Fujinon W

5x7shooter · Dec 21, 2019

NortheastPhotographic said:
I .... I will say I think the 250/6.7 is a little over-rated. Yes it's coverage is great, and it's super compact which is really nice. However, I use a Caltar (Rodenstock) 250/5.6 now and within it's smaller coverage I find it a bit more pleasing. It just seems sharper and contrastier. .

That has also been my experience with the Fujinon 250 / 6.7. The later Fujinon 250 / 6.3 CM-W seems noticeably better compared to the early 250 / 6.7 Fujinon. Still. in my experience the 6.7 early W is on par with the similarly single-coated 240 mm Schneider G-Claron and both seem more than good enough for most uses. The 250/6.7 Fujinons that I've recently seen on Ebay are often pretty affordable..

foveon_m · Dec 21, 2019

Thanks for your input, I just ordered a 150/5.6.^^

Bob S · Dec 21, 2019

5x7shooter said:
My post was the resulting of testing and using 7 Fujinon W lenses of varying series from 125 mm through 250 mm My prior post erred in stating that these were through 210 mm.

I have compared the Fujinons generally against similar lenses and the Fujinons had comparable image quality, although generally less expensive when purchased from Japan. All were more than good enough. I would buy any of the multicoated versions, with a decision based mostly upon condition and price. I have no opinion beyond my own experience.

Fujifilm did not have an official US distributor for much of the time that they made LF lenses, and so they were not as well-known.

Yes, they did have a lens distributor, DO Industries into the late 80s or early 90s. Then they dropped the line and only direct importer dealers imported them.

reddesert · Dec 22, 2019

foveon_m said:
Reading a lot about Fujinon lenses I found the statement that Fuji as first optimized the lenses to micro contrast for edgesharpness, so they look sharp but are not that good in resolution.

IMO, this kind of detailed concern (contrast vs resolution) is the kind of thing that, let us say, 35mm rangefinder users have a tendency to worry about. But for large format it shouldn't be anyone's first concern. Depth of field, focus errors, not making double exposures, film loading, light leaks ... Any modern lens will likely be good enough to let you make all the other mistakes.

foveon_m · Dec 23, 2019

reddesert said:
....Depth of field, focus errors, not making double exposures, film loading, light leaks ..

I was shooting 5x7 quite for a while untill they stopped slide film, now I still have a 12x16 (30x40cm) baby, so I know about this issues. ^^

5x7shooter · Dec 27, 2019

lantau said:
I've never seen any LF gear in person and couldn't find any info anywhere on the actual weight of the W series lenses. Specifically the Fujinon-NW 5.6/180 and the SWD 5.6/90.

ht.

I have both the Fujinon 90/5.6 SWD and also the Nikkor 90/8 SW. Both are 105 degree ultrawide angle lenses and both have comparably high image quality. However the 90/5.6 Fujinon is really too large and heavy for any field work (82mm filter), so I then bought the Nikkor 90/8 (67mm filter). Although I retain and like both, I prefer the Nikkor.

DREW WILEY · Jan 1, 2020

The 250/6.7 was a remarkable lens for it's era - lightwt in no.1 shutter yet with image circle room to spare even on 8x10 film (not the case with their subsequent slightly faster 250's). I was amazed at how sharp the detail was, and how rich and contrasty the hue rendering despite being single-coated, versus my previous experience with Symmar S lenses - good in their own right, but not equal to the Fuji. It was eventually stolen, and I replaced it with both a G-Claron and Fuji A of similar focal length - lighter and more compact still, with just as a big an image circle but even better corrected, esp the tiny Fuji A.

foveon_m · Jan 8, 2020

just got a Fujinon W150/5.6 outside lettering in quite nice condition; now I hope to get some hints what f-stops you guys are using on it.

ic-racer · Jan 8, 2020

foveon_m said:
just got a Fujinon W150/5.6 outside lettering in quite nice condition; now I hope to get some hints what f-stops you guys are using on it.

A simplified version of how to set the aperture is here:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/fstop.html

For more details, look for a PDF, "INs and OUTs of Focus"

Vaughn · Jan 8, 2020

foveon_m said:
just got a Fujinon W150/5.6 outside lettering in quite nice condition; now I hope to get some hints what f-stops you guys are using on it.

I only contact print, so I do not worry about closing all the way if I need to.

foveon_m · Jan 9, 2020

ic-racer said:
A simplified version of how to set the aperture is here:
https://www.largeformatphotography.info/fstop.html

For more details, look for a PDF, "INs and OUTs of Focus"

Wow^^

Neil Poulsen · Jan 16, 2020

Dan Fromm said:
Better information here: http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/index.htm

A lens that caught my eye on this site was a 300 SW with an image circle of 720mm. Jeepers!

Kerry recently sold a huge collection of Fuji lens promotional information, specs, etc., going way back. As I recall, he received some of this information from a former executive.

DREW WILEY · Jan 18, 2020

You gotta be careful with Fuji brochures. I have some of them and they're full of random typos. The lenses themselves are great.

Fujinon W

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