Graflex.org

[kwmullet]

I'm using the list at
http://www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/top-rangefinder-cams.html as a guide for which lenses are useful with a crown when using the rangefinder.

I was just reminded today that in my search for a portrait lens, I've got to keep in mind the limited bellows draw of my crown graphic. With the rangefinder still engaged, I measure it as about 230mm. Ideally, I'd like to find a lens somewhere between 270 and 320mm. Clearly, I only have enough bellows draw to focus a straight 230 at infinity, so I'll need a telephoto, which requires much less bellows draw for the same focus distance.

I presume that a rangefinder cam that works on one 300mm telephoto won't necessarily work with another. Does anyone have any idea WHICH of the graflex cams (if any) were made for specific telephoto lenses?

[t.r.sanford]

I don't think the focusing excursion of a true telephoto is different from that of a lens of conventional design. The back focus is just shorter.

I suspect that the difficulty you may have with the cam is that the effective focal length of any existing lens almost always is slightly different from its design focal length -- they're almost always a little longer or a little shorter. Graflex service agencies used to make the necessary slight adjustments when installing the cam and infinity stops for a customer's lens.

There's a good article on this site of making rangefinder cams, which might be a more satisfactory procedure than trying to find the exact cam you need, and then finding out whether it works, and if it doesn't, modifying it.

[kfritch]

I have a number of range finder cams and I will give you the number and focal length stamped on each.

90mm - P14
100mm - P28
127mm - P4
152mm - P10
8" - P26 (Can be used with 203mm)
15" - P21 (Approx 375mm)

I also have one scribed as a P68 for 10"

[worldphoto]