Panorama shots with a 1970s Widelux

I am not a photographer. Not even a hobbyist. The last time I played with film was forty years ago. My gear consisted of one Zenith TTL camera, a bunch of plastic containers, some chemicals, and a makeshift dark room. When I was a teenager, photography was a real profession. Mum and dad would dress up nicely and take us kids to the 'studio' of the best (and only!) photographer in town. A serious family affair. And every Slavic village had its own gospodin Kern, Schmidt or Laszlo; a non-Slavic master photographer from pre-socialist Austro-Hungarian era. In the 50s and 60s you wouldn't see a hobbyist walking around town with a camera around their neck; that was not just too bourgeois, but plainly too dangerous - one could be easily perceived as either a spy or pervert - or both. Luckily for photography and photographers, the 70s brought the long awaited change. Socialism went out of fashion, replaced by Levi's, trips to Italy and glossy Nikon magazines. Cool kids played basketball and nerds joined photo and radio clubs.  There are number of reasons why vintage cameras are back in fashion: attraction to fine mechanical engineering, the coolness of capturing photons in a unique, magic way; the artistry of creative expression and investment potential of a historical artefact no longer in production, disappearing fast. To a sophisticated photographer - all of the above and much more. I got drawn into film thanks to Bobby’s enthusiasm. The idea of creating a 'special place' in our office devoted to fine vintage cameras sounded like an interesting project. After all, the similarities between vintage watches and vintage cameras are too obvious. Making those fine cameras available for sale as well as preserving them for Bobby’s' generation and beyond sounds simply irresistible.  Taking the Widelux for a stroll to Dee Why beach was my first film camera 'event' in forty years. Widelux is panorama camera - it captures the scene in wide angle. Manufactured in the 1970s, it is a heavy and gutsy camera. A kind of conversation starter that will make strangers walk to you wanting to find out 'what the hell this that?'. The trick with Widelux is to take it easy. Composition is everything. Zero randomness. A standard film roll would allow you 21 shots, but taking more than 1 photo per hour means that you are rushing. There are a couple of technical 'must get it right' points: keeping the camera absolutely horizontal so watching the spirit levelling 'bubble' is essential. Not easy! Paying attention to light requires some basic understanding of shutter speed and aperture and will make the difference between properly exposed and overexposed shots. And the third thing is to keep your fingers out of the frame - which means holding the camera body literally as far from swinging lens as possible.  Here are two bad shots: the first one ‘capturing’ the finger and second showing good horizontal alignment, but with undesirable vertical tilt.

Yet once you take your first shots, Widelux slowly becomes a friendly machine.  Setting expectations means being prepared that the first role will go to waste. A professional photographer told me once that one printable shot in one hundred is a good result; so this is really what one should aim for. Like with any panorama camera: be prepared for long beach walks and hill climbs. My first experience with Widelux was definitely 'different than anticipated' in a hard to explain way, but I simply can't wait to take it for another beach trip, hopefully this weekend. Taking a shot or two, then waiting for a few days to see the end result is relaxingly stoic. Film photography is not a cheap hobby. With a ratio of one in one hundred for a single printable photo, it could end up costing anywhere between $30-$100. However, that does not mean that you should print every single shot taken; and sharing every photo is simply senseless. Time is precious!  I'll be brave enough to share two 'good' photos from the single Widelux roll of film. Shoot away!

For a Widelux tutorial check YouTube videos. A final word of warning: inserting the film is not very intuitive, and rewinding it back is really hard work. Have fun.

1976 selfie.