How Common is Fuji 600AS, 300SW?

[Richard K.]

Midwest just sold a Fujinon 600 A lens (right after I asked about it of course!). They tell me it covers 840mm (and 1/4 the cost of the 550 XXL), so it should be good for 16x20, 20x24. Wasn't this lens used with Polaroid 20x24 in their studio? Is it optimised for 1:1? Would it perform well at infinity? Are they at all common? This is the first one I've seen for sale! While we're sort of on the topic, has anyone ever SEEN a Fujinon SW 300 mm lens? Or is this in the same category as holy grails and unicorns (both of which have at least been seen )? Thank you.

Richard, freezing his *** in Toronto...

[Songyun]

Midwest just sold a Fujinon 600 A lens (right after I asked about it of course!). They tell me it covers 840mm (and 1/4 the cost of the 550 XXL), so it should be good for 16x20, 20x24. Wasn't this lens used with Polaroid 20x24 in their studio? Is it optimised for 1:1? Would it perform well at infinity? Are they at all common? This is the first one I've seen for sale! While we're sort of on the topic, has anyone ever SEEN a Fujinon SW 300 mm lens? Or is this in the same category as holy grails and unicorns (both of which have at least been seen )? Thank you.

Richard, freezing his *** in Toronto...

600A is rare, but not as rare as 1200A. The 1200A Jim sold a year ago was a beauty.

[John Schneider]

Richard,

I'll tell you about the 600A and post some pics when I receive it . Jim said it was roughly the size/bulk of a 165 S-A. It was listed on mpex's website for at least 1.5 weeks before I gave in to temptation; I was surprised it lasted that long. The 1200A they had c. 2 years ago lasted only a few days before it began its trip to its new home in Japan.

To finance the 600A, I had to trade in my 210 Apo-Sironar-W (a very very nice lens, but only marginally sharper at the edges than my 210 Angulon for quite a bit more weight/bulk) and will be listing my 72XL here tonight (another great lens, but too wide for my tastes on 5x7 and overkill for landspaces on 4x5). All-in-all, I think the lens shuffle will be worth it. It may also hopefully negate my lust for a 360A .

I know it's been said before, but Jim is absolutely wonderful to deal with, whether I'm buying or just looking for information. Really, the only reason to shop anywhere else is for items Midwest doesn't have.

If Kerry agrees, I'll send him the lens info so he can add it to his Fujinon lens webpage.

[Sheldon N]

I've never seen a Fuji 300SW referenced by a first hand user anywhere, let alone seen one up for sale. They have to be among the rarest large format lenses anywhere. The front filter size is 145mm and the image circle is 720mm. It would be an ultrawide with movements for the 16x20 format (equivalent to a 75mm on 4x5) and would be just 60mm shy of hitting the corners of the 20x24 format.

If you want to see a picture of one, look at the back of this group of lenses...

http://members.aol.com/subgallery/byfl.htm

Regarding the 600A and 1200A lenses, I believe they are the same design as the smaller Fuji A lenses so they would have the same characteristics - sharp at both close distances and infinity.

I'm just excited because I have a newer EBC 360mm Fuji-A that I'm buying shortly.

Woo-hoo!

[Howard Tanger]

Richard: My wife and I were in Ottawa starting January 3, 2004 for about 6 or 7 days. We were told (no way to confirm it at this time) that the temps were at times down to -40℉ with the wind chill factor. Supposedly one of the coldest times on record?? True or not, it was terribly cold for this So. California native. Howard Tanger

...
Richard, freezing his *** in Toronto...

[Richard K.]

Richard,

I'll tell you about the 600A and post some pics when I receive it .

Thanks John, that would be great!

-Richard

[Tracy Storer]

Yep,
Fuji 600A and 360A are what I used to use when I ran the Polaroid 20x24 studio in Boston. The New York studio still uses a 600A.
When I moved to CA to open the new studio here, I couldn't find a 600A and got a 600C instead which also works beautifully.