Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Fujica GW690 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). No sheet-film back: the GL690's interchangeable-lens mount, its curtain and its sheet-film option were all dropped. · 1978

Known as “Texas Leica”

Also known as: Fujica GW690 · Fujica GW690 Professional · Fuji GW690 · Fuji GW690 Professional · Fujica GW 690 · GW690 Professional 6x9 · Fujica GW690 90mm F3.5 · Fujica GW690 EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 · フジカ GW690 · フジカGW690プロフェッショナル · フジ GW690 · Texas Leica

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Fujica GW690 Professional Fuji fixed 1978–1985 — Not published
  1. Weight and dimensions are camera-wiki's figures for the GW690 (1,430 g; 189 × 119 × 123mm). Later generations are given there only as deltas: II about 10 g heavier, III about 20 g heavier again.
  2. The 1–1/500 speed range comes from the III-generation manual's specification (T, 1–1/500 sec.); camera-wiki gives the first GW690's shutter as a Seiko #0 with T and no B but prints no range. No GW690 manual was read.
  3. Exposure counts (4/8/16 by the film selector) are camera-wiki's description of the first GW690 and match the selector on the III (manual, Fig. 6: 16 EXP 220, 8 EXP 120, 4 EXP 120).
  4. The shutter-actuation counter on the base counts in tens to 999 and then rolls to 000; camera-wiki says it was meant to signal servicing and quotes Chatani on a 10,000-exposure design life. It also makes the release loud and can be disconnected, so a low reading proves little.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A Leica-shaped body scaled to 6×9 with a fixed 90mm f/3.5 EBC Fujinon in a leaf shutter, no meter, no battery; the breech-lock ring and the curtain lever of the G690/GL690 are gone
  • 'Fujica' nameplate, cold accessory shoe, ribbed grips and both strap loops on the left end: first generation. 'Fuji' nameplate, hot shoe, chequered grip and a lug per end: GW690II. Curved rubberised body with a spirit level: GW690III
  • Odometer-style counter on the base plate reading in tens of exposures, found on all three generations
  • Shutter-speed ring runs T, 1 to 500; a ring marked B is one of the uncommon B-equipped bodies (35mmc)
  • Listing trap: sellers write 'GW690' for the II and III as well; the nameplate wording and the shoe settle it

Fujica GW690 Professional:

  • 'Fujica' on the front plate: the II of 1985 reads 'Fuji' (camera-wiki; Japanese Wikipedia)
  • Plain accessory shoe without contacts; the hot shoe arrived with the II (camera-wiki)
  • Ribbed grips, convex, on the front right and left; the II has a chequered grip (camera-wiki)
  • Both strap loops on the left end of the body, so it hangs vertically; the II has a lug on each end (camera-wiki)
  • No lock on the shutter release (the lock is a II feature, Japanese Wikipedia)
  • Round rangefinder spot; shutter-actuation odometer on the base plate (camera-wiki)

Serial-range notes

No published scheme
Neither camera-wiki nor the Japanese product list records serial blocks or a serial-to-year table for any GW/GSW body. A body is dated by its generation features, not by 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). No sheet-film back: the GL690's interchangeable-lens mount, its curtain and its sheet-film option were all dropped. · 8 on 120, 16 on 220, 4 on half-length 120 exposures
Finder
combined coupled rangefinder/viewfinder with a round rangefinder spot and a bright-line frame for the 90mm · 90mm framelines
Shutter
Seiko #0 leaf shutter in the lens, cocked by the advance lever; double-exposure prevention · T, 1s–1/500; no B on the standard camera (camera-wiki). A few bodies carry a B setting instead of T (35mmc, Simon Foale) · flash sync X, all speeds, via the accessory shoe's flash and a sync socket; the shoe itself has no contacts · no self-timer
Film advance
Two-stroke lever on the top plate (Japanese Wikipedia); additive exposure counter, reset by opening the back
Back
Hinged, with a reversible pressure plate for 120 or 220 (Japanese Wikipedia: 'the back plate can be removed and reversed to use 220')
Meter
None
Motor drive
Not compatible
Weight
1430 g
Dimensions
189 × 119 × 123 (W × H × D, camera-wiki) mm
Country
Japan
Original price
¥143,500 (November 1978; camera-wiki's table, which draws on the Japanese product list) (today ¥238,000)
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 finder was found; camera-wiki records only the round rangefinder spot. The III manual's 0.75×, 59mm base and 44.3mm effective base describe the 1992 finder, not this one.

Figures we worked out rather than found: The GW690II's weight (about 1,440 g) and the GW690III's (1,460 g by its manual) sit 10 g and 30 g above this body, which matches camera-wiki's deltas.

Where sources disagree

Speeds
  • T, no B — camera-wiki, describing the standard GW690's Seiko #0 shutter
  • B instead of T on some bodies — 35mmc (Simon Foale's own camera; he found 'a couple of mentions' of others online); a Photrio post describes a 1978 body with a Copal-type shutter and B

Better supported: T; the B bodies are a minority whose origin no source explains

With T the shutter cannot be closed from the release or the cable release; the exposure ends by winding on or turning the speed ring back to 1, which is why Foale prizes his B body.

What reviewers say

History

The Fujica GW690 Professional of November 1978 is the GL690 of 1974 with its lens fixed in place. Fuji removed the breech-lock mount, the light curtain that let lenses be changed mid-roll and the switchgear around them, and camera-wiki credits that for a camera 300 g lighter than the GL690: 1,430 g, 189mm wide. What stayed is the rest of the G690 idea, a 6×9 coupled rangefinder built like an enlarged Leica M with a leaf shutter in the lens, no meter and no battery. The lens is the five-element EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5, which the GW690III manual specifies with a 1 m nearest focus, f/32 minimum aperture, a 67mm filter thread behind a built-in retractable hood and a 58° field, about a 39mm on 35mm film. The shutter is a Seiko #0 with T, 1 second to 1/500 and no B. Film is 120 or 220 on a reversible pressure plate, with a three-position selector for 4, 8 or 16 frames.

Two things on the camera are peculiar to the line. The first is T without B: the shutter stays open after the release is pressed and will not close from the release or a cable release; the exposure ends by winding on or turning the speed ring back to 1, either of which can move the camera. A small number of first-generation bodies carry B instead, as Simon Foale’s does, and no source explains why Fuji made them. The second is the shutter-actuation counter on the base plate, an odometer reading in tens that rolls over at 999. Camera-wiki reports it was meant to tell the owner when a service was due, quoting Chatani on a 10,000-exposure design life; it is also the spring that makes the release so loud, and it can be disconnected, so a low reading on a used body is weak evidence.

Telling the first generation from the two that followed is simple. This body reads ‘Fujica’ on the front, carries a plain accessory shoe without contacts, has convex ribbed grips, no lock on the release and both strap loops on its left end so it hangs vertically. The GW690II of June 1985 changed every one of those: ‘Fuji’ nameplate, hot shoe, release lock, chequered grip and a lug on each end. The GW690III of 1992 is a different, curved, rubber-covered body with a spirit level. Camera-wiki rates the 90mm sharper wide open than the 100mm lenses of the interchangeable bodies, with less pleasant out-of-focus rendering; Foale, comparing it against the GL690’s four-element 100mm Tessar, found ‘not much in it’.

What remains open: the finder’s magnification and base length, which no source gives for the first generation; a serial scheme; and a production figure. The 1985 end date is the GW690II’s release month.

Expand Collapse

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 GW690 Professional? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Fujica GSW690 Professional · Fuji GW690II Professional · Fuji GSW690II Professional · Fuji GW670II Professional · Fuji GW690III Professional · Fuji GSW690III Professional · Fuji GW670III Professional · Fuji GW680III Professional · Fuji GSW680III Professional · Fuji GL690 Professional · Fuji GM670 Professional

Lenses for this body: EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 (GW690)

Sources (5)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.