Light weight and size. Razor sharp lens. Fast focus. Ease of operation in "P" "A" & "AS" modes. Neg size. Auto load and presure plate changing with Fuji Films.

Awkwardness on manual ajustments. A slightly longer zoom would be nice (but then I knew that when I bought it)

This camera is "different" from just about every camera I have ever used. camera apears to be very well made. I have only shot a couple of test rolls and found the negs to be very sharp and well exposed. Using the camera in program and Apture Priority is a snap. The manual ajustments make me feel like I am thumbs. The Strenghts of this camera highly outweigh its weaknesses. I will buy another. My rating 4+

Customer Service

I hope I never need it.

Similar Products Used:

I have used many 35mm and medium format cameras, (slr's & rangefinders), this camera I must put in a class by itself.

Lens quality Ease of handling Great Viewfinder (with or without glasses) Metering spot on Auto 120/220 pressure plate selection with fujifilm Auto film speed selection with Fuji film

None that I have found yet but a slightly wider end would do nicely.

What a treat to have a easy to use and carry MF camera, more sophisticated than the Fuji web site implies. The zoom lens is excellent for a zoom and equals most 645 primes. You can see all of the view finder , the exposure and the focus distance.Easily hand holdable. Film loading no problem with Fuji film loading system and ok with other makes as long as you put a little tension on feed spool. Auto focus no problem as long as you keep an eye on the focussed distance in the excellent finder. A nice touch is the print out on the film margin of date, exp details and + or - . turned off with the lens retracted will just about go in one of my outdoor jacket pockets or easily hidden under coat whilst hanging around neck. Point and shoot comes to MF!

Customer Service

Not Needed yet!

Similar Products Used:

Haselblads RZ, RB, M7,Broni rf645,M6, P7 etc.

EASE OF HANDLING! QUALITY OF THE IMAGES! EASE OF LOADING AND UNLOADING THE FILM! THE VERTICAL FORMAT ON THE FILM AND THE CLEAR VIEW FINDER! THE 16 SHOTS WITH PLENTY OF SPACE AT BEGINNING AND END OF FILM! THE AF (MOTORIZED) ZOOM LENS ON A MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERA THAT SHOWS (AUTOMATICALLY WITH THE ZOOM)THE AREA FOR CROPPING IN THE VIEW FINDER! THE POP-UP BUILT IN FLASH THAT IS SOMEWHAT HELPFUL (OUTSIDE)! THE PLACEMENT OF THE CONTROLS! THE PICTURES IN THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON''T HAVE THE TIME TO SIT DOWN AND READ THE USUALLY SMALL PRINT THAT COMES WITH MOST THIS WOULD BE A GREAT WEDDING PHOTOGS UNIT!(OR A POCKET BACK-UP)

THE HIGH COST AND AVAILABILITY OF THE ACCESSORIES! THE POP-UP FLASH WOULD NOT WORK OUTDOORS WHEN THERE WAS MORE THAN ENOUGH LIGHT (HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO CHECK WITH AUX. AND STUDIO FLASH W/ HIGH INTERIOR LIGHT SOURCE)

I HAD A CHANCE TO TEST THIS CAMERA FOR A FRIEND WHO HAD BOUGHT OUT FROM ANOTHER FRIEND WHO WAS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS BECAUSE OF ILLNESS. THIS IS A UNIQUE CAMERA THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND HIGHLY BECAUSE OF ITS EASE OF SHOOTING, LOADING AND UNLOADING, AND PLACEMENT OF CONTROLS. BEFORE I KNEW IT I HAD TAKEN 4 ROLLS OF 120 FILM (TWO COLOR AND TWO B/W). I DEVELOPED THE B/W RIGHT AWAY AND FOUND IT TO BE A TRUELY A PRO PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. THE IMAGES WERE EXCELLANT TO OUTSTANDING AND THE EXPOSURES (W/ AND W/O THE BUILT-IN FLASH) WERE PERFECT AND AMAZINGLY EVENLY SPACED. IF YOU JUST HAVE TO SHOOT ROLL FILM THIS WOULD BE A GREAT CAMERA REGARDLESS OF THE COST. IT SHOOTS ALMOST AS FAST AS A KONI-OMEGA (OR OMEGAFLEX) WITH IMAGES REMINISCENT OF THE HASSELBLAD, BUT W/O THE BULK OF EITHER. EASY TO TURN FOR THE WIDE ANGLE SHOTS HORIZONTAL SHOTS... (YOU LUCKY YOUNGSTERS) TOO BAD DIGITAL HAD TO COME ALONG NOW!

Customer Service

NONE NEEDED (ACCORDING TO ORIGINAL OWNER)

Similar Products Used:

ALL HASSELBLAD BODIES AND BACKS (1948 TO 1996) (INCLUDING 70MM FILM) MAMIYA RB, RZ,( BOTH W/70MM, 120 AND 220), 645 KONI-OMEGA AND KONI-OMEGAFLEX (120 AND 220) GRAPHFLEX XL AND XLRF (120, 220 AND 7

SIZE. which is great. All you need is a hippack unless you want to use a flash. The bigger neg. No 35mm in the world is sharper than a bigger neg. Yes it''s true, even lieca and ziess. It feels great too. I also loved the position of the controls. Being a rangefinder it''s so quiet. I think the price is reasonable too. I also think the lense is tack sharp. Auto modes work very well, even with slide film.

The batteries are very expensive. Buy a separate flash to save these batteries. they will last a long time this way. Auto focus is a bit slower than say an eos. If you are used to that kind of autofocus you will have to learn to be patient. But it''s not as bad as I make it sound. It just takes getting used to it. I didn''t like the manual focus system to much. But I did not give it a fair chance either. Remember I just borrowed it for a week.

Being a Wedding photographer, I use a big bad Bronica setup. You know the huge lense shade,the quantum barebulb flash and all of that. Why? It''s the best way for me to get the best quality photograph at weddings. Also people don''t question your skill when you walk around with that kind of setup. Say what you want,it''s true. The owner of a wedding studio that I shoot for from time to time bought two of these fuji cameras. @ 1700 bucks a piece I figured he must like it to buy two of them. He said they are his back up cameras for his weddings. He put a little flip bracket with a vivitar 285hv on them and he says they shoot beautifully as long as you don''t mind the autofocus. Well I borrowed one from him for my trip to Las Vegas with my wife. I figured I could use this instead of my 35mm eos-1. Which collects dust anyway. I do hate 35mm negatives, Call me oldfashioned. I even hate autofocus. Anyway I bought ten rolls of chrome and put this camera to the test. I put the camera on auto-mode. and on auto focus. what the heck 1800.00 it''s gotta be good. The results were fantastic. I shot every shot on auto everything. And all but four slides were properly exposed. Even nighttime shots with a longer exposure. (With whatever was around for a makeshift tripod of course) I couldn''t believe it. AND ALL yes ALL shots were in perfect focus! I was really impressed. My friend told me that sometimes you have to wait a very short time for the auto focus to find its way. Then you can shoot. Also What I loved about the rangefinder is you can see if your flash goes off through the viewfinder. For us slr users thats a plus. Would I shoot a wedding with one? Yes as a backup (Just for the vanity thing Hey at least I admit it) Would I shoot a portrait session with it? Absolutely. Unless I knew the order from the customer would be a 30X40 print. Then I think I would stick to the bigger 6x7 neg. (My other camera which is an old mamiya). Overall shooting YEs yes yes yes. I''m rating this camera 5 out of 5 just because I don''t think fuji intended this to replace my big 6x6 set up but rather as an all around shooter. boy did I love that zooooom lens. Yeah it''s a bit slow. But I''m on vacation! Why should I be in a hurry? And yes the f-stop is a bit slow too. You want to shoot sports? go get 35mm equipment. me? I''ll stick to a bigger neg and a tripod.

Customer Service

no idea

Similar Products Used:

Bronica 6x6, Hassalblad, mamiya 6x7, canon eos sysems.

See Review

You can find them, but there is usually a way to compensate.

I took the big decision a few months ago to get rid of all my "heavy" equipment and look for high quality, portable equipment suitable for travel and outdoor photography. The 645Zi fits the bill perfectly, permitting really beautiful colours, excellent saturation, smooth tones and all-round sharp photographs. I read here and there that you can''t see much difference between 35mm and medium format until you reach 8x10 enlargements. However, even machine prints in 5x7 from the Fuji 645zi are clearly superior in all respects to 35mm enlargements of the same size. Some reviewers complain about the lens being too slow, but I didn''t find this to be a problem. You need smaller apertures than 35mm for an equivalent depth of field and you can compensate easily for the lack of lens speed by using 400 asa film (Fuji NPH 400 is dynamite). The autofocus system is fine and although the manual focus system is limited, it is perfectly adequate if you use hyperfocal distances. Go to www.reflectiveimages.com/depthoffield.htm and you can calculate the appropriate distances. I put a tape on the camera base that gives me the hyperfocal distances at all apertures for the 55mm and 65mm positions. Using filters is always a challenge with rangefinder cameras, but that''s part of the fun. There is always a workaround. For example, using a polarizer can be easier if you use a step-up ring (say 52 to 67) then drill holes in the ring to observe the change in polarization as you rotate the filter. Adding 1.5 stops solves the metering problem. Others can add to this, but the point is that you can make this camera do almost anything you want and it will always be with you if you appreciate medium format, a high quality lens and lightweight equipment.

Customer Service

NA

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F100, Leica R, Pentax 645N (a tank!), Mamiya 7II (don''t kid yourself it''s bigger than you think)

Light, compact, quick & easy to use w/ VERY sharp lens.

AF and film winding mechanism are not very reliable; Zoom lens is rather slow and limited in range.

I achieved very mixed results w/ this camera. I love it for what it's designed to do and for the most part it does that well. However, much to my disappointment, I discovered it is not very reliable in 2 critical areas. It doesn't consistently focus accurantly and there is no practical way to preview this before exposure. It also doesn't consistently wind the film tight enough (sometimes resulting in fogged film), even when following instructions w/ great care. I understand that many (if not most) users don't have this problem. However, many do suffer through this, myself included. Also, I've read numerous posts presuming that this is caused by inexperience, or user error. I've been using MF for over 15 years and never experienced this problem w/ another camera design except for Fuji's original AF model, the GA645AF. Many of the posts advising of similiar problems are from Pros. Therefore, I think Fuji should offer this model in a manual RF model w/ manual film winding, similiar to their earlier designs.

Customer Service

No experience.

Similar Products Used:

Fuji's GS645(folder), GS645S & GA645AF; Yaschica TLR; Mamiya's RB67, 645 Super, 645 Pro TTL & M7; Hasselblad&#

Fuji optics, lightweight, affordable (for medium format), easy to carry around

slow lens (aperature), takes time to figure the manual out, learning to figure out what buttons will do what.

I took a long time to decie to buy this camera. I read a lot of reviews from a lot of different sites. This camera does not get a lot of praise, as I now think it should. I am quite pleased w/ this camera. This camera was designed for a lot of reasons. Some say it was designed for wedding photographers. Well, I think that most professional wedding hogs would not get this camera for a lot of reasons, but this camera main appeal, I believe is the luxury of owning, and being able to carry a medium format camera around with you. Flat out, this is the reason, and should be the realistic reason as well. The lens is amazing, and Fuji is not recognized for there optics (they make lenses for Hassy). This camera will attract mostly 35mm shooters wanting to get into medium, and I think that they are the ones w/ the most complaints. Proffesionals that always want a camera w/ them will love that this camera. That's me. Camera takes some getting used to, but learn it and you won't be sorry. Range finders are a whole different breed, especially autos which give no proof the shot is in focus, but that's part of the fun and the learning experience.

Customer Service

So far soo good

Similar Products Used:

Rollei QZ, Ricoh GR1, Mamiya 7, Pentax 645N

This is a very light in weight professional Medium format camera. When suffering from back, neck and elbow pain, this camera is a welcome relief! It feels like a 35mm point and shoot, but delivers truely professional results. The images are tack sharp. I have printed up to 16x20s so far and see no problem with doing 24x30s. It is easy to use for Wedding groups and reception candids. Program works great for outdoors. (see weakness remarks for flash)

The auto focus is too slow compared to Nikons.
This camera is TOO quiet! In a noisey environment,(wedding receptions) you cannot tell when it goes off! The zoom is great, but limited to groups and candids. The 90mm end of the zoom is just no good for close up portraits. The same with the slow f-stop. It is no good for portaits where you need shallow depth of field.
There is no manual focus. It says there is, but only if you first measure the distance, with a tape measure, then shut off the AF and set the distance on the LCD screen. Hey, may dad did that in the 50's with his Kodak Jr! The memory for your settings is lost when you shut it off. You need to reset shutter speed and aperature for manual mode each time it is turned back on.
The camera does not know if a flash is attached, so better use only "manual" if you attach a flash. Seems an easy fix for the designers, to set a 60th of a sec any time a flash is plugged in????
This camera needs a "lock out" when the cap is on. Sure a little warning light comes on if the lens cap is on, but you have to really look for it. Instructions need to be re-written by english speaking writters!
( what does "leave you finger from the button mean?"

I am very happy with this Camera. For only $1775.00 it is a great investment. A potential buyer needs to be aware of this Camera's limitations. This is not a portrait camera. It is great for general shooting, candids, landscapes, family groups, etc.
When compared to the fact that you get a Medium format camera, with Auto focus, motor drive, and a zoom lens, all for what another camera's body only will cost, this is a great Camera investment!
If Fuji comes out with a longer zoom or at least a 90-200, I will but another in a 1/125 second!
Paul in Ft. Myers

Customer Service

I have the Area Fuji reps name and number, but have never needed to call him except for advise on buying this camera.

Similar Products Used:

I have never used a Range Finder before. I have used Canons, I own two Nikons and a Bronica ETRSi 645.
This will not

Well built Light Weight Medium Format Point & Shoot Camera with very sharp lens. A good camera for lanscape and group photography, although I still prefer my 6x6 Rolei with it's waist view-finder, when I have the time to set the camera.

Very limited in use.

Not a very good camera for portrait
The zoom lens max position is 90mm (55mm equivalent for 35mm systems). This is too short for portrait. Also the max. aperture at 90mm is F6.9. You will need a lot of light or charge ISO400 film or use a flash. Also for portraits you want less depth of field then you will get at F6.9. Another problem for portraits is that the minimum focal distance is 1m (3ft). At 90mm this is still too far away if you want to fill the frame with your 1 year old child.

The flash!
The flash is another problem. The on body flash is too weak to light your object with F6.9. With ISO100 film you can only use the flash up to 1.7m (5 ft)! If you want to put a flash on the hot shoe you will have a hard time finding a flash that allows you to turn the head in vertical position. The best solution is to buy a ball-joint with a normal vertical flash and flip it over. Yes, Fuji has a flash but this one is too expensive for what you are getting.

Autofocus.
The autofocus works great, but make sure that you use the AF-lock because, unlike your 35mm P&S, this camera will only lock on the object in the middle of the view-finder.

Depth of Field preview is missing.

This camera is very limited in use, but it is the lightest full automatic medium format camera to carry arround any place. If you are aware of its limitations and you find the solutions to work arround them, you can get some good pictures. Make sure you shoot at least 20 films before you use it for a wedding or any other important occasion.

Customer Service

Not needed yet

Similar Products Used:

Roleicord, Canon EOS, Pentax Espio928

This is a great walk around camera. Light and fast to use. Love the built in flash and the zoom lens. Batteries last forever.

I wish the zoom was faster than f6.9 at telephoto. It could use a manual focus rangefinder system. 200 film winds poorly.

I love this camera. It is my first choice for travel and personal shooting. It has missed focus on a couple of sessions so I'd rather use the Contax 645 when on the job. This camera has a few drawbacks, but it is the only one of its kind.

I spent two weeks in January on assignment in Kosovo where I slept in below freezing temperatures every night. The camera continued to function in spite of continued exposure to freezing conditions. It was so light and compact that I could walk around with it for 16 hours a day with no camera bag fatigue. The slow lens was a problem for shooting indoors when there was no electricity. Built in flash helped, but it gives the photos that point and shoot look.

Customer Service

Lousy! These guys ripped me off for over $600 to fix the autofocus system and the tripod socket.

Similar Products Used:

I have the Contax 645, Mamiya 7 and Hasselblad 2000 FCM