Fuji Rectar

[landstrykere]

i have bought two Rectar 25cm f4,5. One found on Mercari, one on Yahoo JP.

no data on the whole forum. One incidental mention here: https://www.largeformatphotography.i...=1#post1647302 and one mention of the name on an enlarger lens here : https://www.largeformatphotography.i...l=1#post116782

yes it is listed on the page http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byseries.htm as early Fuji Tessar, uncoated. That's all. No sources on that page. A common disease it seems among large format people.

btw, the better condition one I bought: https://jp.mercari.com/item/m32488612796



this will be used for 八切 as Japanese say for whole-plate. The important point will be to see if image circle is enough for front mounting on a Shanel-5, ie. no mechanical vignetting. I have btw the 2-cells for shutter Fujinon/Fujinar 250mm f4.5 and ad hoc Shanel-5B-S, but prefer to screw/unscrew one barrel lens instead of cells. Front mounting a barrel does also no require to remove the board from the front.

Anyway i guess these early Japanese tessar could not sell at all in an European market saturated with German and Soviet tessars, and American market probably the same. Yet it is quite something that there is nothing online.

[gypsydog]

Self deleted, naughty humor.

[xkaes]

yes it is listed on the page http://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byseries.htm as early Fuji Tessar, uncoated. That's all. No sources on that page. A common disease it seems among large format people.

I don't know what "disease" you are referring to, but that is the best researched website about Rectar lenses on the planet. It not only lists the available history of the Rectar lenses, it provides details and photos of the lenses. If you find something better, please let us know.

https://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byseries.htm

[Vaughan]

i have bought two Rectar 25cm f4,5... The important point will be to see if image circle is enough for front mounting on a Shanel-5, ie. no mechanical vignetting. I have btw the 2-cells for shutter Fujinon/Fujinar 250mm f4.5 and ad hoc Shanel-5B-S, but prefer to screw/unscrew one barrel lens instead of cells. Front mounting a barrel does also no require to remove the board from the front.

Anyway i guess these early Japanese tessar could not sell at all in an European market saturated with German and Soviet tessars, and American market probably the same. Yet it is quite something that there is nothing online.

I have two Fujinar 250mm lenses (one is marked 25cm) one in barrel and one in a Shanel 5B shutter. I recently picked up the front and rear cells of a Rectar 25cm. It does NOT fit into the barrel for the Fujinar 250mm, and does mount into a Shanel 5B shutter. So the Rectar cells are mechanically different to the Fujinar cells. (They may also be optically different I haven't tested yet, though they look similar.)

If the Rectar barrel screws into the front of the Shanel 5A shutter it should work about the same as the Fujinar 250mm.

Tests I've done show the Fujinar 250mm when mounted in a Shanel 5B shutter will cover 8x10 when well stopped down. I don't know whether a barrel-mounted Fujinar 250mm mounted on the front of a Shanel 5A shutter will mechanically vignette a smaller image circle.

Note that the Shanel 5A shutter has a larger front thread than an a 5B or 5B-S.

Should you choose to use a Shanel 5A shutter, barrel-mounted Fujinar 180mm and 210mm lenses will also fit the shutter.

[xkaes]

You've got a Fujinar lens that is marked in "mm"?

[landstrykere]

I don't know what "disease" you are referring to, but that is the best researched website about Rectar lenses on the planet. It not only lists the available history of the Rectar lenses, it provides details and photos of the lenses. If you find something better, please let us know.

https://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byseries.htm

I checked a dictionary and in english "source" seems to be the correct word. A source is a document that is used as the ground in a statement, a writing. Ideally an authoritative one. In case of manufactured items, the manual or brochure with specs, for instance. If not collected data about the item: pictures, measurements.

the "disease" or flaw or habit common here is people making statements that are not sourced. In the cases of very common gear this is normal and unproblematic. In other cases, there are different statements by different persons, and if no sourcing, then you are in the dark. I have been buying books just in order to get reliable data about some items.

the subclub.org Fuji "best researched site" does not provide sources excepted a brochure for few lenses.

Proof.

this is a screenshot from the listing by series, of the table for the early Fujinon-W 150:



text:
"This early series offers at least one lens of 150mm. It is single coated and probably a Tessar design with four elements in three groups. It is unusual to see a Tessar lens with this short of a focal length. But this might explain why the aperture is limited to 6.3 and the lens is designated W. It lived on as the various, later Fujinon W and W S 150mm f6.3 lenses (see below) which were also Tessar type, single-coated lenses. "


now, this, is the page of a Fuji brochure of the time,, ie. a source



the OCR-ed text, general description (to the left of the lens schema):

フ ジ ナ ー と い う レ ン ズ の 名稟は皆 様 に は 未
だ 耳 新 し い 掌 と 怪 い ますが, こ れ は 従来日 本
唯 一の写 場 用 レ ンズと し て 御 増 顧 を 戴 いてぉ
り ま し た レ ク タ ー を 放 名 し たもの で す 。 勿
噺 名 称 のみで 性 能 に は何 等 姜 りはあ り ま せ ん 。
フジ ナ ー に は 現在 180 mm, 210 mm, 250
mm, 300 mm の 4 種 が ありま す が 今底これ
に 高 性 能 広 角 レ ンズーーフ ジ ナ ー・W が 新 た
に 加 わりま し た。
勿 謹 一 般 撮 影 に 使 用 しても 便
利ですが, 特
に 狭 い 場 所での 集 合 人 物 , 蛛 内での 撮 影 , 大
き な 建 造 物の撮 影に遺 憾なく 威 力 を 発 揮しま
す。 プフジ
ナチー・W も プフジ ナ ー と 同 様 レンズ 固
有 の 各 種 収 差 が 完 全 に 近 い 迄 に 矮 正 されて お
り, 又 従 来 の 広 角 レ ン ズ に あ り 勝 ち な , 周
辺 画 像の武 曲が完 全に矯 正 し てちる の で , 広
角 写 真の不 自 然 さ が 全 然 あ り ません。 侶 セイ コ
ーシ ャ ラ ピ ッ ド が 付いておりま す の で 正 確な
露 光 が 与 え られ ま す 。


I run it into a translation engine, Deepl. There are glitches, maybe caused by some incorrect rendering of hieroglyphs, so OCR may be fine-tuned. Can't tell, I know zero japanese. But it is understandable:

The name Fujina may be unfamiliar to most people,
but it is the successor to the Recta, which was the only lens used in Japan
lens exclusively for photography, which has been widely used.
The name ‘Fujinaru’ is simply a new name for the ‘Rector,’ and there is no difference in performance.
Currently, Fujinaru lenses are available in four sizes: 180 mm, 210 mm, 250
Fujinar currently offers four models: 180 mm, 210 mm, 250
mm, and 300 mm, but now
a high-performance wide-angle lens—the Fujinar W—has been added to the lineup.
It is convenient for general photography,
but it is especially effective for photographing groups of people in narrow spaces,
photographing inside buildings, and photographing large structures.
The Fujina Nati-W, like the Fujinator, has various lens-specific
aberrations completely corrected, and unlike conventional wide-angle lenses,
,so there is no unnaturalness in wide-angle photography.
It is equipped with a Seiko Rapid, so accurate exposure is ensured.

the second part, with specs, at f6.3, it covers half-plate, at f45 covers 13x18 and respective angles of view (64° 76°)

主 要 性 能:
明 る さ 1:6.3 焦 点距離 150 ミリーフ ル ュ ー ト
包 括 角 度 1:6.3 で 64° (カヵビ ネ 判 120 x 165 ミ リ )
1 :45 で 76° ( 大 ヵカビネ 判 130 x 180 ミ リ )
シ ャ ッ タ ー セ イ コ ー シ ャ ラ ピ ッ ド B. 1. 1/2. 1/5. 1/10 .
1/25. 1/50. 1/100. 1/200. 1/400. 附 属のケーブ
ル レ リ ー ズ に よ り タ イ ム 露 光 も可 能
セ ル フ タ イ マ ー。 及 び シ ンクロ ヮロタ ー ミ ナ ル
( ド イ ッ 式 二 芯) 組 込な
そ の 他 又(mangled) 付座 金, レ ンズキ ャ ッ プ , 専 用 ラー ド,
ケ ー ブ ル レ リ ー ズ が 附 属 し て なり ま す 。
価 格 15.500円

[landstrykere]

the best researched website .../...
https://www.subclub.org/fujinon/byseries.htm

to add another detail about the best researched website, again about the Fujinon-W 150mm. The bestresearchedwebsite, quote:

"It is unusual to see a Tessar lens with this short of a focal length. But this might explain why the aperture is limited to 6.3 and the lens is designated W."

and, not a source this time, which is a pity that will require still more search, from a japanese site:

Wは精工舎の＃00番シャッターを採用しておりSEIKOSHA-RAPIDの口径に合わせて開放値をF4.5からF6.3に暗くして小型化を図った。セイコーシャ・ラピッドはドイツのシンクロコンパーを参考に作られたレンズシャッターユニットだ。国産としては当時最高級シャッターの一つであった。ちなみに精工舎は服部時計店の製造・開発部門で現在のセイコーやエプソンの元になった。

again, machine translation, because I know nothing of japanese (underline is mine):

The W uses Seikosha's #00 shutter, and its aperture has been darkened from F4.5 to F6.3 to match the aperture of the SEIKOSHA-RAPID, thereby achieving miniaturisation. The Seikosha Rapid is a lens shutter unit modelled on the German Synchro-Compa. It was one of the highest-grade shutters available in Japan at the time. Incidentally, Seikosha was the manufacturing and development division of Hattori Clock Shop, which later became Seiko and Epson.

[landstrykere]

the bestresearchedwebsite has also some minor fuzziness. No big problem, but could be more accurate.

a screenshot about the tessars for Shanel shutter table:




it doesn't mention that these have the name not only as Fujinon-Nmm but also Fujinar-Ncm or Fujinar-Nmm. From auction sites (Yahoo-jp. Mercari, Ebay):

Fujinar 25cm:




Fujinar 250mm:

[xkaes]

Thanks for validating what's on that website.

[xkaes]

As mentioned on the website, that you denigrate for "lack of sources", it clearly states:

To top it off, there is some questionable, as well as obviously erroneous, material in some of the Fuji literature -- and some of the Fujinon lenses that are known to exist, do not appear in any of the Fuji literature! So we end up with a mish-mash of information, some of it correct and some not.

So much for using sources as "gospel". Even the Fuji literature has obvious errors.