Actor Jeff Bridges unveiled the new website for his new project bringing back the mechanical Widelux 35mm panoramic camera.
The camera is called now called Wideluxx, and the new website for the project – a partnership between Jeff and his wife Susan Geston and Marwan El Mozayen and Charys Schuler of the magazine Silvergrain Classics – was launched earlier this week.
The new website features an image of what could be the new incarnation of the camera with a Wideluxx nameplate, as well as more information on the project, which is now expected to start producing cameras in 2025. The project was initially unveiled last year.
Bridges, who has appeared in films including ‘The Big Lebowski’, ‘True Grit’, ‘Tron’ and ‘Ironman’, has long been a fan of panoramic camera, often shooting behind-the-scene shots on movie lots using his own Widelux panoramic cameras.
The original Widelux camera was made in Japan by Panon Camera Shoko in 1958, and production continued until the last model, the F8, was discontinued in 2000. The new Wieluxx camera will be based on the F8 model.
“The 2025 Wideluxx camera combines its iconic rotating lens with modern technology, delivering stunning panoramic images with vintage charm and contemporary durability. It offers a unique photographic experience, appealing to both enthusiasts and professionals seeking high-quality, retro-inspired tools,” the new website’s introduction reads.
Staying true to its analogue roots, the Wideluxx will be purely mechanical, preserving everything that made the original great while incorporating sustainable manufacturing practices- SILVERBRIDGES
“The Widelux camera seamlessly blends panoramic innovation with vintage charm, delivering expansive, cinematic images through its rotating lens. Celebrated for its timeless design and precision engineering, this analog marvel offers an immersive film photography experience, making it a revered tool with a lasting impact on the world of photography.”
The new cameras will be made via a new company set up by the Bridges and the Silvergrain Classics team called Silverbridges. The new cameras will be produced in Germany.
“Now, Silverbridges is reviving this iconic camera for 2025 as the Wideluxx. Staying true to its analogue roots, the Wideluxx will be purely mechanical, preserving everything that made the original great while incorporating sustainable manufacturing practices. With modern durability and timeless charm, the Wideluxx is designed to last for generations, capturing stunning panoramic scenes for a new era of photographers.”
The website does not yet have any further information on a timeline for the camera’s production and release, not pricing.
Kosmo Foto approached Silverbridges for further information on the project and will update with more information when possible.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in London since the mid-1990s, shooting film seriously since the year 2000. Kosmo Foto was launched in 2012 and has since become a film brand, with the release of my first films Kosmo Foto Mono 35mm (2017) and Kosmo Foto Mono 120 (2019).
I’m doing everything I can to promote film photography in the 21st Century, and help it survive and thrive. If you want to write something for Kosmo Foto, please drop me a line at foto.dowling@gmail.com.
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I’m excited about this project. If the price is not exorbitant, I’m hoping indeed to be a customer.
I am all for this analog camera. It goes back to our style of photo taking. Hopefully I may get involved with the crowd funding!
So glad to hear this news!
I used a Widelux in the early ’70s for my primary street camera, and occasionally for assignments.
in addition to its full-vision view, it allowed me to create images with relativistic effects due to the movement of the lens.
I enjoyed the challenge of composing photographs of entire fields of view.
BUT: what bothers me is the romanticizing of chemical-analog methods, which are not as articulate as digital equipment (and therefore potentially more expressive) allows.
Why not create a curved sensor to replace the film?
Probably a little more expensive at first, but…