The Panon Widelux camera is a machine I’ve long been interested in checking out. For those reading this who have never heard of the Widelux, in a nutshell it is a 35mm camera with a rotating front lens that gives a mind blowing 140 degree viewing angle and a negative that is roughly twice the width of a standard 35mm frame. It’s one of those cameras that truly transforms the world around you when you look through the viewfinder. The images are so wide when using the Widelux the photographer has to hold the camera at the top and bottom, not the sides, otherwise you’ll get your own fingers in the frame. I had quite a few bad images on my first test roll because I instinctively gripped the Widelux with my right hand like I would any other camera.
Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Fomapan 100 35mm film.
Famous actor Jeff Bridges is well known in the photographic community for using a Widelux. You can check out his website here and it is worth a look if you’re thinking about buying a Widelux for yourself. He has a lot more experience with the Widelux than I do and his photographs are quite good. He’s also got some great tips and tricks on his website worth considering if you want to buy a Widelux for yourself.
I first encountered the Widelux in my college days when I saw a series of work one of my Professors was working on with the camera. I thought it was insanely cool but I was also hesitant to pick one up for myself for nearly two decades. The Widelux is notorious for being a little unreliable and incredibly difficult to work on. A lot of repair shops won’t even touch the thing.
Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Fomapan 100 35mm film.
The camera I purchased from eBay clearly has a shutter swing that is running on the slow side. Given the cameras age and the amount of gearing it takes for the Widelux to work I’m not totally surprised. I compensated for that when I made the images on my first test roll so the images turned out more or less fine. I had to do some post production work when scanning my negatives because they were clearly a big “overcooked” but nothing I wouldn’t be able to do in an analogue darkroom.
Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Fomapan 100 35mm film.
However, if I’m going to dive into this strange world of Widelux photography I’d rather have a camera that is in tip-top shape. So I’ve immediately sent the camera off for a tune-up and I’m eagerly awaiting its return. I waited nearly two decades to buy a Widelux so I can certainly wait a few more months to have a sample that works perfectly. Hopefully, like most mechanical 35mm cameras, once it goes through a good CLA (Clean, Lubricate, and Adjust) it’ll work nicely for the foreseeable future.
Photographed with a Panon Widelux F8 and Fomapan 35mm film.
The unique “swivel” of the lens allows for some very unique creative opportunities, especially at slow shutter speeds. At 1/15th of a second the lens takes a few seconds to swing from one side to the other. Moving the camera or moving the subject (in the last image on this post, that subject is myself) along with the movement of the lens can be really fun. When I get the camera back from repair I’ll probably do a lot of experimenting with this. It’ll be a unique way to approach figure studies on film.
Even though I’ve only dabbled with the Widelux F8 so far I can already tell I’m going to enjoy this camera a lot.