Xpan 45mm f4 lens: Why so slow?

[boarini2003]

I have been looking at the Xpan, and it seems like an incredible camera to have. I love it already. But I'm wondering why the lens only opens up as much as f4. Is that related to the panoramic capability? Bronica and Mamiya lenses are also slow.

 

[tamerlin]

Because it's really a medium-format lens (the film is wider than 645), and making it faster would have required making it... well, HUGE.

 

[anaanda]

and it seems like an incredible camera to have. I love it already. .

It is an incredible camera!...You will love it..but like all things it has it's strong and weak points...If you are willing to live with the "slow" lens, I think you will be incredibly happy with this camera. I love the big neg. I am finding it had now to shoot regular 35.....if you want to shoot in low light shoot with 1600 or 3200 film...Check out my gallery, most of my shots are with the Xpan...

 

[Filmboy]

As rangefinder you can hand hold it a couple of steps slower than an SLR due to the lack of mirror flip, so the f4 isn't all that restricting.

 

[tamerlin]

For panoramics you'll usually want it on a tripod anyway, since in most cases you'll want to stop it down to f/16-f/22.

Besides, f/4 isn't really THAT slow; my 720mm Nikon T*ED is f/16 wide open. 🙂