Graflex.org Forum Index Graflex.org
Get help with your Graflex questions here
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Speed 4x5

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Graflex.org Forum Index -> Speed Graphic Help
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
d.s.



Joined: 19 Aug 2011
Posts: 9
Location: outer banks, nc

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:03 am    Post subject: Speed 4x5 Reply with quote

A few years ago I bought a speed graphic serial #891654, I'm confused as to weather it's an anniversary, crown etc. as I don't know what year it's made. The button that you press to open it is on the top in the center. The last one I used in 1973 had the opening button on the side.
It's just been sitting here for a while and I decided to use it, so last year I sent it's lens / shutter off (along with some others), to be cla'd by Paul Ebel.
Now I find that the range finder and the ground glass don't agree so I'll have to calibrate the range finder. It's a Kalart on the side with the number D56793 on the backof it.

So my question is... When was this camera made and which instructions do I follow to calibrate the range finder?
I really wand to shoot this thing.

Thanks for any insite you can offer.
d.s.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
pv17vv



Joined: 22 Dec 2001
Posts: 255
Location: The Ardennes, Belgium

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Data published here a while ago shows #902460 to be 1955, so I'd guess yours might be 1954.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If the camera has/had a Focal Plane Shutter then it is a Speed Graphic all years, all versions.

891654- near the end of a batch of 3000 listed in "the Book" in late 1953 with another batch of 2300 listed in early 1954. No guess as to when it actually came off the assembly line but assume it to be 1954, making it a Pacemaker and it should be a Speed Graphic.

http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/kalart-adjustment.html
(home page>technical information>adjusting your Kalart Rangrfinder)

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/kalart_1.html

Edit:
http://cameraeccentric.com/html/info/graflex_4.html or
http://cameraeccentric.com/html/info/graflex_5.html
(you have to save each page separately.)

Before adjusting anything:
1. set the camera to show the Rangefinder in focus at infinity.
2. folding the infinity stops down, set the front standard so the lens is in focus on the ground glass at infinity with the front standard locked and without moving the yoke (Graflex speak for rails).
3. Check focus throughout the focusing range of the rangefinder to the ground glass. If the rangefinder tracks the lens then the infinity stops are off, the rangefinder arm slipped on the rangefinder shaft or the actuator on the yoke has been moved or slipped.
_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.


Last edited by 45PSS on Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:04 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Billy Canuck



Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Calgary AB Canada

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 1:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Your camera was probably made in 1954, so it's a Pacemaker. Speed Graphics have a focal-plane as well as a lens shutter. A Speed will have a turning knob on the right side (as seen from the rear of the camera) that turns to adjust the speeds of the rear (focal-plane) shutter. A window on that side indicates the focal-plane shutter speed.
When you open the back of the camera, if you see a black fabric curtain, you have a Speed. The Crown has no focal-plane shutter, so no curtain.
The official instructions for calibrating the Kalart rangefinder are here:
http://www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/kalart-manual.html
There is a scan of the original manual for both the Speed and Crown Graphics on Mike Butkus' site:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/pacemaker_graphics_speed-crown.pdf
Mike asks for a well-deserved contribution of $3 per manual.
Google is your friend.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
d.s.



Joined: 19 Aug 2011
Posts: 9
Location: outer banks, nc

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes it has the focal plane shutter, winding knob, shutter speed window and It also has the shutter selector switch as well as a shutter release on the lower right side. I would have not thought it was that old because the camera and the other things in the case look like new. The bellows is supple and light tight. I would have thought that it was a well taken care of piece from the mid 70's.

The owners manual that came with it has a different model on the front that has the top rangefinder.
My confusion as to model comes from the manual title:

Pacemaker Cameras
Crown Graphic
and
Speed graphic

I knew it was a speed, just didn't know about the Pacemaker / crown / or anniversary, part.

Billy, 45pss, pv17vv

Thanks for your help! I know I'll have more questions later.

BTW, what is "the book"?

d.s.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

From http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/graphic-models.html we find that all Graphics from the Top Handle, Pre Anniversary, to the Anniversary were Speeds. Enter the Pacemaker Graphic in two versions, a Speed and a Crown. Not being familiar with the camera line and Graflex word play with graph/graf something in the name of its products creates a jumble of words that confuses everyone one time or another.
Read
http://graflex.org/articles/kingslake/
"The Book" is the common ledger that sometime after The Folmer and Swching Manufacturing Company was purchased by Kodak Mr. Folmer or Mr. Schwing went out and purchased and started listing the job number, quantity, model type, and serial number range in. In the mid 1920's they added the date the entry was made into the book. It is the only record by serial number of the cameras made.
Starting in 1960 a date code was stamped onto products as they were made.
_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
d.s.



Joined: 19 Aug 2011
Posts: 9
Location: outer banks, nc

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

45PSS
In your three items in:
Before adjusting anything:
Is the yoke, (rails), suppose to be locked all the way to the rear for this procedure?

I'm confused on this point in reading "the steps to readjusting the rangefinder", As it says:
"Note: on Pacemaker Graphic (including Century) cameras - the track must be racked forwards to bring the image into focus at infinity."

So if I'm to do a full recalibrate of the rangefinder for a 135mm Optar, 4.7; or a 152mm, 4.5 ektar lens, where is the starting point for the yoke? Fully rearward? If some what forward of fully rearward, how much?
From there on I understand the instructions except.....Is the infinity adjustment screw that is adjusted with a dime, simply turned with a dime or is a special tool needed to loosen the strange nut that is on the back side of the rear right runner first, then allowing the adjustment with a dime and requiring the strange nut to be tightened up after adjustment to secure the adjustment from moving?

Sorry for so many questions.
d.s.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Pacemaker should use an infinity adjustment similar to fig A on page 5 of the Kalart manual.
The screw head is large enough that a dime will fit into it and smaller screwdrivers will slip and mar the opening.

The Rangefinder bracket and bed can be positioned as you like, there is no absolute correct.
The factory setting is the yoke fully retracted then racked forward .040 +/- .010 so as to allow moving past infinity then forward to infinity as that is what most photographers of the day preferred.

You can set infinity with the yoke fully retracted if you wish but in doing so you must make sure that infinity is perfectly set. Factory specs say to use a target at least 5000 feet away. The further the target the more accurate the adjustment. The moon and sun make excellent targets but a special filter must be used for the sun or you will damage your eyes.
The rangefinder bracket on the camera yoke is positioned so that the yoke will fully retract into the camera without pushing the rangefinder arm past its physical travel limit and still allow the eccentric screw to adjust the rangefinder's infinity.

Once the yoke position is determined and set, the rangefinder arm correctly attached to the rangefinder, and the rangefinder bracket set on the yoke then the infinity screw is turned to bring the rangefinder infinity to agree with the camera infinity.

Past problems solved show that the rangefinder arm set screw can come loose and cause the arm to slip on the rangefinder shaft, the rangefinder bracket may have moved, adjustments shifted from vibration caused by transporting the camera.
_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
d.s.



Joined: 19 Aug 2011
Posts: 9
Location: outer banks, nc

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to update this thread for future readers...

The calibration went fairly smooth in that there is a cul-de-sac across the street that ends at the bay and across the bay, (at about three miles). there is a water tower to focus on for the infinity part.

I used my garage door which is painted white, for the close focusing adjustments. I placed black electrical tape horizontally on the door, two rows with a 1/16" gap between, two rows with 1/8 inch gap, and two rows with 1/4" inch gap between them for focusing on. The gaps made it kinda like tryng to focus on line pairs.

On the driveway a laid down a 30 foot tape measure with the zero tip at the garage door. The camera mounded on a tripod was set up so that when a plumb bob was lowered down from the focal plane it rested at the proper footage on the tape that was being calibrated in the instructions.
At this stage the adjustments to the range finder are best made in very small amounts.

I decided to use the 135 Optar lens as it was the lens that came with the camera. I'm thinking about making some footage markings that can be used for other lenses that I have after establishing their infinity points on the yoke, but for now I'm happy with this.

I would like to thank all here for the help you gave me with this as you made this so easy.

d.s.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I would like to thank all here for the help you gave me with this as you made this so easy.


No, we stopped you from making it harder than it actually is.

http://www.darkroomagic.com/DarkroomMagic/Camera.html

Print out several copies of the USAF 1951 test chart on your photo printers highest settings and attach to the wall or a poster board, makes for an excellent target.

There are some other very good lens test targets that work very well also.
_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Graflex.org Forum Index -> Speed Graphic Help All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group