I was lucky enough to find my Widelux on eBay, and it came with a story - though only after the deal was done; it wasn't part of a sales come-on.

The Kansas woman who placed it online was kind enough to tell me that back in 1986 her father-in-law Nolan had a cameraman friend in Hollywood who showed him some Widelux prints. Nolan's reaction was "Get me one of those cameras!"  

He did just that, but after Nolan had shot two rolls, the camera went back in the box, where it languished for 20 years until it made its way to me. Now I have a pristine Widelux, and Nolan has my heartfelt (and public!) thanks. What a remarkable instrument this is.

  • docks
  • gravestones
  • pier
  • ristorante
  • st. michaels
  • trunks
  • bell tower

The Widelux is famous for its rotating lens, which swings from left to right to expose a 140 degree field of view remarkably similar to our own visual field, peripheral vision and all.

These first shots are fairly pedantic, as I learn that you really (as I had read) do have to "step into the shot." Believe it. I was using a digital camera for metering, and in a couple of these images you can see it sitting on the ground, where I thought I had placed it out of range.

These were taken in Bristol, Rhode Island using Kodak BW400CN chromogenic film.  Objects are indeed closer than they appear.