What should I look for in a swing-lens panoramic camera?

I wanted a rotating-lens panoramic camera about 20 years ago. I wanted one that used 35mm film. At the time there were three options – Widelux, Horizon or Noblex.

I ignored Widelux cameras because they were out of production and seemed hard to obtain. I believe they were made in Japan. I know that Neil Leifer used one from time to time on assignment for Sports Illustrated. I ignored Horizon/Horizont cameras because reviews (20 years ago) said that they were not very reliable. I think they were made in Ukraine or Russia. I believe these cameras don't use any batteries, and rely on "clockwork-type" mechanics to spin the lens drum. I read that the electronically-controlled Noblexes were much more exact, and as they were in production and easy to buy new, that's what I went for. I bought a Noblex 135 S and loved it and continue to use it. The slightly-higher-spec 135 U didn't offer any additional features that were important to me – I think it has slower shutter speed options than the 135 S, but since you need a tripod for such exposure durations, you can achieve the same result with the 135 S using its multiple exposure feature.

Noblex cameras were manufactured in Germany by Kamera Werk Dresden. They are no longer in business, but it's well worth a look at the archived version of their website. Here's a comparison of different models for example. They also had a page on user advice and potential problems, but it was only available in German.

As I mentioned, I wanted a 35mm camera, but Noblex also had models using 120 film – the 6/150 models produced images measuring 50 x 120 mm (see the archived Kamera Werk Dresden website for the specific differences in specs), and the 175 UX produced images measuring 50 x 170 mm. In addition, the Widelux 1500, introduced around 1988, also used 120 film.
Edit to add: I recently became aware of a couple of other medium format options... There is also a Chinese camera called WIDEPAN PRO-2 140, and another option from German industrial camera manufacturer KST called Eyescan 624. I saw these on an old panoramic camera listing from panorama-gallery.com.

The Lomographic Society seems to have bought/licenced the Horizon camera – you can still buy these new I think. Last time I checked, there were two models. I'm not sure what the difference is between them, but I think one has a fixed aperture and fewer shutter speed options. Again, I think these work without batteries. If buying a new camera, and having the reassurance of a warranty, etc, is important, I'd check these out. They have a microsite here: https://microsites.lomography.com/horizon

By the way, I talk about "shutter speeds" as that's the accepted term in photography, but these cameras do not have a shutter. They use a lens sitting inside a drum, that rotates about its own vertical axis, and has a narrow vertical slit. When you take a photo, the drum rotates, exposing the slit to the light, which passes through the lens to the film. The "shutter speed" setting determines the duration for which light is hitting any portion of the film.

And actually, that might be the crux of the answer – with "normal" photography, people obsess over distortion and sharpness towards the edge of the image circle, but with a rotating-lens camera, only the centre of the lens projects light onto the film. What is much more important with these cameras is evenness of rotation of the lens drum. That was one of the big selling points of Noblex cameras – they are electronically controlled, and by the time the slit starts admitting light to the lens/film, the drum has already done a half-rotation, shaken off any inertia and is rotating smoothly at all "shutter speeds" – avoiding banding in the exposed image. Take a look at the Camera-wiki.org article on the Widelux for an example of this banding.

Also worth mentioning – which is not particular to any model – but it's a good idea to avoid full sun in your photos with this kind of rotating-lens camera design. There is often too much variation in brightness across the full ~140° of the scene, and you can get weird flare effects, because of the lens rotating past the sun. You can kind of see the effect in this Lomography Horizon sample photo.

There's a lovely book by Nick Meers called 'Stretch: The Art of Panoramic Photography' – I recommend having a look if you can (perhaps your local library can source a copy) – it's a nice overview of panoramic gear options and is profusely illustrated with inspiring sample photos.

To add to your list of photographers working with this type of camera, I would suggest also checking out Macduff Everton who often used a medium format Noblex camera – personally, I think he has created some wonderful photos that really can't be replicated very easily with other gear. Small titbit of info... I read somewhere that he (exclusively?) shot with ISO 800 colour negative film from Fujifilm. I have his book 'The Western Horizon' – also worth checking out.

Anton Corbijn also used a Horizon camera during photoshoots with the band U2 in preparation for the 1987 release of The Joshua Tree album. The vinyl release opened to reveal this photo. Corbijn said, "I'd never shot with it before, so I took a risk. On the shoot for the gatefold sleeve I had no idea how to focus it properly. I focused on the background and the band are slightly out of focus. Fortunately there was a lot of light. You also see my case on the ground – I had no idea it was in the shot." Something to keep in mind when you are using one of these cameras.

Elephant Rides, Thailand, 2004