FujifilmGA645Zi

The Fujifilm GA645Zi comes out of the late 1990s — panorama switches, dated LCDs, and a few genuinely brilliant lenses hiding inside plastic shells. Catalogued as a autofocus medium format zoom, it pairs the Super-EBC Fujinon 55–90mm f/4.5–6.9 with a 645 film path. A bit of background: a zoom medium-format autofocus camera. A genuinely strange object.

Format

645

Year

1998

Lens

Super-EBC Fujinon 55–90mm f/4.5–6.9

Min. focus

1.0 m

Flash

Built-in

Battery

1× CR123A

The Super-EBC Fujinon 55–90mm f/4.5–6.9 covers wide-to-short-tele in one barrel — one lens, no decisions, point and shoot. Medium-format 645 gives noticeably larger negatives than 35mm; the tonal range and detail shift the moment you scan one and compare. A single CR123A lithium cell powers everything including the motor; still cheap and stocked at most camera shops. The built-in flash will fire whenever the meter decides it should, so learn the override before your first night out. Minimum focus is 1.0 m, close enough for a coffee cup or a face but stops short of true macro. One thing worth knowing before you load a roll: wedding photographers in the late 90s loved it for casual shots. It earns its keep on portraits, landscapes and any frame you plan to print large — the bigger negative pulls ahead of 35mm the moment you scan past A4.

Medium format on autopilot is a rare combination — the Fujifilm GA645Zi is worth a look if you want bigger negatives without a Hasselblad-sized kit. Worth remembering: sharper than physics says it should be.

• §1A zoom medium-format autofocus camera. A genuinely strange object.
• §2Wedding photographers in the late 90s loved it for casual shots.
• §3Sharper than physics says it should be.