Widelux: A Space Odyssey

The 60’s was the golden age of space. As man crept closer to venturing out into the unknown, people began to contemplate our place among the stars and what the future of space travel would look like; it was a question that many people, far and wide pondered. Probably one of the most influential pieces of media from the time (apart from the moon landing itself) was a film which has now been cherished and loved by many for over 50 years; not only for its visual spectacle, but its technical achievements too. Of course this movie is none other than 2001: A Space Odyssey. While being one of the most influential film directors of all time, Stanley Kubrick was also a prolific photographer whose images spanned almost his entire life. He also prided himself on his knowledge of cameras, so it was an obvious choice when shooting with super wide angle lenses on Super Panavision 70mm film cameras for production the of 2001, to take set photos on the Panon Widelux.

A Widelux pictured next to a photo taken by Kubrick (featured in the book - 'Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures') of the production of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Why the Widelux?  Because of the Widelux’s swivelling lens design moving across the film to capture a large field of view, instead of creating a normal ‘flat’ perspective, it creates a unique ‘bowing’ effect on the vertical lines in the image - without heavy distortion. The result: it gives the same look and feel as the wide angle shots from the cinema lenses being used on the film, but in a ‘compact’ format. To do this on a regular 35mm format camera you would need an enormous fish eye lens or super expensive and impractical anamorphic lenses and even then, the image quality wouldn’t be the same. But with the Widelux, Kubrick could take photos on the same colour negative film as the Panavision cinema cameras, with almost the same frame sizing and resolution he would get from the 65mm motion picture film, and then develop and inspect the image much quicker than developing motion picture film reels - and if you know anything about filmmaking, time is the most valuable currency.

I consider myself somewhat a movie buff and will take any opportunity I can to watch a film in the cinema rather than at home, even going to the lengths of waiting years for a cinematic release of an old film. Possibly one of my most anticipated was Kubrick’s 2001, regarded as a ‘masterpiece’ by many. So when Hayden Orpheum theatre announced they were doing a 70mm film screening of the film last Saturday, I jumped at the chance.  In anticipation I had spent the day shooting on the Panon Widelux F6B, because what better camera to use before seeing 2001 than the same one Kubrick used while directing the movie - here are some of the images that came out of the camera.

-a shot of Sydney's two greatest monuments usually extremely difficult to get, made easy with the Widelux F6B listed below.

By the time I had wrapped up for the day, nearing the start of the screening of 2001; I decided to go, camera in hand.  While sitting in the theatre waiting for the film to start, one moviegoer had curiosity get the better of him and asked me about the Widelux - still perched around my neck. “I collect vintage cameras but I’ve never seen anything like that, what is that?”. I told him the brief history about NASA modifying one for the Gemini missions, Kubrick using it to shoot set photos on 2001, how the PANON factory burnt down which led to their demise and that it shoots in a wide angle ‘scope’ similar to that shown in 2001. I could see the excitement in his eyes as he was processing all of this, the same excitement I felt when learning about the rich history of this camera. “Wow, I think you’ve just started my new obsession”. He chuckled.  And I think that perfectly sums up a camera like this; not only is it eye-catching, an absolute joy to shoot on and a unique and rare camera (with an awesome story); but you won’t know you need one until you learn its story and pick one up for the first time. After that - there’s not turning back.  - Michael On todays offer:

K7735 - Widelux F6B  Widelux F6B - Manufactured circa 1970 35 mm - wide format Fixed 26mm Lux Lens f2.8 - f11 Mechanical shutter - up to 1/250 1 of 2000 made Comes with original box, papers and leather case.  Overall condition: 9.5/10