kkdanamatt
Well-known
My 2 cents (YMMV): I have shot with most Panoramic cameras down through the years. Let's compare the Noblex, Widelux and the Horizon.
In order of image quality:
1. Widelux, just slightly better than the Noblex
2. Noblex
3. Horizon
In order of build quality:
1. Widelux, 1960's bench made Japanese quality
2. Noblex, some plastic, but well constructed and engineered
3. Horizon, typical Russian build quality
In order of ease of use:
1. Noblex, swing shutter mechanism can be "exercised" manually without wasting film
2. Widelux
3. Horizon
In order of price/quality/availabilty quotient:
1. Horizon, damn good viewfinder at the lowest price with slow speed selection
2. Noblex, slow f/4.5 lens and restricted shutter speed selection in lowest priced version
3. Widelux, restricted shutter speed selection
The optics are all pretty good.
The Widelux is the best wide-open.
Noblex runs a close second.
Horizons vary.
The Noblex requires batteries... not a good thing IMO.
The Horizon is the most difficult to load and rewind.
The Widelux is the most compact to carry.
The Horizon has the most optical distortion close-up.
Bottom line: If you want to play...buy the Horizon...it's cheap and fun and if you don't like it you can sell it for a minimal loss. YMMV.
In order of image quality:
1. Widelux, just slightly better than the Noblex
2. Noblex
3. Horizon
In order of build quality:
1. Widelux, 1960's bench made Japanese quality
2. Noblex, some plastic, but well constructed and engineered
3. Horizon, typical Russian build quality
In order of ease of use:
1. Noblex, swing shutter mechanism can be "exercised" manually without wasting film
2. Widelux
3. Horizon
In order of price/quality/availabilty quotient:
1. Horizon, damn good viewfinder at the lowest price with slow speed selection
2. Noblex, slow f/4.5 lens and restricted shutter speed selection in lowest priced version
3. Widelux, restricted shutter speed selection
The optics are all pretty good.
The Widelux is the best wide-open.
Noblex runs a close second.
Horizons vary.
The Noblex requires batteries... not a good thing IMO.
The Horizon is the most difficult to load and rewind.
The Widelux is the most compact to carry.
The Horizon has the most optical distortion close-up.
Bottom line: If you want to play...buy the Horizon...it's cheap and fun and if you don't like it you can sell it for a minimal loss. YMMV.
Frank Petronio
Well-known
I thought the Noblexes were better image quality than the Wideluxes in comparison. The Horizant I had made good images but was the most unreliable.
If you want to take reliable, professional quality pictures, get a Noblex medium format. The 35mm versions are not as impressive.
(To me, if you're to hassle with a rotating lens camera then why not get something big and impressive? If you are patient they can be had for $1000 used, which isn't much worse than a Widelux but the 60x120 image is many times better than any 24x56.)
If you want to admire and fondle a cool mid-Century collectible, get a Widelux. If you want to actually use it then plan on regular servicing and take care to keep it clean. Noblexes can go quite a bit longer in between CLA cycles.
And if you want a novelty to dabble with, get a Horizon.
If you want to take reliable, professional quality pictures, get a Noblex medium format. The 35mm versions are not as impressive.
(To me, if you're to hassle with a rotating lens camera then why not get something big and impressive? If you are patient they can be had for $1000 used, which isn't much worse than a Widelux but the 60x120 image is many times better than any 24x56.)
If you want to admire and fondle a cool mid-Century collectible, get a Widelux. If you want to actually use it then plan on regular servicing and take care to keep it clean. Noblexes can go quite a bit longer in between CLA cycles.
And if you want a novelty to dabble with, get a Horizon.
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spanish_inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
After shooting Widelux F7 and 3 different models of Horizon(t) - all are fun
After shooting Widelux F7 and 3 different models of Horizon(t) - all are fun
I actually encountered a lot of problems with the Widelux at first. Little grains of dirt would cause some uneven gear motion (the camera was sent for CLA 2 times and finally the culprit was removed). The edges of a widelux negative are not well defined, they go dark, whereas the Horizont negative edges are nice and well defined.
Horizonts can match the Widelux sharpness after f8. Many people claim that Widelux is sharper because widelux is prefocused on 8m or so while Horizonts are pre-focused on infinity. When you shoot at 2.8 or 4 or 5.6 this can make a difference.
Yes, Widelux and Noblex are better cameras. But for $250 Horizont 202 is a damn good panoramic camera. The newer S3 models and Horizont Pros (same thing as S3) produce somewhat softish images until 5.6 Not sure why. Maybe my camera was an outlier. I returned it and bought an older and cheaper 202m, as well as an ancient Gorizont. The old camera is very smooth and the turret rotation reminds me of the Widelux (it's equally quiet and smooth).
You can see that I am biased toward Horizon. I wish I had the money for a Noblex. Oh well.
After shooting Widelux F7 and 3 different models of Horizon(t) - all are fun
I actually encountered a lot of problems with the Widelux at first. Little grains of dirt would cause some uneven gear motion (the camera was sent for CLA 2 times and finally the culprit was removed). The edges of a widelux negative are not well defined, they go dark, whereas the Horizont negative edges are nice and well defined.
Horizonts can match the Widelux sharpness after f8. Many people claim that Widelux is sharper because widelux is prefocused on 8m or so while Horizonts are pre-focused on infinity. When you shoot at 2.8 or 4 or 5.6 this can make a difference.
Yes, Widelux and Noblex are better cameras. But for $250 Horizont 202 is a damn good panoramic camera. The newer S3 models and Horizont Pros (same thing as S3) produce somewhat softish images until 5.6 Not sure why. Maybe my camera was an outlier. I returned it and bought an older and cheaper 202m, as well as an ancient Gorizont. The old camera is very smooth and the turret rotation reminds me of the Widelux (it's equally quiet and smooth).
You can see that I am biased toward Horizon. I wish I had the money for a Noblex. Oh well.
jan normandale
Film is the other way
what Frank Petronio wrote... go with the Noblex 120
tomalophicon
Well-known
If you don't have an enlarger big enough to handle medium format panorama then the 35mm would be the way to go. I considered getting a MF one but am restricted by enlarger size.
V
varjag
Guest
Every other Widelux offered for sale is broken is one way or another, it's really not a kind of camera you want to discuss build quality of 
Harold Gough
Established
Compare: Noblex, Widelux and the Horizon Reply to Thread
Compare: Noblex, Widelux and the Horizon Reply to Thread
Thanks for this. Somebody needed to publish a comparison.
I have only the "Horizont" so I can't comment on any comparisons. However, I would agree with the other comments about it. It is built like a toy and I expect it to break every time I operate the film advance.
I bought mine when I couldn't afford an X-Pan. It was like some kind of espionage thriller. I responded to a listing on eBay. It came from Russia via an agent in the USA. That must have frightened H M Customs, who charged no import tax or duty.
The film loading is a nightmare and some uncertainty about film advancing fully (or unknown cause) gives some overlapping images, always by the same amout) on most films. That said, it is compact and has a larger angle of coverage than the X-Pan and gives good results when the horizon is halfway up the image.
Compare: Noblex, Widelux and the Horizon Reply to Thread
Thanks for this. Somebody needed to publish a comparison.
I have only the "Horizont" so I can't comment on any comparisons. However, I would agree with the other comments about it. It is built like a toy and I expect it to break every time I operate the film advance.
I bought mine when I couldn't afford an X-Pan. It was like some kind of espionage thriller. I responded to a listing on eBay. It came from Russia via an agent in the USA. That must have frightened H M Customs, who charged no import tax or duty.
The film loading is a nightmare and some uncertainty about film advancing fully (or unknown cause) gives some overlapping images, always by the same amout) on most films. That said, it is compact and has a larger angle of coverage than the X-Pan and gives good results when the horizon is halfway up the image.
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