The best look at Jeff Bridges’ WideluxX Camera Revival project

We recently announced that the new WideluxX camera revival project has reached its prototype stage. Now, a few weeks later, a promised video from the makers of WideluxX is available online, shedding more light on the upcoming camera.

The WideluxX aims to revive and modernize the classic Widelux panoramic camera. The minds behind the project include Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges, his wife, photographer Susan “Sue” Bridges (née Geston), and Charys Schuler and Marwan El Mozayen of SilvergrainClassics. Together, the quartet of passionate photographers formed SilverBridges.

SilverBridges has gone to great lengths to revive the Widelux panoramic camera in a way that honors its heritage. Although its creators say there will be “many small improvements” in the new version, it preserves the original DNA of the Panon Widelux F8.

“20 years ago the Widelux factory burned down, so we decided to bring it back to life rather than let our favorite camera die,” Jeff Bridges says in the newly released video, which cannot be externally embedded, alongside his wife, Sue.

“We’re keeping it old school. It’s a film camera hand-made in Germany,” says Sue.

Schuler and El Mozayen explain that after reverse-engineering the Widelux F8 – the last camera Panon made before its factory fire – the SilverBridges team made notable improvements. For example, the buttons are better constructed than before.

“There will be a lot of small improvements,” Schuler says. “But its DNA remains that of an F8.”

“I think we see ourselves as the missing link between the history of analog photography and the future of analog photography. It’s not just about the Widelux, which is an amazing camera and a wonderful tool for artists, but it’s also about the future of analog photography. Giving a new generation of photographers the tools to work with. It’s about the art and craftsmanship of camera making and analog photography.”

“We hope you’ll join us on our scenic adventure,” says Jeff Bridges, joking later in the video that “we feel like we’re on Shark tank.”

The Widelux is extremely important to Jeff Bridges, as he explains in a separate WideluxX video below.

“I only really started getting into photography when I got my hands on a Widelux camera,” says Jeff Bridges. “There’s a certain kind of motion blur. And it was both sharp and blurry. And this wonderful frame sort of reminded me of the frame of the films I was making.”

Bridges describes the Widelux’s distinctive look and character as “sort of a missing link between still photography and film photography because of that lens that actually moves.”

As Bridges points out, “you never know what you’re going to get” when making a film. “It’s often a surprise. You get a little more than you expected.”

The award-winning actor and exceptional photographer says the Widelux is pretty much the only camera he uses.

Although the team has only shown off the very first prototype and notes that the final production version will be different, it’s still extremely exciting for photographers, both those who loved the original Widelux and those who have yet to try one. It’s a great time to be a film photographer.


Image credits: Silver grain classics