Noblex for the road?

[Jabash]

Hello, my first post here. I have recently come back to film and was happy to find a site like this.

My question is I am planning on a long road trip on a motorcycle. I have the age old question of what camera(s) to bring, but specifically I am buying a used Noblex135. I was struggling with wide angle MF issues and then noticed the Noblex. I get a wwwwide angle, large neg, and film availablity.

My one question is how sturdy is this camera are hand-held shots really possible without blurring.

Thanks

 

[raucousimages]

I shoot a 135U hand held all the time with great results. The only problem I have is if I don't use. fresh batteries the rotation is not smooth and leaves vertical lines on the neg. Use fresh batteries and enjoy.

 

[Shawn Dougherty]

You should check out the Noblex stuff by Mark Citret. He has some great work on his site. Best. Shawn
www.mcitret.com

 

[butterflydream]

I tried Horizon and Noblex but finally settled in with xpan because of the unstability of rotational mechanism. I like the easy use of range finder, automatic exposure and the switchability between panorama and normal format on the road.

Some of my crappy photos with xpan.
Dead Link Removed

 

[Mick Fagan]

I have the horizon and have travelled extensively on a motorcycle with it. If you are restricted to one camera body then you are making life photographicly speaking, hard on yourself.

In my country the wide open spaces with often sweeping views to the horizon are what these cameras are designed for. There is though, a time when you need a moderate telephoto or possibly a close-up shot, the swinging lens camera lets you down on that score.

I would agree with butterflydream that the Xpan seems to offer the best alternative in the most compact package. There is one downside though, one cannot curve the horizon, or any straight lens with an Xpan compared to a swinging lens camera.

If I could afford one, I would get an Xpan today.

I travel with two bodies when solo, the Horizon and a 35mm normal, but when the other half is on the back one normal body and two lens is it.

Mick.

 

[DBP]

I shoot the horizon handheld as often as not, and have not seen any issues of stability, though admittedly my biggest print so far is only 5x14.

 

[ksmattfish]

I shoot a lot with a Widelux. I'm not sure how the Noblex lens compares, but with the widelux it's about a 26mm. This means if your main subject is human sized, and across the street, it's too far away. Much farther than than that, and even house sized subjects can be too far away. My favorite subject distance for a human sized subject is 3' to 8' or so.

Another issue might be that swing lens pano cameras are somewhat more sensitive to dust and vibration. If I were taking my Widelux on a motorcycle, I'd make sure it was packed well.

The widelux has 3 shutter speeds: 1/15th, 1/125th, and 1/250th. There is no problem handholding at the higher speeds, and actually I handhold at 1/15th a lot too. Definately softer than the higher speeds, but I'm always surprised as it usually comes out better than I expect it to.

 

[Jabash]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[Karl K]

I have shot with both the Horizon S3 and the Noblex Pro. The Noblex lens is superior to the Horizon. But the Horizon works without battery power, while the Noblex requires AAA batteries. The Horizon lens opens up to f/2.8 and the shutter speeds go down to one full second. This allows for low light shots with some sort of camera support. The Noblex has no really slow speeds and only an f/4.5 lens. So, bottom line: best optics--Noblex; most versatile--Horizon. That's why I own both cameras. BTW, the Noblex is just a wee bit wider.

 

[DougGrosjean]

I'm brand-new here, but have taken a 2,000 mile trip on a motorcycle (S(Ohio to Blue Ridge Parkway to NC, then home - with my 11 y/o son on the back too) with a Widelux and a Rolleiflex, plus a modern 35mm weather-resistant point-shoot with zoom (Olympus Stylus). No problems. The Widelux and Rollei ride in a tankbag on top the fuel tank, right in front of me. Foam under the bag, and foam in the camera bag, protect from vibes. And top of the fuel tank is well protected in case of minor crash. The Olympus rides in a small fanny pack around my waist, able to be used quickly, and I don't have to put it away or protect it in the rain.

For photos, see:
http://s60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/DougGrosjean/Spring Break 2006/?start=all

Most photos were with the Widelux and the Rolleiflex. The Olympus comes in handy for photos of the two of us (my son and I) together, when I can hand it to a stranger and say "Hey, could you take our pic?" Easier than a self-timer.

I've also taken a Rolleicord and a Ciro-Flex on a 6,000 mile trip to Colorado and back to Ohio, touring ghost towns via Jeep trails on a 15 y/o BMW GS. Don't have pics handy, though. One small problem - vibration vibrated the film advance knob off the Rolleicord V, and I didn't have tools to repair it on me, so shot the last few days of the trip on the Ciro-Flex.

Best,
Doug Grosjean
NW OH / SE MI

 

[europanorama]

if you have only a noblex and no backup- horizon s3-pro- and the electric noblex fails your done. when its windy you could have a problem. wind could stop/change rotating-speed of the drum of noblex. that happend to me in helicopter with a noblex pro 150(612-version).
i would buy the newest noblex. its is said to be more reliable(see at their website). i have my doubts the electronic noblex will survive your adventure. ask the owners at panphoto.com. they have a forum.

 

[Roger Hicks]

I'd like to agree with both Doug and Europanorama. I've travelled tens of thousands of miles on motorcycles, with cameras -- probably well over 100,000 miles, in Europe, the USA and India -- and it's a bloody harsh environment for a camera. The foam-plus-tank-bag route is the only one I'd recommend: I've had the back fall off a Hasselblad and an internal lens element unscrew in a Vivitar Series 1 200/3. Nowadays I take only seriously tough, simple cameras on 'bikes. The swing on a swing-lens is just one more thing to go wrong.

Whatever you take, Zip-Loc bags around the camera(s) will help keep out dust from the road and fluff from anything else in the bag. You might want to take a look at www.mctie.com, aka www.motorcycletouringineurope.com (either link will work).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Ted Harris]

I havenot used he latest electronic Noblex but I regularly use a last generation Noblex 150F. Yup it has batteries so carry spares. Beyond that it is built like a tank. One of the sturdier cameras I have used. I have been using this camera for 5 years and have not had any equipment failures with it (operator failures ... sure). I always carry a tripod and try not to handhold the camera but it can be done ... jus tremember that with a swing lens camera the real exposure time in terms of how long the lens is movingis much longer than the nominal speed you choose.

You do need to treat the camera with more care than a stanard camera but it is not delicate.