Jeff Bridges has been an ambassador for the iconic camera (watch his 2019 video at Jimmy Kimmel Live) and this month the actor received the first samples of the upcoming WideluxX panoramic camera.
Back in October 2024 I wrote here at PVC that “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.” Well, we’re in 2026 and news about the camera have surfaced with a note: “Something special just arrived in California…”.
As I also wrote then the WIDELUX camera, first developed by Panon Camera Shoko, in 1958, ended production in 2000, but a new model is coming in 2025, thanks to “The Four Musketeers”. This was announced in 2020, two decades after the production of the WIDELUX ended. During an interview with SilvergrainClassics, in 2020, Jeff Bridges 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 WideluxX.
Communication was sparse during 2025, and the launch of the new model never made the news, but October 2025 a WideluxX prototype was revealed. A video introducing the prototype 0001 was presented at the International Association for Panoramic Photography convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with “The Four Musketeers” talking about the project. SilverBridges, the company founded by Jeff & Susan Bridges and Marwan El Mozayen and Charys Schules was paving the way for 2026.
Now, as 2026 is still in its infancy, the announcement that “Something special just arrived in California…” on the email I received this morning is a sign of things to come. And we’re treated to a very special “unboxing”, video as Jeff Bridges opens the box received through DHL to find, samples 001 and 002 of the new WideluxX.
The company says that “moments like this remind us why we started this project in the first place: seeing WideluxX in the hands of photographers, doing what it was built to do.” And the email ends with a “We’re moving forward quickly now, and we’re excited to share more of the journey with you soon.”
