XPan owners, I just found this camera - tell me about it

[rickp]

fyi, an xpan 1 with 45mm and 90mm lens. i agree, it's good looking, easy to hold, very versatile, excellent results.

there's even a kirk (like RRS) quick release L plate for it.

greetings from hamburg

rick

 

[Harold Gough]

There are some quirks in the Version 1, like the shutter speed showing on the back of the camera in A mode, so try and get version 2 if you can.

Couldn't agree more, in other than bright sunlight, when hand-held.

However, the real pain is the position of the film speed dial. I don't use my X-Pan for much except on one annual trip overseas, so I have tended to forget about this.

I store my camera, in active use, in amongst my other (Olympus O4) gear. It fits best on its end (i.e. in portrait format, as it were). Reaching for it with my right hand, my index finger natuarally grips the speed dial, sometimes depressing the locking button and rotating it .This year it changed the ISO from 100 to 1600, unnoticed for three films. This is a basically stupid design fault. :bang:

 

[Harold Gough]

For the scanning nightmare, I use an Epson V700

I bought the V750 Pro (plus the fluid scanning mount) with X-Pan trannies in mind. Due to family commitments, it is still in its box 18 months later.

 

[Harold Gough]

I managed to track down an affordable 30mm lens kit this spring. One surpise is that, although you need to use the special viewfinder for framing, the camera's rangefinder focusing works through the cameras viewfinder, as for the 45mm and 90mm lenses.

All lenses are stunning. There are an excellent option for use in the 35mm format as part of an airflight-friendly minimal kit.

I have plans to find ways of taking wide-format close-ups by use of supplementary lenses. I may use some lateral thinking to get autoflash into the act. This is very much a start/stop project due to other commitments.

 

[Ben Blacket]

Think of it as an elongated Konica Hexar RF. They're very similar in build & appearance - same maker?
I HAD the Fuji TX-2 version.
If I bought one again I'd get a TX-1 - the titanium finish holds up better than the 1st version Xpan & I don't see the later version as being a real upgrade or improvement for the price.
Check out Horst Hamann's "New York Verticals" & "Paris Verticals" to get you inspired!
It can open up new creative possibilities or it can limit them.
Keep it off the tripod - there's already enough Ken Duncans.

 

[Parkes Owen]

Keep it off the tripod - there's already enough Ken Duncans.[/QUOTE]

great advice!!!!!!!

 

[JonP]

However, the real pain is the position of the film speed dial.
This year it changed the ISO from 100 to 1600, unnoticed for three films. This is a basically stupid design fault. :bang:

Design or Operator? 😀

 

[Harold Gough]

Design or Operator? 😀

Designer, who seems never to have used cameras in a user-context, away from a studio, with mixed equipment. 🙄

Operator, certainly if it happens again. With the way that the advance of senility is affecting my memory... 😱 In mitigation, apart from a couple of shot at home, it was the first time I had used the 30mm lens/viewfinder combination, often struggling to get shots amongst tourists and numerous other photographers. Thus, I was more distracted than I might otherwise have been.