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rustyair
20-Sep-2012, 18:06
Hi,

I'm after low contrasty lenses and I've heard that fujinon lenses are low contrasty.
Are Fujinon lenses all low contrasty?

What are my low contrasty lens choices between 65-150mm?:)

Thanks!

Dan Fromm
20-Sep-2012, 18:19
No. Ain't no modern low contrast lenses. You can control contrast in the negative with exposure and development and when printing.

rustyair
20-Sep-2012, 18:25
No. Ain't no modern low contrast lenses. You can control contrast in the negative with exposure and development and when printing.

I've been googling about this and there are people who compared fujinon lenses with other brands saying fujinon has less contrasty.

Ari
20-Sep-2012, 18:54
Having owned examples from all four of the major manufacturers, I'd say Fuji's are near the top in terms of contrast, moreso than their German counterparts at least.
Of course, there are some specific lenses known for lower contrast, prone to flare, etc.
You might even get a rare dud (if it's from the single-coated era).

See Kerry Thalmann's excellent Fujinon lens page.

Gem Singer
20-Sep-2012, 19:23
I have been using Fujinon and Nikon/Nikkor LF lenses for more than twenty five years.

Both lens manufacturers use excellent coatings.

I can assure you, their lenses are extremely sharp and contrasty.

Whoever told you otherwise does not know what they are talking about.

Lachlan 717
20-Sep-2012, 19:28
I love Fujinon lenses. To me, they have a slighter warmer rendering compared to the German equivalents.

If they were not as good as the German optics, I doubt that Hasselblad would have used Fuji for the Xpan series cameras.

Michael Kadillak
20-Sep-2012, 19:31
I've been googling about this and there are people who compared fujinon lenses with other brands saying fujinon has less contrasty.

The honest to God truth is that all modern lenses with multi coating are highly effective at transmitting an enormous percentage of quality light to the film and you would be hard pressed to quality or quantify the differences between them. They are ALL fabulous although there are those that for some reason have a natural bias to one manufacturer or another. I would be willing to bet that they have not diligently completed a rigorous testing procedure and subjected the same exposure to identical film and development to four major manufacturers lenses of the same focal length and compared the results. The reality is that someone used a Fuji lens and was short an exposure by a full stop or more and determined that the lens was at fault.

I have Rodenstock, Nikon, Fuji, Kodak, Schneider, Doctor, Goerz and Zeiss lenses in my lens cases and use them interchangeably with little concern that they will perform optimally. Expose fully and do not short change the development and you will consistently produce a robust negative and an expressive print.

rustyair
20-Sep-2012, 19:37
I have been using Fujinon and Nikon/Nikkor LF lenses for more than twenty five years.

Both lens manufacturers use excellent coatings.

I can assure you, their lenses are extremely sharp and contrasty.

Whoever told you otherwise does not know what they are talking about.


I think they are talking about single coated fujinon lenses.

ic-racer
20-Sep-2012, 19:57
I think they are talking about single coated fujinon lenses.
I have examples of both single and multi coated Fujinons and I can say the single coated ones are only low contrast when attacked by fungus and haze :)
Perhaps the OP is referring to the Fujinon SF lenses.

Dan Fromm
20-Sep-2012, 19:59
I think they are talking about single coated fujinon lenses.

You are making excuses for not having a working in-built BS detector.

rustyair
20-Sep-2012, 20:08
You are making excuses for not having a working in-built BS detector.

http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/00Hy0u

Excuses??? why would I? I can't find all the threads but this one is one of them.

Peter De Smidt
20-Sep-2012, 20:08
No, Fujinon lenses are not less contrasty than those from the other top makers.

Kuzano
20-Sep-2012, 20:44
I've owned three Fuji lenses I liked a lot.... Two were single coated Fujinar 150 W, and the third was a single coated Fujinar 21Cm in a Snanel 5B S shutter. Fujica used Snanel shutters for their incredibly round aperture at all openings. I don't think I would call them less contrasty.. that's such a subjective call. However, I consider myself lucky to find three very nice examples of an older lens. Fujinar.

Interestingly, there is a 210 Fujinar in a Snanel shutter on eBay as I post this. Perhaps I should.....

Nah... I'm picking up a Fujinon 125 in Copal this weekend. Think I'll stick with that. I don't often shoot over 180.

Kirk Gittings
20-Sep-2012, 20:44
http://photo.net/large-format-photography-forum/00Hy0u

Excuses??? why would I? I can't find all the threads but this one is one of them.

Misrach shoots in very quite light on color negative film and prints on C paper with a "green" developer which gives you soft pastel colors. I talked to him about his methods at an opening of his in Chicago some years back maybe 15. It has nothing to do with his lenses.

rustyair
20-Sep-2012, 20:53
Misrach shoots in very quite light on color negative film and prints on C paper with a "green" developer which gives you soft pastel colors. I talked to him about his methods at an opening of his in Chicago some years back. It has nothing to do with his lenses.

Wow. Green developer? That's something I've never heard of. Do you mind to explain a little bit more about green developer and Misrach's work? I'm going to see him tomorrow at the aperture gallery. I hope I get to talk to him and ask a few questions.

B.S.Kumar
20-Sep-2012, 21:11
Shanel 5A shutters (with speed controls only) were used to mount Fujinar barrel lenses. Shanel 5B and 5B-S shutters are the normal type with aperture and speed controls. Both have very round apertures.
I have a number of Fujinar (barrel and shuttered) and Fujinon lenses, and they are all as contrasty as other makers' lenses.

Kumar

E. von Hoegh
21-Sep-2012, 06:36
You are making excuses for not having a working in-built BS detector.

Yes. It's safer to assume anything you read of the net is hogwash, until confirmed - preferably by practice.
Even single coated modern lenses are contrasty. Believe it or not, some classic uncoated lenses will approach modern lenses in terms of contrast when used properly! (this is my firsthand experience, not some crap I read on the net.)

BradS
21-Sep-2012, 08:51
The notion that Fujinon LF lenses are less contrasty than others is laughable. As others have said, all modern LF lenses are about equal in performace....and, in my experience all are very contrasty.

Kirk Gittings
21-Sep-2012, 09:49
Wow. Green developer? That's something I've never heard of. Do you mind to explain a little bit more about green developer and Misrach's work? I'm going to see him tomorrow at the aperture gallery. I hope I get to talk to him and ask a few questions.

C-41 developer needs to be "aged" this can be done chemically with an additive or you can run a few prints through to age it. The un-aged or "green" developer gives slightly pastel colors and a very slight pinkish tinge to the whites. I printed C-41 at a lab and for myself for over 20 years.To do it as an aesthetic preference consistently would mean using green developer one shot. At Misrach's opening I noticed the pinkish tinge in the boarders of a print and asked him if it was intentional-which led to the discussion.

dave_whatever
21-Sep-2012, 11:19
I've shot a fuji single-coated 90/8 alongside a schneider multicoated 90/5.6, and I see no difference on contrast.

douglas gove
21-Sep-2012, 11:24
I have a single coated 75 F8 that is quite sharp and contrasty...doug

Leigh
21-Sep-2012, 13:25
My three short FL lenses are Fujinon SWD series with EBC multi-coating.

I've found them all to be quite sharp and contrasty, equal in that regard to my Rodenstock Apo-Sironar-S and Nikkor W lenses.

- Leigh

Lightbender
21-Sep-2012, 13:54
I dont know why a LF lens would be considered "low contrast" ever.
All modern LF lenses from about 1937 on were coated.
Most uncoated lenses only had a few elements.. 3-4.

The only way the light flowing though a camera can affect contrast is if some stray light bounces back and forth between the elements or inside the camera.
Most of that light would cause obvious flare or ghosting in the image. Only a very small percentage will be evenly dispersed in such a way to raise the shadows without obliterating them.

Any proper coating virtually eliminates flare and ghosting for LF lenses in all but the most contrasty scenes (into the sun, bright lights, etc.).
*note that 35mm lenses with more complicated 10-12+ element designs can be more prone to low-contrast effects, as well as flare and ghosting.

Drew Wiley
21-Sep-2012, 13:57
I second that advice to get a BS detector. The Fuji L tessar series was single coated, as
were various older lenses, some of which were quite contrasty anyway. All the EBC lenses
are quite contrasty relative to their category of construction. I don't know why you referenced a Misrach thread - he's about as technically skilled with view camera focus as an aardvark, and deliberately did most of his work on Vericolor L mush in terms of contrast - that's not a criticism per whether you like his images or not esthetically, but a relevant observation in terms of technique per se - the prints were made right here in the neighborhood, typically on low-contrast portrait C paper.

Dan Fromm
21-Sep-2012, 13:58
All modern LF lenses from about 1937 on were coated.

Most uncoated lenses only had a few elements.. 3-4.


1937? Typo?

3-4? Protar types? Dagor types?

rustyair
21-Sep-2012, 15:07
I don't know why you referenced a Misrach thread -

because on bottom of the page, someone wrote Misrach was using a fujinon 300mm to get low contrasty look. I googled about it to see if that's true and found more people mentioned fujinon single coated lenses are less contrasty. I guess it's not true.

Leigh
21-Sep-2012, 15:14
I googled about it to see if that's true and found more people mentioned fujinon single coated lenses are less contrasty.
Information obtained from the web is worth no more than what you paid for it, and frequently much less.

- Leigh

Peter De Smidt
21-Sep-2012, 16:19
Coatings, optical formula, construction, lighting of the scene, lens shade use....all of these have an effect on contrast. Generally, with two lenses where everything else is the same, a single coated lens will be a little less contrasty than a multi-coated one, but with many LF lenses, and the fairly small number glass-to-air surfaces, this usually is a small difference. For instance, I remember a View Camera (I think) article comparing contemporary lenses to single-coated Ektars. The Ektars were fine performers, although they were a tiny bit less contrasty than contemporary MC optics. I have a couple of single-coated Fuji optics, such as a 420L, and I don't notice any difference in regular picture taking between the contrast obtained with it and current MC lenses.

Kirk Gittings
21-Sep-2012, 16:42
Information obtained from the web is worth no more than what you paid for it, and frequently much less.

- Leigh

:)

Lightbender
21-Sep-2012, 16:48
1937? Typo?

Yes I regress. (gr?) The development and first availability being in the 30's. More likely 1947ish for major production of lens coatings.


3-4? Protar types? Dagor types?

Yes of course dagor, angulon, and protar types, though they only have 4 air/glass surfaces. -That brings up a good question.. what is the light transmission of a cemented surface?

Brian C. Miller
21-Sep-2012, 19:18
Information obtained from the web is worth no more than what you paid for it, and frequently much less.

You do realize that all of the answers here are "on the web," and that means that all statements about a Fujinon being a wonderful, sharp, contrasty lens are just as valid as the statements that say otherwise, right? :o So the only thing for the OP to do is to buy a Fujinon, and start making photographs! ;)

(More contrast = more development, lower contrast = less development)