Fujinon NW 360/6.3 vs Nikkor W 360/6.5 ?

[mrossano]

I'm looking to add a 360mm lens to my kit and was wondering if anyone had first-hand experience comparing these two lenses. They both sell for pretty low prices these days and have the characteristics, on paper, that seem to fill my needs. Is there any noticeable difference in performance? If I had my druthers I'd get the 300 or 360 Apo Sironar S, but I'm not ready to spend twice the money (or more) if either of these less expensive lenses will do a nice job in term of contrast, resolution, field flatness, close-up performance, coverage, and so forth. I'll be using the lens on formats from 4x5 to 11x14, so enlargeability and performance at the edges of the image circle are both relavent.

[Walter Calahan]

Both manufacturers make wonderful glass.

[mrossano]

Indeed they do, Walter, as do Schneider and Rodenstock. However, some lenses work better than others, either for certain subject matter or in general.

Would anyone be in a position to characterize the performance of these two lenses? Perhaps in comparison with other well-know lenses of this focal length, such as the G-Claron, Apo Sironar N and S, Apo Symmar or Symmar-S MC?

Thanks.