Horizont

The Horizon is a panorama camera and part of the Horizon / Horizon family. It was built by KMZ in the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1973. The model was offered in the Soviet Union under the designation Горизонт. The 35 mm camera was also available on the Western market under the names “Kalimar Wide-X”, “Horizont Revue” and “Global-H”.

The way the camera takes the panoramic pictures is a special feature. Some panoramic cameras come with a very wide-angle lens and then crop off a portion at the top and bottom to create the panoramic look.

The horizon works somewhat like a scanner. The film is curved in the camera, and in front of it is the lens, which swings from side to side during the shot, capturing a 120-degree angle of view. The principle is very similar to the panorama function of smartphones, but it is the lens that moves and not the camera or smartphone.

The advantage of this mechanism is that panoramas can be created very easily and there are no problems with the transitions. This also makes it possible to take pictures without a tripod. One disadvantage, however, is that there is of course a certain delay. So if the subject moves faster than the camera, it appears in several areas of the picture.

The negatives of the photo camera have a size of 24 mm x 58 mm. For comparison, a normal picture normally takes up about 24 mm x 36 mm on a 35 mm film.

As you might guess, the lens on this camera is not interchangeable. The Horizont comes with an “OF-28P”. The widest aperture of the lens is f/2.8 and the focal length is 28 mm. The focus of the lens cannot be changed. The closest focusing distance is 100 cm. The range of the focus can be influenced by the selected aperture.

It should be noted that this camera does not have a function to measure the correct exposure. Aperture and shutter speed have to be set yourself. For this you can use an external light meter or estimate the exposure. The shutter speed can be set to 1/250 second, 1/125 second, 1/60 second and 1/30 second. For the aperture, you can choose between f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11 and f/16.

Batteries are not required for taking pictures. All functions are mechanical. Film transport is manual. Before rewinding the film at the end of the roll, a small button on the bottom must be pressed in. Then the film can be rewound and the roll removed. The camera must not be opened beforehand.

There is also a thread for a tripod on the underside. This is necessary for clear pictures, especially with longer exposure times. There is also a connection for a cable release.

Films for the Horizont

Normal 35 mm film is needed for taking photographs with the Horizont.

Available photo films for the KMZ camera, which can be easily obtained from online retailers, are the Ilford XP2 Super* for magical black-and-white images and the Kodak Ultramax 400* for brilliant colour images. Both films are well suited for a wide range of applications. This is also attested to them in test reports.

The development of the films is offered by many laboratories. Here, one should inform the lab that it is a film with panoramic images. Otherwise, the negatives may be cut in the wrong place.