Some of the most interesting cameras ever made are the ones that need film. With this medium, producers and manufacturers took chances on experimenting. Both with the cameras, and the films themselves.
The Widelux is one of those happy experiments that ended up as a big cult hit. Not only with the day-to-day population (selling over 20,000 cameras), but also with celebrities, such as Jeff Bridges.
(Cover photo by Vicente Dolz)
What is a Widelux Camera?
A Widelux camera is a Japanese analog film camera, first developed in 1958. The Panon Camera Shoko, a small camera manufacturer, made two versions; 35 mm and 120 (medium format). Widelux cameras were made until 2000, ending with their F8 model. All models had a Swing-lens panoramic camera.
What makes this camera special is how it captures an image. Rather than using a shutter, a slit, acting as a lens, moves from left to right, exposing the film in the process. This type of camera is also known as ‘swing-lens’ because the lens ‘swings’ on a rotating drum. This allows a field of view of 140°. To put that into perspective, the human eye is approximately 135°, and a fixed 35mm lens is approximately 54.4°.
The idea for Widelux had been used before; starting with the Kodak Panoram, first produced in 1899. Their 4 models each had a FOV of over 112° using swing-lens design. After Widelux, a few other countries tried their hand at swing-lens panoramics.
Noblex from Dresden started in 1992, supplying both 35mm and 120 panoramic cameras. They came with a 127 ° and 135° FOV respectively. The Horizon was made by the Soviet Union’s KMZ, better known for the Zenith camera range, manufactured from 1966 to 1973. The swing-lens have a field of view of 110°.
Vicente Dolz
What Does Widelux Have?
As the camera is a panoramic, it can capture a wider scene than 35mm or 120 film. A panoramic is different to a wide angle camera in that it only extends the FOV horizontally. It can do this on 35mm film by ignoring the ‘buffer zone’ between each frame, and capture on two frames at a time. Obviously this means a 36 roll of film will give you 17 frames, as each scene is doubled.
The longest running model F7 (‘79-’88) came with a 26mm swing lens, with F/stops 2.8 to 11. As it is a panoramic camera, the focus hits everything from 5 feet onwards. The three shutter speeds were 1/15, 1/125 and 1/250 allowing you to keep the movement. A slow shutter could be used in low light conditions, helped by a small aperture size.
The viewfinder is only a guide and offers no real framing of the scene. As no flash, nor complicated mechanisms are present, batteries are not needed to operate it. There are three film cameras I can think of (GX617, XPAN and Technorama), which are panoramic, however yet the swing-lens.
George Clooney (on the set of The Men Who Stare at Goats) by Jeff Bridges
Who is Jeff Bridges?
If you don’t know Jeff Bridges; go check out Tron, The Big Lebowski and True Grit. He is an Academy Award winning actor, whose career spans 50 years. He was interested in photography since high school, taking the passion with him. Since starting, he would bring a camera with him on set, namely the Widelux. Now, he has two books under his belt; Pictures and Pictures: Volume 2.
The benefits of taking a camera on the sets he worked on are huge. Firstly, he was able to tap into the wonderful and dramatic lighting movie scenes need. Secondly, Jeff would capture the images, and share little books of photography with the crew. Thirdly, and down to his choice of camera - the Widelux shows everything. This keeps the movie feel to the project, while simultaneously showing off the scene (and crew) in a more realistic manner.
According to, was recognized for his Widelux photography by the International Center of Photography's Infinity Award in 2013.
If you’re looking for more information on Jeff Bridges and his photography - check out our interview with him.
The Dude and the Stranger (on the set of The Big Lebowski) - Jeff Bridges and Sam Elliott by Jeff Bridges