New to this - questions

[Isca]

I shoot digital exclusively nowadays but have a yearning for a film camera, I also have a yearning to shoot panoramas.

You know where this is going!

I have a lead on a relatively cheap G617, a so-so priced beat up Xpan and then there's always masking one of the digital frames.

I shoot with a Pentax 645Z and was thinking of maybe just masking a hard grad on the light side to give myself a 6x17 format to shoot. If I do this, what am I losing over the Fuji other than the biggest negative I've ever seen in my life.

Also, how convenient is the Xpan to shoot handheld.

My gut right now tells me to get the Xpan for the everyday stuff that I want to shoot and also mask a hard grad for landscapes shooting digitally.

Of course it's all personal but I'd be keen to read the thoughts of the members who have more experience shooting panoramas.

 

[BillBingham2]

My question is where you have your film processed, can they (or you) print such a negative format?

Might be a more important question that could drive your camera selection.

B2 (;->

 

[GaryLH]

The difference between a medium format camera w/ either a pano back or a dark slide cut w/ a pano mask or a one w/ a special pano mask from factory or a dedicated like Fuji 6x17 is really about convenience and cheaper 35mm film vs 120.
- lighter
- more shots per roll
- mid cartridge change from standard 35 to pano mode and vice versa
- seeing the crop in 45 and 90 lenses if u are cropping or masking w/ mf u need ovf that has pano outline. The 30mm, the optical vf of xpan is about 10-15% smaller than actual size, they provide u w/ ovf for this.
The bad is
- need center nd because image circle of 30 is barely good enough, depending on how picky u are same holds for 45.
- only 3 lenses

I loved the xpan when I was shooting film. These days I use a Sigma dp0 Quattro set for 21:9 aspect ratio for my pano work (pretty close to perspective of 45) as well as dp2 Quattro set for 21:9 when I want to recreate the 90 from the xpan. While the foveon sensor cameras are not for everyone and takes time to get used to.. I use men for landscape, still life and detail work.

Gary

 

[Huss]

My question is where you have your film processed, can they (or you) print such a negative format?

Might be a more important question that could drive your camera selection.

B2 (;->

The negative image from swing pano cameras like Noblex 135, Widelux, Horizon fit near to perfectly onto regular 4 by 6 or 8 by 12 prints IF you include the sprockets. Personally I think it looks cool with them. But, if you don't want the sprockets, you can trim the print using a paper cutter from any hobby/crafts store. Or do it at the lab when they hand u your prints.

 

[GaryLH]

My question is where you have your film processed, can they (or you) print such a negative format?

Might be a more important question that could drive your camera selection.

B2 (;->

Yep.. Quite correct.. I doubt many labs support this format any longer. Plus unless it is a pro lab, I'd ask for develop no cut and do the printing myself. I remember the 1hr guys would sometimes ignore the pano request label and cut for normal 35 mm on the xpan.

If u scan u need a medium format scanner and not all medium format scanners support it.. But at least u can print them yourself.

Gary

 

[Huss]

Yep.. Quite correct.. I doubt many labs support this format any longer.

If u scan u need a medium format scanner and not all medium format scanners support it.. But at least u can print them yourself.

Gary

The labs I use scan pano w/ no issues - northcoastphoto and thefindlab.com

 

[Isca]

Interesting. Everybody has focussed on the printing part of it and the convenience or lack thereof. I'll investigate but I'm pretty sure that printing won't be an issue and if it is, I'm not averse to Canada Post. I'm in Toronto so I'd hope we'd have something nearby.

I'm surprised nobody has screamed about the lack of convenience of MF with me coming from digital. It's been a while since I loaded film and I've never loaded 120 or 220.

 

[irish_captain]

I'd personally love a 617 but can't justify the expense...the Xpan is bad enough with the price of my film Velvia50 increasing every 6 months. I do know of 2 people who had a 617 but sold them to get an Xpan...because of the cost & bulk size of the 617.

 

[chhayanat]

Is it possible to get a reasonably good scan of the negatives from Widelux using something like a flatbed scanner and a modified negative holder? I am bitten by the Widelux bug but I am trying to think of the developing/scanning part before taking a leap.

 

[Mablo]

Is it possible to get a reasonably good scan of the negatives from Widelux using something like a flatbed scanner and a modified negative holder? I am bitten by the Widelux bug but I am trying to think of the developing/scanning part before taking a leap.

Flatbed scanner might be usable for a smallish print. However, the latest Plustek OpticFilm 135 scanner for 35mm film is capable of scanning 35mm panoramic frames. A special type of negative holder is available for the purpose.

 

[Huss]

I am bitten by the Widelux bug but I am trying to think of the developing/scanning part before taking a leap.

I use NorthCoastPhoto.com and thefindlab.com and they have no problems dev/scanning pano film.

I also have a mint/almost like new perfectly working Widelux F8 that I may be selling. Comes w/ the hard case.

 

[mfogiel]

I'd say that if you want to shoot colour, just stick to your digital camera.
Even if you wanted to shoot B&W, you might still consider to stick to what you have - read this:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/josef-koudelka-a-restless-eye/?_r=0
In case you want to shoot REAL B&W, that's a different story, however the second question would be: how big do you want to print? If you are happy with this kind of size:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSo3eveOZJE
then you can get a Widelux and/or an Xpan, if you want to print bigger, then before you go all the way to 6x17, perhaps it could be a good idea to consider a Linhof 6x12 and a Noblex 120. It is a given that you will need to learn how to develop and scan yourself.

 

[Huss]

It is a given that you will need to learn how to develop and scan yourself.

Why? The two labs I mention dev and scan my 120 film pano shots from my Noblex 150.

 

[mfogiel]

Are we talking about B&W Huss?

 

[Huss]

Are we talking about B&W Huss?

B&W, colour and B&W C41, colour E6. They do it all.

northcoastphoto is cheaper with B&W and E6, thefindlab is cheaper with c41

 

[Spanik]

Got a G617 and while I love it, it is a pita to scan those slides (I use Provia in it). With a V700 I end up with huge files that are hard to process and don't do justice to the original.

I have the film processed at a lab, they just develop and don't cut the film.

Forget the trouble of loading it, after the first time you'll never tought it is hard (and it isn't hard at all if you don't have 2 left hand when righthanded). A slide of 6x17 is breathtaking. But doing something with it is hard.

If you get a G617 cheap, make sure the grad filter comes with it. Those are far harder to find than the camera.

 

[chhayanat]

Thank you Huss 🙂 I have a WTB ad in the classifieds. Would you mind letting me know when you are ready to sell and for how much? Although I see you are in California. I think it would be sometime till the Canadian dollar would allow me buy anything from the US 🙁

On that note I was sent a message by a member in the forum referring this other guy who has a Widelux for sale. Interestingly the member's name/handle was not available in the message. Anyway, I emailed the person in good faith and they said they want 600 dollars for a Widelux F8 (first red flag) but are not ready to do Paypal transaction through RFF or any other forum/ebay. They would certainly prefer a bank transfer or a cash transaction with the courier 😉 Nope-ed right outta there.

Normally these things happen on Kijiji or craigslist. I mentioned this because the original message came to my RFF inbox and so I assume it is one of the members. Anyway, just a heads up for you guys.

I use NorthCoastPhoto.com and thefindlab.com and they have no problems dev/scanning pano film.

I also have a mint/almost like new perfectly working Widelux F8 that I may be selling. Comes w/ the hard case.

 

[chhayanat]

Thanks for the links Mfogiel 🙂 I actually want to shoot in colour, if I ever end up buying the Widelux. Although most people refer to Jeff Bridges while talking about Widelux pictures, I am a huge fan of Jens Olof Lasthein.

His work is predominantly in colour and I wish I could do similar level of work.

A medium format panoramic camera is somewhat prohibitively costly for me right now although your advice is sound. In fact, another photographer that I am a huge fan of - Wim Wenders - has done exactly what you suggested. I think he mentioned in an interview that he has roughly taken 20000-odd pcitures using his fuji 6x17 camera. That's roughly 5000 rolls of medium format film. It's a very different ball game.

I'd say that if you want to shoot colour, just stick to your digital camera.
Even if you wanted to shoot B&W, you might still consider to stick to what you have - read this:
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/20/josef-koudelka-a-restless-eye/?_r=0
In case you want to shoot REAL B&W, that's a different story, however the second question would be: how big do you want to print? If you are happy with this kind of size:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSo3eveOZJE
then you can get a Widelux and/or an Xpan, if you want to print bigger, then before you go all the way to 6x17, perhaps it could be a good idea to consider a Linhof 6x12 and a Noblex 120. It is a given that you will need to learn how to develop and scan yourself.

 

[vnukov_pk]

used 6x12 kodak folder from 40s, currently use an xpan. have no problem with scanning both on my flatbed epson 4490 scanner. I print negs from xpan on durst m600 enlarger (slightly cropped though). printing 6x12 is a problem. contact prints are too small, and 4x5 enlarger is a little too big for making prints at home.