Panoramic Photography
Noblex 135UC, 135C, 135S, 35mm rotating lens cameras.
I fell in love with panoramic photography when I first laid eyes upon the work of the late American photographer, Art Sinsabaugh. A more recent influence is the black and white photography of Ivan Lutterer, whose book ‘Panoramaticke Fotografie’ is pure inspiration.
So I finally gave in to all this influence and inspiration and purchased a Noblex 135UC 35mm rotating lens panoramic camera. It is top of the range of their three 35mm models. These cameras deliver a negative 24mm x 66mm and have a fixed focus 29mm lens providing an angle of view of 135 degrees on the diagonal and 127 degrees on the horizontal, giving a wonderful sweep closely matching the scanning of our eyes. They provide 19 exposures on a roll of 36 and 12 exposures on a roll of 24 exposure 35mm films. The cameras are reasonably compact and can be hand held with ease.
I chose the Noblex 135UC because it’s fully featured. The camera is well made weighing approximately 950g of a good mix of plastic and metal. There is a bubble level on top of the viewfinder allowing for waist level grab shots however this is also clearly visible in the camera’s viewfinder for more considered compositions. This little bubble level is essential for levelling the camera unless you want curvature of the horizon. The shutter speed range is from 1/500 to 1 second plus ‘A’ which is the setting when using the optional Panolux 135 exposure module. There is an easy to use multiple exposure switch on the top plate. An on/off switch on the front of the camera; an LED lights up when the camera is on. This is green when the shutter speed selector is set within the range of 1/500 to 1/30 of a second and red when in the 1/15 to 1 second range. A small dial to the side of the shutter speed selector selects either range. If the LED glows orange it means you have the wrong range selected. This LED also blinks to indicate that the batteries (4xAAA) are low. There is a battery saving feature, if the camera is left on but not operated for 4 minutes it turns itself off. To reactivate you have to switch off then on again. A bit of a pain, for on a few occasions I’ve gone to fire the shutter and nothing has happened. I would have liked it just to reactivate at the press of the shutter rather then the delay of having to turn the switch off and on again.
Lens aperture is from f4.5 to f16 and is set on a vertical dial on the rotating lens drum. As I mentioned the lens is a fixed focus 29mm f4.5 Rotar T and at the f16 setting will focus from 1 metre to infinity. It is as sharp as a tack.
To my delight the camera has a 3mm shift upwards of the lens allowing for that little extra movement to prevent tilting the camera thereby getting convergence of verticals. To activate this feature you have to set the aperture dial to f4.5 then rotate this dial to S (3mm rise). Apertures can then be set as normal. To return the lens to its normal position, set the aperture to f16 and rotate the dial back to O.
The film wind on is a knob rather then a lever which can be easily operated by the thumb. The film counter is a small liquid crystal display which is reset by a small recessed push button to the right of the counter display. The camera is fitted with a conventional film rewind crank; pull this up to open the film compartment. There is an accessory shoe to accept the optional and expensive Panolux 135 exposure module for accurate and even exposures. The shutter release button will accept standard screw in cable releases. At the base of the camera there is a push in film rewind button to release the film transport roller and a ¼ inch tripod bush. On the back of the camera there is a depth of field table. The battery compartment is under the right hand body panel which is opened and closed by a simple turn screw. There is no built in metering you have to use a separate hand held meter or invest in the Noblex Panolux exposure module.
Accessories available are magnetic filters, a pan head and as already mentioned the Panolux 135 exposure module.
One has to be aware that horizontal straight lines parallel to the camera curve dramatically. Something you either like or dislike. I tend to photograph more at a diagonal where this effect is not as pronounced. Downsides are few; the main problem is the slow drum rotation of the lens at the slower shutter speeds. At the 1 second setting the drum takes an incredible 60 odd seconds to complete a full rotation! So for a time exposure of 10 seconds the total mechanics involved will amount to over 10 minutes. Hardly one for the decisive moment, perhaps that should be moments. Fortunately the drum rotation at the higher speeds is less then 0.5 seconds. The lens doesn’t like being pointed where a bright sun appears in the shot, as this causes severe flare and can even fog the next frame! Once you are aware of this you just try and avoid the sun. I much prefer overcast lighting anyway. So all in all this is a great camera which is easily hand held at speeds 1/30 and above. On the camera body are rubberised finger grips which help prevent fingers appearing in the shot but despite these I still on occasion manage close-ups of my finger tips. Because the film is held tightly at the film plan to ensure the best possible sharpness, I’ve noticed the occasional scratch on the emulsion side of the film.
Suppliers:
The camera is supplied in the UK by Robert White and Teamwork, approximate cost £940. For more technical details go to Noblex.
Photographer’s Notes.
The joy of using this camera is its extreme angle of view; I can begin to include people on the edges without them being aware they are in the frame.
Compared to my more considered approach when using large format, using this camera almost exclusively hand held has liberated me as a ‘happy snapper.’ I can explore avenues that would be difficult with a view camera. One of the projects I’ve been exploring is photographing around London of subject matter that many tourists may photograph, only I’ve deliberately composed what many would consider – poorly – by making use of the camera’s extreme angle of view to include all sorts of paraphernalia. Placing subject matter on the edge of the frame or even dead centre to see what evolves elsewhere within the frame. There is a chance element involved which I enjoy.
Film used: HP5 plus, Delta 400 Developed in home brew PMK pyro (modified formula) for 9 min. at 21.C
Exposures: 1/30 to 1/125when using hand held and apertures from f5.6 to f16. I’ve even had success with hand held speeds as low as 1/15 second.
Trevor Crone, November 2007
For more of Trevor's panoramics, please visit his gallery