Any Widelux shooters at RFF?

Monz said:
The way I see it is:

*Swing lens camera (Widelux, Horizon): curved film plane + rotating turret + wide angle lens -> curvilinear "distortion"; small foreground (and background) objects such as people are correctly proportioned and not stretched even if on edge of frame but large objects such as walls, roads and straight lines such as horizons are severely distorted especially if camera is not perfectly level.

*"Normal" camera (Hasselblad SW, XPan etc) : flat film/sensor + fixed wide angle lens -> rectilinear "distortion" : straight lines will tend to remain straight but objects on the edge of the frame will be stretched giving egg-head deformity with people.
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Hello Monz,
I rarely use my Horizon, but after this thread, I may exercise it more often. It was cheap. so it is good for travel. The Hasselblad SW is new to me, but your warning about egghead deformity makes me worry. I will have to practice with it.
 
raid said:
Hello Monz,
I rarely use my Horizon, but after this thread, I may exercise it more often. It was cheap. so it is good for travel. The Hasselblad SW is new to me, but your warning about egghead deformity makes me worry. I will have to practice with it.
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Hi Raid,
A couple of more points:
1. With the Xpan, vignetting is likely to occur at wider apertures. This can be negated with a centre-spot filter (but you loose one stop). Also, at wider apertures the periphery of the frame is not in sharp focus.
2. Widelux: the focus is fixed at about 11 feet. The sharpness is uniform across the frame and there is no vignetting. However, the swing-lens design makes it prone to "banding" (alternating vertical bands of light and dark).
 
Shot my third roll of film in the Widelux today and I have to say I'm really getting into this camera ... it's sensational IMO. I think it must have been sitting for a while because it's definitely improved a significant amount with use and frequent exercising of the turret. It sounds better and feels a lot smoother.

I love the way it bends reality ... not everyone's cup of tea possibly but I'm hooked and the desire for an X-pan has diminished somewhat! :D

Now and then you get lucky and buy a camera that knocks your socks off!
 
Monz said:
Congratulations on the Widelux Keith. For sunny Oz, you may need the filter set (which includes a 2 stop ND filter). I find that attaching a small handle to the tripod thread and holdingthe camera with the left hand whilst tripping the shutter with the right prevents accidental inclusion of fingers in the frame.
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I think I have the solution to this Monz because the limitations of three shutter speeds and smallest aperture of f11 are apparent in our conditions.

Two Wideluxes ... one loaded with 100 ISO and the other with 400 ISO. :D

If I stumbled over another really cheap one I would actually consider that option ... though I have to say I've noticed that the HP5+ I've been shooting lately doesn't suffer too dramataically from a two stop over exosure. Where it gets a little tricky is shooting in full shadow areas well away from a light source with 100 ISO film ... a shutter speed (or two) between 1/125 and 1/15 would have been nice. :p
 
Keith said:
I think I have the solution to this Monz because the limitations of three shutter speeds and smallest aperture of f11 are apparent in our conditions.

Two Wideluxes ... one loaded with 100 ISO and the other with 400 ISO. :D

If I stumbled over another really cheap one I would actually consider that option ... though I have to say I've noticed that the HP5+ I've been shooting lately doesn't suffer too dramataically from a two stop over exosure. Where it gets a little tricky is shooting in full shadow areas well away from a light source with 100 ISO film ... a shutter speed (or two) between 1/125 and 1/15 would have been nice. :p
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Yeah, these cameras are really addictive. I'm also considering getting a second one. They are great for street photography. You don't even have to look through the viewfinder: just use the spirit level to keep the camera horizontal and the two arrows etched on the turret to compose.
 
Monz said:
Yeah, these cameras are really addictive. I'm also considering getting a second one. They are great for street photography. You don't even have to look through the viewfinder: just use the spirit level to keep the camera horizontal and the two arrows etched on the turret to compose.
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The banding on mine seems to be a non issue now as the camera settles in with more use. I've been searching the net for info today and discovered a page that tells you how to strip and rebuild an F7 and where the common problems are ... man these things are simple and you only need a few basic tools!

I also hadn't realised how few of these things have been made ... Panon only made a total of twenty thousand cameras over a forty year period ending with the F8 of course!

They are addictive and just so much fun to use. :)
 
Keith said:
The banding on mine seems to be a non issue now as the camera settles in with more use. I've been searching the net for info today and discovered a page that tells you how to strip and rebuild an F7 and where the common problems are ... man these things are simple and you only need a few basic tools! widelux_over

I also hadn't realised how few of these things have been made ... Panon only made a total of twenty thousand cameras over a forty year period ending with the F8 of course!

They are addictive and just so much fun to use. :)
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Hi Keith,
This is probably the site:
http://www.jumboprawn.net/jesse/cams/widelux/.html

It's a great resource. I have use it for some rudimentary DIY on my F7, but for a proper CLA I sent it to Newton Ellis (Liverpool, UK). Although the mechanism is fairly basic, the Newton Ellis tech guy told me that some problems can be quite tricky to fix eg banding. He dismantled, cleaned and lubricated the speed mechanism but even after this, there was faint banding at 1/250... so I sent it back and he is having another try.

BTW you probably already know this but... don't change shutter speed without winding the film on first!



EDIT: also check out Heritagefutures' (Dirk) Flickr. Dirk is based in Oz and is very knowledgeable about the Widelux:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/heritagefutures/collections/72157627336807346/
 
Do RFF Widelux users shoot from the waist or at eye level?

I generally fire from waist high keeping the level bubble centered.

Texsport
 
Where I shoot from from depends on the level of distortion I'm looking for and how I want that distortion to play a part in the image. It's one of the highlights of the Widelux IMO. I'll be using mine for a paid gig this weekend and I can't wait! :D
 
aperture64 said:
Not as simple as you think. I bought a Widelux in March that needed an overhaul due to banding and years of not being used. I sent it to one of the best here in the US, but have not seen it since. I got an email saying it should be done soon, but I was also told the same thing 8 weeks ago. Still no camera. :bang:
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That's a pain in the 'you know where' ... you must be getting frustrated.

Mine is showing no banding now but I did give the turret a lot of exercise after sitting the camera in the sun until it got hot. That turret mechanism is not overly complicated and if mine plays up again I'll definitely be puling it apart for a looksee myself. There are virtually no special tools needed.

I like this camera so much I'm tentatively thinking of picking up another one if one crops up at an attractive price. It would be good to have one loaded with 400 and one with 100 film when going out for some serious 'Wideluxing!'
 
That would be great!

I currently team up my Widelux and 400 with my XPan and 100.

Sometimes also carry a Voigtlander Bessa L with 15/4.5.

Texsport
 
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