Fujinon-W 135mm question

[stradibarrius]

I appreciate the good information on your experiences! I have several Fujinon lenses that are amazing...including the X-mount Fuji digital mirrorless camera.

[Drew Wiley]

I'm pretty skeptical of any claim of German lenses being superior. The Apo Sironar S was designed to give greater resolution around the netherworld of the image
circle at relatively wide apertures. But how many people actually use view camera lenses that way? Once you stop them down a bit, it's going to be a neck and neck horse race the whole way. I have the 125 Fuji W, which is certainly a solid performer on 4x5 if you don't need a lot of rise; but on 6x9 it exceeds just about every dedicated medium format lens I own. The 135 will have a bit larger image circle, and a tad less illumination falloff. I don't have any experience with the older single coated lenses except for the 250/6.7 W, which outperformed my Schneider multicoated equivalent. There will be subtle changes, like the fact the latest CMW series as standardized to a 67mm filter thread - a bit bulky in my opinion for such a small optic overall. If I wanted to add a 135 to my collection, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Fuji W or NW.

[stradibarrius]

Thanks Drew. It seems to me that with large format lenses most any choice from the major brands is almost a safe bet. In 35mm as most of you know, even the major brands would have a "dog" in their line up. I have a Nikon 43-86mm zoom that is really a poor performer. In my LF gear I have Schneider, Fuji and Nikon and they all seem to be excellent.
The only other decision now is 135mm or 125mm??? I guess that is part of the fun is learning about why to chose one focal length over another.

[Drew Wiley]

Large format lenses from the major manufacturers (Schneider, Rodenstock, Fuji, and Nikon) were rarely anything but top quality, at least in terms of modern lenses
(post-60's). Rodenstock and Calumet offered a few "student grade" lenses at one time. Lower budget enlarging lenses are also still made. But generally, large format lenses are not analogous to 35mm photography, where there is quite a quality spread in what is available. When you select older view camera lenses then you need to talk to people who know about them more specifically, since there was more variation in quality control. But with the exception of a few modern 135mm tessars out there (like Docter), which have limited coverage, all the others are similar plastmats designs. Concerning focal lengths per se, one tend to get used to seeing the world just likes the lenses you peek thru. I tend to gravitate more often to longer focal lengths; but many people consider their 135 as their "standard".