Customer Reviews

Lomography Horizon Perfekt Panoramic 35mm Film Camera

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well made and easy to use. The shutter speed and aperture ranges allow total flexability in exposure settings. The film image size fits in a 2 1/4 enlarger film holder. The included camera handle is unecessary if attention is payed to holding the fingers at the edge if the camera. A real bargain besides.

I couldn't afford to spend $1,500 for a used Widelux F7 or F8 in excellent condition, so I decided on a new Horizon Perfekt. I reached this decision after looking at a number of Horizon images on Flickr and elsewhere that really impressed me.

I had originally hesitated in buying a Horizon because I'd heard its body is made of plastic. The interior mechanism, however, appears to be largely metallic. In addition, the plastic body doesn't feel all that bad; its textured surface is easy to grasp. I've had the camera for several days now and, based on the first few rolls of film I've shot, I'm extremely happy with this purchase. Once you get the hang of it, loading the camera is pretty easy -- and as long as you follow the instructions, the Horizon is straightforward and almost easy to use. I especially liked being able to see the spirit level in the viewfinder.

I was slightly disappointed with the film chamber door, which feels even more plasticky to me than the rest of the camera body, but it's really no worse than doors on many other film cameras, so I'm not worrying about it.

I'm able to scan the Horizon Perfekt's 24x58mm frames using a CanoScan 8800F.

Included with the Horizon Perfekt is a set of filters that look incredibly twitchy to use, a detachable handle for the camera, a Lomography book featuring Horizon photos, and a camera case.

I just got the camera today.
The camera itself works well, I am shooting my first roll of film. I will add more to this review when I get the film developed.

The leather case that comes with the camera was moldy. Quite moldy. This is pretty disappointing given that I paid almost $500 for this thing. I cleaned it with 70% ethanol and hopefully the mold will not come back. I would have sent it back, but you can't send only the case back. And I do love this beast of a camera.

Low tech as all get-out (no light meter, no focus, manual film advance. etc.) But this is really an extraordinary camera, especially for the price.

You can get some really nice panoramic (wide screen) effects with the panoramic stitching software on most digital cameras. But I don't think it matches the true panoramic effect you get with this camera.

The lens rotates and the film plane behind the lens has an equivalent curvature so that you get the "true" panoramic effect, not just widescreen. The camera uses 35 mm film but creates a negative that's the length of a 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" negative.

It takes a little trial and error to learn what types of shots will work and what won't. But once you get the hang of it you will get some really neat effects.

I've done a lot of things to trim down my photo bag when I travel, like leaving the telephoto lens and external flash at home. But I still take this camera. On most trips I only use it for a handful of subjects (only three times on my recent trip to France), but to me it's still worth the extra weight to have this camera for the right shot.