Like the VUWS but want a bit more ? Well in 2025 Reto quietly released the camera that might be for you . Over shadowed by their Kodak branded cameras – this one is a sleeper Lo-Fi. It offers a VUWS with flash and a Panorama mode. Meet the Reto Pano the camera that can make Xpan style images on a tiny budget. But….. there’s always a but

It’s been a while but I do review film cameras too !!!

^{Disclaimer: This review is my views. I bought the Reto Pano myself and have not been approached about writing or tweaking this review. Historically I did receive a pre production copy of the Lensfayre Snap LF-35M but I wasn’t paid for that review nor did the company have any editorial control of what I’ve published.,. There is also a link or 2 in here whereI get commission from amazon.}

The TL:dr

The Reto Pano takes a 22mm VUWS lens and bolts on a flash and a switchable faux panoramic mask giving 13x36mm frames. Quirky but the image quality isn’t as good as the VUWS especially on the long end . Which is weird as this aimed for Pano.

Hang on that’s not XPan

No and i’m not really claiming this is. Kodak launched a cropped frame disposable called the Kodak Stretch. That cropped frame was used in a host of other cameras from low end right up to high end SLR cameras such as my Pentax MZ-3 that used switchable masks. In this mode standard 35mm frame is used but is cropped from 24x36mm to 13x36mm by a mask. They can be processed in any lab that does 35mm film although not all labs could do prints or scans in that format.

The Hasselblad Xpan (and Fujifilm TX version) Effectively used 2 35mm frames to create a 24x65mm image. And yes you’re lining up your shot with classic glass and metering etc. It’s a proper rangefinder with swappable lens .

The image quality is enhance by more film real estate. But not all labs can do anything but develop the film. Buying these is not cheap hobby with the cameras selling for Leica M money and unlike those Leicas, if something fails (usually the electrics) they’re toast. You also get half the shots per roll.

The Lomography Sprocket Rocket is the only camera offering anything like that frame size today. It takes 24x72mm images on 35mm film with or without sprockets

Reto and the VUWS

Reto have become a major player in camera production in the space of a few years becoming the only manufacturer to truely rival Lomograhy at 35mm end. They’re best known nowadays for their Kodak Branded models notably the sublime half Frame Kodak Ektra H35 series cameras. as we’ll see there is a link to this camera there. The company started out with a revived Nimslo like 3D camera the Reto 3D back on Kickstarter in 2019.

The other notable thing they did was to produce the Reto UWS. A clone of the legendary Lo-Fi masterpiece – the VUWS (Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim). Although VUWS was cheap and tiny (probably the smallest production full frame 35mm camera ever made), it’s cheap 22mm 2 plastic element lens was surprisingly good.

That lens would turn up in the Ektra H35 (and a glass plastic hybrid in the H35N). And guess what the lens spec of the Reto Pano is….

Couldn’t I just crop a VUWS shot ?

Well yes and to be frank, I’ve not got an answer to that….

Reto Pano- Looks and layout

It’s cheap plastic camera that looks a bit like a disposable or reloadable disposable. It’s available in 5 colour styles although the black and the transparent one I got I’d argue look the best.

There are some nice touches. It has a sliding lens cover that lock the shutter when close. It also acts as the trigger for the flash. Now that takes a AAA battery but the camera will work without it. Up on the top plate there is the shutter button, a mechanical frame counter and a sliding switch to engage the frame mask. You can swap this in and out mid roll

On the base you’ve a battery cover, Rewind button and the typical rewind dial

It’s cheap plastic but well enough put together. The plastic rewind crank feels a weak point. But that’s common in this class.

Reto Pano – The Spec

So we have 22mm 2 element optical grade Acrylic lens with a fixed f/9.5 aperture (like the original H35). That’s married to a 1/100 fixed shutter speed. Keep that aperture in mind for later (½ stop wider than the VUWS)

The 22mm give the promise of pretty good Pano

The film plane is curved like the VUWS and the H35 to improve focus. In the frame box 2 plastic masks move in and out to give the cropped image

We’ve a standard thumb winder near the base and a easy take up spool.

The aperture is fixed and doesn’t alter when you turn on the flash. That flash is Xenon and powered by 1xAAA. A relief after reviewing rubbish LED flashes on lo-fi digitals.

In use

Not a lot to discuss here. Load, frame and shoot. The sliding lens cover that doubles as a flash switch is a neat touch.

That flash is pretty good for a simple camera (I suspect I’ve been reviewing too many LED flash lo-fi digitals)

Results

Now remember that aperture. It’s just a half stop widder than the VUWS but it matters.

Sometimes close up it has moments where you feel it’s nearly a VUWS.

But It’s a pano camera so the long shot should be key ? right

So about that ? hmm….

-A long shot too far

Take this shot taken on a VUWS clone. The VUWS is pretty good with details on both the flatron and the CBD skyscrapers behind

So centrally we’re pretty sharp for a plastic lens. As you’d image it does fall off to the far edges. So we get that soft vignette that gives the poorman’s LC-A feel.

The half a stop wider Reto Pano has less vignette but softens much more especially to the edges. It’s not awful but if all you wanna do is shoot outdoor buy a VUWS clone and crop

That said choosing your subject matters. This cropped Pano shot works better due to the smaller colour palette (the central building is also not that far)

Beyond that I could cut and past VUWS issues. You get Chromatic aberrations at the edges. There’s a smidge of vignette but less And you still get your meaty fingers in the odd shot although a lot less than the VUWS.

Distortion is odd. It’s asymmetric. In landscape, horizontally you get Pincushion distortion and barrel on the vertical axis

– that half stop matters

The VUWS is set to focus near perfect for hyperfocal distance at 1.45m giving it a theoretical DoF of 0.73m to infinity at f/11. Drop that to f/9.5 and you need to change your focal point or your DoF falls to 0.66-7.73m

I think they did adjust as the Pano is good to about 15m out but then falls off centrally. It’s much worse on the edges and is no VUWS. But it’s as good as a reloadable disposable

-Suggested Loading Guide

Exposure is left to you to manage via use of flash and film speed choice.

Broadly I’d say use 200 ISO for most circumstances with reasonable daylight. It’ll tolerate most daylight situations. If you’re off to Sunny Greece 100 ISO makes sense and if you’re in winter months or Scotland 400 ISO may also suit. C-41 Ilford XP2 for B&W is much more forgiving than most proper B&W films as well as most colour films.

Folk seem to like charts so based on the spec this should be what you follow base on the 2-3 stops over and 1 under rule

EV\ISO	100 ISO	200 ISO	400 ISO
Midday sunny Beach/Snow EV16	2.5 EV Over Acceptable	3.5 EV Over Poor	POOR
Sunny Strong shadows EV15	1.5 EV Over GOOD	2.5 EV Over Okay	3.5 EV Over Poor
Slight Cloud, softening shadows EV14	0.5 EV Over V. GOOD	1.5 EV Over GOOD	2.5 EV Over Okay
Overcast weak Shadows EV13	0.5 EV Under V. GOOD	0.5 EV Over V.GOOD	1.5 EV Over GOOD
Very Overcast No Shadows EV12	1.5 EN Under OKAY	0.5 EV Under V. GOOD	0.5 EV Over V.GOOD
Open Shade/sunset EV11	POOR	1.5 EN Under OKAY	0.5 EV Under V. GOOD

– Flash an odd highlight

I’ve maybe spent too much time reviewing Lo-Fi digitals recently but the flash on this is pretty good. Reto’s Manual suggest a 4-12ft range (that’s about 1.2-3.6m in sensible numbers). They don’t state an ISO associated with that calc. I can confirm at 2m you get good results with 200 ISO loaded. There’s a bit of fade off to the corners as you can see.

Cost

Amazon sell this currently for just under £35 at the time of typing in August 2026 (I get commission on that link btw – you can just search it yourself and other vendors exist).

Final Thoughts on the Reto Pano

If you’re looking for a flash enabled VUWS, this isn’t that. The wider aperture gives rise to poorer images. If you don’t need flash by the cheaper Reto UWS or another VUWS clone and if you must crop your images to the Pano format.

But…

You get a VUWS lite with a ultra wide 22mm, flash and a quirky pano mode. It’s a fair alternative to the dubblefilm clones and other plastic-flashtastic crowd

Just don’t rely on it for long shots

Alternatives

So there are a legion of current lo-fi cameras that you could just shoot and crop most obviously being Reto’s own VUWS clone. Or you could go down the line of the Lomography’s fun sprocket Rocket. Although you’re stuck with its idiosyncratic format requiring DIY or a lab that can handle the frame size.

But…

-The golden oldies

There are legions of vintage cameras that use Kodak’s faux pano format. The Halina Panorama (also sold under Ansco, Miranda and other branding) is the most obvious Lo-Fi one and was available as a rarer flash version (Halina Panorama F). It only natively shoots pano shots but has a removable mask allowing you to switch to full frame but not in roll

It’s weak on the edges but sharper centrally. For a Lo-Fi switchable there is the Vivitar PN2011 (aka Reader’s Digest PN929). I wasn’t a fan when I reviewed this back in 2017 but it take sharper images than the Reto Pano although lacks the flash.

Now of course there’s a range of 35mm cameras that offer switchable masks. So going from basic compacts like the Olympus OZ-10 up to proper SLR models like the Pentax MZ-5 or Minolta α303si Super

Likewise I picked up a Pentax MZ-7 with a kit 35-80mm SMC-Pentax AF lens when I was typing this for just £30. It’s a consumer focused Plastic AF SLR but does have full manual, AP & SP plus all those pre-sets. And it’ll work with all my current and future K-mount lenses with the exception of some of the DA class. If I wanna go lo-fi I can buy a holga or similar lens for that

Granted it’s got the 90’s plastic two tone looks that only Dot Cotton could love and its plastic will fail but I suspect after it has shot more rolls than the Reto.

Shooting Notes

All Reto Pano shots were developed and scanned by Photo Hippo with their medium scan option. Images unless indicated are unedited bar orientation correction