Kerry is correct, my post contains a typo, I meant to say mid 70's for EBC multicoating. Glad I was right about the introduction of the C series.
Kerry is correct, my post contains a typo, I meant to say mid 70's for EBC multicoating. Glad I was right about the introduction of the C series.
If someone still doubts on the quality of Fuji's EBC Multicoating, just think fo r a while that Fuji is one of the major producer of TV lenses. These lenses are far more demanding than the large format lenses and have to handle all kinds of situations and often the worst. Being made of near as many lens elements as t here are waggons in a goods train, coating is a major criteria in the quality of these lenses.
Kerry, your archive of Fujinon large format brochures is much larger than mine. In addition to the D.O. Industries booklet from which I quoted above, I have two brochures. One is a ten 8 1/2 x 11 "page" document (a multi-folded single piece of paper) titled "FUJINON PROFESSIONAL LENSES," with date marking 80.04, that makes no mention of the C series lenses. It is accompanied by a D.O. Industries price list dated May 1, 1980 which also omits C lenses. The second is of similar configuration, titled "FUJINON LENSES for PROFESSIONALS," but only eight "pages" long, complete marking "Ref. No. OP1-283E-R2(SK.84.09.SA.MW)," which would indicate it's from September 1984. It is from this latter brochure that I obtained the image circle information. It provides the following data for "EBC FUJINON.CS" lenses:
300 f/8.5 - angle of coverage 66 degrees; image circle 420mm
450 f/12.5 - 57 degrees, 486mm
600 f/11.5 - 55 degrees, 620mm
All of the above are specified at f/22. My landscape usage has never probed the image circle's limits, and it was necessary to wait until returning home this evening to dig out the brochures, so I haven't had an opportunity to empirically determine what my 300 C's projected circle is at infinity. In any case, now you know the source of my "misinformation."
I am in awe of your reference libraries, Sal and Kerry. To add a little uncertainty about the numbers in brochures, though, it can not be argued that this manufacturer makes no disclosure from which the criteria for evaluating IC could be glimpsed. MTF=0 can be one criteria. I have seen that used, whereas in some cases, at the limit of the IC, some lenses conservatively, still show MTF >0. Additionally, in marketing brochures errors do happen, and then we also have the possibility of the proverbial tug of war between the technical types, who want a conservative number, and the marketing types that like the larger number. All being quite possible, Kerry and Sal, I think you are both right!
Sal, Kerry: Not to get into a "my Fujinon library is bigger than your Fujinon library" thing, but here are some more data points...
I have an '82 edition of the D.O. Industries brochure that doesn't list C lenses, and a 1982 version of the Fujinon Lenses for Professionals brochure that does list the C lenses. In this '82 brochure, the image circle for the 300 is listed as 380mm.
More important, perhaps, is that it is still listed as 380mm in the (all Japanese) February 1998 brochure.
By the way, when I was shooting 4x5, I had the 300C and found it to be very sharp, more contrasty and saturated than my previous 300M Nikkor, and had no unusual problems with flare.
To cast more doubt on Fuji's numbers, simple trig gives a 390mm circle for an angle of view of 66 degrees.
Sal,
First, congratulations on having the ONLY Fujinon brochure that has the wrong image circle listed for the 300mm Fujinon C. The 7/82 brochure coincided with the introduction of the C series and the re-design of the f8 SW series. They got it right in that one (380mm image circle), but I also have a photocopy of the 9/84 brochure you referenced, it it does indeed list the image circle incorrectly as 420mm for the 300mm C. It is corrected back to 380mm in the 10/85 brochure and every brochure I have after that (9/86, 4/88 and 3/97).
These types of errors are VERY common in the Fujinon literature. In fact, some are a bit humorous. For instance, the 7/82 brochure which featured major changes to the Fujinon product lines, actually has tiny bits of paper containing corrections that were physically cut-and-pasted onto the brochure. How'd you like to have that job? Thankfully, the quality control in their manufacturing department is much better than in their marketing department.
WRT to the trig. According to the brochures, the actual designed focal length of the 300mm Fujinon C is 292.5mm. If you plug that focal length in to the formula and use 66 degrees, the calculated image circle comes out to 379.9mm. That's close enough to 380mm for me.
Finally, WRT to my collection of Fujinon literature. I have assembled as much as I could get on my own, but I've also had help from others. When my Fujinon pages went online, I asked for anybody who has and Fujinon literature to please send me scans or photocopies. Through the generosity of others, my Fujinon literature collection has grown quite nicely. It's to the point where I really need to update my Fujinon pages to reflect what I've learned from this influx of new data. However, I'm sure my Fujinon literature collection is still not complete. So, anybody reading this who has any Fujinon literature they would be willing to share, please send me an email with what you have, and I'll check to see if I need it. All of the Fujinon brochures have date codes printed in the bottom right corner on the back cover. They read something like (SK.82.07.SA.MW). The 82.07 code indicating a publication date of July, 1982. If you could include the date code in any emails, it would allow me to determine if I do or don't have the brochure in question. I also have several D.O. Industries price lists, that are clearly dated on the front covers, several D.O. Industries promo pieces and press releases that usually are not dated, magazine article reprints and old Calumet catalogs. At this point, I'm just trying to gather up as much Fujinon data as I can get my hands on. So, if you have anything and would like to contribute to the collective knowledge, please send me an email. I don't have enough time or web space to scan EVERY brochure and price list (many have no changes from one to the next - just reprints of the previous brochure), but I hope to eventually get all the major revisions online and to fill out my literature table to help narrow down when certain models were introduced and discontinued. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kerry
Snagged by doing the trig at work (using 300mm) while the brochure - - giving a 292.5mm designed focal length - - is once again at home!
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