Affordable GAS – 30 year old film and some crap “panoramic” cameras.w

Andrew Bartram

Lockdown brings many challenges.

Avoiding FleaBay is advisable, buying photobooks is advisable, but sometimes, just sometimes a sense of madness overcomes you and you buy something on a whim.

And so it was with two WidePic “panorama” cameras closely followed by a Halina Panorama as I’m told they have a better lens….but come on who is kidding whom here.

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Lets get one thing straight – these aren’t high end panoramic cameras, of course they aren’t really panoramic cameras at all in the true sense of the word but expose a regular 35mm film through a panoramic mask with a nice wide lens. So a faux panorama.

Why not just crop a 35mm frame from a decent SLR with a wide angle lens?  Absolutely, knock yourself out.

But you know what these are just so much FUN.

I loaded the red WidePic with a 12 exposure roll of 30 year expired York film and within a 10 minute drive to the supermarket I snapped most of these through the window of the car, no fuss, no bother, a freedom that was a sheer joy.

So the red one is pretty.

I have a roll of TriX in the Halina and a roll of truprint in then other black WidePix. But for now here are the results from the 30 year old York film shot in a £3 camera and developed in C41 chemicals that had 25 rolls through it…..I’m in love and I don’t care what you think !

#12#4#3#5#7#1a#2a#8#6#11#9#10

And of course in these days days we need to smile – and using this camera made me smile.

Stay Safe

Published by Andrew Bartram

Living, making negatives and darkroom prints on the edge of the Cambridgeshire Fenlands Co host of the Large Format Photography and the Lensless Podcasts.

9 Comments

  1. Nice photos Andrew. You may even have tempted me to stick my Pentax Espio into Panorama Mode and get a different viewpoint on some familiar scenes. It has the benefit of a halfway-decent lens and, unlike using a standard 35mm camera, the panorama mode means (as with your budget cameras) a mask covers the viewfinder so you can compose the wide shots properly without guessing where you need to crop a full frmae later. The Yorkshireman in me says that this is wasting film, but the creative in me will have the last shout on the matter I think! 🙂

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  2. Yes the mask in the viewfinder absolutely helps.

    I’m really anxious to get back out with my 6×17 back on my Toyo45a but can’t bring myself to do that at the moment in this state of lock down.

    Thanks for commenting

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  3. Andrew I agree with you. A real photographer can use almost anything because his eye is the key to the photograph. I have been using a 50 year old camera system that is fully manual, and limit myself to black and white. I take my time and try to crap before I shoot. In general my photos please the crowd.

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  4. Lovely photographs Andrew. I love panorama cameras. I’m not sure why people look down their noses at the cheap crop pano versions. The key thing to me is the aspect ratio and the composition not necessarily the size of the negative. And having fun! And who can deny how much fun these are?
    Best, Robbie J

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  5. Totally with you on this, I even have the pretty red one sat on my desk too! I resisted it charms for weeks, as you say nothing wrong with cropping down a frame, but in the end succumbed and had a blast with it. Now of course my point and shoot 35mm panoramic of choice is the Kompakt – same fun but a bit heavier! Dave

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