120 roll Panoramic Camera

Amp34

Amp34

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Are there any reasonably affordable panoramic MF cameras around? I love the idea of getting a Fuji 617 to play with but at £1000-2000 they are a little on the rich side for me at the moment. I'm looking at either 2x1 or 3x1 format that takes 120 roll film and is as sharp as the 617. I'm guessing it's a tall order!

What I'm not looking for is a lomo style panoramic camera, I'd ideally like something for good sharp real looking images so I can play.:LOL:
 
Not really. There's a reasonably good reason why the 617 costs so much... because there are very few cameras that can do what it does, and do it as well.

A panoramic 35mm frame, with a good scan, is a very good start.
 
Basically as FC2 says, no, they are all bloody expensive. And its really annoying as I love panos.
 
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And thats another gateway drug....

"I started of just wanting wider 120, but now I can't leave the house with out my field camera"- Abraham Lincoln.
 
120 is thin nasty stuff really you know you want a 10x8 and nice proper thick sheets of film ..........
 
^^^^ Dealer....just say NO.:LOL:
 
So I keep coming back to this, thinking wouldn't it be wonderful to shoot Australia in 617 format...

What sort of weight would I be looking at if I got a 5x4 camera and the 617 back?
 
Off topic, but reading this has reminded me of shooting the wedding of a young accountant who worked for MTV who married a songwriter in 2004(?). There was the usual scrum as the couple came out the church, and I had to shove one guest over a bit to gain the place I needed to be in. As I knelt down, I noticed out the corner of my eye that he was using a Linhof Technorama 617, which is definitely not normal at a wedding, at least in this neck of the woods.

Long story short, matey with the Technorama turns out to be none other than Andy Earl (he of the album covers), a pal of the bride who was just shooting a few for fun to give to the couple. Had a brief natter with him, the only part of which I remember was him saying that he wouldn't shoot a wedding for all the tea in China - "too much bloody hard work!". A thoroughly decent chap :)
 
Andysnap said:
Basically as FC2 says, no, they are all bloody expensive. And its really annoying as I love panos.
Click to expand...

Expensive? Well why not just use a SLR film (or better still digital camera) to do panos.......very good ones simulate the human eyes which would be about 40-50mm lens sweeping round a limited scene, but other lenses can be used. I seen some fantastic digital ones where the guy has taken 40 shots over lapping on a scene and merged in Photoshop..of course you can do it with a roll of film but it's just more time consuming because of scanning. Still you can get a reasonable pano using 3 shots for horizontal and to get height 3 shots above and 3 below...for a scene. Maybe the square format might be better than 35mm for panos, but never tried it.
 
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Brian, at the risk of angering the film gods, I do use my digital for panos (as evidenced below, 6 shots stitched in PS11) but I have seen some thunderingly good film panos which keep on tempting me toward a dedicated wide film camera.


Latrigg-Pano4 by andysnapper1, on Flickr

I have also used my film camera to shoot them (2 x 35mm shots on an F100)


F-Valley by andysnapper1, on Flickr

But I always feel I'm not doing it right unless I have the proper kit, just me I think, I am a bit OCD at times.:D

Andy
 
Andysnap said:
Brian, at the risk of angering the film gods, I do use my digital for panos (as evidenced below, 6 shots stitched in PS11) but I have seen some thunderingly good film panos which keep on tempting me toward a dedicated wide film camera.


Latrigg-Pano4 by andysnapper1, on Flickr

I have also used my film camera to shoot them (2 x 35mm shots on an F100)


F-Valley by andysnapper1, on Flickr

But I always feel I'm not doing it right unless I have the proper kit, just me I think, I am a bit OCD at times.:D

Andy
Click to expand...


Very good...us filmies have just gotta admit a digital camera can be useful at times ;) but I ain't going to buy one and my son's 400d is parked here unused :(
 
I was on the brink of nominating it for the FPOTW!
 
Thanks guys, it has been printed big, framed and is on the dining room wall. Just got lucky with the light really. Its our 20th wedding anniversary today so we are having a weekend in the Lakes from friday so hopefully some more shots like this as it has snowed up there this week. I might take the F100 as well as something digital.
 
You get to take a camera out on a wedding anniversary weekend? The current Mrs Snap must be a treasure to be, um, treasured!
 
Yes, a treasure indeed (have to say that as my probation period is up today and I don't know if I'm being kept on yet.....:naughty:). Fortunately I know that the lovely current Mrs Snap would never snoop on me in here. :rolleyes:
 
you get 1 click results instantly, a suitable viewfinder most of the time, no stiching, and you can do close ups or stuff that moves. so sometimes that matters others times it doesnt
 
I use a 612 back in my 5x4 camera, and its great. You get the joys of panos with the added benefits of extensive movements, you're using relatively cheap 120 film instead of cropping down 5x4, and mostly you're using the best bit of your lenses as well

I'll try and get a weight together sans lens to give an indication of weight, but it's not massive (It'll be a chamonix 45f1 with a horseman 612 back for reference, which will be slightly heavier than the DAYI backs linked to above but with improved ergonomics and film stops, but sadly no multiple formats)
 
Thanks, that would be excellent! Have to say I have no knowledge of 5x4 cameras and lenses so it would be a bit of a crash course in them.

On the other hand I've just seen a Fuji G617 available for £1200... Problem is I wouldn't be able to test it for a while... Seems very cheap though, even for the non "X"...

While digital panos are fine (I do them occasionally) one of the thing that attracts me to film is the wonderfully different formats you can buy. 3x2 is fine but 6x6 is nice too and I'm sure a pano would be great too. The fact you can shot a single frame of that aspect ratio is much nicer when composing than shooting 3x2 and then cropping IMO. Personally I'd probably grab a pano digital camera if they existed, at a reasonable price!
 
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