New Widelux possibly coming

[Xylo]

This just popped-up in my Youtube subs.
It looks like there might be a new and improved Widelux coming down the pipeline!
I was watching the Silvergrain Classics short video and they've partnered with famous Widelux aficionado Jeff Bridges and his wife to re-make the famous camera.
They even have some prototype parts on the desk.

Check it out.

 

[infrar3d]

Wow. This seems pretty exciting. And unexpected. I've just ordered the new issue and I'm looking forward to reading more about the project.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I hope this means that I will be able to get the cracked viewfinder glass replaced.

 

[Helge]

Uh-oh, I hope they know what they are biting off. It’s going to be a huge undertaking. Even with tooling from the org. Widelux.

If they could make the sweeper, motor or voice coil driven, instead of clockwork, that would save a bunch of complexity.

Would be very exciting though.
Not being able to get repairs and the unknown state of the mechanics, is what has held me off from buying one.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Add a lubricant leveler so that banding does not occur if the camera has not been recently serviced or used often enough.

 

[mshchem]

That's cool. My copy of the magazine should be here before long.

 

[Roseha]

I hope this means that I will be able to get the cracked viewfinder glass replaced.

I also would love a substitute for the shutter collar that I managed to lose from my F7! I swear it's around here somewhere....

 

[Xylo]

What I find quite encouraging is that Jeff Bridges is both passionate and not exactly poor. This is the perfect combination needed to make this kind of project.

 

[4season]

I wish them luck! I'd think that sourcing springs and optics could be tricky.

 

[Helge]

What I find quite encouraging is that Jeff Bridges is both passionate and not exactly poor. This is the perfect combination needed to make this kind of project.

He is not that rich either. And what’s “worse” he has brains. So he won’t just pump money into the venture without thinking.
If it fails, one can hope that it’s not going to be as spectacular a failure as other far more harebrained schemes.

For getting other investors Bridges could be a huge help though.
Not only is he a beloved, almost spotless Hollywood celebrity, he is also a very good photographer, that eats his own dog food.

 

[Xylo]

He is not that rich either.

Lets just say that he's got a much better pension plan than I do
So to me, just that is being rich.

 

[Cholentpot]

Lets just say that he's got a much better pension plan than I do
So to me, just that is being rich.

He doesn't have to think about prices when he shops.

That's wealthy to me.

 

[Helge]

He doesn't have to think about prices when he shops.

That's wealthy to me.

Production wealthy is another kind. Putting a complex machine into production is one of the biggest miracles of the twentieth century.
It’s insanely expensive and fraught with pitfalls.
It’s takes a Ford or Thomas Watson to start from more or less scratch.

 

[Prest_400]

Camera production wise it's gonna be interesting how Pentax is doing (seen some update by John Sypal of @Tokyocamerastyle that the folks there seem to be quite into it) and let's not forget that in 2008 (quite too long ago now) Cosina created the Bessa III/GF670.
I have no idea about the Wideluxes but know that the latter and the Mamiya 7 series are going for insane prices nowadays which might at some point in the medium term justify for some new high performance camera to appear. Let's see what the Widelux project comes about, it might be rather doable at the boutique scale. But as with other film related ventures, it's interesting how much has been lost when the digital revolution forced downscaling and dismantling of previous manufacturing infrastructure...

 

[Cholentpot]

Production wealthy is another kind. Putting a complex machine into production is one of the biggest miracles of the twentieth century.
It’s insanely expensive and fraught with pitfalls.
It’s takes a Ford or Thomas Watson to start from more or less scratch.

I'm aware. There's wealthy and then there's beyond that. An obtainable goal for the dirty masses is not worrying.

 

[mshchem]

Based on what appears to be die-cast metal parts in the teaser video, does this indicate someone saved some of the production tooling??

 

[mshchem]

What am I thinking? 3D printing and spray paint.

 

[mshchem]

What I find quite encouraging is that Jeff Bridges is both passionate and not exactly poor. This is the perfect combination needed to make this kind of project.

Jeff Bridges is one of my favorites (actor and photographer). He may be able to pull in some seriously influential folks from the Hollywood gang.

 

[gorbas]

Any idea about $ for the new camera or we will have to wait for Kickstarter campaign?

 

[Schwedenstahl]

Production wealthy is another kind. Putting a complex machine into production is one of the biggest miracles of the twentieth century.
It’s insanely expensive and fraught with pitfalls.
It’s takes a Ford or Thomas Watson to start from more or less scratch.

Thats the reason why we founded the company in the city of Bad Kreuznach Germany. Known for more than 100 years for excellent optical industry expertise. And you‘ll be surprised about the thechnological progress in tooling especially when you work with companies in the aerospace field. They can make extremely good metal parts with extrem precision and small production runs.

Best regards

Marwan

 

[Schwedenstahl]

What am I thinking? 3D printing and spray paint.

No it is metal. Parts made by a german aerospace manufacturer.

Best regards

Marwan

 

[Lachlan Young]

I'd prefer rugged & extremely reliable (even if that means just 1 or 2 shutter speeds) over excess complexity/ tendency to produce banding problems - same for a 120 version too... Focus mechanisms and too many shutter speeds always seem to be where swing-lens cameras come unstuck.

 

[Schwedenstahl]

I'd prefer rugged & extremely reliable (even if that means just 1 or 2 shutter speeds) over excess complexity/ tendency to produce banding problems - same for a 120 version too... Focus mechanisms and too many shutter speeds always seem to be where swing-lens cameras come unstuck.

Yes that is also our philosophy. The Widelux design was used over many decades. And we think this happend for a reason. We will not overload it. The goal is to use what was good and reliable and
perfect the problematic parts of the constructions. We will also make careful use of modern production methodes and new materials.

 

[Cholentpot]

Yes that is also our philosophy. The Widelux design was used over many decades. And we think this happend for a reason. We will not overload it. The goal is to use what was good and reliable and
perfect the problematic parts of the constructions. We will also make careful use of modern production methodes and new materials.

Well, if you need a tester for the machine I'm standing by.

 

[Xylo]

Modern manufacturing techniques can greatly simplify stuff. We also now have new alloys, better precision machining capabilities, metal 3D printing, CAD and so on. So all this should help improve reliability while keeping costs down.

And like I say: if Lomography can do it, so can they