Thanks!

I am a long time DSLR user and my opinion is that the focusing screen is what makes the biggest difference. I find a split prism the best way to focus and one of my favourite things about my 503CW.

If you have a split prism and a built in magnifier/loupe the waist level viewfinder should be just as good. I prefer it. It’s a little slower though but when the focus is on it’s dead on. The only challenge is portraits where if it’s not bright enough it’s difficult to get a edge to focus on and you have to switch to distance / eye focusing.

Focusing on my RZ67 is much harder for me as the viewfinder is a lot darker and it has no prism so I haven’t used it much in the month I’ve had it and am considering selling it. I am not familiar with the 645 (lovely fun looking camera I would love to try) but for context I got the RZ67 for about $600 in Japan and I am seriously considering spending $400-700 (madness) on a focusing screen with a split prism. The split prism for the 645 is $50 ish and well worth it.

For me, the hassy being my first non digital film camera I initially found shooting without a meter a lot of effort but after a few years I have improved a lot and learned a lot by understanding and thinking about exposure more. I can now guess exposure and get close which I never thought I’d be able to do.

It’s also a better process in my opinion (framing, focusing and then framing) and makes you more considered. I throughly recommend waist level. But that’s just me