I've been patiently waiting for this to drop for ~5 years, and I was hoping that it would somehow be under $1000.
Oh my god. $4400 is... a lot of money. $175 shipping had better include a Jeff Bridges Cameo video.
Don't get me wrong: I suspect that he's spent millions of dollars getting the project to this point, and that it's a mechanically perfect instrument. Huge respect for caring this much and seeing the project through.
But damn.
_doctor_love 2 hours ago [-]
Just because we're film enthusiasts doesn't make us SAPS!
JohnnyLarue 1 hours ago [-]
Nice marmot
_doctor_love 39 minutes ago [-]
Yeah dude, keeping an amphibious rodent within the city, you know, for domestic?
That ain't legal either.
55 minutes ago [-]
armadsen 2 days ago [-]
Yeah, I've been waiting for it for years too. I thought it was going to be substantially more than $4400 (more like $6-7K). Under $1,000 is unfortunately simply impossible. Used Wideluxes go for a fair bit more than $1K.
That said, too much for me right now. Maybe someday.
joe_mamba 2 hours ago [-]
>and I was hoping that it would somehow be under $1000.
Does this product have iPhone levels of sweatshop manufacturing and economies of scale, that such a price point would be realistic to you?
From what I know, the price is exactly where low-volume hand-made craft hardware is in the west, especially given the supply chain geopolitical challenges Trump caused.
peteforde 9 minutes ago [-]
Like I said, I was hoping that it would be closer to what an iPhone costs so that a lot more people can justify buying one.
I believe that it's better for their long-term viability if they sell 1000 for $2000 instead of 300 for $4400.
joe_mamba 21 seconds ago [-]
AS I said, the realities of HW development and manufacturing are different that what you expect. It doesn't matter what you hope, the math of economics dictate the result.
fdsajfkldsfklds 1 hours ago [-]
It seems to suffer from an un-necessary amount of panoramic distortion, unless that is supposed to be part of the charm.
armadsen 9 minutes ago [-]
That is indeed part of the charm. The people who like swing lens panoramic cameras like the Widelux like that look. The alternative is something like the Hasselblad Xpan, or even just a panoramic crop from a regular camera. A swing lens does something unique.
bitwize 2 hours ago [-]
He built it in a cave. With a box of scraps.
wvbdmp 15 minutes ago [-]
Well, in Germany. Seems like a great fit for Germany, too – precision optics and mechanics and zero digital complications.
redsocksfan45 1 hours ago [-]
[dead]
lschueller 48 minutes ago [-]
I don't see, what Jeff Bridges has actively to do with it. Besides being the marketing bait. Thr about us section just repeats the pr biography. What was his part in this camera?
CharlesW 35 minutes ago [-]
Jeff Bridges is a photographer (among other things) who’s been shooting with Widelux cameras for 40+ years. He’s the co-founder of the company who’s creating this revival. It would not exist without him.
armadsen 11 minutes ago [-]
Right. The whole revival was his idea, according to the story told by the other founders. Also, presumably he has funded the whole effort so far.
mschuster91 20 minutes ago [-]
TIL Jeff Bridges isn't just a pretty accomplished actor, but also a photographer who got an award and released multiple photo books [1].
Oh my god. $4400 is... a lot of money. $175 shipping had better include a Jeff Bridges Cameo video.
Don't get me wrong: I suspect that he's spent millions of dollars getting the project to this point, and that it's a mechanically perfect instrument. Huge respect for caring this much and seeing the project through.
But damn.
That ain't legal either.
That said, too much for me right now. Maybe someday.
Does this product have iPhone levels of sweatshop manufacturing and economies of scale, that such a price point would be realistic to you?
From what I know, the price is exactly where low-volume hand-made craft hardware is in the west, especially given the supply chain geopolitical challenges Trump caused.
I believe that it's better for their long-term viability if they sell 1000 for $2000 instead of 300 for $4400.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2019/12/04/did-yo...