During a recent Late Show with Stephen Colbert actor Jeff Bridges mentioned he was bringing back the WIDELUX camera in 2025, with a new model that combines its iconic rotating lens with modern technology.

The Widelux is a fully mechanical swing-lens panoramic camera first developed in Japan in 1958, by Panon Camera Shoko. There are both 35mm and medium-format models. Instead of a shutter, the camera has a slit that exposes the film as the lens pivots on a horizontal arc. The Widelux camera seamlessly blends panoramic innovation with vintage charm, delivering expansive, cinematic images through its rotating lens.

Celebrated for its timeless design and precision engineering, this analog marvel offers an immersive film photography experience, making it a revered tool with a lasting impact on the world of photography. The last model was launched in 2000 and 20 years later Jeff Bridges, during an interview with SilvergrainClassics suggested it would be cool to resurrect the camera.

The interview triggered a project that took shape two years later, when “The Four Musketeers” announced a new company – SilverBridges – that would produce a new swing lens panoramic film camera! After a period of silence, the most recent news confirm that the company is reviving this iconic camera for 2025 as the WIDELUX•X.

Jeff Bridges, unofficial WIDELUX ambassador

According to the information shared on the website dedicated to the project, staying true to its analog roots, the WIDELUX•X will be purely mechanical, preserving everything that made the original great while incorporating sustainable manufacturing practices. With modern durability and timeless charm, the WIDELUX•X is designed to last for generations, capturing stunning panoramic scenes for a new era of photographers.

Jeff Bridges has been an ambassador for the iconic camera (watch his 2019 video at Jimmy Kimmel Live). As ProVideo Coalition wrote in 2019, Jeff Bridges received the American Society of Cinematographers Award. Announcing the award, ASC President Kees van Oostrum said “Jeff Bridges is an extraordinary talent on the screen, and also a remarkable person off screen. He is beloved by many for his achievements as an outstanding Oscar-winning actor. We at the ASC feel like Jeff is one of us, because he shares our passion for creating artful imagery through his still photography. We are incredibly honored to present him with our Board of Governors Award.”

In fact, Jeff Bridges is a keen photographer whose photographs depicting the actors, crew and locations, build a narrative of the industry from his point of view. He is not a filmmaker, but he is a storyteller, both through his career as an actor and as a photographer. On sets, Bridges regularly takes pictures that illustrate the behind the scenes we never get to see. After completion of each motion picture, he edits the images into a book and presents copies to his collaborators.

In 2003, PowerHouse Books released Pictures: Photographs by Jeff Bridges, a hardcover book containing a compilation of his photographs taken on numerous film locations over the years, to much critical acclaim. Proceeds from the book are donated to the Motion Picture & Television Fund, a non-profit organization that offers charitable care and support to film-industry workers.

 Bridges’ intimate vision of Hollywood

For more than 30 years, on numerous film sets, Bridges, with his Widelux F8, has captured behind-the-scenes views of the creative world of moviemaking. In 2019, 16 years since his first collection of photography, Volume Two was published, with Bridges’ intimate vision of Hollywood behind-the-scenes. Included within are rare looks at the famed actors, top directors, talented costumers and makeup artists, skilled and creative set and art decoration, and the rest of the passionate crews involved in such memorable movies as True Grit, Crazy Heart, The Giver, TRON: Legacy, and Hell or High Water. Bridges’ proceeds from Jeff Bridges: Pictures Volume Two are donated to the Motion Picture & Television Fund.

Bridges’ photographs have been featured in Premiere and Aperture, and he has had gallery exhibitions around the world including at George Eastman House (New York) and the Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego). In 2013, Bridges was the recipient of an Infinity Award, presented by the International Center of Photography.

In Jeff Bridges’ special presentation at the Infinity Awards, he passionately discusses his love for the Widelux camera, the camera known for capturing sweeping panoramic images, highlighting how the camera’s rotating lens allows for capturing not just scenes, but moments in a way that feels alive and dynamic.

According to the website, the 2025 WIDELUX•X camera continues that tradition, as it combines its iconic rotating lens with modern technology, delivering stunning panoramic images with vintage charm and contemporary durability. It offers a unique photographic experience, appealing to both enthusiasts and professionals seeking high-quality, retro-inspired tools.

As the interest for analog photography grows, with examples as the return of Kodak Professional Photo Chemicals or the announcements made by HARMAN Technology and ILFORD Photo, the return of what is a classic camera is a welcome addition to the news.