Lomography Announces ‘Belair X 6-12′ Panoramic Medium Format Camera with Some Interesting Lenses

Holy moly! Where did this come from!? Out of nowhere, Lomography just announced a new medium format film camera — and not just some medium format film camera. The ‘Belair X 6-12′ — so its official designation — is a medium format panoramic camera that exposes 120 roll film in the 6×12 panoramic format, which equals a negative size of 52x104mm. Besides featuring an absolutely gorgeous retro bellows design, the Belair X 6-12 comes with two interchangeable lenses, aperture priority automatic exposure (a first in a 6×12 medium format camera) and the ability to select between the classic 6×6 format, the 35mm-like 6×9 format or the panoramic 6×12 format.

Lomography Belair X 6-12 Specifications

• Exposure Area: 104 x 52mm (6×12), 78 x 52mm (6×9), 52mm x 52mm (6×6)
• Film Type: 120 Roll Film
• Interchangeable Lens Mount: 3 Bayonet Type
• Auto-exposure Mode: Aperture Priority
• Auto-Exposure range: EV4 ~ EV15
• Highest Shutter Speed: 1/125
• Lowest Shutter Speed (B Mode): Unlimited
• Film Sensitivity Supports (ASA/ISO): 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
• Battery Supply: 2×1.5V (2 x LR44)
• Multiple Exposure: Yes
• Flash Connection: X-type Synchronization Hot-shoe
• Tripod Socket Thread: Standard ¼” Tripod Socket

90mm Lens Specifications

• Lens Focal Length: 90mm
• Maximum Aperture: 1:8
• Minimum Aperture: 1:16
• Angle of View: 65 degrees (6 x 12)
• Standard 35mm equivalent Focal Length: 32mm (6 x 12)
• Standard 35mm equivalent Focal Length: 40mm (6 x 9)
• Standard 35mm equivalent Focal Length: 52mm (6 x 6)
• Focusing Zones: 1m, 1.5m, 3m, Infinity

58mm Lens Specifications

• Lens Focal Length: 58mm
• Maximum Aperture: 1:8
• Minimum Aperture: 1:16
• Angle of View: 90 degrees (6 x 12)
• Standard 35mm equivalent Focal Length: 21mm (6 x 12)
• Standard 35mm equivalent Focal Length: 26mm (6 x 9)
• Standard 35mm equivalent Focal Length: 35mm (6 x 6)
• Focusing Zones: 1m, 1.5m, 3m, Infinity

The Belair X 6-12 is a classic medium format camera with the typical extendable bellows design we know from models like the Voigtländer Bessa III / Fujifilm 667. While a bellows mechanism is typically very delicate, the advantage is that you can use longer lenses with it and still have a very portable camera when it’s collapsed. Mind though that focusing does not occur via moving the bellows, but work lens-internally.

As a first in a 6×12 panoramic medium format camera, the Belair X 6-12 comes with auto-exposure functionality, meaning that it has a built-in meter and automatically selects the best exposure for a given scene. However, the fastest shutter speed is 1/125th second, which means you will have to stop down the lens significantly when shooting in daylight and/or with a fast film (the Belair supports films ranging from 50 — 1600 ISO.)

Initially, the Belair X 6-12 will come with two lenses, a 90mm wide angle lens and a 58mm super wide angle lens. Both lenses come in kit with the camera by default. A third lens (“a high-quality Russian glass lens” — no further info available at this point) is scheduled to appear later. The body also comes in different flavors, with three design choices: the ‘Cityslicker Edition’ comes with an all-black metal plastic body (thanks to reader Tavis to point this out to us) with black leather, while the ‘Jetsetter Edition’ and ‘Globetrotter Edition’ come with silver metal bodies and brown leather / snake pattern leather respectively.

At this moment, the Belair X 6-12 can only be pre-ordered via the internet, although with a special launch price of up to 30% off the regular price. The Cityslicker Edition comes in at US-$ 249 or US-$ 174.30 if you pre-order until December 10th. The Jetsetter Edition’s regular price is US-$ 299, it can be pre-orderd for US-$ 209.30. Finally, the Globetrotter Edition comes with a regular price of US-$ 349 and a special pre-order price of US-$ 244.30.

For further information and to pre-order the Belair X 6-12, Lomography has put up a microsite dedicated to the camera. If you’re interested in the exclusive snake leather styled Globetrotter Edition, you should hurry though: the Belair X 6-12 Globetrotter is exclusively available to pre-order customers and only 300 will be produced!

We here at The Phoblographer love film photography and are very excited about this new medium format offering by Lomo. If you’ve ever shot medium format film, you will know that it has a totally different quality from 35mm film. If you never did, we urge you to try it out once. We will make sure to get in a review unit of the new Belair and report about it in-depth for you.

Image Samples

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Tagged as: 6x12, 6x6, 6x9, film, Lomo, lomography, medium format, panorama, panoramic