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View Full Version : Rare lens? Fujinon SW 300mm f/9



adelorenzo
28-May-2015, 12:16
One of only 3 ever made, according to Japan Camera Hunter:

http://japancamerahunter.tumblr.com/post/120068879395/wanna-see-something-rare-fujinon-300mm-f9-large

ic-racer
28-May-2015, 13:08
What or who is "Japancamerahunter" and what is the reference?

There have been a few threads about that lens on this forum. I believe it was pointed out to be the large one in this Fuji publication:
http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/lenses2.jpg

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
28-May-2015, 13:52
I saw one in the late 1990s at Ken Hanson or maybe Photogizmo in New York. It dwarfed the 210mm Super Angulon it was next to.

Corran
28-May-2015, 13:57
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?7455-wanted-fuji-300mm-f-9-sw-lens

Supposedly 720mm IC.

Japan Camera Hunter is a pretty well-known camera shop, though it doesn't seem like he does much with LF. Not sure about his sources for only 3 being made. Either way I have no idea but pretty neat nevertheless.

On the other hand, I have a 305mm lens that covers over 550mm and costed less than 2 bills...

adelorenzo
28-May-2015, 14:29
What or who is "Japancamerahunter" and what is the reference?

aka Bellamy Hunt he operates a business sourcing and buying cameras and lenses in Japan (including some very rare ones) as well as things like hand made rangefinder lenses. Big advocate of film photography and runs a cool series on his website called "In Your Bag." Recommend you check out his site.

http://www.japancamerahunter.com/

His reference is that he just had one in his hand, apparently.

adelorenzo
28-May-2015, 14:33
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?7455-wanted-fuji-300mm-f-9-sw-lens

Supposedly 720mm IC.

Wow, according to that thread it weighs almost 8 pounds!

In that linked thread Kerry Thalmann's comments seem to support the rarity of the lens.

Corran
28-May-2015, 14:39
Well, there's "rare" and then there's "only 3 ever made!"

I wish the photo showed it from the side. That would be more interesting.

If I had to guess, maybe a Biogon design or derivative? I imagine my 75mm Biogon scaled up 4x would be about that size!

Dan Fromm
28-May-2015, 15:35
Bryan, early Fuji SW lenses including the 300/8 are f/8 Super Angulon clones. Later ones (NSW, SWD) include other design types. You might want to visit http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/index.htm to see the confusing list of poorly documented Fuji wide angles.

Jac@stafford.net
28-May-2015, 15:39
Some things are rare because the were made for designer-vanity and found no market, or were failed in other regards. (I would put Leica's Peter Karbe in the vanity group. Nothing he has designed has aesthetic advantages over Mandler, and his lenses put out ugly images in terms of OOF. But somebody had to 'improve' what needed no improvement except on the books.)

Biogons are fairly easily up-scaled with modest additional elements, if that's the design of the lens in question.


Mr. Fromm: http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/index.htm

404 - hopefully only temporary.

invisibleflash
28-May-2015, 16:57
A beauty!

Corran
28-May-2015, 17:05
I seem to remember finding that site many times in Google searches in the last few months and it always being down. I could be wrong.

Dan, I'm sure you are right. My thought was mere speculation based on the size of the optic, which is of course specious at best.

Now giving it some more thought, the obvious conclusion is an SA design. If you take a 90mm f/8 lens with a 216mm IC (Schneider SA, and the Fujinon 90/8 too) and scale it up 3.33x, you get a 300mm f/8 with a 720mm IC. Perfect. Who knows why it is actually f/9.

Dan Fromm
28-May-2015, 17:13
Mr. Fromm: http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/index.htm

Just worked for me. Again. And again.

russyoung
28-May-2015, 17:52
for me: "Server not Found"

Jac@stafford.net
29-May-2015, 09:37
Server not found, again and again.
Not found from Unix nslookup either.

Dan, I wonder if you have the direct address in a cache or hosts. file

StoneNYC
29-May-2015, 09:39
Server not found, again and again.
Not found from Unix nslookup either.

Dan, I wonder if you have the direct address in a cache or hosts. file

Still works for me just fine, it must be your ISP blocking the site? Just tried it over and over and works fine.

I copied and pasted for the heck of it...

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/index.htm

Screenshot....

134521

Direct link to lens list...

http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byfl.htm

Drew Wiley
29-May-2015, 09:57
Unfortunately that list doesn't distinguish between modern Copal 3 shutters and the older 3S, which was quite a different animal even with respect to background
blur. The difference is easy to spot in actual pictures, but not on mere lists unless you know the exact vintage. Fuji marketing literature was infamous for typos
(just like me).

neil poulsen
29-May-2015, 10:03
What a terrific lens for 4x5? :D

Dan Fromm
29-May-2015, 12:18
What a terrific lens for 4x5? :D

A 300 mm wide angle lens on a 4x5 camera? Are you sure? The Fuji is big, heavy, and covers more than 16x20. There are smaller lighter 300s with ample coverage for 4x5.

StoneNYC
29-May-2015, 12:38
A 300 mm wide angle lens on a 4x5 camera? Are you sure? The Fuji is big, heavy, and covers more than 16x29. There are smaller lighter 300s with ample coverage for 4x5.

1. He's joking
2. The 300mm is not a a wide angle lens on 4x5, it's a long lens with a large image circle, it's only a wide lens on 16x20, very different things.

Dan Fromm
29-May-2015, 13:23
Stone, Neil never jokes. He's a sober serious conscientious person.

We usually call lenses that cover 100 degrees wide angle lenses regardless of the format they're used on.

StoneNYC
29-May-2015, 13:48
Stone, Neil never jokes. He's a sober serious conscientious person.

We usually call lenses that cover 100 degrees wide angle lenses regardless of the format they're used on.

If the second part is true, then I've learned something new and I humbly withdraw my cocky sounding response. :)

drew.saunders
29-May-2015, 16:53
Server not found, again and again.
Not found from Unix nslookup either.

Dan, I wonder if you have the direct address in a cache or hosts. file

It would appear that the ISP hosting www.subclub.org recently changed, and that the previous ISP had a very long TTL for claiming "ownership" of that domain, so some people's DNS servers will be holding onto outdated information until their TTL expires and they try again.

Here's a way to see the name servers:

% dig +noall +answer -t ns subclub.org
subclub.org. 21474 IN NS ns1.meganameservers.com.
subclub.org. 21474 IN NS ns2.meganameservers.com.
subclub.org. 21474 IN NS ns3.meganameservers.com.

and check one:

% dig +noall +answer -t A www.subclub.org @ns1.meganameservers.com
www.subclub.org. 86400 IN A 69.49.101.19

86,400 seconds is a 24 hour TTL, which is quite long. In short, it should start coming back within a day or so for most people. If you use google's name servers, or have Comcast (which I have at home), you should be set.

Sal Santamaura
29-May-2015, 17:01
...We usually call lenses that cover 100 degrees wide angle lenses regardless of the format they're used on.You might, but I don't. :D I reserve the term "wide angle" for small format lenses that take in, well, a wide angle on their associated cameras.

I usually call LF lenses with large image circles (for their focal lengths) "wide field."

StoneNYC
29-May-2015, 20:37
You might, but I don't. :D I reserve the term "wide angle" for small format lenses that take in, well, a wide angle on their associated cameras.

I usually call LF lenses with large image circles (for their focal lengths) "wide field."

You must be a kodak lens man ;)

Alan Gales
29-May-2015, 21:41
I've got a Caltar HR 300mm f/5.6 lens. I researched it and found that the HR stands for Horseman. Topcon made lenses for Horseman so it was made by Topcon. The 300 is said to be pretty rare. Now all I have to do is find someone who thinks all things rare are worth a lot of money to sell it to. ;)

Sal Santamaura
29-May-2015, 21:46
You must be a kodak lens man ;)Nope. The only Kodak lens I've ever owned was whatever one they put on my 127 Brownie Starmite in the early 1960s. :D

StoneNYC
30-May-2015, 06:25
Nope. The only Kodak lens I've ever owned was whatever one they put on my 127 Brownie Starmite in the early 1960s. :D

I associate "wide field" with "wide field ektar" lens'

Anyway, glad we sorted all the labeling out... Lol