Fuji 300mm f/8.5 C vs Nikkor 300 mm f/9 M

[photo_color]

If anyone here has had experiences with both lens, or maybe with a

300mm version of one and a 450mm version of another (M series Nikkor,

C series Fuji) I'd appreciate some advice.

 

I thinking of getting one of the 2 lenses for color work with a 4x5

camera, mainly lanscape subjects medium distance to infinity.

 

Sharpness differences are probably very small, but there are other

factors I'm interested in, for example, perhaps one lens has a

smoother look than the other - perhaps one has slightly less contrast

than the other, which translates to 'smoothness' for me.

 

Another factor would be color balance - maybe one is 'warmer' than

the other. Then there's smoothness of out-of-focus areas - bokeh.

Then perhaps one lens has truer marked apertures and shutter speeds

(I once compared a relatively new Nikkor lens to a similar Fuji and

the Fuji underexposed and had more light falloff compared to the

Nikon, but I don't remember what the focal lengths were and it was a

long time ago). It could have been due to just variations between

even lenses of the same make and model perhaps, or maybe Fuji's specs

tend to be optimistic.

 

One last item is the mechanical quality of the lens/shutter/aperture

scales- which will last longer with some abuse, or which is easier to

use. I remember that the Nikkor M has aperture and shutter scales

more the 'regular' plasmat versions of lenses including Rodenstock

and Schneider lenses, whereas the Fuji C series seems to have cheaper

stamping or engraving of the scales and such (I could be wrong on

this however).

 

Thank you.

[scott_stadler]

I have a Fuji 300mm C, and it is a very good lens. Both Fuji and Nikon use Copal

shutters, so as far as reliability goes, there shouldn't be a difference unless you buy

them used and then there is know telling what was done to them. The scale on the

new Fuji's are a very nice enameled white number scale, on the Nikon 450mm M that I

also have the scale has bare metal colored numbers. Personally I think the Nikon

scales look the cheapest out of all the major manufacturers but that is just an

opinion, as far as accuracy for the scales they are both accurate unless again they are

used and have been remounted in a different shutter without transferring the scales

properly.

 

For 4x5, light falloff will not be a problem as both will cover 8x10 with movements, in

the case of the 450mm ever larger.

 

The fuji uses a dialite (sp?) construction 4 elements in 4 groups...the nikor is a tesser

design 4 elements in 3 groups. Both are extremely sharp, both are multi coated, both

are great lenses...I don't shoot a lot of color so I can't comment on that...I hope that

helps.