Fujinon 90mm 5.6 - thoughts and comments

[eddo123]

Hello there, I have recently bought this lens which i am waiting to receive along with my camera. I had this lens recommended to me by someone i know, and who used to shoot LF. I bit the bullet and bought it on his advice.
Just curious about your experiences and thoughts on this lens. Good or great, etc etc etc.
I am interested to hear.
Cheers, Edd

[Bjorn Nilsson]

I havn't used that lens myself, but just a general comment about "Is this lens any good..." or "Is this brand OK?...".
There is something called "the great four" meaning Schneider, Rodenstock, Nikkor and Fujinon. All of these four brands are usually neck to neck when it comes to performance, especially for the Biogon-derivates and the Plasmats. (The lens in question, the 90mm f/5.6 is a Biogon-derivate.) Except for some special lenses like the Rodenstock Sironar W series and the Schneider Symmar XL series, they are very much alike (read: "the same") in optical construction.
Now, if you are into shooting E6 color transparencies the specific brand can make a difference, as each manufacturer seems to have a color rendition signature which is slighly different from the others. (I don't remember which, but I think that japanese glass is slighly "cooler" than german glass.) So mixing brands can have a slight impact on the color temperature of your color slides.

There are two different types of wide-angles, the f/4.5-f/5.6 and the f/6.8-f/8 lenses. The latter ones are smaller and usually have two lenses less than their bigger brothers. The bigger ones also casts a larger image circle, giving you maybe 1/4"-1/2" more rise/fall to play with. But they weigh much more and takes much larger filters. In terms of performance, these two types of lenses gives about the same result at working apertures.
Now, all wide-angles are difficult to focus, as the lens is quite close to the ground glass so there is only a small light hot-spot in the middle and the corners get very dark. Many photographers go for the bigger lens trying to solve this, but seem to forget that a fresnel lens will help a lot more.

For myself, I would look at a specific focal length (and like in this case the f/stop) and first see if filter sizes go along with what I already own and second the price. As long as some test shots prove to be what I expect, i.e. sharp and evenly lit, I'd be happy.

Finally, congratulations on your new lens. I'm certain it will make you happy. I'm very pleased with the two Fujinon lenses I own.

//Björn

[Gene McCluney]

AFAIK, any fairly modern lens from Fuji, Nikon, Rodenstock or Schneider is a good lens. There are no dogs.

[David Karp]

I did not have the f/5.6 Fuji 90. I did have the f/8 single coated version, and it was a very nice lens. My experience with Fuji lenses has been very good (as it has been with lenses from all of the big 4).