Widelux F7 Panoramic Camera-back
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The Widelux is a fully mechanical swing-lens
panoramic A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word ...
camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
first developed in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
in 1958, by Panon Camera Shoko. There are both
35mm 35 mm may refer to: Film * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM, a "musical exhibition" by Ryan Scott Oliver that features music ...
and
medium-format Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&n ...
models. Instead of a shutter, the camera has a slit that exposes the film as the lens pivots on a horizontal arc. This pivot allows for some distortion effects not available with traditional cameras. The last Widelux model F8 ended production in 2000.


Models


Widelux F series 35mm

* Widelux FI (1959) with Vistar f/2.8 26mm * Widelux FV (1959) with Panon f/2.8 26mm * Widelux FVI (~1964) * Widelux F6 (~1970) * Widelux F6B (~1970s) * Widelux F7 (1979–1988) * Widelux F8 (1988–2000)


Medium format model 1500

The medium format Widelux model 1500 make 50x122 mm frames on 120 film, and cover a 150-degree horizontal angle across the long side. It was described as newly introduced in 1988 and cost "about US$4,500" at the time.


Differences

The core difference between the F models is improvements in the gearing. The only other notable difference is, up to the F6 model, the camera's three shutter speeds were 1/5, 1/200 and 1/50, whilst from the F6B model onwards, the cameras used the more modern speeds of 1/15, 1/125 and 1/250. There are important differences between the F and 1500 series cameras. The 35mm cameras have a set focus (5 ft to infinity), whereas the 1500 Widelux can focus from a bit less than 1m to infinity with seven markers. The 1500 Widelux also used different shutter speeds of 1/8, 1/60 and 1/250 of a second. The F series cover a 140 degree view, whereas the 1500 series covers a slightly wider area (150 degree view-diagonally-140 degr.horizontally). Finally, the 1500 Widelux, like most manual film cameras, has a shutter that must be cocked before the camera will fire. When setting focus below 5m on Widelux 1500 the resolution will be reduced due to optical limitations.


Notable users

Actor/photographer
Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...
started photographing movie sets with the camera in 1984. In 2003, he published a book of his panoramic pictures called simply "Pictures". Bridges was recognized for his Widelux photography by the
International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...
's Infinity Award in 2013. A few of filmmaker
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...
's Widelux photos appear in the book "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures" by his wife Christiane.
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
used the Widelux in the 1960s for its 140° coverage, most notably on the
Gemini 5 Gemini 5 (officially Gemini V) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1965 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Project Gemini. It was the third crewed Gemini flight, the eleventh crewed American spacefligh ...
mission.


WideluxX revival

During a podcast interview with photography magazine Silvergrain Classics in 2020, actor
Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...
first brought up the idea of reviving the Widelux back into production. This discussion eventually evolved into Silvergrain and Bridges forming a company with the sole purpose of bringing back the camera. To separate the new model they have rebranded it to "WideluxX". Little is known about the new model. Though Silvergrain originally intended to duplicate the old model, most of the new design had to be built from the ground up as the camera's first manufacturer lost all the original designs in 2005 due to a fire at its headquarters. Silvergrain has just stated that is will be based on the F8 model, but with small "upgrades". They also plan to use no plastic components and only manufacture in German facilities that use green electricity sources. Due to this, it is suspected the pricing will be similar to the
Leica Leica may refer to: Companies * Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into: ** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company ** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer ** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...
brand (whose factory is also located in Germany), at around $2000 - $6000 USD.


Similar cameras

Cameras with similar functions include the Noblex and
Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...
.


References

{{reflist Panoramic cameras Japanese inventions