Panoramic Cameras

freecom2

freecom2

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I love panoramas. A lot of the time I spend with my DSLR is spent producing panoramas, and I'm painfully familiar with the "merge" function on Photoshop!

I know there were lots of different panoramic cameras for 35mm but I'm struggling to find ones that didn't cost the earth (X-Pan et al.)

Any recommendations for reasonably priced panoramic cameras?
 
Pains me deeply to say it, but what about the lomography sprocket rocket or one of the Russian cameras they were based on?
 
I think you'll struggle. A chap at college used one of those plastic fantastic panoramic cameras last year, it was surprisingly good. However it will not give you a sharp image from corner to corner, centre was and then it dramatically fell off as you got close to the edges. It did work for the stuff he did.

Other than that you have
XPan
Horizon swing lens cameras I think 35mm as well as 120
The original Widelux cameras again swing lens

Or it is a case off looking for panormic kits, they did one for the Mamiya 7 not sure if you could get one fot the RB/RZ.

Pentax MZ5 had a panoramic mode but that was only masking off the top and bottom of the frame.

The again you could get a 5x4 machine and panoramic backs which would work out cheaper than Linhof 612 or 617 and the Fuji 617.

I would really like a Horseman 612 but I just would not use it enough, i don't use the XPan enough as it is. (And no I am not selling for the price of a box Mr Kipplings cakes and all the belly fluff you have :lol: )
 
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Wow, the Sprocket Rocket looks like it might actually fit the bill better than I expected.

The Horizon cameras seem to go for ridiculous amounts of money, considering they seem to have a reputation for poor build quality, but I'm keeping them in mind.

Trying to keep it strictly 35mm, the medium format ones tend to be just masks for 120 film - which I guess does the job, but I want a bespoke 35mm if I can help it.

Haha, I thought not... they are staggeringly expensive for what they are, I'm afraid. If I can get a 500C/M for significantly less money (I know they are two entirely different camera systems, but that's how I equate these things), why not?
 
Some plastic strips folded carefully and any medium format camera. There's a thread here somewhere of a rough guide.
 
^ unfortunately I'd like to keep my medium format cameras well alone - additionally, I have a lot of 35mm film that can go spare for panoramic use, unlike medium format which I cherish a bit more!

I've bought a Vivitar IC101 to tide me over for now - one speed, one aperture, no batteries and it masks a 35mm frame (rather than a bigger than 35mm frame) - but it seems to perform well and has a wide lens.

Performance looks like this (other people's pictures):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjclark/8056560576/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pryanphoto/5201914330/
 
Look for the thread at least, then come back! It was using 35mm film but no matter.
 
I saw one of those Vivitar Cameras in a charity shop, I did consider it but was disappointed when I noticed it was only one frame masked off.
 
freecom2 said:
^ unfortunately I'd like to keep my medium format cameras well alone - additionally, I have a lot of 35mm film that can go spare for panoramic use, unlike medium format which I cherish a bit more!

I've bought a Vivitar IC101 to tide me over for now - one speed, one aperture, no batteries and it masks a 35mm frame (rather than a bigger than 35mm frame) - but it seems to perform well and has a wide lens.

Performance looks like this (other people's pictures):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjclark/8056560576/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pryanphoto/5201914330/
Click to expand...

I'm intrigued. Just bought one on the Bay. £12:19 delivered. Box and instructions !
 
Ambermile said:
Look for the thread at least, then come back! It was using 35mm film but no matter.
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Thanks - to be honest at the kind of money that these cropped 35mm panoramic cameras go for, I'm not too concerned with buying rather than modifying.

steveo_mcg said:
I saw one of those Vivitar Cameras in a charity shop, I did consider it but was disappointed when I noticed it was only one frame masked off.
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Yeah - I mean to be honest, it's the mix of masked off but with a wide angle lens and masked off viewfinder that sold it for me. Sure, you can crop a result from a conventional wide angle compact, but wide angle compact tend to be quite expensive and you'd have to mask any viewfinder manually.

trevorbray said:
I'm intrigued. Just bought one on the Bay. £12:19 delivered. Box and instructions !
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We'll probably receive ours at the same time!
 
But then why get a camera that crops? Seems bloody pointless to me, just crop after...
 
Ambermile said:
But then why get a camera that crops? Seems bloody pointless to me, just crop after...
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freecom2 said:
Sure, you can crop a result from a conventional wide angle compact, but wide angle compact tend to be quite expensive and you'd have to mask any viewfinder manually.
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I like to see in the viewfinder the result I'd be getting, as well as shooting a camera set up bespoke for it. I'd hate to have to modify a decent wide angle compact just for panoramic sake.
 
Go digital then :D

Can't see how two bits of tape on the viewfinder constitute major mods but there you go
 
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Ambermile said:
Go digital then :D

Can't see how two bits of tape on the viewfinder constitute major mods but there you go
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I know you were making a joke, but most of my panoramic stuff has been on digital thus far - but mostly stitching multiple frames, so going panoramic that way.

It's not that it's a major mod, its more that I don't want to sacrifice a perfectly good wide angle compact just for what would be a very occasional use sort of thing. Besides, how many compacts with wide angle lenses are there for under a tenner? :shrug:
 
These work on similar lines by masking 35mm film....I have one, only used it once, offers an ok result....basically does what it's designed to do and for the price it's ok for some fun.
 
Then maybe try APS. There are quite a few under a tenner actually.

Incidentally, seen this? I thought it rather cool!

If you want to be extra smart, I have a panoramic adapter to fit Minolta 7xi, 7000i and 8000i cameras you would be welcome to borrow... would mean getting one of the above but then you can get as wide as you want :D
 
Asha said:
These work on similar lines by masking 35mm film....I have one, only used it once, offers an ok result....basically does what it's designed to do and for the price it's ok for some fun.
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Yeah, I believe the Vivitar I purchased is essentially the same - definitely okay for a bit of fun, something different from my usual medium format shooting.

Ambermile said:
Then maybe try APS. There are quite a few under a tenner actually.

Incidentally, seen this? I thought it rather cool!

If you want to be extra smart, I have a panoramic adapter to fit Minolta 7xi, 7000i and 8000i cameras you would be welcome to borrow... would mean getting one of the above but then you can get as wide as you want :D
Click to expand...

Hunting down a decent source for dwindling film supplies alone is enough for me to avoid APS - if a 35mm format camera fulfils the need, why look anywhere else? Thanks for the offer but the Vivitar will hopefully be adequate :)
 
sorry for hijack your post but i just wondering how to scan panoramic photo?

i dev my own b&w both 35 and 120 and using V500 to scan them. can i scan and dev panoramic by myself the same way as above? thanks
 
hoftwi said:
sorry for hijack your post but i just wondering how to scan panoramic photo?

i dev my own b&w both 35 and 120 and using V500 to scan them. can i scan and dev panoramic by myself the same way as above? thanks
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From a particular camera? Because all cameras like the Vivitar I mentioned do is to crop a conventional 35mm frame, and take 35mm film. So you get a normal strip of 35mm negatives, just with black bars on the top and bottom of each of the images.

So you would load the film into the Epson film holders as per normal, and either let the software work out the crop, scan the whole frame and crop later, or scan the whole frame and keep the black bars (which seems to be the case for several of the flickr uploaders).
 
freecom2 said:
From a particular camera? Because all cameras like the Vivitar I mentioned do is to crop a conventional 35mm frame, and take 35mm film. So you get a normal strip of 35mm negatives, just with black bars on the top and bottom of each of the images.

So you would load the film into the Epson film holders as per normal, and either let the software work out the crop, scan the whole frame and crop later, or scan the whole frame and keep the black bars (which seems to be the case for several of the flickr uploaders).
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thanks for your reply. i have been looking for a panoramic camera for a while then forgot about it.

now you bring up this on your thread, tempt me to get one :naughty:
 
hoftwi said:
thanks for your reply. i have been looking for a panoramic camera for a while then forgot about it.

now you bring up this on your thread, tempt me to get one :naughty:
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I shoot square format, everyone on this forum buys a bleedin' TLR...

I buy a panoramic camera, eBay gets emptied of them...

:bonk: :lol:

(let us know what you purchase!)
 
i love square format too!!!

think i will take me a while to try panoramic, even though i could buy one.

very busy at work in the next few months, can't go out at all :(
 
freecom2 said:
Wow, the Sprocket Rocket looks like it might actually fit the bill better than I expected.

The Horizon cameras seem to go for ridiculous amounts of money, considering they seem to have a reputation for poor build quality, but I'm keeping them in mind.

Trying to keep it strictly 35mm, the medium format ones tend to be just masks for 120 film - which I guess does the job, but I want a bespoke 35mm if I can help it.

Haha, I thought not... they are staggeringly expensive for what they are, I'm afraid. If I can get a 500C/M for significantly less money (I know they are two entirely different camera systems, but that's how I equate these things), why not?
Click to expand...

I'd say it comes down to supply and demand, a lot of people want these kinds of cameras where as there are more 500C's in the world than people who want them.

It seems to be worse for 35mm cameras as well, I spose because the real advantage of using them over stitiching is street shooting where you don't want to be lugging around a MF beast.
 
Gents, this is an old thread of mine. I bought a Sprocket Rocket, and I used it to get shots like this:



Steven, thanks for the heads-up of that - might be best to also post it in the Bargains thread? Would be an interesting project, although I don't have the time at present (and I have the Sprocket Rocket anyway).

I have a panoramic kit coming for my Pentax 67 in due course so I'm going to use that for high quality panoramas.
 
Although not an originally designed panoramic camera, if you fancy some MF fun then pick up an old 116/616 format folder and load it up with 120 film.

The fact that the film width is narrower than original 116 film means the resulting frames come out panoramic style....just remember to "crop" the image accordingly when composing in the viewer.
 
Asha said:
Although not an originally designed panoramic camera, if you fancy some MF fun then pick up an old 116/616 format folder and load it up with 120 film.

The fact that the film width is narrower than original 116 film means the resulting frames come out panoramic style....just remember to "crop" the image accordingly when composing in the viewer.
Click to expand...

Part of the reason why I'm using 35mm in MF cameras is because of the cheaper processing, cheaper film cost (in most cases). Cool hint though, if you are shooting cheap 120 film such as Fomapan.
 
steveo_mcg said:
I saw this and thought of Freecom, quite cheap and I bet you could reload it with out too much effort.

http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/products/3372/rollei-panorama-single-use-camera
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I've not had the film back yet but I think I was lied too. I've opened up the camera, as I do, and the normal/pano slider only moves a couple of masks at the top and bottom of the frame not at the sides as I would have expected if it was a true panoramic shot. Might have to email them regarding this, its fine for the money but its not a real panorama just a wasted bit of film. And to think I'd asked the nice girl in asda not to cut the film and to try and preserve the cassette.
 
Well to say I was disappointed would be an understatement. Not only was it just a mask on the top and bottom of the frame but it did wind on two frames for every shot. What I've got back from Asda is 15 tiny little pockets of image with a lot of nothing around them... thus:
11195556764_78cbe3e1ee_b.jpg


Larger:http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3697/11195556764_fe3550d42e_k.jpg

Tempted to have a word with Firstcall, it was only £3 but....
 
speak to Nick at west yorkd cameras
about the horizon
 
Noticing an Xpan on ebay last night reminded me of all this, and that time a couple years back using the coronet(?). Now thinking it'd be fun to do it again but properly this time rather than the almost Blue Peter-ish way I did before. Only problem is the only 120 camera I have here atm is the Tropical Ensign Carbine I put on Ebay. Do I pull that and use it or do I sell it and get something else? I'd rather like to keep it but I am wanting a new electric camera as well. What do you think?
 
I have been thinking of doing something similar Arthur, partly spurred on by @Ashas recent wide shots taken with 35mm spooled on a roll film camera. I have a bit of time of over Christmas and plan on spooling some 35mm through my 6x7 folder, just for the lark! I've been saving all my 120 backing paper with such a project in mind, sad but true:-)
 
Ambermile said:
Noticing an Xpan on ebay last night reminded me of all this, and that time a couple years back using the coronet(?). Now thinking it'd be fun to do it again but properly this time rather than the almost Blue Peter-ish way I did before. Only problem is the only 120 camera I have here atm is the Tropical Ensign Carbine I put on Ebay. Do I pull that and use it or do I sell it and get something else? I'd rather like to keep it but I am wanting a new electric camera as well. What do you think?
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I did this in the rb67, 2:1 panos but I used a 90mm lens so it wasn't as dramatic as it should be. Let me find the thread. Good thing about the rb is you don't need to mess around with respooling you just need spacers for the source roll.

Edit: here we are. http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/its-not-lomo-is-it-queenferry-panos.476253/#post-5535977
 
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No need with the coronet either, just a couple of pieces of card - the film fits right in.
 
Jao said:
I've been saving all my 120 backing paper with such a project in mind, sad but true:)
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Don't worry you're not alone.......................So much backing paper knocking around here,some of it might get used to wrap this years xmas pressies:nuts::D
 
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lomography have 12% off there panoramic camera's today, go via topcashback for a extra 8%
 
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