EL-Fujinon xx lenses?

Murray@uptowngallery · Aug 18, 2007

Where do Fujinon enlarging lenses fall in the food chain?

I saw some on eBay, hadnt heard of them befoer, and had difficulty finding much info.

Apparently ther are a 4 series of EL-Fujinon's. I can only remember two, EL-Fujinon-ES, and ...-EX

They seemed to have a little overlap of size between range, but I am wondering if there is a perfomance difference.

I want to avoid grabbing the lowest quality ones.

I did this once snagging a Rodenstock enlarger lens. At the time I didn't realize how big a difference there was between a APO-Rodagon and an Omegar :O(

Thanks

firecracker · Aug 18, 2007

You might want to search for the older threads regarding this topic.

The Ex lenses are multi-coated, color-corrected lenses, and they are sharp and have high contrast, but not as contrasty as El Nikkor lenses. I use a 50mm and a 90mm of the Ex series, and they are from pretty good to exellent, in my view.

I think Fuji in Japan has stopped the production of the Ex lenses already...

Murray@uptowngallery · Aug 18, 2007

I wondered if the EX were a different quality than the ES. I seem to remember some manufacturer having a simple letter distinction between different grades.

srs5694 · Aug 18, 2007

First, a caveat: I don't own any Fuji enlarging lenses, so what I'm about to relate is based on what I've read. That said, my understanding is that there are three levels of Fuji enlarging lenses:

ES -- 4-element design, not multicoated
EP -- 6-element design, not multicoated
EX -- 6-element design, multicoated

If there's a fourth type, I don't know what it is. Based on what I've read, the EX and perhaps the EP are very good lenses, but I wouldn't spend much for an ES. That's not to say the ES is a substandard lens compared with other 4-element lenses (I don't know one way or the other); it's just that better 6-element lenses are selling for very little on eBay.

Harrigan · Aug 18, 2007

The order of quality would the as above 4 element ES, 6 element EP, 6 element EX.

Currently I have the 105mm fujinon EX and while it doesn't say multicoated it appears to have the fuji ebc coating. I also have a 105 ES and it looks to be single coated. Both are excellent lenses typical of high quality fujinon optics.

skahde · Aug 18, 2007

I have four EP and EX lenses and they are as good as anything. Honestly, I had some dogs - one Schneider, one Nikon - but other than that, I can't find too much difference between enlarging lenses. It doesn't don't matter who made it, as long as you have a good one.

best

Stefan

srs5694 · Aug 18, 2007

skahde said:
It doesn't don't matter who made it, as long as you have a good one.

I recall hearing somewhere or other that the sample-to-sample differences in enlarging lenses, even when new, tend to be quite large compared to model-to-model differences. If this is true, then the key is to find a sample that's good, more than finding a model that's good. (I still wouldn't recommend buying a cheap 3-element lens, though, or even a 4-element one, at least not used or unless the price was very low.) For new optics, buy from a dealer who accepts returns and have a plan in place to test your lens, ideally comparing it to a lens of known high quality. For used optics, it's more a matter of being prepared to buy a second one if you're dissatisfied with the first. Ultimately, that's not such a bad thing, either -- if you've got two lenses of a particular focal length, you'll have a backup in case of a horrific accident (dropping a lens when removing it from the enlarger, accidentally ramming a screwdriver into it, etc.). Murphy's Law says you'll do that at the most inconvenient time possible.

Phillip P. Dimor · Aug 19, 2007

I use a el-nikkor 80mm lens and a fujinon ex 150mm primarily. They are both good and it's probably not fair to compare them due to the difference in lens length but.. The fujinon feels the nicest, it's plastic and metal yes but has illuminated f-stops and the entire lens spins around which is nice when you use filters or stand to the side of the enlarger. The fujinon to me is sharper and has more contrast. My el-nikkor is old so this may not be fair. I would not hesitate to replace my 80mm nikkor with a fuji ex..

Peter De Smidt · Aug 19, 2007

I have a couple Fujinon enlarging lens, both EX. They are every bit as good as my nikkor and schneider ones. The lenses on my Fujinon range finders are outstanding, as are my Fujinon large format lenses.

apophasis · Sep 17, 2015

Fujinon was the best

I just tested 6 6 element lens -- all 50mm. They were quite close but the Fujinon (only the EP!) won:

1. Fujinon EP F 3.5
2. Componon F4 (oldie!!)
3. Componon F2.8
4. Nikon F 2.8
5. Nikon F 4 (another old one)
6. Rodenstock F 2.8 - Rodagon

I had to hold the prints side by side, but the "feel" of the Fuji was spectacular -- like that umph from Leica M taking lenses. I am not going to pay for a Focotar II.

RalphLambrecht · Sep 19, 2015

firecracker said:
You might want to search for the older threads regarding this topic.

The Ex lenses are multi-coated, color-corrected lenses, and they are sharp and have high contrast, but not as contrasty as El Nikkor lenses. I use a 50mm and a 90mm of the Ex series, and they are from pretty good to exellent, in my view.

I think Fuji in Japan has stopped the production of the Ex lenses already...

I love the EL Nikkors;the only type Iuse

AlexMalm01 · Sep 21, 2015

I tested a fujinon 90mm ex against a schneider componon-s (105?) and the fujinon had noticeably punchier contrast and slightly higher perceived sharpness. With an 8x loupe looking at an 8x10 print it seemed to resolve slightly more detail as well. So i suspect with bigger enlargements this would be more noticeable.

If you can find the spec sheets online you'll see the fuji ex lenses were designed with a higher enlargement magnification in mind compared to most of their competitors (not including apo lenses).

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

jjphoto · Sep 21, 2015

Is this a world record for 'oldest thread revival' (started 2007)?

AlexMalm01 said:
...If you can find the spec sheets online you'll see the fuji ex lenses were designed with a higher enlargement magnification in mind compared to most of their competitors (not including apo lenses)...

The magnification range for EX lenses is from 2-20 for 50mm to 1.5-15 for 75mm to 135mm lenses.

See; Fujinon EX Enlarging lenses: http://photocornucopia.com/1056.html

It's probably true that the EXes have slightly larger magnification range than most lenses although the EL-Nikkors are about the same as the EXes. The list below details the specifications of various EL's including the magnification range where known (it's not always stated).

See; The Big List of Enlarging Lenses: http://photocornucopia.com/1061.html

EL-Fujinon xx lenses?

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