Widelux F7

Widelux + ilford 3200:

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Great B+W shots, jvan01. When I've used up my stash of out-of-date Ektapress, I plan on shooting some real B+W film like you :). Thanks for sharing. Love to see more.


Gregory
 
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I used a swing lens camera from my Uncle a few years ago, to help keep your fingers out of the frame, he had a home made grip that was basically a cylinder that screwed into the tripod mount underneath, keeping your fingers out of the frame.
 
You've probably already found these on the web, but two essential resources for Widelux users are the tip sheet by John Stamets, copied at the Jeff Bridges site: http://www.jeffbridges.com/widelux.html

and the details on Widelux insides and adjustments here:

http://www.jumboprawn.net/jesse/cams/widelux_fv.html

I've had F7 for many years, and 3 essential issues are (1) only change shutter speeds AFTER advancing film/winding turret, (2) gently exercise the turret by hand with empty camera at all 3 speed settings regularly, and (3) keep away from grit and dust. The hand exercises (with turret uncocked and free to rotate) keep the gear clockwork smooth and lubed evenly. In my experience, this generally prevents banding, and can even cure banding once it appears, unless there is serious grit in the works. If you listen to the clockwork, you can hear when there are problems versus when all is smooth and regular. Grit is the worst enemy of the clockwork drive, so best advice is to keep your Widelux as clean as possible. Clean out your camera bag often or line your Widelux slot in the bag with a something that you change regularly, blow out film chips from the camera insides, etc.,
 
Nikkor AIS said:
Thanks Tim, I really appreciate you taking the time to post those links. Please share some pf your widelux shots in this thread.]
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I'll figure out how to post photos here....haven't done this before.
In the meantime, a couple of my own observations about Widelux:
The Widelux filter set is cool in its fitted carrying case, but in these days of digital processing, the only ones really worth using are the UV filter, for high altitude and other UV-rich sites, and the ND filters, to compensate for the limited shutter speeds. The Widelux lens seems not to filter UV at all. I used to travel a lot with a Leica and the Widelux, and the difference in high-altitude images was striking. Modern Leica lenses filter all UV, no real need for UV filters even up in the mountains, but Widelux photos of the same scenes can really suffer without the UV filter. With the ND filters, you can stick with ISO 400 film for most situations. It makes things much easier if you are traveling and shifting between outdoors and indoors constantly. Another observation: the 26 mm lens in the Widelux (I'm familiar only with the F7 and F8) is really good. Because of the swing-lens design, the image is created just from the optimal central field of the lens. If you shoot with fine grain slow film on a tripod, you'll be amazed at the image quality. Can make large landscape prints that are edge to edge really sharp. Another observation: it helps to have a depth-of-focus table for 26mm handy or memorized. A big advantage of Widelux, compared to the Russian and other fixed-focus panoramic cameras, is that it has focus set at something like 3.3 meters (11 feet), while the others are set to infinity. This makes it easier to do portraits at near distance and still be able to do distant landscapes with reasonable f-stops.

Finally, some of my favorite books with Widelux images:
In Algeria, by Michael von Graffenried----stealth reportage
Pictures, by Jeff Bridges-----behind-the-scenes views of active film sets; he's made a limited-edition Widelux book of each film he's been in, and this is a selection. You know that Widelux is essentially a Cinemascope field of view, right?
Portrait of a Market, by John Stemets----scenes from Seattle's Pike Place Market
Signs and Relics, by Sylvia Plachy----street photos and personal; she has other books, plus years of photos in the Village Voice and New Yorker. Later used XPan, I think.
 
Tim, thank you so much for the Widelux links. I really appreciate you taking the time to do that. I'm becoming quite fond of this little camera and the more I can learn the better.
















 
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Nikkor AIS said:
I'm going to shoot the Widelux F7 with the tripod next week in hopes of avoiding the field curvature and my fingers on the edge of the frame :bang:.

Gregory
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Hey Gregory, how did you go with curing field curvature with the tripod? I'm curious to know as I've ordered a Horizon Perfekt (cheaper than the wideluxes, not as well built but offers greater range of shutter speeds amongst other things), I've got zero experience with swing-lens panos, but have some shoots in mind (inside some old buildings, etc) where I'd like to avoid curvature..

Nikkor AIS said:
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looking at this shot, I'm guessing the tripod cures the curvature?
 
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Having the camera held horizontal, pointing neither up nor down, with the horizon lose to the middle, minimizes the bowl or ball distortion; having no recognizable features near the camera taking up a large angle of the photo eliminates visible curvilinearity due to the short focal length and variable distance from the camera in different parts of the photo.
Clarity is a bit laking -- but I'm hoping you get the picture -- no pun intended.
 





































My lab has been broken for the last month. But it's up and running again.
Im really enjoying shooting with the Widelux F7. I got some more images Ill post later.


Gregory
 
Thanks Paul.

Damn shame about your Widelux. Have you found a person who can service it? Looking forward to seeing your Widelux shots in the near future. In fact, show them anyways, who cares about the left side :), 90% is good, right?

I'm going shooting tomorrow and I'll do a bunch of Widelux shots. If I get some that are any good, I'll post them by Monday.




























 
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Hi Greg,

I have a Panon 120 now, so for the near future I will be playing with that (just arrived in the post). I think I will get rid of the Widelux f7 if I am happy with the Panon.

Take Care

Paul
 
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