Have anybody experience with the Fujinon 450 mm f12,5 lens?I want to buy one but I dont know anybody who use one.Is there a difference to the Nikkor 450 or Apo Ronar 480.

-- Achim Casper (acaphoto@planet-interkom.de), January 26, 2000

Answers

Achim,

I have one of the 450mm Fuji lenses. I use it primarily for 8x10, and also with 4x5. I also owned the Nikkor 450 M for several years, then traded it for the Fuji a couple of years ago.

The Nikkor M was/is an excellent lens, yet I like the Fuji more. But not for the sharpness/contrast/coverage issues usually discussed in these comparisons. In all these respects, I am of the opinion that the 450 Fuji and 450 Nikkor are equally good.

Prices, both new and used, are about equal. Coverage for 8x10 is huge with both lenses. Maximum aperture with the Nikkor is a bit larger than the Fuji, but, for my applications I found both lenses to be comfortably bright at maximum aperture; I had no problems composing and focusing with either lens with 8x10.

The 8x10 negatives I made with both lenses compare very favorably in all respects. The reason I traded one for the other was that the Fuji is a lot smaller and lighter than the Nikkor, and I wanted to be able to use it with my 4x5.

The Fuji is mounted in a copal 1, the Nikkor in a copal 3. For most typical 8x10 cameras, this is not that critical; it makes a big difference if you're planning to use it for 4x5, or even 5x7. Simply put, copal 3 shutters are big and heavy. They open and close with a definite thunk. If your camera cannot handle the size, weight and potential vibration of the copal 3, image sharpness will definitely suffer. Be sure your camera can handle a copal 3 shutter if considering the Nikkor.

Good luck in your choice, Sergio.

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), January 26, 2000.

The Fujinon-C 450 and the Nikkor-M 450 both have more coverage than the Apo-Ronar 480. All three have plenty of coverage for 4x5, but for 8x10 it might make a diference.

The Fuji is pretty popular because it is in a Copal 1 shutter compared to the #3 shutter of the other two. There are some discussions of this lens on the Large Format Photography Home page http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/lenses-long.html Also checkout Kerry Thalmann's comments at http://largeformat.homepage.com/300-450.htm

-- Michael Briggs (MichaelBriggs@earthlink.net), January 26, 2000.