Thinking of a Widelux

[David Brown]

Well, for starters you can check out this first impression of the Horizon 202....http://www.photomalaysia.com/forum/i...showtopic=1084

Thanks, Maxby. If I get one of these, I'll have to learn to load it correctly

Great pictures, exactly what I had in mind.

David

[ksmattfish]

Well, after 6 rolls my impression of the Horizon 202 is that it lives up (or I guess down) to the reputation of many Russian cameras. I was using a brand new model, and I even had the instruction book to make sure I knew what I was doing.

It's a lot harder to load that the Widelux, at least for my fat fingers. The camera itself is shorter in width than the Widelux, and that means everything (the rollers, take-up spool, etc...) are crammed together.

I enjoyed the greater selection of shutter speeds. When winding the film it seemed to sound a little rough, but during the exposure the operation was smooth, and I didn't notice any banding, at least on the rolls that survived.

3 out of the 6 rolls were shredded when went to remove them. I think it happened during the rewind, although I made sure I was holding the rewind release down. 3 rolls came out okay. 1 of the shredded rolls appeared to have somehow began reloading itself backwards; possibly I was trying to use too long of a roll in it, and when the take-up spool got too thick it caught on the rachet.

Anyway, I know folks who've had no problems with their Horizon 202s, but the one I borrowed was a lemon. I did a quick search on the web, and ran into quite a few posts talking about the rewind issues with the Horizon.

[Melisa Taylor]

I have a Horizon 202 and have had no problems with it. I've only ran about 4 rolls through it, though.


I originally wanted a widelulx, but the price difference is huge.

[maxby]

Here are more photos taken with the Horizon 202 after I have sorted out how to load and hold the camera. Printing these images in the darkroom is a challenge as there is a very wide range of exposures to take care of. It is also a great street shooting camera........

http://www.fotopages.com/cgi-bin/account.pl?page=2

[ksmattfish]

Here are more photos taken with the Horizon 202 after I have sorted out how to load and hold the camera. Printing these images in the darkroom is a challenge as there is a very wide range of exposures to take care of. It is also a great street shooting camera........

http://www.fotopages.com/cgi-bin/account.pl?page=2

Hmmm... at the link you posted it's asking me for a password.

[Rocky]

I have a Horizon 202 also. I stll don't know what to think of it. I got some real nice shots with it, then a couple of rolls with defects on the negative. When I spoke with a friend that has a Widelux he said he gets occasional strange results as well. He thinks that lens flare and relections from the sun account for it. He says he gets best results in overcast or with sun behind the camera. Orie, if you just want to experiment I would recommend getting the Horizon...much less expensive!

[ksmattfish]

I'll post a set of sample images, and details from those images from my Widelux vs Horizon shoot-out in the technical gallery.

Both cameras were loaded with Tri-X. The day was overcast but bright. Both shots were taken within less than a minute of each other, and the lighting remained even. Exposure was 1/125th @ f/11 handheld. Both rolls were developed in the same batch of Diafine, and scanned at the same settings.

Both cameras have bubble levels, but you can see the Horizon level in the viewfinder. The Widelux image isn't quite level.