Brian Legge
Veteran
This is one of the cameras I wish I could rent to find out if it worked for me at all. I love the results from people who use it well but have a suspicion that I wouldn't like my own photos with it. 🙂
Hi Roberto,Hi everybody, my name is Roberto new in this forum. I am wondering if anybody of us have filters for a widelux F8 to sale. Hope to have some news very soo. I'll appreciate.
best
Rob
A better comparison would be Horizont 202 versus Widelux. Is there an observable difference?
The prices of the FVI seem much better than the F8.....can someone comment on the differences etc between the 2 models?
Thanks
Just scored myself a F7 for $400 AUD in Melbourne's Camera market last week.
Upgraded from Old Horizont (not the 202 model), it feels smoother and the speed is consistent.
Will post up some comparison soon when I got my negs developed.
The XPan and various 6x12 and 6x17 flatback panorama cameras can be quite attractive but they also seem rather silly when you can simply crop from a far simpler and less expensive conventional camera. Granted they are more compact and elegant bodies and you might save some money on film but you'd have to shoot a heck of a lot pans to make up for the extra thousands they cost. Still, if someone offered me a beater Linhof 617 like Koudelka uses... you see those for about $2500 on eBay.
I don't think a cheap Widelux that needs service or it will band is much of a bargain. Same for taking the Russian Horizant gamble... I've had a couple older Horizants and one of the new plastic ones and, if they are in good shape, then you feel like you got the deal of the century... and then the next roll the dang thing will destroy your film. Both default to near infinity focus wide open... the Horizant is supposedly focused at 50m but given the quality control, who knows? I've added layers of tape to the inside rails to move the focus point closer for portraits, it will work until Kommrade Horizant decides to take a Vodka holiday and chew up your film's spocket holes ;-p
The reason I'd want two Wideluxes is so you can alternate which one goes in for service on a regular two-year cycle ;-p They are the most German of all the Japanese cameras, they need regular pre-emptive service just like Rolleis, Leicas, etc.
In the end, the electronic motorized Noblex - with servicing from a good tech like precisioncameraworks.com - is the most reliable. With the better models you can even focus and add a vertical shift, as well as do infinitely longer exposures. Still, at the closest and wide open you can only get 3/4 portraits in focus. But again, they need steady regular service - they have that many more moving parts compared to your straight cameras. One trip to a sand beach on a windy day can be very expensive, ask me how I know this!
In other words, if you want to go cheap and take a risk and only shoot >10m scenes, get the cheap Horizon 202 or the Lomo/Urban Outfitters version. But if you want to do professional quality work then get a serious camera (or two) and budget hundreds annually for routine maintenance.
Rotating lens panoramics are one of the more challenging things to master, it is very easy to make a wide shot and so hard to make an interesting shot.
Cropping a negative is not the same as a dedicated panoramic camera. And a swing-lens model is completely unique.
Certainly, it's no bargain if you get one that needs extensive repairs - it's an arcane way to make a picture, but when it's on it's really on.
By the way, Jeff Bridges (the actor who has used a Widelux to make a book of on-set images from each of his movies that he's worked on) has done some of the most interesting things I've seen with a Widelux.
His website has some very good hints and tips on owning this peculiar piece of hardware...definitely recommend it.
My old Kalimar Widelux arrived today and it seems to be in very nice shape.
Cosmetically it looks great and it seems to run very smoothly, but it has a cracked front VF glass - though I understand that the VF is really not the most useful anyway. I am anxious to try it out this weekend and look for banding, lightleaks, and any NSA backdoors. But for now I am practicing loading the film - after I master that it is on to the Rubik's Cube!