Welta Penti camera

My Welta Penti camera

The first time I laid my eyes on a Welta Penti camera was almost 45 years ago. I was working as a salesperson at the local camera store in our area, and someone brought in a beautiful gold-colored camera with dark red trim circling the center. I was a bit flabbergasted when I saw it. The customer had just received it from a relative and wanted to know how to use it.

 At the time, I was in my early twenties, and although I had never seen one before, I started to play with it and explained the camera as I tinkered with it. I was learning about the camera at the same time.  The easy part was explaining the items located around the lens, like shutter speed, focus distance, and aperture settings. Still, when I clicked the shutter, and the advance rod came shooting out of the camera, I think I let out a little gasp of surprise as the woman I was explaining the camera to just smiled and said, "That happened to me when I snapped the shutter, but I didn't know what I did".

 It wasn't until I took the back off the camera and noticed that when you pushed the film advancing rod in, it engaged with the film's sprocket holes and pushed the film into the take-up cannister. The rod stayed in the camera body until you snapped the shutter again. Also, with the back off the camera, I did see that the camera took 35mm film, but not the regular 35mm film that the majority of photographers were used to, but the Agfa Rapid style 35mm film. At the time, we did sell a small quantity of Agfa Rapid film. 

The brilliant gold toned Welta Penti camera with advance rod out.

 While I had the camera's back off, I double-checked that the shutter was opening and closing. The aperture was operating correctly, which it was. I explained to the owner of the camera that it was called a Half-Frame camera, meaning it used only half the size of a standard 35mm camera. She would get twice the number of photos from a roll of film. If she purchased a roll of 20 exposures, she would be getting 40, 41, or possibly 42 pictures from the roll. I sold her a roll of film, loaded it into her camera, and sent her on her way. 

 The whole time I was holding this camera, I couldn't help but think, What a beautiful camera. Keep in mind, this was around the same time as I was starting to collect cameras and the ones that impressed me the most were camera with color, like the Kodak Rainbow,  Petites and Beau Brownies camera, so a gold camera with dark red circling the camera just sort of blew my mind and I wanted to know more about them.

 Fast forward 45 years, and at a recent camera collectors fair in Seattle, I purchased two Penti cameras, both in good working condition. I had previously owned a few of the Penti cameras, but sold them off years ago so when I saw them at the camera show, I thought it would be great opportunity to add them to my collection and also to write about them in one of my camera collecting blog posts.

History:

Welta Kamerawerks, a significant yet often overlooked German camera manufacturer, has a history that mirrors the turbulent narrative of the 20th century in its Dresden-area home. Founded in 1914 as Weeka-Kamera-Werk by Walter Waurich and Theodor Weber in Freital, a suburb of Dresden, the company was renamed Welta-Kamerawerk Waurich & Co. in 1919. From its inception, Welta carved out a niche for itself by producing a wide array of high-quality, medium-priced folding plate and roll film cameras, putting it in direct competition with other German contemporaries, such as Balda and Certo.

Welta Kamera Werks

 Before World War II, Welta was known for its solid engineering and innovation. The company produced a range of popular models. Still, it was cameras like the high-end Weltur series that cemented its reputation. Introduced in 1935, the Weltur was a sophisticated folding camera featuring a coupled rangefinder. This design element positioned it in direct competition with premium brands. Welta also ventured into more ambitious designs, creating the unique folding Twin-Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras, the Perfekta (6x6) and Superfekta (6x9). Though not commercial successes, these models are now highly prized by collectors for their fascinating design and mechanical complexity. Many of their cameras were offered with high-quality lenses from renowned makers like Carl Zeiss and Schneider-Kreuznach, appealing to serious photographers.

 The aftermath of World War II dramatically altered the company's trajectory. Located in what would become East Germany, the Welta factory was dismantled and its equipment sent to the Soviet Union as part of war reparations. However, production managed to restart by 1947 under the new state-controlled entity, VEB Welta-Kamera-Werk. The company continued to produce successful pre-war designs, such as the Welti 35mm folder. It absorbed other nationalized firms, including the Richter company in 1950, which led to the development of the successful Reflekta TLR series.

 Despite its resilience, the era of consolidation in the East German photographic industry marked the end of Welta's independence. In 1959, VEB Welta was merged with several other Dresden-based camera makers, including Belca and Altissa, to form the massive conglomerate VEB Kamera- und Kinowerke Dresden, which would later become the famous Pentacon. Following this merger, the Welta name, which had defined quality German cameras for over four decades, gradually disappeared from the market, marking the end of a significant chapter in photographic history.

My dark red and turquoise Welti Penti cameras

 The Welta Penti was introduced in 1959 and produced until 1977 with a few modifications. In 1961, the Penti I and Penti II were introduced. The Penti I had a broader front viewfinder area and small knobs on the lens to control the different lens functions, like aperture and shutter speeds, and the Penti II was similar to the Penti I but incorporated a selenium cell light meter. 

 All Penti cameras are 35mm, half-frame cameras that take an 18x24mm image in a vertical format. The Penti and Penti I cameras have a Meyer-Optik Tripolan 30mm f/3.5 lens. The Penti II has a Domiplan 30mm f/3.5 lens.

 The 28mm to 30mm is considered a standard lens for the half-frame style cameras. The Welta Penti cameras came in different colors; all had a brilliant gold-toned camera body, but the band around the camera came in black, dark blue, turquoise, dark red, or white.

My Camera:

My Welta Penti is a small and compact camera, making it another fantastic option to keep in your pocket or jacket, ready to take photos. The camera measures 4.25" wide by 2.75" tall and is only 1.5" deep, weighing 8 oz. A metal lens hood and case are available for the camera, but unfortunately, my camera does not have either one.

Around the lens, and closest to the camera body, is a ring that controls the shutter speeds, which range from 1/125 to 1/30, and a square that represents timed exposures. Inside the shutter speed control is the lens's focusing ring, which focuses down to 1m. Inside the focusing ring are the lens's aperture settings, which go from F/3.5 to F/22. On the Penti camera, these are awkward to move. Now that I've shot with the camera, I understand why they added the small knobs to the updated Penti I and II model cameras. These are the only settings on the camera, except for the frame counter, which is reset to zero using a wheel located inside the camera.

To remove the back to load the film, there are two grips molded into the back of the camera that you grab and pull the back away from the camera body. The back is held in place with two spring clips that engage with the molded grips to secure it to the camera body.

 Once you have the back off the camera's body, you see the two Agfa-style film cassettes, along with a silver pressure plate that swings down when loading the film and a sliding bar that holds the take-up cassette in place. The nice thing about these film cassettes is that nothing is holding the film inside: no tape or clip is used. The film is loose inside the cassette and has just been wound onto a spool.

To load the Agfa style cassettes, insert 35mm film. Luckily for me, I just purchased a 100' roll of B&W film, which I just loaded into my bulk film loader, so I have plenty of film. Just remember, you don't need a lot of film because you're getting twice as many photos on the roll. 

 Here is the procedure I used to load the cassettes. I removed the film cassettes from the camera and, along with my bulk film loader, placed them in a dark bag. I cut off a piece of film, approximately 2-3 feet long, from my bulk loader and slid the end of the film into one of the cassettes, ensuring the film's emulsion faced down, just like any 35mm film. Once I pushed the film into the film cassette, I removed it from the dark bag and trimmed the exposed film's corners.

I placed the cassette with the film inside on the left side of the camera's body, pulled down the pressure plate, and gently slid the trimmed end of the film into the take-up spool on the right-hand side. I snapped the shutter, and the film advancing rod popped out of the camera's body. The film is transported from the film cassette to the take-up cassette by a piece of metal with two prongs that push the film into the take-up cassette when the film advancing rod is slid into the camera's body. 

 When you take the photo, the pronged metal piece disengages from the film's sprockets. It moves to the left, so when you push the rod in, the pronged piece of metal grabs the film's sprockets and pushes the film from the cassette on the left to the take-up spool on the right. At this point, flip up the pressure plate, and immediately to the left of the viewfinder is a thumb wheel that allows you to zero out the frame counter, indicating the number of photos you've taken. Pop the film back onto the camera body, ensuring it's positioned correctly, and then start taking pictures.

The problem in my circumstance was that, since I didn't know how long the film I cut was, I didn't know how many photos I'd get on the unknown length of film I cut in the dark bag. The good or not-so-good news is that, with these cassettes, you don't know when you reach the end of the roll because you're transitioning from one cassette to another. There's no rewinding the film into the cassette. When you're done with the roll, the pronged metal piece has no more film to push into the take-up cassette, and a film tail (the end of the film) protrudes from the take-up spool.

 

My Results:

Now that I had film loaded in the camera and my trusty Sekonic L-308 meter with me, I took general meter readings. I then took our dog for a walk through the neighborhood. I snapped a few photos, both vertically and by turning the camera to get a few horizontal images. Here are the results from my walk with Ernie.

Conclusion:

What a fun camera to shoot with. It's small, compact, and fits easily into my pocket. The film advance rod popped out as it should, the viewfinder framed the images well, and there were no snags on transporting the film from one cassette to the other, which is what I was most worried about when using it.

 The few minor drawbacks I have with the camera are that, with my larger hands, the settings were a bit clumsy, but not too difficult to use once I got accustomed to their location. Additionally, I was unsure of how many images I had taken on the film, so I had to insert the film cassette. Out of the approximately 2 feet of film I put in the film cassette, I received 22 good images on the negatives, two of which were partial frames.

I also seem to have a slight light leak coming from either the bottom of the camera, as there’s a consistent bright area on my photos, which I’ll need to investigate. The images also look to have an “infrared” glow to them, which I liked.

 To read about any of the other cameras reviewed, click the link.

 I also sell cameras, lenses, and other odd camera items on my eBay store, Cuny's Camera and Photo. Stop by and go shopping.

 Thank you for taking the time to read about this fantastic little camera. I'd love to hear from you, so please email me with any comments or concerns you have about any of my reviews.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Rajar No. 6 Camera

My Rajar No. 6 camera

I don't know what it is about the Rajar No. 6 camera, but ever since I purchased my first McKeown's camera guide more than 40 years ago and spent hours leafing through the pages learning about all the different styles and shapes of cameras, I've always desired to have one in my collection.

 It wasn't until just a few months ago that I pulled the trigger and purchased one from a great reseller in the U.K. It was listed for parts that were not working. The seller was selling the camera for a friend and wasn't sure if it was in good working condition. They mentioned the shutter fired but couldn't guarantee the other working parts of the camera, so I took a chance and purchased it. I don't know why it took so long to get one.

 The shape of the face and the crosshatching on the camera's face drew me to it. It has a very classy and classic look, which is something I find on many cameras made during this timeframe.

 It took a while for the camera to arrive from the U.K., but it arrived last week, and I was anxious to see its physical condition. To my surprise, the camera was not only in excellent physical condition with no chips in the Bakelite, but the shutter was firing, and there was a roll of film still in the camera, which the seller failed to mention, so I was doubly happy.

 I took hold of the film advance knob to see if the film was advancing, and it was so at this point, I didn't see anything wrong with the camera. Not knowing how old the film was, I went outside to take the last few frames on the included old roll of film, and it wasn't until I got to the final frame I found out what was wrong with the camera. 

 I wasn't aware of what was so different in the film spool until I took the film out of the camera, which I needed to do in a dark bag since the camera stopped winding right after I took the final photo on the roll of film included with the camera.

 The Rajar No.6 camera has a special take-up spool written right there on the back of the camera, "only the Rajar No. 6 spool will fit this camera". I saw that when the camera arrived and at first I thought I couldn't shoot with it because it took a different or special size of film. Nope, it's the take-up spool. At least in my camera, the take-up spool is special and has a square tip that fits into the take-up spool instead of a slot that fits into most 120 spools. 

 It appears the Rajar No.6 has a brass item attached to the metal take-up spool that had become loose, making it impossible for the camera to wind the film to the next frame. The drive portion came loose, and the film wouldn't advance anymore. The disconnect of the brass piece and the take-up spool must have happened during the winding of the film, as it was working for a few frames. Another explanation is that the brass portion was stuck to the take-up spool and became loose after the film was with a few frames.

The Company:

Rajar No. 6 nameplate

Rajar Ltd. was established in 1901 as an offshoot of Brooks-Watson Daylight Camera Company Ltd., which had a facility in Liverpool. The company produced camera film, paper, and Rajar film backs for daylight loading film. In 1904, it moved to Moberly and was renamed Rajar Ltd.

 In 1921, Rajar Ltd. They merged with six other companies to form APM, Amalgamated Photographic Manufacturers Ltd. In London, in 1928, four companies involved in film manufacturing formed APeM, Amalgamated Photographic Equipment Manufacturers Ltd. APeM, which would eventually be rolled into Ilford, which is still one of the major film companies today.

 The Rajar No. 6 camera was introduced in 1929, just a year after APeM started. APeM also produced box camera as well.

The one thing that makes the Rajar No.6 camera unique is that the camera body, faceplate, and back are all made from Bakelite. The Rajar No. 6  was the first camera to have the majority of the camera built with the new material. As I mentioned earlier, it's incredible that after almost 100 years, the Bakelite is still in fabulous condition. There are no chips to be found, and the camera still has the gorgeous shine of the new camera.

My Camera:

My Rajar camera measures 6.5" tall by 4" wide, including the winding key, by 4.5" deep when the camera is extended. My camera weighs 1 lb. 0,6 oz., so the camera is very light. The camera is extremely simple as it has a meniscus lens, and an "Everest" shutter, meaning it doesn't cock. When you move the shutter release from one side to the other, the shutter fires, and then when you move it back, the shutter fires again, so you'll need to wind the film right after taking the photo to avoid double exposures.

There is no aperture setting, as the lens aperture is set to what I'm guessing at F8. The only shutter speed setting is for instant or timed exposures. The Rajar No.6 camera is a strut-style folding camera, which means the camera body pulls away from the body on four chrome rigid arms, as opposed to the traditional folding bed style.

 It took me a few minutes to figure out how to pull the faceplate away from the body, but when I held the camera upside down, the faceplate dropped, and it was easy to pull it away from the body and lock it into position. To close the camera, you only need to pull outward on the four strut corners, and the faceplate folds back into the camera body. There is a small viewfinder on the top of the camera, but this only works for vertical photos. There is no viewfinder for horizontal images unless you tilt your head, which is very uncomfortable.

To open the back of the camera to load film, two clips hold the back onto the camera's body. Just flip back the clips, and the back can be lifted off easily. The Rajar No. 6 camera is a 6x9 format camera and takes eight exposures on a roll of 120 film. Yes, the only difference between the No. 6 spool is the take-up spool. It's not a different film size, as 120 film fits the camera well. I've even seen that Rajar made an adapter to fit onto its square proprietary film take-up end to fit into 120 film spools. I don't have one of the adapters, so I'll need to keep my special take-up spool and reuse it with each roll of film.

My Photos:

Since the take-up spool appeared to be broken and I couldn't pull the film from it, I glued the special square drive area directly onto the metal spool that it was spinning freely on. After waiting an hour or so for the glue to dry, I loaded a roll of 120 film into the camera and onto the special take-up reel. The take-up spool worked wonderfully, and I got through the roll of film without a hitch. In fact, the film transport was extremely smooth.

 Here are some results from walking through my neighborhood with the Rajar No. 6 camera.

Conclusion.

The images have a softness that I find appealing. They are very similar to Lomography-style cameras like the Diana. They seem a bit sharper than a Diana, but the lens has a creamy effect on the images (in my opinion). I enjoy that the corners are rounded on the negatives. I also see that the images extend into the rebate portion of the film's border, as I can see the film name and other information in the image area.

 The camera worked great. The shutter was smooth, and the film transport was even smoother. Once I glued the two pieces together and dropped the film into the camera, the photo-taking experience went flawlessly.

 The camera is compact, rugged, and a real "point-and-shoot" style camera. I aimed the camera for horizontal images and figured the lens on the camera was most likely for wide images, which proved to be true.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about this fun and easy camera to shoot with.

 I'd love to hear from you, so if you have any experience with this camera or any of the others I've written about, please email me.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Leica I

My Leica I camera

I purchased the Leica I camera and accessories around 6 years ago when I saw a local ad of someone wanting to sell off a recently departed family member's old cameras. I responded to the ad, and for some reason, the person liked my passion for cameras and photography, so when I heard that the camera they had from a grandparent was a Leica, it piqued my interest. They had mentioned that the camera was in good shape and had some accessories in a case; I told them I was interested in seeing what they had.

 I try not to get into situations where you meet someone with some valuable equipment at a random location, so for safety reasons for both parties, we met at a local police station, which was agreeable to both. When they pulled out the case and I saw it was an early Leica, my heart fluttered a bit. 

My Leica I outfit

 Pulling the camera from the case, I found it in excellent condition and working. All the shutter speeds sounded accurate to the ear, and the rangefinder and extra film cassette were in the metal container and within the case, too. The owner wanted to be sure the camera was going to a good home and not just being sold. I reassured the person that I planned on keeping the camera and shooting with it, which they loved.

 Since adding the Leica I to my collection, I've made a point to keep it in top condition. Every now and then, I take it out and give the shutter a few test clicks to ensure it's in good working order. However, due to my busy schedule, I hadn't had the chance to load a roll of film and actually use the camera until recently.

 I wanted to write about the Leica 1 for my blog about a month ago.  I took the camera out and started to put a roll of film into the camera to shoot with it, and the shutter jammed. What bad luck! I called my friend Allen Wade at CameraWerks in NY, who always does a terrific job servicing my cameras and lenses. I sent the Leica 1 along with a few other items to him to get serviced. About a month later, I received the cameras back from him, and they were in fabulous condition. At this point, I put a fresh roll of film into the camera to see how the camera worked so I could write about it.

The Company:

Oskar Barnack was a German optical engineer who revolutionized photography by inventing the first practical 35mm camera, the Leica I. Born in 1879, Barnack initially worked in the optical industry, eventually joining Ernst Leitz Optische Werke, a German company specializing in microscopes and optical instruments. His pioneering work in miniaturizing cameras led to the creation of the Leica, which forever changed the way photographs were taken.

Ad for Leica 1

 Before Barnack's innovation, photography relied on bulky, cumbersome cameras that used large-format glass plates or film sheets. These devices were difficult to transport and required long exposure times, limiting their usability. An enthusiastic amateur photographer, Barnack sought to develop a more compact and convenient camera system that would still produce high-quality images. He turned to 35mm cinema film, which was already used in the motion picture industry, and repurposed it for still photography. He aimed to create a small, lightweight camera that could capture multiple images on a single roll of film.

 Around 1913-1914, Barnack developed a prototype of what would later become the Leica (short for "Leitz Camera"). This early model, known as the "Ur-Leica," used perforated 35mm film and a horizontal transport mechanism. The key innovation was that the film was advanced in small increments, allowing multiple exposures on a roll rather than requiring a single frame per exposure. Barnack also incorporated a focal-plane shutter, providing precise control over exposure times.

 The outbreak of World War I delayed the commercialization of the Leica. Still, in 1924, Ernst Leitz II, head of the Leitz company, decided to move forward with production. The Leica I was officially introduced at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1925, marking the beginning of the 35mm camera revolution. The camera instantly succeeded due to its portability, superior image quality, and innovative design.

 Leica cameras quickly became popular among professional and amateur photographers, particularly in journalism and street photography. Their ability to take quick, candid shots without cumbersome equipment made Leica the camera of choice for legendary photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.

 Over the decades, Leica continued to innovate, introducing models such as the Leica II (1932) with interchangeable lenses and the Leica M series (1954), which refined the rangefinder design. The company also played a crucial role in developing optical advancements, such as high-quality lenses like the Summicron and Noctilux.

 Today, Leica remains an iconic brand known for its precision engineering and commitment to craftsmanship. Oskar Barnack's vision laid the foundation for modern photography, and his pioneering work continues to influence camera design and photographic culture worldwide.

My Camera:

The first thing I noticed when I started to use the Leica I was how compact the camera is. When the lens is retracted, the camera is one you can put into your coat pocket to have handy when traveling or just for everyday use. The camera is 5.25" wide by 2.5" tall, including the winding knobs and viewfinder, by 1 5/8" deep when the lens is retracted and 2.5" deep when the lens is extended. My Leica 1 weighs just under 1 lb. and comes in at 15.6 oz without film loaded into the camera. The serial number on my camera is 19569, which, according to the lists online, the camera was made in 1929, along with a bit over 8,000 made that year. The Leica 1 cameras were made between 1926 and 1931 and were popular, producing approximately 70,000 cameras during that time. My camera comes with a Leitz Elmar 50mm f3.5 lens, and I've looked everywhere but do not see a serial number on the lens. This could be because the camera didn't have interchangeable lenses, and the serial number for the camera was enough.

The early Leica is different from the later models as the rangefinder is separate and needs to be attached to the accessory shoe for the photographer to achieve fine focus on the subject. Once the photographer uses the rangefinder, they need to transfer the focus distance shown on the rangefinder to the lens focus before taking the photo, so the process is longer and more tedious. The viewfinder on the top is for composition purposes only.

 Also, the lens needs to be extended from the camera body and "locked" into position by turning the lens clockwise until you feel the lens cannot be turned anymore. Now you're in the "taking" position of the lens. To retract the lens for transportation or to put it away, turn it counterclockwise, press it back into the body, and put the lens cap on so you don't damage the optics. The lens on the Leica 1 isn't interchangeable due to a pin at the 11:00 position on the camera body, which prevents the lens from being unscrewed from the camera body. The pin also limits the lens's ability to focus only from the minimum focus distance of 1.5 feet to infinity. Unscrewing the pin will remove the lens from the body for servicing or cleaning if needed.

Also on top of the camera is the shutter speed dial with speeds of 1/500, 1/200, 1/100, 1/60, 1/40, 1/30, 1/20, and "Z" for timed exposures. You must lift and turn the dial to change the shutter speed. Still, it's always recommended to do so after you cock the shutter, which is done by winding the film advance lever until it stops. The shutter release is next to the film advance lever and just behind the switch for film advance, which is in the "A" position, flipping it to "R" for film rewind.

Loading the film on a Leica is different than what people are now used to when they load a 35mm camera. The back on early Leica's and rangefinder cameras do not swing open. You must remove the base plate by turning a switch on the bottom to the "open" position, then pull the baseplate off the camera. You can take out the film's take-up spool, which you can grab and pull out. The easiest way to load the camera is to put the film leader into the take-up spool, then pull a bit of the film leader out so you can slide the film cassette and take-up spool into the camera body at once. Push the cassette and take the spool into position, ensuring the film is behind the shutter. Put back on the baseplate and turn the switch to "locked." 

Before I wind to the first frame, I always take up the slack by turning the rewind knob a bit, so when I do wind to the first frame, I watch the rewind knob turn so I know the film is transporting across the shutter. Set the frame counter to 1, which is around the film advance knob and can be moved by two pegs on either side of the knob. Double-check to ensure the film advance switch is in the "A" position and wind to your first frame.

 Now that I have the camera loaded with film, I'm going to take a stroll through the neighborhood and see how it performs.

My Results.

After attaching the rangefinder to the camera, I wanted to get the whole experience of what it was like to photograph with the Leica I, as people did almost 100 years ago. I also have my trusty Sekonic L-308X-U around my neck for accurate metering; I went walking through the neighborhood, focusing on the subject, then transferring from what the rangefinder said the focus. Using the meter to get proper meter readings and setting both the shutter and aperture to the meter settings. I really took my time taking photos with this camera.

 Here are a few of the different images I took with the early Leica I camera.

Conclusion:

I can see why people would have liked and wanted to use this camera almost 100 years ago. It's small, compact, and lightweight. The process of taking photos was slower. Still, it was fun compared to what they needed to do 100 years ago. As a photographer, taking your time, metering your subject, focusing on your subject, and composing the photo was fun. It's much different than what we have now with autofocus, automatic metering, and film advance.

I made a short video on the Leica 1 Camera, which shows the controls and loading the camera with film.

 I want to start using the Leica I regularly. It's quiet to shoot with, the lens is sharp, and it's small and compact. Overall, it's a great and fun camera.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this old gem of a camera.

  I'll be taking next week off, as I'll be helping at a photo conference all week. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Until then, please be safe.

Panon Widelux F7 Camera

My Widelux F7 camera

I enjoy several different types, styles, or kinds of cameras. When I started collecting cameras over 50 years ago, I was drawn to anything out of the ordinary. If the camera had a different faceplate on a box-style camera or was a different color or shape, these were the items I've always searched for when I go out looking for cameras or anything photographic to add to my growing and now hopefully somewhat shrinking collection as I'm "trying" to downsize my collection.

 One of my favorite types and styles of cameras is panoramic cameras, which fit right in with the odd or unusual types made. They take different forms when you start to look at the various styles of panoramic cameras. They can look like a wood and bellows camera on a geared tripod, which would be a circuit camera and one of the first styles of panoramic camera. They can look like a more extended box style camera but have a lens that rotates across a curved film plane similar to the Kodak Panoram or more intricate Multiscope Al-Vista camera, which employed different sizes of "flags" to speed up or slow down the rotation of the lens. Or an elongated camera similar to the Fuji 6x17 or Horseman 6x12 camera.

Image taken from Widelux F7 Manual

 Essentially, panoramic cameras expose a longer piece of film in the camera itself. They generally have a wide-angle lens to expand the area the camera and film see. It is very similar to cropping the top and/or bottoms of any format film to give the appearance of a longer, broader photo. I remember in the 1980s and 90s when the camera had the "panoramic" feature built into the point-and-shoot camera that did nothing more than have a blade within the camera close to the film plane that would crop the top and bottom of the film frame to take what appeared to be a panoramic negative. Heck, they even had disposable cameras that did just that.

 I have several panoramic cameras, and a few years ago, I purchased a very good Widelux F7 camera. Cosmetically, it wasn't the best, and it needed some work, so I researched where and who could repair the camera for me. Ultimately, I sent the camera to Precision Camera Works in Lakeway, Texas. If the lens turret doesn't move smoothly across the film plane, the camera will cause banding due to the inconsistent movement of the lens.

 Upon completion of the overhaul, they did an outstanding job. They even replaced the difficult-to-turn rewind knob with something better, which makes the camera easier to rewind the film. The best part is the new rewind knob doesn't tear into your skin when you rewind the film, which was one of the big pet peeves of the camera before I had it serviced. They did return the old knob, so if I wanted to have it put back, it's quickly done.

The video below shows the camera being re-wound, then I changed the shutter speed to show the lens movement.

The Old and New Company:

The Old Company:

The Widelux camera was made by Panon Camera Shoko, which was started in 1952 by Nakayama Shozo. A small camera manufacturer originally made the Panon camera, which I wrote about back in 2020. It was a swing-lens camera made for 120-size film. The company was small but specialized in the swing-lens panoramic camera style and improved the larger 120-format camera.

 In 1958, the Panon company, known for its swing lens style of panoramic cameras, introduced its first 35mm panoramic camera, the Widelux F1. This camera, incorporating a 26mm f2.8 lens, exposed a film frame 24x59, approximately 65% longer than the standard 35mm frame. This extra area gives photographers a 140-degree diagonal angle of view and 126 degrees horizontally. Over the years, Panon Camera Shoko continued to innovate and improve its models, leading to the production halt of the F8 model in the mid-1990s.

 1963 Panon introduced the Panophic, a 120-film format swing-lens panoramic camera. This is an updated version of the Panon camera with an interesting design, a curved back, and a much larger viewfinder on top. In 1987, Panon introduced the Widelux 1500.

The New Company:

There is someone more famous than myself who also enjoys panoramic cameras and photography, and that's the Big Lebowski himself, Jeff Bridges, and his wife Susan, a tremendous photographer in her own right. They are partnering with Marwan El Mozayen, Editor-in-Chief of Silvergrains Classic, and Charys Schuler. They have formed SilverBridges, planning to re-introduce the new Widelux X camera. Their goal is to have the camera introduced sometime in 2025. My fingers are crossed, and if they need someone to test the camera and give it a review, I'm personally raising my hand now. I and a thousand other people have a much larger audience than I have.

My Camera:

My Widelux F7 camera is not just a piece of equipment; it's a companion on my photographic journey. It's 6.5" wide, 3 5/8" tall, and 2.25" deep from the front of the lens turret to the rear of the camera. The F7 weighs 1 lb. 14 oz. with a roll of film in the camera. Like all Widelux F7 cameras, I have a 26mm f2.8 lens, serial # 466392. The lens rotates on a cylinder across a curved film plane to get a longer negative area. Because of this longer negative, the camera only takes 21 images on a roll of 36 exposures. I generally get 22 when I use my camera. It will take approximately 13 on a roll of 24. Here is the manual for the Widelux F7.

There are only three shutter speeds on the camera: 1/250, 1/125, and 1/15. The aperture on the lens ranges from F2.8 to F11, so the exposure control, while adequate for most shooting, is less than what most people would consider normal. All of the controls are on the top of the camera, along with a bubble level to make sure things are straight, the film advance and rewind knobs, along with a wide viewfinder to give the photographer an approximate view of what they'll get within the photo.

The more tricky thing about the Widelux camera is the film loading. If not done correctly, which is what happened on my first roll, some of the negative areas won't be sharp. To take the back off the Widelux F7 camera, there is a locking knob on the back to lock by turning counterclockwise to the unlock position and clockwise to lock the back onto the camera, which is clearly seen.

 Once the back is off the camera, the typical film chamber is where you put the fresh roll on the right-hand side. Lift up the rewind knob to put the fresh roll in, then to hold it into place, press the rewind knob down to lock the film cassette into the camera. At this point, I crimp the very end of the film upwards to help the loading process.

There are two columns, one on either side of the curved film plane. The film must go under the first column on the left-hand side, then over the film plane, and then back under the column on the right-hand side. This is where I ran into a problem with my first roll of film. There is a slit between the right-hand column and what you see looking down on the camera. Make sure the film goes all the way down under the column before it comes back up by winding the camera and having the film drive gear pull the film leader back up. The first time I loaded the camera, the film went through the slot, and the right side of my negatives wasn't sharp, and I was disappointed.

One of the reasons why I crimp the end of the film leader is to grab onto the film drive gear when going under the second column. It needs something to catch onto to pull the film up and across the drive gear before I place the leader into the take-up spool. It's not that difficult, but you'll understand once you get the camera. Before I put the back onto the camera, I always take up the slack with the rewind knob, so once I put the film back onto the camera and lock it, I can see the rewind knob turn as I wind to the next frame. This way, I know my film is transporting across the shutter, and I'm taking photos. When I worked retail in a camera store, I can't tell you how many times I had people not load their cameras correctly, and watching the rewind knob turn when advancing the film is a surefire way of telling if the film is loaded correctly.

Arrows showing angle of view.

Now that the camera is loaded and you're ready to start taking photos, it's VERY important to understand how to hold the Widelux camera. You don't hold the Widelux like a regular 35mm camera because of how the lens swings and the wide angle lens; your knuckles and/or fingers will be on the sides of each negative. You want to hold the camera with your thumbs on the bottom of the camera and your fingers on the top—nothing on the sides. Take your meter reading, grab the camera on top and bottom, look through the viewfinder, and press the shutter. You'll hear the whirring of the shutter as the lens swings across the film plane. Wind the film to the next frame and repeat. It will initially feel odd, but once you see your fingers in the photos, you'll quickly correct the holding procedure.

 Now that you've finished the roll of film, press the rewind button on the bottom of the camera and rewind the film into the cassette. Open the back door and take the film to get processed. In my case, take it to the dark bag and processing tank to process the film.

My Results:

I took some photos of walking through the neighborhood for the blog post. I have taken the camera to Africa, Europe, and many other places and absolutely LOVE this camera.

My Conclusion:

What else can I say that I haven't already said in the blog? This is one of my, if not my favorite film cameras. I also love shooting with my Panon, but it's a more prominent and heavier camera, although the results are terrific with the Panon.

 I made a short video on the Widelux F7 basic controls & Loading film.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this wonderful and exciting camera. I hope many of you have one; if not, you're missing a superb camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.