Fuji 240-A f9 for 8x10

[Stephen Vaughan]

Hi Everyone. Although the Fuji 240-A f9 lens has been talked about before on this forum, I am specifically interested in replies from those who have knowledge or experience of this lens on 8x10 (rather than on 5x4 or 5x7), using colour negative film. I would be grateful for information regarding (actual) coverage at infinity, sharpness and contrast (at f22 and higher – print size up to 50x40).
I currently use 240 and 210 G Clarons or a Fuji W 250 6.7 (all single coated). I am interested in the Fuji 240 A because of the multicoating and possible improvements in contrast and sharpness in colour.
Thanks in advance for your responses...........

[steve simmons]

The Fuji 240 A will cover with just a little movement. IMHO this is a terrific lens for black and white and color. It is tack sharp to the edges.

steve simmons

[Ted Harris]

Since I have not used any other 240mmlens I can't tell you if you willg et more movement with any of the others. You do have a bit of movement with the 240A as Steve says. I use both the 240A and the 300A and find these lenses to be among my favorites across the board. Excellent performers. Don't forget too the incredibly small size of this lens. It is the absolute smallest and lightest lens I own!

[Donald Hutton]

Stephen

I own one of these and use it a lot on 8X10. You get just under an inch of rise in landscape at f32 - which is not a huge amount, but is quite a bit for a 240mm on 8X10. Shooting architectural subjects, I run out of movement now and again with this lens; if you shoot mostly landscapes, you will likely be fine. I love it - the multicoated optics are a huge bonus over the G-Clarons.

[Eric Leppanen]

Within its rated image circle I would say my 240A is the sharpest lens I own, even when compared with my Super Symmar XL's and Sironar-S's. It definitely held its own compared to a 240mm APO Sironar-S I recently owned. Colors are brilliant and contrast is superb. I did some coverage tests with this lens when I first bought my 8x10 and found I could get roughly one inch of rise in vertical orientation (a bit more in horizontal). When I tried two inches of rise in vertical orientation, I got vignetting at the corners plus the top one inch of the image was soft. But none of the other available multi-coated 240mm lenses will do much better, and if you want significantly more movement you'll have to go to the 210mm (huge) or 300mm focal lengths.

[Kerry L. Thalmann]

Stephen,

I am also a big fan of the little 240mm Fujinon A. As everyone else has stated, it is an amazingly sharp and compact lens. Due to this combination of great performance and tiny size/weight the 240mm Fujinon A is a member of my list of Future Classics. I use this lens on 4x5, 5x7, 4x10 and on rare occasion 8x10. It is a very versatile lens. Small enough for extended backpacking trips with the 4x5, but with enough coverage for 4x10 and the occasional 8x10.

As others have mentioned, it covers 8x10, but only allows limited movements. Based on my experience, the 70 coverage spec listed by Fuji is pretty accurate. As Eric mentioned the circle of illumination is bigger, but the sharpness falls of very quickly once you get beyond the rated 70 degree coverage.

The 240mm G Claron covers more, when stopped down, but is bigger, heavier (although still VERY compact and lightweight for a lens that covers 8x10 with movements) and single coated.

The 240mm Germinar W offers the best of both worlds. This is a multicoated lens with performance equivalent to the 240mm Fujinon A, but with coverage comparable to the G Claron. Unfortunately, this lens had a very short production life before Docter Optics went under. So, it can be hard to find. With it's multicoated glass and greater coverage (close to 80 degrees at f32) the 240mm Germinar W would be my first choice of the three (if you can find one) for 8x10 color. If you can't find the Germinar, the 240mm Fujinon A will serve you well, as long as you don't push the coverage too far.

Kerry

[Brian Ellis]

"the multi-coated optics are a huge bonus over the G Clarons."

I've used many single coated and muti coated lenses. I've never noticed any difference betwen single and multi coatings. Some people claim slightly greater contrast with multicoating, some say multicoating helps in high flare situations. Neither difference is usually considered major and I haven't consistently observed even these minimal differences. What form does the "huge bonus" that you've found with multi coating take?

[Donald Hutton]

Brian

I just find flare issues with non-multicoated lenses... It can be extremely frustrating. One of the things I enjoy enormously about Pt is the ability to easily manage backlit compositions. I have had many negatives ruined by flare on my 355mm G Claron under these conditions (with a Lee hood in place). I really like the G Claron - light (for the focal lengh), decent size filter ring and very sharp, but flare is a real problem. I never had the same problems with it on silver, because I just was never attempting the sorts of compositions which you can for a Pt print. In fact, I now really try to change my composition down to a 300mm or up to a 450mm (both of which are MC) if I think the composition presents flare potential.

[Paul_5410]

A question to all Large Format Fujinon Users here in this thread please. . .

How are the Fujinon lenses in general about flare? I just got a 210 -W with the EBC MC system and have not had the opportunity to use it yet? I have read that the beam coating eliminates flare and all other flaws but that seems to be spin talk to me???

Some of the names in this thread are familiar to me as having experience with the whole series produced by Fujinon so I wanted to ask.

Thank You and please tolerate my bending of this thread, Paul

[Ken Lee]

One other thing to keep in mind: we usually describe coverage at infinity. The closer the subject, the larger the image circle.



In any event, coverage becomes less of an issue as you move in towards the subject. The 240A has lots of coverage when shooting details.



The A-Series lenses, as Kerry and others have pointed out, are optimized for a "close" distance. Just exactly how close, has been the subject of occasional discussion on this forum. They are not optimized for 1:1, however.