Fujinon SF 250/5.6 - is the disk required? :)

[eumenius]

Hello friends,

I have bought some ago two Fujinon SFs, 250 and 180. Fine lenses, these really are - the 180 has both disks, and 250 only the red one. The mystery is that I was trying to use them with disks, or adjusting the diffusion by shutter's aperture - the result I get without disks looks MUCH better! There is no visible layer-like structures in haloes around highlights, no annoying daisy stars anywhere, and the picture looks just smoother. The shutter's aperture allows for better control over diffusion, too. So, after all, why the disks are needed at all? I can understand how Imagon works, but the Fujinons are different...

Zhenya

 

[noseoil]

Zhenya, I have the 180mm lens with both discs. I will use the disc if I want a different look, but the lens gives a nice image quality with a wide open aperture. You can see on the aperture scale that there are really three different settings for each lens, so exposure and diffusion can both be changed to fit lighting and the look you want. I like the dreamy look I get with this lens for portraits. You can play with the lighting and diffusion you like and get some very good images with a bit of practice. Not for every shot, but the look is much different than a normal "sharp" lens. tim

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Zhenya,

I had one too, many years ago, and never liked the disks, preferring to work with aperture only. The same applies to the centre-spot stop on the Thambar on 35mm and the SF lens for the RB67 (150mm? I've forgotten) that I used to have. I think 'tea strainers' and the like are most useful for commercial portraiture at modest apertures, where bokeh (except on earrings) is usually irrelevant.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[eumenius]

This is exactly what I feel about the disks - they are probably made for some portrait studio, when you stick one disk in, adjust the lights once and forget about it They simply ruin the continuity of bokeh, so I would be better off with just a shutter aperture - it gives excellent results, and no trace of double-edged nasty bokeh, by the way.

Cheers,
Zhenya

Dear Zhenya,

I had one too, many years ago, and never liked the disks, preferring to work with aperture only. The same applies to the centre-spot stop on the Thambar on 35mm and the SF lens for the RB67 (150mm? I've forgotten) that I used to have. I think 'tea strainers' and the like are most useful for commercial portraiture at modest apertures, where bokeh (except on earrings) is usually irrelevant.

Cheers,

Roger

 

[Roger Hicks]

This is exactly what I feel about the disks - they are probably made for some portrait studio, when you stick one disk in, adjust the lights once and forget about it

Dear Zhenya,

Oh, you cynical fellow.

(Me, too)

Cheers,

R.

 

[eumenius]

Dear Roger,

a grain of cynicism has never spoiled anything really good Well, how else should we explain that the Fujinon SF with TWO disks can be obtained very rarely, and I think from someone who is really anal-retentive about his lenses? Of course, the "unneeded" disk was lost in piles of crap so usual in big studios just in an instant )))

Cheers,
Zh

Dear Zhenya,

Oh, you cynical fellow.

(Me, too)

Cheers,

R.