Jeff Bridges, who has multiple times espoused his love of the panoramic Widelux film camera, is planning to make it easier for more people to find a love of photography the same way he did by remaking the classic camera next year and calling it the WideluxX.
Bridges just last week appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote the second season of FX’s The Old Man, but the Oscar-winning actor spent a few minutes chatting about his favorite photographic tool, the Widelux.
“Most of the photographs I take are done with a Widelux camera. It’s a panning, still camera. I use the 35mm version. It’s got a 28mm lens that pans nearly 180 degrees. Instead of a traditional shutter, it has a slit that, as the lens pans, exposes the film,” Bridges has said.
The Widelux uses a novel 26mm swing lens with a slit that pivots and acts as the shutter, slowly exposing an area onto a strip of film as it does so. It has a 126-degree field of view with an image size of 24x59mm. Because it’s panoramic, the negatives it produces are twice the standard 35mm frame width. It has a limited number of shutter speed options — 1/15, 1/125, and 1/250 — and set aperture values of 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, and 11.
“The first time I came across one was in high school. We had been gathered together to take our class photo. The photographer had a Widelux. He explained how it worked. Some kids figured if they ran very quickly, they could beat the panning lens and be in the picture twice. They were right. Years later, I started using this technique to take pictures of actors creating the theatrical masks of Tragedy and Comedy. The result was someone frowning and smiling at himself — all on one negative.”
As much as Bridges loves the Widelux, it’s not easy to share that love with fans of his photography or his work because the camera, originally manufactured by the Japanese company Panon Camera Shoko in 1958, is now quite rare. He seems to have taken that to heart and, by next year, plans to rectify the situation by remaking the classic camera for the modern film fan.
To do so, Bridges along with his wife partnered with SilvergrainClassics’ editor-in-chief Marwan El Mozayen and Charys Schuler to form SilverBridges — a portmanteau of Silvergrain Classics and Jeff and Susan Bridges. SilverBridges, which is a German company, will reproduce this camera by next year — or so that’s the goal.
“Jeff, his wife Susan, SilvergrainClassics’ editor-in-chief Marwan El Mozayen, and I, Charys Schuler, are now the proud co-owners of a newly formed company which will produce the camera. While working on the project, the four of us at some point started calling ourselves ‘The Four Musketeers’. This spirit of adventure is one of the key elements to making such a complex project possible,” Schuler says.
For now, details on the WideluxX project are limited, but the company says that the new camera will combine the iconic rotating lens with modern technology to deliver panoramic images with “vintage charm and contemporary durability.” That last note might refer to the camera’s renown as a relatively fragile system. SilverBridges says the goal is to offer a camera that can provide a unique photographic experience that appeals “to both enthusiasts and professionals seeking high-quality, retro-inspired tools.”
“It was truly inspiring for us to see Jeff Bridges light up with excitement while talking about this project. His enthusiasm for the Widelux was evident in every word,” SilvergrainClassics writes. “Bridges’ love for photography, combined with his desire to preserve and elevate analog techniques, makes this project particularly special to us. The Widelux, with its sweeping panoramic lens, is not just a camera to him—it’s an extension of how he views the world, capturing moments with depth and breadth.”
SilverBridges doesn’t say at what stage the camera’s development is currently, when in 2025 it aims to make the camera available, or how much it might cost. Given that vintage Widelux cameras in good condition are regularly listed for well over $1,000 (when they’re available), the WideluxX will likely be pretty expensive, especially considering the costs of developing a new camera (even if it’s based on an existing design). If nothing else, though, it should make acquiring one of these special panoramic cameras easier and more straightforward.
Those who are interested in staying up to date on the development of the WideluxX can sign up for email notifications on the WideluxX website.
Image credits: SilverBridges