Fujinon 180mm A for 8x10????

[eric black]

Lots of rain today so I have been spending time farting around with equipment and by chance I tried out my 180mm Fujinon A on my 8x10 and despite its smallish claimed image circle I was able to cover the entire glass. This was with the lens wide open and I seem to recalll that stopping down should only improve things. Does anyone else use this lens for 8x10 or do I just have an odd-ball? Other experiences???

[Ken Lee]

It sounds you were shooting around indoors. Were you shooting at infinity - or closer ?

When we say that a lens is 180mm, we mean that 180mm of extension is required at infinity focus. The closer we shoot, the greater the extension required, and the circle of coverage grows accordingly.

At 1:1, the focal length becomes 360mm, and the circle of coverage is twice what it is at infinity. Think of it as an enlarger, inside your camera.

Even if a lens can only cover 4x5 at infinity, can cover 8x10 when focused for 1:1.

I routinely use an old 135 Tessar on my 5x7 for close work. Tessars have only modest coverage at infinity (compared to newer designs), but with sufficient bellows draw, the image circle... blooms (http://www.kenleegallery.com/images/forum/f6.jpg).

[Walter Calahan]

The Fujinon-W 180 mm f/5.6 just barely covers 8x10 at infinity. And then you've got to have the lens exactly square with the gg. Haven't tried a Fujinon-A 180 mm.

What's fun about the 'W' version is when you want the image circle to fall off for some drama.

Here's a full-frame scan of an 8x10 neg. You can see where the corners are clipped.

http://www.walterpcalahan.com/Cheers/Projects/Pages/Carroll_County.html#9

Made this image before I got a bag bellows, so you'll see along the lower left that the standard bellows cropped in by accident.

[eric black]

Actually, I was at my back window focussing on the neighbors house. Not quite infinity, but a bit more than 1:1. This whole 8x10 thing is new to me- Ive been doing 4x5 for about 10 years and have never had to worry about lens coverage before as all of my lenses had plenty to spare. Ill investigate this further when Im out doing some real world stuff this next week. Thanks for the comments

[Richard K.]

Lots of rain today so I have been spending time farting around with equipment and by chance I tried out my 180mm Fujinon A on my 8x10 and despite its smallish claimed image circle I was able to cover the entire glass. This was with the lens wide open and I seem to recalll that stopping down should only improve things. Does anyone else use this lens for 8x10 or do I just have an odd-ball? Other experiences???

Looking at the GG and looking at the corners of the processed neg of the scene with a loupe may give you pause...:)

[Turner Reich]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually, I was at my back window focussing on the neighbors house.


What was she wearing?:D :eek: :cool:

[eric black]

What was she wearing?:D :eek: :cool:

If you only knew my neighbors you would understand my laughter! A pair of hippies like me that arent the most attractive of people (again, like me). That said, their kid get smore action in the driveway with more good looking girls..... but I pause- neither he nor they were there nor would they have done much good with this lens/camera combination- Im going to Bryce this week and will hone in on some hoodoos with this combo and see how it works out.

[Turner Reich]

I hope the weather is good for you, my Southwest trip was this last September and it was 99 plus, hot hot hot. Have fun out there. Are you going to drive or fly/drive?

[eric black]

gonna fly- MD to UT is an awful long drive. Looks like alot of sunshine but at least sunrises and sunsets ought to be good and the 70 degree highs during the day sound awesome. Mostly Im meeting up with other friends with the photography sickness, so it ought to be a good time.

[Drew Wiley]

The quality of the image falls off dramatically well into the corners, even with no
movements whatsoever. Close-ups might be marginally better, but I do not consider
the 180A to be suitable for 8X10 whatsoever. Not an interesting fall-off either. The next size up, the 240A, is very usable on 8X10, and the 360A is superb. I wouldn't
consider the 180 to be suitable even for 8x10 contact prints, even stopped down to
f/64. Excellent on 4x5, however. You might try a 210 G-Claron as the widest possible lens of analogous design for 8X10 use.

[Rodney Polden]

The literature lists the Fuji 180mm A with only 252mm of coverage, so the corners are bound to suffer. The lens probably "illuminates" most of the GG on 8x10, but sharpness might be a different matter.

Two other 5.6 Fuji 180mm lenses both do better, the 180 NWS with 280mm and the (older) Fuji 180 W with 305mm circles. 8x10 is usually quoted as requiring 312mm, but in practice (and with f22) one can often get away with modest rear movements (tilt etc) even with 305mm coverage. The 180 W works great as a wide-angle on 4x10, where the diagonal is only ~260mm.

It's always seemed curious to me that 180mm is an almost unheard-of focal length for 8x10, particularly since 90mm is so popular on 4x5. For those looking for a wide lens that is in between 120mm and 210mm, but more affordable than the Nikkor SW 150 or the comparable Schneider, the wide coverage older Fuji W is worth considering.

Lynn Jones, who worked on the Fuji LF lens line for some years, regarded the older single-coated W series lenses as superior to the later offerings, I believe, with better contrast and sharpness. A stop-and-a-bit faster than the Fuji A, and lots more coverage.

Then again, who looks in corners anyway.... ;-)

[Nick_3536]

Even my 150 W lights the full 8x10 ground glass.