Fuji Panorama GX617 Professional
Fuji Photo Film · Fuji GX617 mount · 6×17 cm on 120 or 220 roll film (Japanese Wikipedia) · 1993
Also known as: Fuji Panorama GX617 Professional · Fuji GX617 · Fuji GX617 Professional · Fujifilm GX617 · Fuji GX617 6x17 panoramic · Fuji GX617 body · フジ パノラマ GX617 プロフェッショナル · フジ GX617 · フジフイルム GX617
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuji Panorama GX617 Professional (1993–) | Fuji GX617 | 1993 | — | — |
- Weights and dimensions are Steve Walton's figures on Emulsive: 1.27 kg body, 2.43 kg with the 105mm lens and finder. No maker's sheet has been read for this page.
- Batteries: two CR123A. Walton says they serve the electromagnetic shutter release only; the packet's note has them powering an electronic frame counter. Both may be true — the camera has electronics the mechanical G617 lacks — and the question is left open.
- Centre filter: a 77 mm centre-graduated ND filter, Walton calls it one stop and mandatory with the 90mm; Adam Ottke calls it two stops, and a reader of his review corrects him to one. Japanese Wikipedia lists the centre filter GX617 against both the SWD 90mm and the SW 105mm.
- The four lens units (Japanese Wikipedia; Walton): SWD Fujinon 90mm f/5.6 (2 m, 77 mm), SW Fujinon 105mm f/8 (1.2 m, 77 mm), W Fujinon 180mm f/6.7 (2.7 m, 77 mm), T Fujinon 300mm f/8 (9 m, 67 mm); Walton gives their 35 mm equivalents as 20, 26, 46 and about 74 mm and f/45 as every unit's minimum. His text gives the 300mm as f/11 once against f/8 in his list and in Japanese Wikipedia.
How to tell them apart
- The lens unit comes off: a 6×17 body with a bayonet for Fuji's four lens/shutter/helicoid modules, each with its own finder, where the G617 has a fixed 105mm, a fixed finder and no battery (Japanese Wikipedia; Steve Walton)
- Two CR123A cells in the body; the shutter will not fire without them (Steve Walton)
- Fuji, never Fujica, on the nameplate (Japanese Wikipedia)
- Steve Walton notes an awkward rear-door lock
Fuji Panorama GX617 Professional (1993–):
- Fuji nameplate; the name never carried Fujica (Japanese Wikipedia)
- A removable lens unit on the front, each unit a complete lens, Copal #0 shutter and helicoid, with its own clip-on finder (Steve Walton; Japanese Wikipedia)
- Battery compartment for two CR123A cells (Japanese Wikipedia; Steve Walton)
- Fuji Panorama GX617 Professional (1993–): The only model. Steve Walton gives the body at 1.27 kg and 2.43 kg with the 105mm unit and its finder, and about 279 × 171 × 204 mm (W × D × H) with the 105mm fitted. No production figure or end date has been found; the packet gives none either.
Specifications
- Format
- 6×17 cm on 120 or 220 roll film (Japanese Wikipedia) · 4 on 120, 8 on 220 (Steve Walton; Adam Ottke) exposures
- Finder
- Separate optical finder supplied with each lens unit, clipped to the body; large and bright, not parallax-corrected (Steve Walton; Adam Ottke) · none (Steve Walton) parallax correction · 100% coverage · no rangefinder image
- Shutter
- Copal #0 leaf shutter in each lens unit, cocked before each exposure; electromagnetic release (Steve Walton; Adam Ottke) · B, 1 s – 1/500 (Steve Walton) · flash sync X at all speeds through a PC socket (Steve Walton)
- Film advance
- Lever (Adam Ottke describes cocking the shutter before each frame and firing by cable release)
- Meter
- None
- Motor drive
- Not compatible
- Weight
- 1270 g
- Dimensions
- approx. 279 × 171 × 204 with the 105mm unit (W × D × H, Steve Walton) mm
- Country
- Japan
- Accessories
- Lens units with finders: SWD Fujinon 90mm f/5.6, SW Fujinon 105mm f/8, W Fujinon 180mm f/6.7, T Fujinon 300mm f/8 (Japanese Wikipedia) · Centre filter GX617, 77 mm, for the 90mm and 105mm (Japanese Wikipedia; Steve Walton) · Grid focusing screen in place of the back (Japanese Wikipedia) · Two CR123A batteries
Walton gives 100% coverage. Japanese Wikipedia adds that the back can be exchanged for a grid focusing screen, which gives parallax-free framing and exact focus on a tripod. Focus is otherwise by the distance scale on the lens unit; there is no rangefinder.
Where sources disagree
- Shutter (what the batteries power)
- electromagnetic shutter release only — Steve Walton
- an electronic frame counter — the packet's note
Not contradictory; no maker's manual has been read to settle it.
- Accessories (centre filter strength)
- one stop — Steve Walton; a reader of Adam Ottke's review
- two stops — Adam Ottke
Better supported: one stop
What reviewers say
- Steve Walton (Emulsive) (blog) — "A unique camera" that is "big, heavy and idiosyncratic": a costly, demanding tool for photographers who want frames with "depth and detail" that stand apart, with each exposure expensive and the rear door lock awkward.
- Adam Ottke (Fstoppers) (blog) — "I love my Fuji GX617": a worthwhile way into panoramic work once the slow routine of manual focus, cable release and dust control becomes habit; shoot the 105mm at f/16 on a tripod, and at least 1/320 hand-held. About $2,000 used with a lens in 2013.
History
The GX617 of December 1993 is the G617 with the lens made removable. Fuji kept the 6×17 roll-film box, four frames on 120 and eight on 220, and replaced the fixed 105mm with a bayonet for four lens units, each a complete module of Fujinon glass, Copal #0 shutter and focusing helicoid, sold with its own clip-on optical finder: the SWD 90mm f/5.6, the SW 105mm f/8, the W 180mm f/6.7 and the T 300mm f/8, in 35 mm terms about 20, 26, 46 and 74 mm. The shutters run from 1 s to 1/500 plus B with X sync at every speed, and are cocked before each frame; the release is electromagnetic and the body carries two CR123A cells, which the mechanical G617 never needed. There is no meter and no rangefinder, but the back can be swapped for a grid focusing screen that gives exact framing and focus on a tripod. The Fujica name, gone since 1985, never appears on it.
It is a large camera. Steve Walton weighs the body at 1.27 kg and the camera with the 105mm and its finder at 2.43 kg, about 279 mm wide. The two wide units need Fuji’s 77 mm centre-graduated ND filter, a one-stop filter by Walton’s account and mandatory with the 90mm; Adam Ottke calls it two stops and was corrected by a reader. Walton finds the finders large and bright, with full coverage and no parallax correction, and the rear door lock awkward.
Both reviewers come to the same verdict from different moods. Walton calls it a unique camera, big, heavy and idiosyncratic, a costly and demanding tool for photographers who want 6×17 frames with depth and detail that stand apart, and reminds the reader that each exposure is expensive. Ottke simply loves his: the slow routine of manual focus, cable release and dust control becomes habit, the 105mm wants f/16 on a tripod and at least 1/320 hand-held, and in 2013 a used camera with a lens cost just over $2,000.
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.
Live listings
- Fujifilm GX617 180MM F6.7
- 富士フィルム フジフィルム FUJIFILM GX617 ボディ本体【並上品】
- 富士フィルム フジフィルム FUJIFILM GX617 EBC FUJINON SW 105mm F8【並品】
- 【中古】FUJIFILM 富士フイルム GX617 Professional + SWD 90mm f/5.6
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