inexpensive entry into panoramic photography

[darinwc]

Is there an inexpensive entry into panoramic photography? Something that provides decent results?

 

[Jeff Bannow]

Crown / Speed Graphic 4x5 with a DaYi 6x12 back. The camera is $150 or so with a lens, and the back is $250 new. You can't beat that for price or quality. Of course, you would have to shoot it on a tripod only.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Anamorphic pinhole camera , 6 cms to 17 cms record , homemade , deep anamorphic effect , extreme easy to build and lots of fun
If you want to see the construction details from many experimenters , visit f295.org forums , ten thousands of free to view images , extreme active forıum and very nice people
camera is lightweight if you dont want to build like someone build it with thick aluminum plate
I advise to build that camera before investing heavyweight cameras.
You can use 250 microns pinhole from lenox laser and best technology cost you 20 dollars.
If you have no money for pinhole , you can create to dig a hole to aluminum folio with needle.

Other camera 35 film user , lomo spin camera , 360 degrees , very sexy camera and cost 145 dollars , you can make it with a lenox slit and some creativity.

There are slit panorama camera plans at google and you can make a very sexy camera , with lens and slit or only with a slit.

good luck ,

Umut

 

[Jeff Bannow]

How about a cheap medium format camera and crop the negative?

 

[Lee L]

A wide angle lens and cropping is also a good start if the film format is up to the degree of enlargement for the print size you want. Art Sinsabaugh used a 12x20 inch banquet camera, but cropped some of his prints down to 1:20 proportions.

You can work with cropping any format film until you find your own "sweet spot" for proportions and enlargement size, then choose more specialized equipment as needed.

Lee

 

[Klainmeister]

Get a Kodak 2a, make spacers for the 120 spools (126 is lsight larger) and a mask for 6x14cm. Use the lens on the camera or you can take any copal 0 lens from large format....such as a schneider 90mm f8

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

From analog audio , bigger the recording medium , better the sound.

If you build 6x17 camera with pinhole anamorphic , you can develop it to positive and tone the bw positive with palladium solution. It will be 20 dollars investment to chemicals and make a small tank filled with palladium toner. There is a full description at alternative techniques at APUG.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

Look at here .

 

[Steve Smith]

I would get a Holga 6x12 pinhole camera, cut off the front and fit a lens at hyperfocal distance for f16.

Actually, that's what I was going to do, to see what I did instead, click on the 6x12 camera link below!


Steve.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Darin, I'm with Jeff, in fact I've been contemplating doing what he suggested for a couple of years now. Haven't done it 'cos I can't justify carrying more gear.

I've been with Lee L ever since I realized that a 38/4.5 Biogon covers 84 mm with good illumination -- there's a very sharp cut off at 42 mm off-axis -- and decent image quality at the edge. On 2x3 film as I use in my humble Century Graphic that means a fine 24 mm x 80 mm strip. Ever since then I've alternated "Who needs an Alpa 12?" with "Who needs an XPan?" Yes I have a Century and use a 38 Biogon on it. Now I have a 35/4.5 Apo Grandagon that I also use on the Century; it puts good image in 2x3's corners so give better cropping opportunities.

 

[removed account4]

hi dan

you can probably get a 6x9 roll film holder ( for a lf camera if you have one )
and dremmel it out to fit your desired aspect ratio the problem will be figuring out how to wind the film so you get what you want ...
seems like a lot of trial + error . you could also get the same roll film holder and modify a darkslide to cut the film in half
and flip it to get 2 2.75 x 9 views on each 6x9 exposure ... ( less trial + error )

jeff's suggestion of daYi back sounds the best ...
i wish i had one !

john

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

How about a Spinner for $150.

http://m.gizmodo.com/5558959/lomographys-spinner-camera-shoots-360-panoramic-photos-on-film

 

[Dan Fromm]

hi dan

you can probably get a 6x9 roll film holder ( for a lf camera if you have one )
and dremmel it out to fit your desired aspect ratio the problem will be figuring out how to wind the film so you get what you want ...
seems like a lot of trial + error . you could also get the same roll film holder and modify a darkslide to cut the film in half
and flip it to get 2 2.75 x 9 views on each 6x9 exposure ... ( less trial + error )

jeff's suggestion of daYi back sounds the best ...
i wish i had one !

john

John, I didn't ask about modifying a back for pano work. But I'm not sure your suggestion will work. The roll holders I'm familiar with don't have the real estate needed to enlarge the gate. Bryce Alvarez, who's told me what he went through to make a long holder out of a couple of Adapt-A-Roll 620s, made it seem very difficult. He's a good machinist, said he wouldn't do it again.

I'm with you on the DaYi, except that I can't convince myself to add a 4x5 Crown to the kit.

Another possibility if the goal is simply a long low image is to convert a Folding Pocket Kodak to 120 film. Its been done, but the result is effectively a crop from a shot taken with a normal lens.

 

[piu58]

You should take in account an Horizon panoramic camera. The older model is calles "Horizont" and is ful metal. Newer modesl are partly made from plastic, but they have more times available. I own the older model.
Horizont 202

 

[Mick Fagan]

I second Uwe's suggestion of the Horizont or Horizon. I have the Horizon 202 which I bought new 17 years ago.

Good optics and an overall well thought out camera.

Mick.

 

[removed account4]

John, I didn't ask about modifying a back for pano work. But I'm not sure your suggestion will work. The roll holders I'm familiar with don't have the real estate needed to enlarge the gate. Bryce Alvarez, who's told me what he went through to make a long holder out of a couple of Adapt-A-Roll 620s, made it seem very difficult. He's a good machinist, said he wouldn't do it again.

I'm with you on the DaYi, except that I can't convince myself to add a 4x5 Crown to the kit.

Another possibility if the goal is simply a long low image is to convert a Folding Pocket Kodak to 120 film. Its been done, but the result is effectively a crop from a shot taken with a normal lens.

hi dan

you are probably right about the film gate ..
i have 6x6 and 6x8 graphic backs and they look like the film gate can just be removed
.. ( too bad they can't ! )
i your folder idea is the best ... 3a folders are cheap and plentiful ..
and probably can be rigged to have a 120 roll instead of a 122

 

[BrianL]

Look for a Bronica ETR series camera with a 35W back. It is a 35mm panaramica back. Depending on the coverage a 40 or 50 mm lens. Depending on shooting style, a WLF or a prism finder and a handheld meter or a metered prism. No cropping needed. With some shopping around you are under the $300 mark and have an entry into expanding into MF as well as the basis of a very good 35mm system.

 

[somak]

In 35 mm
Lomo Sprocket Rocket
Lomo Spinner 360
Horizon Compact
Old Horizont
Horizon FT-2
Horizon 202
Horizon S3
Horizon Perfect

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Horizons play between 170 to 450 , depending on the model. White ones cheaper . There is 120 format horizons also but they are more expensive.
If you want to mask 66 gate , Kiev 60 is just like a tank , very sexy camera and cheaper than 150 , some find at bay for 100.
There is a special page devoted to latest horizons and many examples at lomography.com.
They are small cameras not like as they seem at pictures. Plastic is dull and looks like cheap and mechanism is sound like cheap at 202.
Newer cheaper horizons have a weaker lens and people complain.
Aluminum Horizons are soviet made and heavy but can mechanism have a problem.
If you want to buy , dont do it without seeing the real camera. New horizons are lightweight.
Look at spinner , costs 145 and very funy camera to use.
I strongly advise a black kiev 60 + CLA.
You can find lots of excellent lenses from 30 to 25000 Soviet Made.

 

[nosmok]

Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim. Plastic 24mm lens, really pretty ok considering. Frequently seen on eBay for between 4 and 25 bucks. I had lotsa fun with mine. Or any old fixed focus plastic lens cheapie with "panorama" crop mode. I made some 6" by 18" enlargements from stuff I shot 15 years ago with one: really quite a bit better than I expected. All from a European trip I had bought a Rollei 35 for. The Rollei died on the first day of the trip, the Agfa "panoramic plus" soldiered on. Plus pocketable and 35mm is cheap. Not all labs these days handle the old 35mm panorama mode, though, but many will.

nosmok

 

[thegman]

Horizon Perfekt is a nice camera, better built than you'd expect, and the lens is remarkably sharp. Being a swing lens camera, you can get wonky horizons if you don't hold level, but it has a built in bubble level to help with this. I really like mine.

If I felt like spending a bit more money, I'd probably take a look at Gaoersi cameras.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Darin, it took me a while to find this link -- too many bookmarks and this one not well identified -- but here's a maker of quite inexpensive rotational panoramic cameras. Their site is up but I'm not sure they're still making and selling cameras.

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Inexpensive because not motorized. Hand cranked, I expect using one well takes practice.

 

[mhcfires]

Darin, it took me a while to find this link -- too many bookmarks and this one not well identified -- but here's a maker of quite inexpensive rotational panoramic cameras. Their site is up but I'm not sure they're still making and selling cameras.

Dead Link Removed

Inexpensive because not motorized. Hand cranked, I expect using one well takes practice.

Are you sure this was not posted on April 1?

I have a simple Panoramic camera, a Kodak Panoram 1. It works.

 

[Steve Smith]

Horsley Camera is real. One of their cameras was featured in Amateur Photographer (UK magazine) a few years ago.


Steve.

 

[somak]

Horsley cameras are for real. They used to sell their cameras in Ebay at one times( I got outbid every time ). Here's a flickr link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photowannabe/tags/horsleycameracom/

Vermeer, apart from making pinhole panoramics, used to sell 6x12 with angulon/rodenstock lenses. However they are not cheap. The link to that particular site is not functional anymore.

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