Fujica GSW690 Professional
Fuji Photo Film · Fixed lens · 6×9cm on 120 or 220 roll film; a three-position film selector sets the counter for 4 exposures (half-length 120), 8 (120) or 16 (220), as on the GW690. · 1980
Known as “Texas Leica”
Also known as: Fujica GSW690 · Fujica GSW690 Professional · Fuji GSW690 · Fuji GSW690 Professional · Fujica GSW 690 · GSW690 Professional 6x9 · Fujica GSW690 65mm F5.6 · Fujica GSW690 EBC Fujinon SW 65mm f/5.6 · フジカ GSW690 · フジカGSW690プロフェッショナル · フジ GSW690 · Texas Leica
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fujica GSW690 Professional | Fuji fixed | 1980–1985 | — | Not published |
- Weight is camera-wiki's 1,475 g; no dimensions are given there for the GSW690 separately from the GW690's 189 × 119 × 123mm, and the deeper lens barrel of the III (132mm against 129mm) suggests the first GSW was also a little deeper.
- Shutter speed range (1–1/500) is the III manual's figure for the line; the first GSW690's own manual was not read. The GSW690's shutter is given no maker on camera-wiki; the GW690's is a Seiko #0.
- Lens data (6 elements in 4 groups, 67mm filter, 1 m nearest focus, f/32, 76° field) is the GSW690III manual's and Japanese Wikipedia's (4群6枚); camera-wiki says the lens is widely thought optically identical to the 65mm f/5.6 of the G690 series, which it lists with a different element count. See the lens page.
How to tell them apart
- The GW690 body with a wider, slower lens: EBC Fujinon SW 65mm f/5.6 behind a built-in hood, 67mm filter thread, no meter, no battery
- 'Fujica' nameplate, cold accessory shoe, ribbed grips and both strap loops on the left end: first generation. 'Fuji' nameplate, hot shoe and a lug per end: GSW690II. Curved rubberised body with a spirit level: GSW690III
- Odometer-style counter on the base plate reading in tens of exposures
- Listing trap: 'GSW690' alone is written for the II and III too; the nameplate and the shoe settle it
Fujica GSW690 Professional:
- 'Fujica' on the front plate and 'SW' in the lens name, EBC Fujinon SW 65mm f/5.6; the GSW690II of 1985 reads 'Fuji' (camera-wiki; Japanese Wikipedia)
- Plain accessory shoe without contacts, ribbed grips, both strap loops on the left end, no release lock: the first-generation body shared with the GW690 (camera-wiki)
- Shutter-actuation odometer on the base plate (camera-wiki)
- Fujica GSW690 Professional: The only form of the camera: the GW690 body with the 65mm f/5.6 in place of the 90mm, 45 g heavier at 1,475 g (camera-wiki). Japanese Wikipedia describes it simply as the wide-angle version of the GW690.
Serial-range notes
- No published scheme
- No source records serial blocks or a serial-to-year table for any GW/GSW body. Generation features date a body, not its number.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×9cm on 120 or 220 roll film; a three-position film selector sets the counter for 4 exposures (half-length 120), 8 (120) or 16 (220), as on the GW690. · 8 on 120, 16 on 220, 4 on half-length 120 exposures
- Finder
- combined coupled rangefinder/viewfinder with a bright-line frame for the 65mm · 65mm framelines
- Shutter
- #0 leaf shutter in the lens, cocked by the advance lever; double-exposure prevention · T, 1s–1/500; no B (camera-wiki on the first-generation shutter; range from the III manual) · flash sync X, all speeds, via a clip-on flash and the sync socket; the accessory shoe has no contacts · no self-timer
- Film advance
- Two-stroke lever on the top plate; additive exposure counter
- Back
- Hinged, with a reversible pressure plate for 120 or 220
- Meter
- None
- Motor drive
- Not compatible
- Weight
- 1475 g
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥163,500 (March 1980; camera-wiki's table) (today ¥242,000)
- Accessories
- Lens cap and soft case; a 67mm filter thread behind the built-in hood · Clip-on flash on the accessory shoe, fired through the sync socket
No magnification, base length or coverage figure for the first-generation GSW finder was found. The GSW690III manual's 59mm base and 26.6mm effective base describe the 1992 finder.
Figures we worked out rather than found: The GSW690II's weight (about 1,480 g) and the GSW690III's (1,510 g by its manual) sit 5 g and 35 g above this body, which matches camera-wiki's deltas.
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Fujica GSW690 Professional of March 1980 is the GW690 of 1978 fitted with a wide-angle lens: the EBC Fujinon SW 65mm f/5.6, six elements in four groups, which the GSW690III manual gives a 76° field, equivalent to a 28mm on 35mm film, a 1 m nearest focus, f/32 minimum aperture and a 67mm filter thread behind a built-in retractable hood. Everything else is the GW690: a 6×9 coupled rangefinder with no meter and no battery, a #0 leaf shutter in the lens with T and 1 second to 1/500 and no B, 120 or 220 film on a reversible pressure plate, a 4/8/16 film selector and the odometer-style shutter counter on the base. The lens adds 45 g, for 1,475 g, and ¥20,000 to the price (camera-wiki).
Camera-wiki notes that the 65mm is widely thought to be the same glass as the 65mm f/5.6 of the interchangeable G690 series, but prints a different element count for that lens, and no source read settles it; the GSW690III’s manual and the Japanese product list agree on six elements in four groups for this one. Nothing in the sources separates this body’s finder from the GW690’s apart from the frame it shows, and no magnification or base length was found for either first-generation finder.
The first generation is told from its successors as the GW690 is: ‘Fujica’ on the front plate, a plain accessory shoe without contacts, convex ribbed grips, no lock on the release and both strap loops on the left end. The GSW690II of June 1985 brought the ‘Fuji’ nameplate, the hot shoe, the release lock, the chequered grip and one lug per end; the GSW690III of 1992 the curved rubber-covered body with a spirit level. No review written around the first-generation GSW690 specifically was found; the reviews on the GSW690II and GSW690III pages describe the same lens on the later bodies.
What remains open: the finder’s magnification and base length; whether the 65mm shares its formula with the G690-series lens; a serial scheme; and a production figure. The 1985 end date is the GSW690II’s release month.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Fujica GSW690 Professional? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- ★良品★富士フイルム FUJICA Professional GSW690 中判カメラ★ T61＃6061
- 【現状品/ジャンク扱い】FUJICA GSW690 Professional
- FUJICA GSW690 Professional 中判フィルムカメラ フジフィルム FUJIFILM
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