Here’s a question for anyone familiar with the Fujinon W and NW lenses – particularly the 300mm and 360mm lenses, which have an interesting difference from the others in the series. Complicating the matter is that not only did the Fujinon lenses actually change over time, the information in the Fuji literature changed – some correctly and some not, and it can be difficult to know what changes were correctly listed and which were not.
The original W series – single coated lenses with the inscription inside of the filter ring – all had a 6/4 lens design, and an angle of coverage of supposedly 80° (except for the 150mm f6.3). The “supposedly” will become apparent in a moment.
Around 1980, Fuji made some big changes to the W series by creating the NW series. All of the W series lenses (except for the 150mm f6.3) saw some changes – some minor, but most not. Interestingly, the 300mm and 360mm lenses (along with the 150mm f6.3) were not designated as NW lenses.
All of the new NW lenses, and the 300mm and 360mm W lenses (except for the 150mm f6.3) were now marked on the outside of the filter ring – on the barrel – with a W, not NW. And all of them (except for the 150mm f6.3) were now EBC multi-coated.
Another big change is in the lens designs. The NW lenses from 105mm to 180mm are now all 6/6 air-spaced lenses, while the 210mm is now 6/5. Interestingly, the 250mm, 300mm, and 360mm remained 6/4.
As one would expect, these changes resulted in different angles of coverage. The 6/6 lenses, are now all 76° lenses, while the 210mm is reduced to 71°, and the 250mm dropped to 64°. But unlike the 250mm – which retained the 6/4 W design -- the coverage for the 300mm and 360mm W lenses stayed at 80°, and their image circle did not change either.
However, two years later, in 1982, Fuji came out with a new sales brochure with some changes for the 300mm and 360mm W lenses. They are still listed as W lenses but the angle of coverage is reduced to 70° and 68°, respectively – but the image circles are reported as the same as in 1980. I assume this means that the 1980 brochure was incorrect, and that the 1982 brochure is inaccurate for the image circles of the 300mm and 360mm W lenses.
It's also possible that the original 300mm and 360mm W lenses did not have coverage of 80°.
So, I’d like to get a more accurate estimate for the image circles of the first and last 300mm and 360mm W lenses.
I'd also be interested in any speculation why these two lenses were never designated as NW lenses – because in every respect they seem almost identical to the 250mm NW lens. Could it be that their original coverage in the W series was lower?
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