So I think I mentioned I was hooked on the enigma that is the widelux series. If that company were still in business they would really need to write a check to Jeff bridges.
It’s really what made me start thinking about film photography. Swing lens cameras are utterly unique. As in – there is not a signal digital camera which shoots a picture like this- panoramics are either just a reaaaaally wide angle lense or you stringing together a long shot or series of shots. The swing lens shoots one long exposure across a long stretch of film. And the pics are amazing.
So I got my widelux inthe mail. And -I ruined a roll of film figuring out how to load it. I think I mentioned – I ruin a roll of film with every camera I acquire and learn how to load. See- the widelux you have to thread the film under both rollers around the exposure box- then onto the take up spool. I missed that second roller initially.
So I load the second roll and start shooting. The first roll I put through a lot of cameras I acquire is just in my backyard. Chickens. The garden. The dogs. My infant son. Etc. the widelux is heavy. Like I could knock out an assailant wth a glancing blow. I knew from reading manuals that it has some quirks. It’s one of the cameras you wind before you change the shutter speed. See- it’s all mechanically driven- gears and springs. Not electric at all. The knobs are big. You have to give them a hefty twist. It suits my large hands well.
Shooting is a hoot! You don’t really have to use the view finder. I mean. You can- but it doesn’t really show you everything you’re going to capture. On top there’s a bubble level on the top- and you figure out quick that with a swing lense if the camera isn’t level you get this- kind of a fish eye effect but only in a consistent arc and not the bubble all around look. That can be a neat effect of you try to make it work that way but- i noticed I ended up shooting while looking down and using the bubble level most the time. I’d read in Jeff Bridges site that -before you load film to “exercise the lens”- with your finger You gently roll the lenses back. They say this helps exercise the gearing and springs. After a roll or two I do think this helped. The lowest shutter speed was sticking when I first got the camera- but after two rolls it worked fine. I got in the ha it of exercising the lenses regularly.
So I cranked through a roll and – I hadn’t quite figured out the unwind mechanics. Aka the Pressing on the bottom button while you crank the big rewind knob. I flashed a couple shots. So I kind of figured I botched that roll- and I was just shooting around the downtown of the small town I live in- so I took it to wal greens. I figured the odds of them processing the long negatives correctly were slim and none- and I was right. I got the film back and they botched it. Bad. Like – I couldn’t even piece together the long frames – it looked like they just cut out the extra exposure and threw it away all together. 10$ for 12 half exposures basically.
But- the camera worked! Clear, clean shots. Well what was left of them.
So I turn out another roll and googled for a lab. “The Dark Room” was pretty much the first on the lost. And at 20$ a roll for pano shots (and or half frame shots) that’s when I realized- I’m going to need to learn how to develop and scan my own. That’s another entry- and saves you a buuuunch of money after some trial and error.
And a half dozen rolls into the romance I can tell you- the Widelux is every ounce of the beauty I thought it would be. You’ll never see photos like what the widelux can make-film or digital.
Let's mess up some film! 