Fujica 820??

[perkeleellinen]

Hello All,

I have a copy of Hiroji Kubota's book 'China'. At the back is an interesting technical section describing the cameras and other gear used for the book. Kubota mentions that for landscapes the best cameras are his panoramics: a Fujica 617 and a Fujica 820. The 617 is fine, but a 820? He says it produces a 8x20 image. I've been trying to think what camera that might have been, I can't find any reference to a 'Fujica 820' online. Perhaps a camera that took 820 film? There is mention to the film being custom made and not available on the market. Curious what camera he was using. Any clues?

 

[Sandokan63]

is that 8x20cm or inches?

Chamonix I think make a 8x20 inch camera and film is available once a year from Ilford. A photographer in Skye Scotland uses one and it is huge.

 

[ic-racer]

Here is a Fujica 820, it is 3,296 x 2,472!

 

[Disconnekt]

I know Fuji has made large format lenses, but Ive never heard of them making large format cameras, let alone a 8x20. I think the biggest camera format they've made was their G617 system

 

[Lachlan Young]

To quote the New York Times on December 15th 1985:

"Mr. Kubota used two custom-made Fuji panoramic cameras - one for 8-by-20-inch film, the other for 2 1/4-by-7-inch film. His 35-millimeter cameras were the Leica M4-2, Nikon FM2 and the Olympus OM2. He used 35-millimeter Fujichrome ISO 50 and 120 Fujichrome ISO 100 transparency film. For view camera and panoramic camera work, Fujicolor NS 100 negative film was custom-cut to specifications."

It sounds like Fuji's publicity underwrote the expedition & subsequent production quite significantly - the whole thing sounds like a commercial adventure promoting a particular official vision.