Klasse W - a thing of beauty...

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Nathan67

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Dec 31, 2009
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Just got my Klasse W from Japan today.... Wonderful solid little camera, oozes quality imo. Got aroll of T-max in it at the mo lookinf forward to souping asap :)

Here is some camera porn in the meantime...

a sense of scale... (or maybe the proud parents lol)
1U2K4057.jpg


1U2K4027.jpg


over or under as you like it...
1U2K4029.jpg
 
I think I'd have trouble choosing between a Klasse and a Natura 1.9. A lot of trouble. There's only one solution, and that's both.
 
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MatthewThompson said:
I think I'd have trouble choosing between a Klasse and a Natura 1.9. A lot of trouble. There's only one solution, and that's both.
Click to expand...

Yes, I know what you mean.... I can see a Natura somewhere in my future too.... :) But the Klasse W is just sooo nice in the hand.... hmmm trying hard to resist a Klasse S. That would make a great lightweight travelling combo...
 
Looks great Nathan,

I'll be in Tokyo next week. Where did you buy it from. I thought I'd try some of the stores around Shinjuku.

What's the fastest shutter speed? Does the camera display the speed in the viewfinder?

Does it fit in a pocket ok? Seems a bit like my Hexar AF... which is awesome but can be a bit bulky and is troublesome to adjust exposure compensation on.

Cheers
Kev
 
kev.yong said:
Looks great Nathan,

I'll be in Tokyo next week. Where did you buy it from. I thought I'd try some of the stores around Shinjuku.

What's the fastest shutter speed? Does the camera display the speed in the viewfinder?

Does it fit in a pocket ok? Seems a bit like my Hexar AF... which is awesome but can be a bit bulky and is troublesome to adjust exposure compensation on.

Cheers
Kev
Click to expand...

I have a Klasse S, almost the same camera as the Klasse W, so I guess the specs are the same apart from the lens:

Fastest shutter speed I think is 1/1000th, but manual is Japanese, so can't be sure.

It does indeed display the shutter speed in the viewfinder, crystal clear.

Pocket-ability is so-so, not in my jeans, but yes in my inside jacket pocket.

I think it's a delightful camera, would prefer a physical switch to turn off the flash rather than use the menu system, but that's about it's only flaw. I've only shot 1 roll so far, Superia 1600, it came out perfectly exposed and sharp. The Klasse S has a 38mm lens, so shallow DOF is easy when it's wide open at f/2.8. The W is 28mm I think, so just a matter of taste really.

All credit to Fujifilm for being pretty much the last company left making high-quality film compacts.

Cheers

Garry
 
Nathan67 said:
Just got my Klasse W from Japan today.... Wonderful solid little camera, oozes quality imo. Got aroll of T-max in it at the mo lookinf forward to souping asap :)
Click to expand...

Agree, nice looking rig. Would love to see some pics taken with it so post some soon please.

Todd
 
kev.yong said:
Looks great Nathan,

I'll be in Tokyo next week. Where did you buy it from. I thought I'd try some of the stores around Shinjuku.

What's the fastest shutter speed? Does the camera display the speed in the viewfinder?

Does it fit in a pocket ok? Seems a bit like my Hexar AF... which is awesome but can be a bit bulky and is troublesome to adjust exposure compensation on.

Cheers
Kev
Click to expand...

Hi, sorry about the slow answer, been a bit busy, but I see another poster with a Klasse S answered most of your questions...
I bought mine on the net from Cameras of SK-Photo,. the have a shop on fleaq-bay too. They have a shop in the Akihabara area of Tokyo. I found then great to do business with.
Mine fits nicely in a jacket pocket, I forget its there in fact, but jeans pocket... not really.
Nathan
 
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Todd.Hanz said:
Agree, nice looking rig. Would love to see some pics taken with it so post some soon please.

Todd
Click to expand...

As said in my post above I have been very busy with work lately so havnt had much time for play... but I have put a test roll through the camera jsut to make sure everything was working after the trip from Japan to Norway..

Here are a couple of scans of some quick prints I made in the darkroom.

4345497875_709a45d9e0_o.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwl_67/4345497875/" title="Test roll - klasseW by nwl_67, on Flickr
I burned in the top right corner during printing, this is not lens vignetting.
The lens appears to be very sharp :)

here is another taken while skiing with the family, the clouds lifted for a minute exposing the mountain Knykjen and bathing it in a soft light... My wife and four year old son are the two figures in the shot.
Both were printed on agfa grade 4 glossy paper and the negs (t-max 400) were souped in Rodinal 1+50 (yes I like grain )
4353453058_90e1f472a9_o.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nwl_67/4353453058/" title="Klasse W test roll - Skiing by nwl_67, on Flickr
 
awesome Nathan - thanks for this - i'll be watching your flickr for sure for more from this cam - it looks really really good.
 
I had a Rollei AFM35 and was not impressed by the quality. The viewfinder was a pain too. The lens was excellent though. I'm not sure if Classe is in another league, they are made from the same basic build as the Rollei.
 
Personally I think that while the Klasse viewfinder is nowhere near as nice as that on a ZI, Leica or Bessa, for a compact, it's great. Very few digital compacts even have a viewfinder at all, so the Klasse one seems pretty great to me.
 
And remember this is the new Klasse W, not the same as the old Klasse / Rollei...
I really like the viewfinder,clear and easy to read the info shown.
I have also a Ricoh GR1s and the Klasse viewfinder is soooo much better.
 
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