Will the older Fuji lenses, such as the 125W and 135W cover 5x7 or were the Fuji specs optimistic? Were these plasmat designs, and were they all f6.3 like the 150W? How would the performance of the 125W and 135W compare to a 120 Angulon or 135 WF ektar, respectivley, on 5x7? This is for landscape use so I'm not concerned too much about movement, just decent sharpness in the corners. Thanks!

-- Vishal Mathur (vmathur@my-deja.com), July 26, 1999

Answers

Here are some answers, mostly from a Fuji large format lens brochure dated 1980.

It lists 3 Fujinon "WS" lenses: 150 f6.3, 300 f5.6 and 360 f6.3. The drawing shows a plamat configuration, but the 150 f6.3 has only 4 elements in 3 groups. The other two are 6 elements in 4 groups.

The brochure lists 7 "NWS" lenses, 105, 125, 135, 150, 180, 210 and 250 mm. All are f5.6 except the 250 mm, which is f6.3. The 105 to 180 have an unusual design which appears to be a modified plasmat, 6 elements in 6 groups. The last two have fewer groups.

All of these lenses are multicoated, called EBC for electron beam coated by Fuji. Confusingly, Fuji seems to put designations like "NWS" on the box but only W on the lens, so distinguishing between lens generations on a used lens might be tricky. My suggestion is to make sure the lens is multicoated and in a copal shutter.

Fuji specs the coverage of the 125 mm at 198 mm, which does NOT cover 5x7. The 135 mm is listed at 206 mm, which I guess barely covers 5x7.

My guess is that Fuji's coverage specs are accurate, but I have not tested them. I have a 180 mm NWS and have only once, with very extreme movements, run out of coverage on 4x5. The results are quite sharp.

-- Michael Briggs (MS.Briggs@cwix.com), July 26, 1999.

The Fuji WS series that proceeded the NWS series and did indeed cover more. The WS series covered up to 80 degrees. For the NWS series the coverage fell to 76 degrees, except for some of the longer focal lengths exam 210, 250, 300 etc., that actually covered less. You can identify the older WS series by (1) the ribbed surface of the front cell, (2) the legend (maker, focal length etc) being inscribed on the inner front retaining ring, instead of the on the edge of the front cell and (3) by the fact they come in an older copal shutters. In addition they were non EBC coated.

It is doubtful if the older 125mm WS would cover 5*7 , with movement, adequately even at 80 degrees and the 135mm WS would be a very tight fit.

-- Pat raymore (patrick.f.raymore@kp.org), July 27, 1999.