Unlocking the panoramic format ... is it a gimmick?

Turtle said:
I should add that looking at Koudelka's work shows the format used masterfully, IMHO.
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Exactly. And Koudelka got his inspiration from another Czech - Josef Sudek who actually built his own panoramic camera and shot the streets of Prague with it. Koudelka' work was done with a 617 Fuji panoramic camera with a 105mm lens. The book Chaos by Josef Koudelka (ISBN 0 7148 4594 9) is well worth looking at if you want to see pictures that were composed and shot with a viewfinder that has a 3:1 aspect ratio.
 
peter_n said:
Exactly. And Koudelka got his inspiration from another Czech - Josef Sudek who actually built his own panoramic camera and shot the streets of Prague with it. Koudelka' work was done with a 617 Fuji panoramic camera with a 105mm lens. The book Chaos by Josef Koudelka (ISBN 0 7148 4594 9) is well worth looking at if you want to see pictures that were composed and shot with a viewfinder that has a 3:1 aspect ratio.
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Thanks a lot for that tip, Peter! I just ordered the book. 🙂
 
I think to shoot panoramics successfully I need the viewfinder to match the end result ... stitched panos just wouldn't work for me!
 
Keith said:
This Widelux is a great, great camera ... but I now think there may be an X-pan in my future at some stage! Why oh why are they so expensive?
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In the event you are not aware, Fujifilm makes the X-Pan for Hasselblad, and offers their own version. That may open the market up a little for you. Unfortunately they are still expensive.
 
Major Overthink... my head is starting to hurt.

Major Overthink... my head is starting to hurt.

OK folks.... all this talk of Aspect Ratio, cropping, 25% this and 30% that. I can't take it. I just take the camera out...(Fuji GL690 normal 100m lens), plant a tripod under it. bubble level the top of the tripod rotating platform and the top of the camera and shoot.

Overthinking it simply delays seeing the results. I've been scanning and stitching 35mm, horizontals and vertical. For "safe lines" which I call overlap I simply make sure there are matching landmarks visible in each side of the frame, rotate, watch the exposure to avoid large changes, and shoot.

The capacity of Pano Stitching software pretty much takes care of the rest.

****ryan out loud... I'm 69 years old (good health and good eyes) and I don't have time for slide rules, calculators, computers and all that mathematics Krap.

OrcombuildingpanoramaLarge.jpg


Two images scanned from the "TL" big Fuji Rangefinder. (I seem not to get sharp images on this RFF site... looks much better on my monitor)
 
While I like doing panos by stitching several frames together, I find that the fact you need to make so many exposures to get a decent overlap really hurts when you've only got one roll of film on you. And the possibility of varying exposures across the frame doesn't help. But I will also fudge a pano by cropping a wide angle shot from the top and bottom, and most folks can't tell I did it.

That said, I wouldn't mind having a dedicated pano camera, such as what Keith is using. I might not shoot a complete roll in one location, but it would come in handy.

PF
 
farlymac said:
While I like doing panos by stitching several frames together, I find that the fact you need to make so many exposures to get a decent overlap really hurts when you've only got one roll of film on you. And the possibility of varying exposures across the frame doesn't help. But I will also fudge a pano by cropping a wide angle shot from the top and bottom, and most folks can't tell I did it.

That said, I wouldn't mind having a dedicated pano camera, such as what Keith is using. I might not shoot a complete roll in one location, but it would come in handy.

PF
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I broke my rule and went out with the Widelux and did some 'street' yesterday which is effectively out of my comfort zone ... I'm not a natural, comfortable street shooter!

I was surprised at how quickly I got through the full roll (21 exposures) and also surprised at how usable the format is in this environment. I mainly got the camera for landscapes in areas where the 3:2 format leaves me wanting a wider perspective.

The Widelux does have some odd limitations though and I discover them when I develop each roll I shoot! 😛
 
Turtle said:
It is very personal, but I have seen relatively little truly breathtaking work done on the panoramic formats. I own an Xpan, but feel the 45mm, whilst workable, is not ideal for me. I recently acquired a 30mm and have a feeling that this will transform the format for me. I need depth to my frame, for most of what I do.

Gimmick? Can be, but it can also be tremendously powerful when well used.
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Wow! If you want some inspiring panoramics, look around this guy's site for a while.

http://www.phototheque.arnaudfrichphoto.com/en/-/catalogues-photos/paris

I particularly like the night time mutiple exposure panoramics.

Texsport
 
panos

panos

Keith

My first pano was three thirtyfive mm frames,printed,hand cut,pasted and photocopied.
A Widelux was my dream then.One day I will own one.
Till then it's digital stitching.

Check out Max Lyons forum on panos,most are digital,but all are great shots.
 
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Thanks Texsport. I had a look and thought they were 'good' and no more, but as always, these things are personal. Some strong photos, but in many I felt the format did not contribute to a successful image and held them back as often as it made them special. I tend to look at cameras as 'things to make documentary images with' and so my perspectives are skewed.

FWIW, I think 3:1 or even 2.7:1 is a wee bit long. 2.5:1 is about the longest before it looks awkward for me, with 2.25:1 looking most relaxed. Oddlly, 2:1 can look a little short at times, but I do like this 'short pano' format because it functions quite differently and works well with foreground interest, unlike the longer ones.

I'm going to have a real crack with my 30mm and if that does not work out, I will sell it all. I suspect it will work very well, however, because I have been 'feeling the frames' when shooting with the 45mm, only what I have wanted to get in tends to lie somewhere outside the frame lines!
 
I am looking forward to finishing the roll I have in my Xpan because I was shooting some motorway Long exposure shots last weekend as sun went down and I am sure I had shot 5 shots and counter showed 19 left so I think I have some double exposures. Was B&W Pan 25 so should be interesting. Don't use mine as much as I did because I have so many MF options now and love B&W MF because it is so smooth.
 
I like the Xpan and have a few ok shots on Flickr. Successfully composing in pano is quite challenging for street. I think most pano shots either don't work because of failure to fill the frame with interesting elements else it is too formula and boring.
 
randolph45 said:
Keith

My first pano was three thirtyfive mm frames,printed,hand cut,pasted and photocopied.
A Widelux was my dream then.One day I will own one.
Till then it's digital stitching.

Check out Max Lyons forum on panos,most are digital,but all are great shots.
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Randolph ... your first pano sounds very similar to my first effort of a couple of months ago! 😀


U5265I1340196726.SEQ.0.jpg
 
rxmd said:
That's a rather nice one. Did you glue the negatives together and contact print them?
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Just taped the three 6x6 negs together after trimming them to get the alignment then scanned them on my V700 flatbed!

So much for invisible tape! 😀
 
c.poulton said:
Hey Keith, just curious, money aside, if the rumours prove to be true, would you consider buying a digital X-Pan?
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I think even if money was no issue I'd balk at that. Every time I buy a digital camera (D700 aside because that gets used for work) I marvel at its capabilities then it sits in the cupboard when it eventually bores me and I go back to film. It's a repeating pattern and I'm just coming to realise that!

I haven't used the OM-D I bought in a month now ... and have little desire to do so. 😱
 
Keith said:
I think even if money was no issue I'd balk at that. Every time I buy a digital camera (D700 aside because that gets used for work) I marvel at its capabilities then it sits in the cupboard when it eventually bores me and I go back to film. It's a repeating pattern and I'm just coming to realise that!

I haven't used the OM-D I bought in a month now ... and have little desire to do so. 😱
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You took the words right out of my mouth. In my case I think it boils down to the feeling of involvement. With film photography I am more involved in the process, more of the responsibility lies with me as a photographer.
 
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