Is 6x12 considered LF? (Noblex?)

[D. Kevin Gibson]

The problem with that Michael, is that the Fuji/Linhofs are really in effect just crops from a big negative (you've just chosen not to carry the extra film around with you...).

I'd rather just use 4x5 or 8x10 with various lenses and be able to crop out those kinds of "panos" as I want to - or not - as the case may be.

I have a number of of very nice 4x10 "panos" of that kind - don't have a 4x10 camera though

The thing with the panning lens cameras is that it's a very different look much closer to human vision in many ways, which is why it actually works especially well with the close up and middle distance type of images - or if you are shooting very wide landscapes, images which also have those elements in them.

Despite the format of the negatives, they are really two very different beasts

[Frank Petronio]

I've also used a monopod with things like the Noblex or Fuji 6x9s - nice compromise between quickness and steadiness - can safely shoot down to ~ 1/15 @ f/5.6 with one. Very easy to travel with - can even use one as a hiking pole (the Leki model).

[Chris Partti]

I'm interested in what people think about the option of using a regular MF camera to make digitally stitched panoramas instead of a swing lens. It seems to me that the results are similar in look, but the MF is far more versatile, especially for travel.

[tim atherton]

Chris,

not quite what you were asking, but John Brownlow uses a Noblex - for both "landscapes" and also some street photography (only a tiny bit at the link below)

http://www.johnbrownlow.com

(keep going down - there is more at the bottom, with links to the software)

and also

http://www.johnbrownlow.com/noblexoblige/

But he also does 360 degree stitched digital panoramas - a few landscapes - but again, often street scenes - usually just using a monopod. (the street scenes are neat because you get whole stories going on in them, sometimes with the same person turning up twice or more in the full circle). The stitching software is excellent these days - 9 times out of ten it will stitch together perfectly with no noticable seam almost automatically.

http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/wip/360/index.html

(some of those are fun because you can load them into photoshop and then pick your own start point on the 360 degrees to make a very different image....)

Anyway, you could pretty much do the same as above using MF and scanning it. (bear in mind that with a standard 8/9/10/12mp digital camera you have plenty enough information/data for a really good 8x10 or 11x14. So if you make one of these panos from such a camera even say 12" high (you could probably go taller), then it's going to be 66" long.... even if it's only 180 degrees you will be geting 12"x33")

[europanorama]

here is the forum your will need. i opened it around july 04:
http://forums.delphiforums.com/pancams/start

forum created to exchange experience, discussing problems and force the producers to better cameras.

i am a professional rotating pancam-photographer since 12 years with experience since 25 years. i used widelux 35mm and noblex 120(lent). i have horizont,horizon 202(both nighmares.never buy one without having tested them or your will get the same nightmares-these cameras are very unreliable, i have just received a bad info from china), s3-pro(mine has a problem at fstop 16(is in cure at kmz-the factory in russia-krassnagorsk), roundshot 65/70/220(too heavy carrying around and too limited-good also for helicopter up to 360°), widelux 1500( never buy one except you can accept the mistakes when having tested).

i was very satisfied with the first noblex model, the newer ones having the same topquality. but: be aware: when its windy the air could stop the drum. this happened when shooting in helicopter.
shift-capability is very limited but could save an image.
the noblex 120/220 and the new 135mm are the best multipurpose-pancam for travelling around. when my horizon s3-pro comes back repaired i would support the new horizon s3-models. they are all mechanical and silent now. with high-speed-shutters in the newest model like new noblex 135.
widepan is a good copy of widelux 1500. has still a slight overexposure problem at left startside with 1/250. users told me it can be corrected in photoshop. i had to do this is the lab with widelux 1500-a camera from adorama-who refused to send me testfilm beforebuying(because they knew of the bad design!) very annoying and unbelievable in widepan since its image lenght is 10mm smaller. it the design has been perfect this could have been avoided. we tried to improve it in widelux 1500. maybe further improvements are prossible the make the drum start earlier to have the right speed when reaching the film.
maybe horizon 205 pc is a good alternative(1400 usd) but i had no time testing at photokina. it lacks shorter than 1/60 but has extended exposure times, 7-8mm shift (better than noblex) and 55m instead of 50mm image-height, all great advantages. having the same lens design like widelux 1500 i guess that focussing below 5m will created reduced resolution(seen on large prints of 20x50cm min.). noblex and widepan-cameras have this major problem solved with eighter intelligent lens/fosussing-design and/or closeup-lenses. btw: we-my repairman had to rebuilt the widelux 1500 completely-maybe newer version are improved. panon made every mechanical mistakes you can imagine. no precision tool. unsharp images with banding.....(vertical balck stripes. i have lost endless of time and money. the same with horizont/horizon 202. i have lost most of last 25 years due to rotating pancams named horizon(the metallic one), horizon 202 and widelux 1500. had i only bought roundshot 47/120 for 10000 usd 20 years ago!

i like most that italian gardens book of jefferey james. it was made with a kodak panoram pancam with 75mm lens. the images are simply superbe.

[CXC]

Thought I'd mention that I have dropped my 35mm Widelux F8 from chest level onto the sidewalk twice (first Paris, then San Francisco), and that while it has resulted in significant cosmetic damage, the thing still shoots crystal clear images. So, while things can go wrong with the mechanism, it is not necessarily fragile to impact.

If it's been on the shelf a while, I always fire the shutter 10 times at each of the 3 speeds before loading. Works for me.