Medium Format · Panoramic
6×17
The rare format that makes unique panoramas.
Only four frames per roll...
The GX617 is a medium format panorama camera by Fuji. Before I found it, I didn't even know that format existed. I knew you could convert backs for large format to shoot a panorama, but a dedicated camera made just to shoot panoramas on 120 film is a whole different thing. It's like a big X-Pan.
The negative ratio is roughly the proportions of what your eyes see when you look at the horizon. It's a little taller and less long than a traditional 35mm panorama, which is more common.
Nobody really supports this format commercially. Traditional film scanners can't scan it natively, and camera companies don't make accessories or materials for it. When I went to print these in the darkroom, I realized pretty quickly that I'd have to get some custom tools to do it.
All color darkroom printing is done in total darkness. Red light is for illustrative purposes.
A big negative needs big tools to
enlarge onto darkroom paper...
The 6×17 negative is nearly seven inches wide. That's why I had to use a large format 10×10 enlarger, and then design and build a custom negative holder for the uniquely long negative.
6×7 versus 6×17 negatives
Hand sketch · working drawing for custom negative carrier
I made a custom negative carrier
My friend Ethan is a genius inventor and 3D print master. This is the drawing I made for him so that he could make me a 3D file to print.
Without the carrier, the negative has nowhere to sit in the enlarger's light path. It needs to hold the negative flat enough that the focus is consistent across all 36 inches of the print.
