Panorama camera for 35mm film?

[r._j.]

I was looking at the Hasselblad X-Pan camera for panoramic images

with 35mm film. Does anyone have opinions on thi camera, or can you

recommmend a suitable alternative?

 

I believe there is only three lenses available for the camera. Also,

I didn't like the viewfinder image, but if there is little choice in

cameras i may just vhave ot put up with it.

 

The camera will be used for nature, scenic shots and landscapes

(stock photography) and the occasional commercial architectural/real

estate job.

[bobatkins]

The Mamiya 7 comes to mind, but I think there may be others.

 

The alternative of course is to just shoot medium format (6x7 or 6x9) and crop.

[david_littleboy__tokyo__ja]

There are also a variety of curved-film-plane cameras in 35mm and MF (Horizon 202, if memory serves). The MF ones tend to be pricey, all of them are a bit too Rube Goldberg for my tastes.

 

http://www.pauck.de/marco/photo/panorama/horizon202/horizon202.html

 

Another alternative is to stitch. In medium format, two frames with a very wide angle (e.g. 35mm lens on 645) or three frames with a medium wide angle (e.g 55mm lens on 645) gives you a very wide view, I think much wider than you can get with a single lens. Of course, with that you end up with a cylindrical projection instead of the straight rectilinear projection of the X-Pan.

[mike_broderick]

As for myself, I know nuthink, nuthink, about the camera, but I did remember this which may be of interest:

 

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/haselbla.shtml

[kelly_flanigan1]

There were hundreds of simple P&S 35mm cameras that had a deal that blocked off the top and bottom of a 35mm 24x36mm frame; and made one about image 12mm x36mm. Many C41 35mm film processors still today "look" for these two blank areas; and will spit out a 4x12inch print. This happens once or twice a year when I shot club and night stuff; that by accident has totally dark 1/3's. One old zorki I have has a expoxied in mask; and a 28mm F6 Orion 15 is used for cheapie panaormic shots; that the local lab prints out. This is of course a truncated cropped 35mm image. The print is about 8x enlarged. One Realtor here used one of the better cropped/35mm panaramic cameras for many years; to show houses and their surroundings. The negative is enlarged alot; so the cheapie P&S models died long ago.

[bobatkins]

I assume RJ is looking for quality panoramic format cameras. Cropped 35mm negs don't count. If they did, you could just get an APS camera and shoot in "P" mode!

 

I built my own which takes 22mm x 72mm negatives, by cobbling up an old "Nimslo" 3-D camera and fitting it with a 105mm lens from a 6x9.

 

However it's "panoramic" in terms of format (3.25:1) but it's not widangle (some people confuse the two).

[wickedmartini]

I have a Horizon 202 that I have had lots of fun with. It is a true panoramic camera. If I had the cash I would certainly look at an X-Pan. The Horizon is a nice inexpesive way to get into panoramic as far as I'm concerned.

[kferris575]

R.J.

 

I have the X-Pan (old version, not the X-Pan II). It is a great camera, and it comes in quite handy. However, it does have a few limitations.

 

What I like best:

 

It produces very high quality images that hold up well when printed at about 4-1/2 feet long.

 

It is only as big and heavy as a typical 35mm camera. This makes it easy to carry when backpacking (alot easier to carry than a camera like the Fuji or Linhof 6x17 cameras).

 

It is a simple, manual focus camera. You don't need to remember the function of five differnent buttons (like many new SLRs).

 

Each lens has a hyperfocal scale (this is how I focus 90% of the time).

 

 

What I would like to see improved:

 

When on bulb setting, you can only keep the shutter open for about 50 seconds. This is limiting when shooting in low light situations (Note: The new version allows for about 500 seconds - a big improvement).

 

The 45mm lens requires a center spot ND filter to correct for some vigneting. The Hasselblad filter is expensive (about $150).

 

It can be a little difficult to load film (it sometimes takes three or four tries before the film leader catches).

 

You have to be careful when using a polarizer. When polarizing a panoramic view of the sky, a large part of the frame may not polarize. In addition, since it's a rangefinder, you cannot check the impact of the polarizer when looking through the viewfinder.

 

It is easy to inadvertently change the ISO setting. The ISO selection button is postioned so that I always touch it when I remove the camera from the camera bag. If I grip the camera hard, I apply enough pressure to depress the button that allows the ISO selection dial to move. Ocassionally, the dial will move as I remove the camera from the bag (this may have been revised in the new version).

 

 

 

Overall, the X-Pan is a high quality alternative. The 6x17 cameras will produce a bigger negative and can be printed a lot bigger. If you are looking at somthing smaller, and easier to carry, the X-Pan is worth looking at.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Kevin Ferris

[kelly_flanigan1]

BOB; here my cropped special zorki body was used when these "cropped 35mm panoramic" cameras were being developed and tested. The "mule" body allowed a decent lens to expose the film; and thus the develop/enlarge/print area could be checked with a known decent negative. Ths software looks for the blank top and bottom ; which puts it into 35mm panaromic mode. This was before APS came out. With a 28mm orion it is really vary wide angle; and makes a good strip for a realtor; which shows the houses next to the show house too. 28mm is a wide angle in regular 24x36mm of course; and is too in the panaramic 35mm format too. The 35mm cheapie panaromic cameras that I have have as short as a 28mm lens; many are 31 or 33; some alot longer too.

[thakurdalipsingh]

Planniong to buy a panormic camera with larger negative like Mamyia 7 II or Xpan but I have a pentax 645. I think its film size is : 45mmx60mm which usable is =41x56mm. I want to buy Hasselblad Xpan just due to its bigger negative size 24x65mm, which is larger 9mm than pentax's , toward long side, I can shoot with pentax 645 and crop 24x56mm. I have 45mm wide angle lens which equivqalent to 24mm on pentax. I can buy Pentax 33-55mm zoom for this camera. There is no zoom available for Xpan or Mamyia and I cannot see polariser effect. Only thing to me is size of film which slightly larger than my Pentax 645. Pl suggest do I need Xpan or Mamyia 7II or not? Pl tell also what is the difference between Xpan and same camerqa with Fuji logo.?<div></div>