enter the fuji gw690iii – a 6×9 rangefinder camera with a fixed 90mm/f3.5 lens (considered normal to roughly wide-angle for 6×9), nicknamed “texas leica” because it looks like a leica rangefinder’s big brother, with cowboy hat and boots on, something the stranger from big lebowski would carry.

it’s a big beast (has to be, what with the 6×9 negative it’s producing) but still fits easily in my messenger bag, and it’s less cumbersome and heavy than my 6×6 SLRs. its leaf shutter and the absence of a mirror box means that I can get my shutter speeds as low as 1/15 without breaking a sweat. moreover, 6×9 means I get the same 3:2 image ratio I’ve been using on my 35mm cameras, and only 8 frames on a roll of 120 film.

but how does it perform, portrait-wise? well, I loaded it up with an expired roll of kodak portra 400nc and went out for a windy seaside walk with the dear sisters, miss d. and miss m. – the wind battled us in every step we made and I learned a valuable lesson: your camera, your clothes and your car can get really salty after a couple of hours walking next to the breaking waves, even if you don’t get a single drop of water on you.

this camera is definitely a different experience than SLR/TLR 6×6. the four-years-past-the-expiry-date film riddled the photos with streaks of discoloration, but I couldn’t care less. miss d. is starring in all of the following photographs.

rolleicord v, photographed by anniversary speed graphic & leitz hektor 150mm/f2.5 on shanghai gp3 film

Bought this camera on the 29th of December, 2009. It was my Xmas present. The craftmanship of such a camera is amazing – it dates from ~1960 but you could easily name it “ageless” – with a full metal body and magnificent mechanics all over, this camera reeks of style and class.

It can do front tilt, front rise, front fall and back tilt/swing… it can be fitted with a 120 roll film back or cut film (6.5×9) holders. You can also use a polaroid back on it, although they’re a bit rare and their price is nothing to sneeze at.

This is not an easy camera to use, especially with the 120 6×7 roll film holder. You have to use a tripod and spend lot of time adjusting your image (we’re obviously discussing tilt/shift here), then your model has to stay still until you close the shutter, adjust the diaphragm, remove the ground glass back and fit the 6×7 film back. With a bit of practice you can do this quite fast, but you still need 30-60 seconds. You also need a very sturdy tripod, because changing backs will definitely rock your camera around – not much, but enough to make you anxious about the final result.

I’m beginning to fall seriously in love this camera – photos soon to come.