, I am sorry to hear that you have a focusing problem. Did your rangefinder move "past infinity" as mine does? Did you notice focus shift in your pictures?

I guess alignment problems are just part of the rangefinder camera experience. One cannot get away from them over time. If it's not too far off I'd rather just work around them rather than wasting time fixing and adjusting these things.

[mathomas]

Originally Posted by starzzz

I envy the 690 as well! In fact, for the size of the GF670, I wonder if Fuji can make a 6x9 version of it.

...

I guess alignment problems are just part of the rangefinder camera experience. One cannot get away from them over time. If it's not too far off I'd rather just work around them rather than wasting time fixing and adjusting these things.

Yeah, I think they should have gone straight for 6x9 in the GF, but I'm not sure how popular the format is. After all 8 frames from a $5 roll of film (even ignoring the processing cost) is pretty tough on the wallet.

I've had my M8's rangefinder adjusted once. However, my Konica Hexanon 90mm back focuses and won't focus to infinity on either my M8 or M2. On the other hand, my GW690III seems to be "perfect" in limited shooting. I think Fuji has much less of an excuse having calibration issues in a fixed-lens camera, so I'm feeling for you (both) if you have an actual focus issue.