Fuji GX680 iii and IQ380

[Bryan Stephens]

I have a Fuji GX680 iii that has been sitting in my camera cabinet for a few years now. This is the one system that I did not have the heart to part with, after selling off my Hasselblad stuff (which I had quite a lot of).

This used to be my landscape camera before I ventured into the MFD realm of Dante's Inferno.

I have been very intrigued about how this camera would operate with my IQ 380 back and what would need to be done. I have a decent selection of lenses as well.

I have the 50mm, the 80mm, 100mm, 135 and the 180 and am wondering how they would perform on the IQ back. If this is workable, then this could be my "tech cam" setup as every lens has movements, since I sold off my Cambo almost 2 years ago.

Has anyone shot this camera with an IQ back, and what were your impressions? If anyone has examples of the wide lenses, that would be a great help as well.

Amazing. After taking about a year away from MFD due to various reasons, I have found an overwhelming desire to get out and just shoot as much as I can.

 

[gerald.d]

Hi Bryan -

I shot with an IQ180 and the Fuji a few years back. Never really got into it seriously I'm afraid.

Everything you need to get it all working is detailed here -

Phase One digital back adapter solutions

Kind regards,


Gerald.

 

[AlanS]

Hi Bryan, I use a Imacon 528C (22mp) so not sure if this will help much but I have 50mm, 65mm, 125mm f3.2 & 210mm. All but the 50 perform very well and to be fair the 50 is pretty good with only the edges slightly soft. How much difference the higher resolution will make I am unable to comment but it would not surprise me if all but the 50 are o.k. (and even the 50 might be acceptable). I use a V mount plate which was not expensive and don't need a wake up cable (just flash sync cable to fire the back). This made the experiment easy and cheap for me to see how my back performs with this camera. All in all I am very happy with the setup and output of the combination.
Alan.

 

[Bryan Stephens]

Thank you for the responses.

After really reviewing what I want to do with the camera, I am not sure that it is justified in spending about $1,000 for the adapter plate and the one shot control, for a system that I may not even take with me on the road to shoot my landscapes. (Dont know if my back could take the load of the camera, back, batteries, lenses, etc)

Oh well. It appears that it will be my go to MF camera for film when the mood strikes.

 

[neil]

I think you may be overestimating the cost of the required setup. I have always wanted to try my digital back on the gx680 and now seems like an ideal time as the price has come down for the needed adapter plate and they are occasionally available second hand. I found an adapter in a shop for 120 dollars.

The most expensive item that I needed was the battery holder for powering the
Camera. 140 dollars for a battery holder. Cost more than my camera and lens.

I have nearly everything I need now and hope to get it working over the next few weeks.

Really looks like a serious camera.

 

[Bryan Stephens]

I think you may be overestimating the cost of the required setup. I have always wanted to try my digital back on the gx680 and now seems like an ideal time as the price has come down for the needed adapter plate and they are occasionally available second hand. I found an adapter in a shop for 120 dollars.

The most expensive item that I needed was the battery holder for powering the
Camera. 140 dollars for a battery holder. Cost more than my camera and lens.

I have nearly everything I need now and hope to get it working over the next few weeks.

Really looks like a serious camera.

As I have a Phase back I need the one shot cable (as do all Phase backs with an M mount on the GX680) which runs about $400 and if you cannot locate a used adapter plate for the GX680 and M-mount, a new one is $500 (they are not as common as you think they are). If you add in the battery pack, that is another $140. .

 

[kdphotography]

The money, er, investment---needed to get your old Fuji working with a digital back should give pause for thought. And once all is said and done, may not be the rock solid consistent performer you expected it to be. This, and also not being able to realistically hike around much with this monstrous dinosaur to shoot landscapes.

I'd go back to the Cambo. :thumbup: This will give you a much better opportunity to participate in Dante's Inferno. :ROTFL:

Ken

p.s. Psssst. There should be a great deal on a used Cambo WRS at CI. It is in the original box, packing, manual, lunch bag case, and even the cold shoe led light. (Does anyone really use that?). I traded my old Cambo in for the new Cambo WRS 1600.

 

[danlindberg]

I loved my GX 680 III back in the day and many years ago I did try my Aptus II 5 with it. It really did not give the same feel as to shoot with film. A big camera became even more cumbersome with another box and cables to take care of.
However, I used it a little while for tabletop productshots and the Fujinon 150/4.5 was impressive!!! I have the 65 and 250 too, but the 150 was the best overall. Looked to see if I could find a sampleshot, but its so long ago that those files are on an old harddrive somewhere.