Fujifilm Fujinon 180mm W (marked on the lens barrel)

[Jbuck]

hello.
Im searching for something sharper inside a modern shutter to replace my 210mm Tessar f3.5
I found a nice Fujifilm Fujinon 180mm W in good condition and wanted to ask if anyone has any experiences with this lens.
I would be for usage on 4x5.


I have used Sironar and Symmar lenses before, but never a Fujinon.. Any thoughts on it?

thank you

[Larry Gebhardt]

The Fujinon W lenses are wide with a large image circle. I think the 180mm W has an 80 degree field of view and just barely covers 8x10. It's probably overkill for 4x5. Overkill because it's larger and more expensive than a 180mm plasmat. In addition it may be single coated since I think they refreshed the line with a new designation when they went to multi coating, but I'm no expert on Fuji lenses. If you plan on moving to 8x10 it may be a good dual purpose lens, but I'd go for something like the Fujinon A 180 or any of the Nikon, Schneider or Rodenstock 180 to 210 plasmats. They are so cheap they are almost giving them away it seems.

[Jbuck]

Thank you!

this model should be EBS (multi coated) and the circle is 280..
I love my Rodenstock 360 MC and my 240 Sirnoar N (both for 8x10)... But i have no experiences with Fijinon... i think i will give it a try

[Larry Gebhardt]

Thank you!

this model should be EBS (multi coated) and the circle is 280..
I love my Rodenstock 360 MC and my 240 Sirnoar N (both for 8x10)... But i have no experiences with Fijinon... i think i will give it a try

If it's marked on the barrel I believe you are right that it's multicoated. I missed that in your title. Should be a good lens. I considered one for 5x7, but ended up with a Sironar S. That's rated at 276mm with only 75 degrees of coverage. So I'm surprised the Fujinon W at 80 degrees is only 280mm. If the price is right and the shutter is good I'd probably go for it too.

[Larry Gebhardt]

I got curious since my notes seem to be wrong. Looks like the 180mm W on the barrel are a different formula from the older W lenses. They seem to be designated as NW at http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byfl.htm and have lower coverage, but still more than enough for 4x5 or 5x7. Fuji's line up always confuses me.

[rdeloe]

The Fujinon 180mm f/5.6 W is a Plasmat. Image circle is 280mm at f/22 - so plenty of coverage for 4x5. Fuji says it covers 6 1/2 x 8 1/2. Outside writing means it's EBC (multi-coated). I have a Fujinon 210mm f/5.6 W. It's a terrific lens. However, I'm on the hunt for a 180mm because my other lenses on either side are 125mm and 300mm. A 180mm lens fits in that space a bit better, and would be a bit smaller.

One thing to keep in mind, and maybe this doesn't matter at all to you, is that on Fujinon lenses the aperture control lever is on the bottom of the lens. If you're used to Rodenstock, Schneider and Nikon, you might find this a bit of a pain because they have the lever on top. I thought it would matter more than it actually does. I now mix and match brands.

[Vaughn]

I use a Fuji W 180/5.6 with inside lettering -- single coated, a standard plasmat type (6 elements in 4 groups). These will have the larger, almost 8x10 coverage. I use it on 5x7 -- about 50/50 with my Computar Symmetrigon 210/6.3.

The 180 W with outside lettering is a standard plasmat type (6 elements in 6 groups) and multi-coated (refections should be multicolored). I do not know if the coverage changed.

The latest 180mm Fuji Ws are marked CM Fuji W and are plasmat types, 6 elements in 5 groups. Coverage probably not a great as the original Fuji W with inside lettering. The info on our site here says 260mm with an angle of 71 degrees.

Info from: http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/fujinon.htm

For some reason my computer will not connect me to http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byfl.htm Tried different browser to no avail.

[Greg]

My experience: The early version of the 180mm f/5.6 FUJINON-W (inside lettering) does indeed cover 8x10 but only really stopped down and so tight as to not allow for any lens movements when focused at infinity or a little bit closer. Ended up using it on my whole plate, too many 8x10 negatives ruined cause I didn't have the lens exactly centered on axis. Have been looking around for an 180mm Dagor, which from what I've read would allow a minimal amount of lens movements on the 8x10 format, but have yet to find one. 180mm Dagors seem to had been not all that popular back when.

[ic-racer]

I got my Fuji 180 for 8x10 use, works great, never had a coverage issue. Nothing else in its class.

[Drew Wiley]

I certainly wouldn't recommend any outside-lettered Fuji for 8x10, not by a long shot. Sure, the circle of illumination will cover (barely, if well stopped down), but the corner resolution will be quite poor. In that respect, W,NW, and CMW are all similar, though minor distinctions exists, like filter thread size. The 180/9 Fuji A i optically better than any of them, but good only up to 5X7.

[Dan Fromm]

My experience: The early version of the 180mm f/5.6 FUJINON-W (inside lettering) does indeed cover 8x10 but only really stopped down and so tight as to not allow for any lens movements when focused at infinity or a little bit closer. Ended up using it on my whole plate, too many 8x10 negatives ruined cause I didn't have the lens exactly centered on axis. Have been looking around for an 180mm Dagor, which from what I've read would allow a minimal amount of lens movements on the 8x10 format, but have yet to find one. 180mm Dagors seem to had been not all that popular back when.

Greg, read this https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?13109-Lousy-Dagor before you buy a 180 Dagor for 8x10.

[DolphinDan]

My experience: The early version of the 180mm f/5.6 FUJINON-W (inside lettering) does indeed cover 8x10 but only really stopped down and so tight as to not allow for any lens movements when focused at infinity or a little bit closer. Ended up using it on my whole plate, too many 8x10 negatives ruined cause I didn't have the lens exactly centered on axis. Have been looking around for an 180mm Dagor, which from what I've read would allow a minimal amount of lens movements on the 8x10 format, but have yet to find one. 180mm Dagors seem to had been not all that popular back when.

Greg,

I have a 180mm f6.8 DAGOR, and all of the 8x10 sheets of film that I exposed with it vignetted in at least 2 corners (I might have used a little rise/fall). That includes focussing on a Sycamore tree about 8 feet from the camera as well as shooting the sunrise at infinity. And that includes when I stopped the lens down to f64.

I also had a Fuji FUJINON-W 180mm f5.6 lens with inside lettering that was supposed to cover 8x10 when stopped down to f32 or thereabouts, and it also vignetted in 2 corners of the negative.

My solution was to get a 190mm Kodak WIDE FIELD EKTAR f6.3 lens, which does cover 8x10 at f32, at least on the negatives that I have exposed.

Daniel