A singularly
bizarre 135 rangefinder camera made by
Hasselblad.
Its chief characteristic is that it is a true "dual
format" camera: on the same roll of
35mm film, you can have both
24x36 mm and 24x65 mm, the latter being clearly a true
panorama negative (this is not like the silly
APS hack).
The
XPan has interchangeable lenses, although currently there are only two lenses for it: a 45 mm and a 90 mm. Notice that the lenses are more like
medium format lenses than
small format lenses, because they need enough
coverage for 65 mm - the horizontal size of the negative in panorama mode (I personally suspect that they are derivatives of Hasselblad lenses made for shooting on
120).
Also, the 45 mm when shot on panorama gives you the horizontal angle of view of a 25 mm on 24x36.
The camera has a certain degree of automation in exposure, focusing is manual, film transport is electrical. My impression is that without batteries this baby will not work at all.
Who is this camera for ?
The lover of expensive and well crafted toys will love it. As far as practical applications go, I would consider it a camera for photojournalism and possibly travel photography. I see the XPan as a possible alternative to the Leica and Hexar rangefinders.
I am not sure I would consider it as a first camera, mostly due to the price.
Would I love to have one ? Why, yes, it is a camera, I love all cameras.
The camera has its own slick website at www.xpan.com.