Fuji 75mm swd F5.6

[Former Member 8144]

Hi,

I am choosing a 75mm lens.
For use on 69 and 612 mainly and also for some 54.

For landscape, cityscapes and interiors and exteriors.

The rodenstock grandagon n F4.5 is my first choice but possibly too expensive.

I have also heard and been told good things about the 6.8 version but I believe image circle too be a little less so slightly restriciting the movements with 54 film.

How does the fuji 75mm swd lens stand in comparison in terms of sharpness etc.
Its image circle is the same size as the rodenstock 4.5 and it is lighter too but what of its performance?

Thanks.

[Eric James]

I queried a member by PM about the performance of his Fuji 75mm SWD f5.6. He described his negatives as "tack sharp", and mentioned that he never ran out of movement.

I'm interested in this lens because is has the longest infinity focus distance of modern 75mm lenses (see: http://www.ebonycamera.com/articles/lenses.html ), and I am hoping that this extra few millimeter will allow me to avoid time-consuming gyrations in the field.

I hope others will add their 2 cents here - I've found very little written about this lens on the Internet.

[Ted Harris]

I just took a look and the flange focal distance is within a mm o the Schneider Super Angulon 75 that I used to own. The 75 SA gave me fits with the gyrations you refer to ... that was using it on an Ebony RW45. I had none of those problems with a Horseman FA or a Toyo AII. So, the camera on which you intend to use the lens makes a diference. Moreover, I didn't notice that much difference between any of the modern 75's.

[Eric James]

Thanks for this Ted. I am also using the RW45 - sadly, I'd guess that the extra mm won't do the trick.

[Ted Harris]

If it helps any the gyrations aren't really that awful but if you use a 75mm often enough they may become more than a bit annoying. During the two weeks I swas putting an RW45 through a shakedown cruise I go tto the point where, once I had mounted the 75 using the wide angle positioning gyrations, I would leave it in place even when moving to a new location. Lots easier to pop it off and rezerp everything for starting fresh with another lens. I commented on this over a year ago and got jumped on by a number of Ebony fanswho say they never have to go through any of the gyrations ..... not sure what they were referring too or which model camera. OTOH,how oftendo you use a 75mm or want too? If it is a lot then maybe you should think of a different camera, especially if you also want to use even wider lenses. I have been using a Toyo 45AII-L steadily for over two years and find taht I can easily use both a 75 and a 58 without any heroics. The 58 of course has rather limited movements but I expect that.

[Former Member 8144]

What do guys mean by gyrations?
I will be using it on an ebony SW45.
It will be used as main lens for a 612 panoramic project, and also general lens for 69 back and as wide for 54.

[Ted Harris]

Depending on the camera, in order to get a wide angle lens close enough to the film to focus at infinity with a standard bellows you sometimes need to go through gyrations with tilting the front standard. See their web page http://www.ebonycamera.com/articles/wa.lenses.SV.html ... but this applies to the SV and the RW and should not be a problem on the SW since it is specifically designed for use with wide lenses.

[Former Member 8144]

Are all the fuji 75mm 5.6 swd lenses multicoated or only those after a certain date..if so can this be found from the serial number?
The one I am looking at (on ebay) has the ring around the shutter speeds in silver not black..does this make it an older one?

[naturephoto1]

Yes, it older than one in black.

Rich

[Former Member 8144]

Is there any way of knowing if it multiocated simply from silver or black ring..I may not get to ask seller before auction is over.
Or am I lucky and all 75mm swd lenses were multicaoted?!

Marc

[naturephoto1]

Mark,

If I am interpreting this table from Kerry Thalmann's website properly, at least since 1977, the Fujinon 75mm SWD have the EBC multicoating. Here is the link:

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/literatu.htm

Rich

[Ted Harris]

If it has the lettering around the outside of the lens rim then it is almost certainl multicoated. If it is on the inside likely single coated. Not to mention you should easily see three color reflections if it is multicoated.

[Salty]

I have a Fuji 75mm SWD with the chrome ring on the shutter and lettering on the outside of the barrel, and it is multicoated. I very rarely use it, don't like that wide of an angle but I got it for a really good price and it is sharp.

[Eric James]

I just took a look and the flange focal distance is within a mm o the Schneider Super Angulon 75 that I used to own. The 75 SA gave me fits with the gyrations you refer to ... that was using it on an Ebony RW45.

Comparing the infinity focus distances of the Schneider 80XL (84.7mm) to the Fuji 75mm (85.1mm), I'm still hopeful that my version of the RW45E will focus the Fuji without using the wide angle configuration - my camera will focus the 80mm at infinity with a mm to spare. It won't focus the Nikon 75mm (81.3mm).

Not to hijack thread:

Marc: Ted is of course correct about your SW45 and WA lenses - no problem there. KEH had a Fuji 75mm (black) in LN minus a while back for roughly $750. There website seems to be down this evening but you might check back in the AM if the price isn't too steep. I'm going to hold off until the weather warms up:). Good luck!

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

If it has the lettering around the outside of the lens rim then it is almost certainl multicoated. If it is on the inside likely single coated. Not to mention you should easily see three color reflections if it is multicoated.

Early Fujinon SWD lenses are an exception to the "inner lettering = single coated, outter lettering = multicoating" rule. I've never seen a single coated Fujinon SWD large format lens. I'm reasonably sure they have been multicoated since they were introduced in the mid-1970s (late 1975 or early 1976). The oldest brochure I have that includes the SWD series is dated March, 1976. The one paragrah description of the SWD line reads:

"A deluxe, super-wideangle lens. Though this lens has a large diameter and ultra-wide angle, image degreadation is avoided by a unique Fuji process: Electron Beam Coating (EBC). Glare, flare and ghost are sharply reduced and color balance is exceptionally good."

Early samples did have inner lettering, but were clearly labeled "EBC" on the front trim ring to identify them as multicoated. Of coure, all later samples with outer lettering are also multicoated.

Kerry

[Ted Harris]

Kerry, completely agree ... I wasn't thinking, was lumping SW together with SWD lenses. I did once have a 75mm SW that was single coated, cn't recall where the lettering was though. All this assumes that I am remembering that SW was the correct designation before SWD :).

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Kerry, completely agree ... I wasn't thinking, was lumping SW together with SWD lenses. I did once have a 75mm SW that was single coated, cn't recall where the lettering was though. All this assumes that I am remembering that SW was the correct designation before SWD :).

While the SW line did debut first, the two lines have coexisted (and continue to do so in some focal lengths) for over 30 years. The SW line has a max. aperture of f8 and covers 100 degrees. The SWD line covers 105 degrees and has a max. aperture of f5.6. At the tme they were introduced, they were pretty much spec-for-spec clones of the Schneider f8 and f5.6 Super Angulon models of comparable focal lengths. One exception being the 300mm Fujinon SW. Schneider never made a Super Angulon longer than 210mm.

In any case, the only single coated Fuji wide angle lenses were early f8 SW models of 65mm, 75mm, 90mm, 105mm, 120mm and 300mm focal lengths. Other than the super rare 300mm, these are usually found in Seiko shutters. These all had inner lettering. The 300mm was dropped in the late 1970s and the 65mm f8 and 75mm f8 models were dropped around 1980 (give or take a year) - leaving just the 90mm, 105mm and 120mm in the f8 SW line. When Fuji introduced the EBC multicoated NSW models in 1982, the 120mm focal length was replaced with a new 125mm f8 model.

Summary:

65mm f5.6 SWD - multicoated only regardless of inner or outer lettering
75mm f5.6 SWD - multicoated only regardless of inner or outer lettering
90mm f5.6 SWD - multicoated only regardless of inner or outer lettering

65mm f8 SW - single coated only, inner lettering only
75mm f8 SW - single coated only, inner lettering only
90mm f8 SW - inner lettering = single coated; outer lettering = multicoated
105mm f8 SW - inner lettering = single coated; outer lettering = multicoated
120mm f8 SW - single coated only, inner lettering only
125mm f8 SW - multicoated only, outer lettering only
300mm f9 SW - single coated only, inner lettering only

Kerry