Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 (GW690)

Fuji Photo Film · Fuji fixed · 1978

Also known as: EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 · EBC Fujinon 90mm F3.5 · Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 GW690 · Fuji GW690 90mm · Fuji GW690III 90mm f/3.5 · Fuji GW690II 90mm F3.5 · Fuji GW670 90mm F3.5 · Fuji GW680 90mm F3.5 · EBC FUJINON 1:3.5 f=90mm · フジノン 90mm F3.5 · EBCフジノン 90mm F3.5 · フジ GW690 90mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 on the Fujica GW690 (1978) Fuji fixed 1978–1985 — —
EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 on the GW690II and GW670II (1985) Fuji fixed 1985–1992 — —
EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 on the GW690III, GW670III and GW680III (1992) Fuji fixed 1992–2003 — —
  1. Element and group count: 5 in 5 from the Japanese Wikipedia product list (5群5枚), camera-wiki and the GW690III manual ('5 components, 5 elements'). Nearest focus 1 m, f/32, the 67mm × 0.75mm thread and the 58° field are the manual's; the 70mm figure it gives beside the thread is the hood's outer diameter, not a second thread.
  2. The same lens across three body generations: no source records a recomputation, a change in element count or a change in coating between 1978 and 2003, and the manual's own account of the III bodies puts every difference in the body. The sameness is inferred from silence, not stated by Fuji, and is recorded as such.
  3. Aperture blades: no source gives the count. 35mmc's '5 straight blades' describes the shutter, not the diaphragm, and is not entered.
  4. Weight: the lens is never weighed apart from its body. The GW690 weighs 1,430 g with it (camera-wiki) and the GW690III 1,460 g (manual).
  5. No design name is published for the five-element layout; camera-wiki names a Biogon type only for the 65mm.
  6. The G690-series 100mm f/3.5 is a different lens with a different page; camera-wiki's comparison (the 90mm sharper wide open, the 100mm's out-of-focus rendering more pleasant) and Simon Foale's ('not much in it' against the 100mm Tessar of his GL690) are the two set side by side.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A fixed lens: it never comes off, so it is identified by its body. 'EBC Fujinon' and '1:3.5 f=90mm' on the front ring behind a built-in retractable hood; aperture ring f/3.5–32 and speed ring T, 1–500 side by side on the barrel, close enough to move together (35mmc; Radavist; JCH)
  • 67mm filter thread with 0.75mm pitch inside the hood (manual)
  • Focusing scale 1 m to infinity with a depth-of-field scale and an infrared index; the bright-line frame in the body finder moves with focus (manual)
  • Not the Fujinon 100mm f/3.5 of the G690/GL690, which is a removable breech-lock lens, and not the GX680's 90mm for the studio SLR
  • Three body generations: 'Fujica' with a cold shoe (1978), 'Fuji' with a hot shoe (1985), curved rubberised body with a spirit level (1992)

EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 on the Fujica GW690 (1978):

  • Fixed to the squared metal first-generation body with the 'Fujica' nameplate, cold accessory shoe and ribbed grips
  • Seiko #0 shutter with T and no B; a minority of bodies with a B setting (camera-wiki; 35mmc)

EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 on the GW690II and GW670II (1985):

  • Fixed to the second-generation body: 'Fuji' nameplate, hot shoe, release lock, chequered grip, a strap lug at each end
  • On the GW670II the same lens covers the 56 × 68.5mm gate at 52°, about a 44mm on 35mm film (GW670III manual)

EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 on the GW690III, GW670III and GW680III (1992):

  • Fixed to the curved rubberised third-generation body with the spirit level and push-button spool release
  • Specified in the GW690III manual: 5 components, 5 elements, 1 m nearest focus, F32, screw-in filter 70mm outer / 67mm inner / 0.75mm pitch, 58° covering power (52° on 6×7), built-in retractable hood

Serial-range notes

No published scheme
The lens is fixed and the body's serial is the only number; no source ties either to a year. Generation is read from the body.

Specifications

Construction
5 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/32
Shutter
#0 interlens leaf shutter, T, 1s–1/500, X sync at all speeds; no B except on a few first-generation GW690 bodies (GW690III manual; camera-wiki; 35mmc). Seiko #0 on the first GW690 (camera-wiki)
Min. focus
1 m
Filter
67 mm (0.75 mm pitch)
Years manufactured
1978–2003
Country
Japan
Coating
EBC (Electron Beam Coating) multicoating, Fuji's name on the front ring

What reviewers say

History

The EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 is the lens of every GW body from the Fujica GW690 of November 1978 to the GW690III, GW670III and GW680III of 1992, and it stayed in production until the line ended in 2003. It is a five-element, five-group design, multicoated with Fuji’s EBC process, fixed into a #0 leaf shutter that runs T and 1 second to 1/500 with X sync at every speed and no B, and set behind a built-in retractable hood with a 67mm filter thread. The GW690III manual gives it a 1 m nearest focus, f/32 minimum aperture and a 58° field on 6×9, about a 39mm on 35mm film; on the 6×7 gate of the GW670 bodies the same lens covers 52°, about a 44mm. It is never weighed apart from its body.

It replaced, in effect, the Fujinon 100mm f/3.5 of the interchangeable G690 and GL690: camera-wiki rates the 90mm sharper wide open with less pleasant out-of-focus rendering, and Simon Foale, with a first-generation GW690 and a GL690 side by side, found the five-element 90mm perhaps very slightly better than the four-element Tessar at wide apertures and ‘not much in it’. On the later bodies the reviewers agree on sharpness and pleasant blur at the large negative’s scale (Felten, Nguyen, Klain) and on the barrel’s one fault, that the aperture ring and the speed ring sit close enough to move together. Nguyen adds that the fixed hood limits filter choice and that the 1 m close focus, with parallax, makes portraits hard; Klain, on the GW690II, finds the subject separation wide open a strength for exactly that.

Whether the glass changed between 1978 and 2003 is not stated by any source. The element count is the same in the Japanese product list, on camera-wiki and in the 1992 manual, the manual places every difference between the III cameras in the body and the picture size, and camera-wiki’s lists of II and III changes are entirely about bodies; that one lens served six bodies rests on that silence, and the three variants here are the three body generations that carried it. The only variation in the shutter is the minority of first-generation GW690 bodies built with B in place of T, which no source explains.

What remains open: the aperture blade count; a weight for the lens alone; a design name for the five-element layout; and any confirmation from Fuji that the formula was unchanged across the generations.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a EBC Fujinon 90mm f/3.5 (GW690)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: EBC Fujinon SW 65mm f/5.6 (GSW690) · Fujinon S 100mm f/3.5 (G690)

Sources (7)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.