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Grafmatic

 
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Stephen Furley



Joined: 11 May 2001
Posts: 79
Location: London, England

PostPosted: Wed May 29, 2002 10:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have three grafmatics. The first was broken beyond repair, but I bought it as it was very cheap, and had a perfect set of septums, which I thought would be useful.

I was right; soon afterwards I bought the the second one wich was in reasonable condition, but had only four septums, most of them bent. This one clearly states that it is made in England by Wray, under licence from Graflex.

The third one I have just bought on Ebay, it is in very good contition, and is rather interesting, for two reasons. Firstly, it is made by Fuji, and has no mention of Graflex. It seems to be identical to the later Graflex ones, with the plastic handle, except that the texture on the plastic surface is slightly different, and the molded-in label at the handle end reads:

"4x5 (100x125mm) SHEET FILM HOLDER PAT. PENDING. FUJI PHOTO FILM CO.,LTD. TOKYO JAPAN"

The screen printed label on the front looks modern, '70s maybe, but is a rather messy design, with "FUJI FILM" twice in different styles, "SHEET FILM HOLDER" and the name of the product, not grafmatic, but "QUICK CHANGER 45". This seems sure to cause confusion with the current "Quick change" holder.

I have a Quick change holder, and it is obvious that whoever designed it must have seen a Grafmatic, but I didn't know that Fuji had themselves made Grafmatics, albeit under a different name, nor that this name, slightly changed, would be used for the modern holder.

The other interesting thing about the Fuji holder is that in addition to the magnetic numbering wheel, it has two other, manually turned wheels; one has 'A' to 'J', and the other, 'K' to 'T'. I have never seen these before, did Graflex made holders ever have them, and what was their porpose? 100 possible combinations seems far many to identify the holder, there would be no need to identify the film type, as it would already have edge printing, but the wheels themselves can be seen when the holder is removed from the camera, so could indicate what type was loaded, but surely, the white panel on the back of the holder could be used for this. There aren't enough combinations for a date code, any other ideas?

Lastly, how did Fiji come to be making this, and with no mention of a licence from Graflex? It looks quite late, could it be that after Toyo acquired Graflex, they sold some of the designs, including the Grafmatic, to Fuji?
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2002 1:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"It looks quite late, could it be that after Toyo acquired Graflex, they sold some of the designs, including the Grafmatic, to Fuji? "
Your on the right track.

Toyo bought some of the tooling from Graflex and produced the super graphic for a short time. The same is true for the Grafmatic, and since Graflex was defunct there wasn't any patent problem.

I suspect the two other dials could be used as the photographer please. Marking each frame while doing lens/film testing? I'm not sure. I saw one a Fuji on ebay still in the box but couldn't see spending the money on something I coulldn't use (mint, in the box) but would love to see one up close.

I just recently came accross a Wray licensed Grafmatic and would love to see some pics. I wonder if there are any minor changes as it went accross the pond.

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Stephen Furley



Joined: 11 May 2001
Posts: 79
Location: London, England

PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2002 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2002-05-29 18:54, Les wrote:
Your on the right track.

"Toyo bought some of the tooling from Graflex and produced the super graphic for a short time. The same is true for the Grafmatic, and since Graflex was defunct there wasn't any patent problem."

Are you suggesting that the 'Fuji' ones were actually made by Toyo, not by Fuji themselves? This certainly seems possible. The 'PAT. PEND.' is interesting.

There are differences between all three of the holders which I have, but I think these may well be due to developments over time, rather than change of manufacturer.

These seem to be:

1: The handle.
This is metal on the Graflex, but plastic on the Wray and Fuji.

2: The main plastic body molding.
This is in an unidentified thermoplastic with a slightly textured surface on the fuji, rather than the smooth thermosetting phenol formaldehyde (Bakelite) used on the others. This was a change which needed to be made, the old version was too brittle. The fact that this molding was broken in several places, and part of it is missing is the main reason that my first holder cannot be repaired. The wording molded into this part is different on each holder, therefore new tooling must have been involved, which would not have been cheap.

3: The septums.
The Fuji ones are slightly different, the tuned over edges are cut at the closed end for about 9mm, and bent down towards the back, forming a flat spring to hold the film in place.

4: The extra edge-marking wheels.
Only the Fuji one has them.

5: The screen print on the front.
Obviously different.

6: The screws.
The Graflex one has an extra screw on each side.

These are the only differences which I can see, but I haven't dismantled the holders to look inside.

As I said before, I think that many of these differences may be due to age, rather than make.

The Fuji holder seems to operate more smoothly than the others, but I think this is just due to it being newer, and in better cocndition.
The septums in the new Fuji Quickchange holder are not compatible with the ones in the Quick changer (Grafmatic), thay are very slightly wider, not by much, but just enough to stop new Quickchange ones being used in a Grafmatic.

I wish Fuji hadn't used 'Quickchange' and 'Quick Changer' for two quite different products, it seems sure to cause confusion.

"I suspect the two other dials could be used as the photographer please. Marking each frame while doing lens/film testing? I'm not sure. I saw one a Fuji on ebay still in the box but couldn't see spending the money on something I coulldn't use (mint, in the box) but would love to see one up close."

I just recently came accross a Wray licensed Grafmatic and would love to see some pics. I wonder if there are any minor changes as it went accross the pond.



If you give me your e-mail address, I could send you some pictures of three holders, and of the Quick Change, as well if you haven't seen one of these.

There was another holder on Ebay recently, I can't remember the make, which was similar to the Grafmatic, but took more sheets,I think it was either 8 or 10. I have never seen one of these, and did not bit for it as the price was too high.
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Thu May 30, 2002 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lnphoto@twmi.rr.com

I'm not the administrator of the flash forum so I can't move the posts, sorry.

Les

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