having been keeping my eye on this camera for quite some time (3 years at least), ebay prices were a bit daunting for this camera. anyone else who has been watching it knows they are typically "buy it now" at 2000 - 3000 USD and more. Interestingly though, if you look at closed auctions for this camera, most don't sell at that price and the auction closes, item unsold.
Regardless, even those that sold were a bit out of my price range. I've been quite fortunate that a colleague is in need of design for his business and while cash short had a Makina w67 to offer in barter. quick to jump on that, here's some shots from test rolls over the weekend. All are at or near Soap Lake, Washington - a mineral rich lake where mud bathers are in abundance in peak season. Using the TTL meter exclusively and a variety of film speeds (neopan 400, porta nc 400, 800 & 160 NC and fuji 160) for these shots, the camera was spot on and the 55mm lens on a 6x7 format is super sweet.
Some initial thoughts:
Quite a few people will say they're big or even huge. Not so - especially for a MF rangefinder. They're smaller than any of my type 100 land cameras, weigh a bit more than a type 100 land camera, but less than my M3. I find the form factor quite pleasing and easy on the neck to carry around for 6 - 8 hours. The shutter speed and f-stop dials may seem odd at first but you get used to them very fast.
The rangefinder is bright and crisp with main focal points at 3, 5 & 10 feet + infinity. Not to hard to get a sharp photo with that !
Major drawback for change-the-lens-aholics is the fixed lens. For me that's not an issue as I rarely change lenses anyway. With 4.5 being the slowest shutter speed a faster lens would be awfully nice !
After a few more rolls, and time permitting, I'll attempt a more thorough review. Neg scan for these although some will go into the darkroom this weekend ! For now, enjoy!
[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]
