The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Anyone used the Chiek GX680 camera?

mandonbossi

New member
Hi,
Am hoping someone may be able to pass on some user experiences on the Chiek GX680 camera?

I have just seen one for sale on Ebay and am thinking of bidding but would love to hear of anybody who has used one :)

This one has a starting price of $630 and a buy it now of $950. Can anybody tell me what they originally sold for?

If anybody has any information on this camera, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Best Regards

Mandon
 

Annna T

Active member
Hi,
Am hoping someone may be able to pass on some user experiences on the Chiek GX680 camera?

I have just seen one for sale on Ebay and am thinking of bidding but would love to hear of anybody who has used one :)

This one has a starting price of $630 and a buy it now of $950. Can anybody tell me what they originally sold for?

If anybody has any information on this camera, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Best Regards

Mandon
I'm not sure whether some one has experience with that setting here, but Chiek himself has posted a few entries in this forum explaining what he was achieving in this forum a while ago.

Here are a few threads :

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/sony/49962-making-compact-technical-camera-a7-a7r.html

http://www.getdpi.com/forum/sony/51376-new-concepts-x-y-shift-adapter-sony-a7-r.html


http://www.getdpi.com/forum/gear-fs-wtb/51930-compact-medium-format-v-mount-camera-canon-eos-lens-like-alpa-tc-concept.html

Just use the search utility in this forum with the word Chiek and you will find more posts by him.
 

Smoothjazz

Active member
I bought one directly from him to use with my Phase One back. The 680 is a great concept of a camera, and he put it on a monorail- in theory this could be the perfect little camera to allow full movements. Coming from large format, I really miss being able to tilt the camera back for effects, like exaggerating the foreground. There is still no camera on the market that allows for this- all Alpa and Arca offerings have front tilt only.
There are 3 issues that arose; first, the Phase One back did not seat properly, but after spending a few hours to raise the attachment with shims, got it to work. The second issue I did not think of was that the sliding back simply moves over to expose the Phase One sensor to open air. I should have had him attach an existing Linhof sliding back, but his back is much simpler; smaller and lighter. I ended up using my old Blackjacket dark hood with draw strings, which covers and protects everything. I can still make this work, I believe.
The final issue is that the sensor plane has to be exactly equal to the ground glass plane to focus, but it was not very close. He may have had it set properly for his similar Mamiya back, but it has to be exact, and there has to be a way to adjust it. The Alpa system has a set of very fine shims you can add to the back to make it perfectly registered.
Since he is in Korea, I could not just send the 680 and my back over to him for fine tuning. The solution I am working on is ordering a set of thin shims from S.K. Grimes that I will use to finely tune the sensor plane to match the ground glass plane. It is a work in progress, but many tweaks necessary to make it work properly.
If the 680 you are looking at is for attaching a 35mm camera, then these issues should not be any problem, they only occur if using a digital back. If you are simply looking to add a camera body, like an A7r to the 680, I would say go for it.
Hope this helps.
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
There is still no camera on the market that allows for this- all Alpa and Arca offerings have front tilt only.


With SB34 Alpa lenses you may have front AND back tilt/swing at the same time.
With SB17 Alpa lenses you may choose if you want to place the tilt/swing adaptor front OR back.
 

mandonbossi

New member
Thanks for the responses, is very helpful..

Smoothjazz, do you remember how much you paid for it?

This one has a buy it now for around $930 and the auction starts from around $620. Does this seem pretty good?

Yes, I would be looking to use it on the A7R and have a Canon 24mm TS-E II, Pentax 645 35mm and Hasselblad 50mm lens..

Thanks so much once again, greatly appreciated!
 
Top