'The missing link between still photography and motion picture photography’ – Jeff Bridges loves the Widelux panoramic film camera so much, he just revived it

• Jeff Bridges is a long-time fan of the original Widelux camera line, released in the 1950s
• Silverbridges, the actor's company, plans to relaunch commercial production of the panoramic camera
• The WideluxX uses a unique rotating lens to capture frames with a cinematic panoramic aspect ratio

What do you get when you bring together a successful, A-list actor and a love of photography and classic cameras? No, it's not a trick question or the precursor to a joke punchline; it's just Jeff Bridges lifting the lid on his passionate revival of the Widelux, the extraordinary mechanical swing-lens panoramic camera from the late 1950s.

There was an understandable buzz in 2024, when Bridges announced his intention to bring back one of the most unusual and collectable cameras of all time, but for the first time, we've had a glimpse of a working model.

In a new video posted on the website of Bridge's company, SilverBridges, we see him excitedly take delivery of a package. As a camera reviewer, I'm accustomed to feeling that sense of building anticipation whenever I see a Peli Case-shaped box that I know contains something special, so I could instantly relate to the actor's clear enthusiasm. For him, this is the culmination of years of planning and development as he aspired to bring back to life one of his favorite cameras.

He then opens the case to reveal two cameras, carrying the serial numbers 0001 and 0002, indicating that these are the first pair of cameras to roll off the production line. He goes on to load number two with film, carefully feeding the leader into the factory-fresh advance assembly, before replacing the back plate and making an image of his wife, Susan Bridges née Geston.

The video beautifully illustrates the unique mechanism of the Widelux' (now designated WideluxX, the extra X added to tell members of the new line apart from the classic series), as well as Bridge's clear passion for the camera and its discrete brand of photography.

What is the WideluxX and why now?

The Widelux was released in 1958 and used an original rotating lens design to capture panoramic images. As Jeff Bridges himself explains in another video on the SilverBridges WideluxX website, this worked using an optic that moved in an arc, behind which was a slit that panned across the film area, exposing it in a long, wide aspect.

While the camera was capable of capturing good levels of sharpness across the frame, it was the quirks and flaws that Bridges professes to have fallen in love with. He says how he always enjoyed how the Widelux provided images with a blend of sharp and blurred areas, creating a special atmosphere which he enhanced by using fast ISO3200 films, often push processed to ISO6400.

It was the Widelux that got Bridges into photography, largely because of how the widescreen format replicated the cinematic frames he was accustomed to in his line of work as a screen actor.

"I didn't start getting into photography until I got a Widelux camera" he explains. "It was sort of the missing link between still photography and motion picture photography."

Bridges also explains some of the practical benefits of using such a wide frame. "It's possible to handhold it at 1/15th second, it's very forgiving that way".

"It's about the only camera I use, my Widelux."

The actor was therefore understandably upset when the original line of cameras was killed off in the early 2000s. Pann Camera Shokai, the Tokyo-based manufacturer, rolled the last unit off the production line in 2000. Since then, Bridges' company, co-owned by his wife Susan, has worked to relaunch commercial production. While no official date has been revealed yet, meaning that it could still be a while until we get our hands on a sample, the latest video is yet another sign that the Bridges mean business. To get updates on the WideluxX, there's a sign up form on the SilverBridges site

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