Fujifilm GA645 Zi Reviews

Auditor

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $450.00 from KEH

Summary:I bought this camera used from KEH and I am very glad that I did. This is a terrific little medium format camera. I have used a number of different medium format cameras and find I am really drawn to my older folding cameras because they are so portable. I love using those vintage cameras but when I can only carry one medium format camera and want to be sure I am getting great shots, this is the camera I grab. It is very portable and carries easily in my inside vest pocket. And it provides absolutely stunning images, making me look like a much better photographer then I really am. I scan my images and end up with very high quality digital images that I could not get any other way unless I was willing to spend thousands of dollars on very high priced digital full frame cameras or even higher priced digital backs for medium format cameras.

Developing medium format film is more expensive then 35mm, but if you compare that cost with the minimum $3,000 investment for full frame digital, I can develop an awful lot of film before I reach the break over point. In my opinion, for an amateur, this is the most cost effective route to extremely high quality digital images.

Strengths:Easily carried,
Nice little zoom,
Great auto focus and auto exposure options.
Has aperture priority, shutter priority and metered manual settings,
Has a nice built in flash that is useful for fill in flash,
Awesome lens produces great images.

Weaknesses:Manual focus is hard to use and difficult to get the right settings.
Rangefinder makes it a bit difficult to use polarizer filters, not impossible, just more finicky then single lens reflex.
The built in flash is a little bit weak, but useable.
Accessories are starting to get a little hard to find nowdays.

Similar Products Used:Pentax 645NII
Zeiss Super Ikonta C 530/2
Fuji GW690III
Mamiya M645 1000S

Customer Service:I haven't needed it yet.

freddy999

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from ebay

Summary:Excellent rollfilm camera. Last of its kind before the all wonderful digital range ..not!

I have a Nikon D300 and this baby Fuji which kicks the Nikon's butt for slow and thoughtful photography..better colour, sharper etc. The Nikon is great for short sharp shooting but the 20*16's form the 645 film are stunning.

Don't bin your film camera's just yet.

Strengths:Lens Quality
Small, neat and light
Pro construction..titanium body.
Built in flash! Small but useful.
Excellent meter

Weaknesses:Low zoom range..Portrait wide- standard view
Awkward manual controls: three hands required with triple jointed fingers.
No preview / live view..hell its a film camera!
120-220 film is all but extinct unless you have a specialist retailer handy or mail order.

Similar Products Used:RB67
Fuji 6x9

Various digital Nikon's

pdebruin

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
4.11 of 5,
9 votes

Price Paid:  $400.00 from ebay

Summary:I read a whole load of reviews before I bought this camera, and I have read a lot of conflicting views about it, so I thought I'd have my two pennies.
Overall I am very satisfied after my first three rolls of Provia. The zoom range is limited but useful, and the lens is great - that's a given. The viewfinder is quite nice. The metering is as accurate as everyone says it is - not just good, but precisely bob on for slide film. Of course, it's not a mind reader, so the usual centre weighted rules apply. The autofocus is very good - nearly as good as any autofocus rangefinder I have used, including the Contax G1 and 2, and my Nikon 35ti, which is amazing considering the format. It doesn't always get it right, but it is very good. The flash is also pretty much perfect - a bit like using a Vivitar 385 with a little unexposure dialled in. Of course, it's on the camera, and there's not much you can do about that, but beats my Nikon 35ti for flash exposure, and you can sych al the way to the highest shutter speed. Handling is nice, but sometimes it can be a bit slow to do a simple thing like setting exposure compensation, compared to a camera with a dedicated dial, but I have't had it long, and I'm sure I will get quicker at using it. I had no problems loading film, and found it very easy and quick to do. Long and short of it is, I will be keeping this camera, and using it a lot...

Strengths:Mostly described above:
Lens
Meter
Size
Zoom
Autofocus
Speed
Flash
Old fashioned cable release socket
Well thought out features

Weaknesses:Within its limitations, not much.
A larger zoom range would be nice, but that would compromise the size and the quality
Slightly better autofocus would be nice, but it's already very good
It would be better if it metered from within the filter thread, in order to take care of filter factors automatically
Modal controls make it slightly slower to access some features
I'm not a great fan of the default portrait aspect, but I can see why it's been designed that way - I might buy a bracket for tripod use in lanscape

Similar Products Used:Are there any?

Customer Service:Not known

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
6 votes

Price Paid:  $600.00 from ebay

Summary:I bought this camera last month and was not sure how my results will come out I took some picutes on Back Bay in Boston and some at Newport RI. I set the exposure comp. to +0.5. all my results came out beautiful, very sharp corner to corner nicely expose I love it. This camera is great give you 16 exposure every time on 120 easy to carry great for travel.

Strengths:light wt
very sharp results
excellent light meter
Results will kick any 35 mm camera output....

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
6 votes

Price Paid:  $575.00 from Jessops

Summary:A nice camera to use, simple uncluttered. If you wish to photograph landscapes and mountains this camera is ideal to slip in to a ski jacket pocket. I have used this camera whilst skiing. The image quality is what you expect from this format, clear and sharp. I have also used it to ttake portraits, it does however mean that you need to be in the face of the subject, this can be off putting for the sitter. Ok for groups.

Strengths:Compact , light and simple not a lot to go wrong with it.

Weaknesses:Due to the metereing system you have to manualy compensate if you attached a filter to the lens.

Similar Products Used:Bronica E system

Customer Service:not used