Info on Fuji 300mm F/5.6 L lens...
Mark Baylin
a Fuji 300mm F/5.6 L lens for his 4x5 camera and is asking me
for advice. I'm weak on the Fuji line of lenses and was wondering
if anyone out there has some experience with this lens. He
intends on using it on his 4x5 camera (a wisner technical and
an old omega monorail).
If anyone knows how god/bad this lens is, what the coverage is
and other relavant data, I would greatly appreciate it if you
could e-mail me directly.
Thanks very much for any help!!
Take care
Mark
--
p
Nicholas T
Bruce
>a Fuji 300mm F/5.6 L lens for his 4x5 camera and is asking me
>for advice. I'm weak on the Fuji line of lenses and was wondering
>if anyone out there has some experience with this lens. He
>intends on using it on his 4x5 camera (a wisner technical and
>an old omega monorail).
I would suggest: http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/fujinon.htm
_________________
Ready, Fire, AIM.
Bruce
Brooklyn, N.Y.
JCPERE
Jos. Burke
version.
A modern Tessar design--my 420 L is sharp as a tack. My 300 W is very sharp
as well. I think they (L's) are early 80's vintage. I am yet to have a poor
or even mediocre performing Fuji LF lens!! I assume it is mounted in a
Copal 3 shutter but I use my Copal 3 300 W on my 4x5 for portraiture plus
my 8x10 as well. No problem!! The 300 L is likely not too heavy as my 420 L
is much smaller than my 300W (different design I think!).
I assume the older Fuji is well priced but I swear Kerry Thalmann has driven
those prices up. Just kidding--sort of!! I think Mr. Thalmanns' praise of
Fuji lenses is well founded and well respected!!
I prefer the Fuji lenses myself. I have a 90 5,6, 210 5,6 (the old big
coverage 58 mm filter thread one), the 300 W and the 420 L. All perform
flawlessly in regards to sharpness and contrast!!
J Burke
"Mark Baylin" <bp...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA> wrote in message
news:cbikhc$nt$1...@freenet9.carleton.ca...
Kerry L. Thalmann
news:yqeDc.180$hd1...@bignews5.bellsouth.net...
> I assume the older Fuji is well priced but I swear Kerry Thalmann has
driven
> those prices up. Just kidding--sort of!! I think Mr. Thalmanns' praise of
> Fuji lenses is well founded and well respected!!
I know you were just kidding, but consider this, you can buy a brand new
450mm Fujinon C for less today than you could used back in the mid-1990s.
From about 1990 until around late 1997 Fujinon large format lenses were real
hard to come by. D.O. Industries had stopped acting as their official U.S.
Distributor. Most people outside of Japan didn't even know Fuji was still
making large format lenses, let alone that they had introduced an entire new
standard lens line (the CM-W series).
Back then, you couldn't find a used 450 C for less than $1000. I'd been
looking for one for years (as well as a 240mm Fujinon A). I remember
getting all excited when I saw a used 450 C at a local swap meet back in
March of 1998. It was a 1980s vintage model with the chrome ring Copal
shutter. The seller was asking $1000. I offered $950, but he refused to
budge on the price. So, I walked away. Good thing I did, because a couple
weeks later I learned that Badger Graphic was directly importing Fuji large
format lenses at very reasonable prices. I ended up buying a brand new 450
C for $860. Badger and Midwest Photo Exchange both continue to directly
import Fujinon large format lenses at very reasonable prices. The prices
have gone up a little due to the weak dollar, but they both have the 450 C
listed at $895 new.
I doubt if an individual can have much of an impact on prices. I think
things like exchange rates, supply and demand (including people abandoning
film for digital), competition among dealers, etc. have a much greater
impact on prices. If anything, I hope my writing and praise of Fujinon
lenses has lead to increased availability. I can't take much credit though,
it's dealers like Badger and Midwest that have made the lenses readily
available new at affordable prices. eBay has lead to greater availabilty on
the used market. In any case, I do think Fuji prices, both new and used,
are still much better than they were 8 - 10 years ago.
WRT to the 300mm Fujinon L, as others have mentioned, it's a 4/3 Tessar type
lens. The published image circle is 343mm at f22 - enough for 8x10 with
modest movements. It's in a Copal No. 3 shutter, weighs 800g and takes 67mm
filters. It is single coated and production of the 300 L and 420 L ended in
mid-1982 when the, smaller 300 and 450 C were introduced in the less
expensive Copal No. 1 shutters. So, the date of manufacture was probably
between 1972 (when D.O. Industries started importing Fujinon lenses) and
1982.
My personal favorite lens in this focal length is another Tessar type - the
300mm f9 Nikkor M. It has the advantage of being multicoated and is much
smaller (Copal No. 1, 52mm filters, 290g). It is also very reasonably
priced ($595 new and $450 - $500 used in mint condition). Unless you get a
much better deal on the 300mm Fujinon L, or really need/want the faster f5.6
maximum aperture, I'd recommend the Nikkor as my first choice. On the oher
hand, if you do get a good deal, and don't mind the weight, the 300mm
Fujinon L is an excellent performer. I'm particularly fond of the longer
420mm Fujinon L. It makes a great lens for 8x10 in the somewhat rare 420mm
focal length. I think of the Fujinon L series as successors to the popular
classic Kodak Commercial Ektars. Like the Commercial Ektars, they are
single coated Tessars built to the highest standards with superb quality
control. Unlike the Commercial Ektars, they have the advantage of coming in
more modern Copal shutters. They also take standard size screw-in filters.
If the price is right, they offer fantastic performance for the money.
Kerry