Fuji 680

By: Danny Burk

 
For several years, my all-purpose medium format SLR was aContax 645with lenses from 35mm to 350mm. Most of the time, however, I prefer to shoot 4x5 using myEbony SV45U2. Using the Contax, many times I wished for camera movements such as tilt and rise. Seeking to solve this issue led me to investigate the Fuji GX680III for those times when shooting 4x5 isn't practical. On paper, it sounded like the ideal compromise between medium and large formats: full movement capability with any lens, image size nearly twice that of 645, yet the convenience of rollfilm and a prism viewfinder. My only qualm was the stream of opinions, mainly online by those who hadn't even used the camera, that it would be too large and bulky for landscape use where hiking and carrying the equipment any distance from the car would be necessary.
I did a lot of research into size and weight of the Fuji camera and lenses. I'm accustomed to carrying a fairly hefty load:  4x5 and Zeiss (all-met...