Graflex.org

[frohnec]

From the discussion about the film holder TR mentions that a ground glass is necessary to calibate the Kalart side mounted rangefinder.
I reviewed the steps on how to adjust Kalart and step 1 is to focus camera at inifninty - is this where i would be looking at ground glass focusing panel to check focus?
I do not have a gound glass focus panel so could i fabricate a 4 x 5 sheet of glass using the procedure some where on this web site to grind the glass then use a spare film holder and mount the glass - ground side facing the user not the lense - exactly - using my finest calipers where the film emulsion side facing the lense - would be?
Or should i use the focus scale for now and see how the pics come out?

[Les]

I leave you to figure out how to get the glass in the right position. If you've got more than one set of calipers and already understand that the glass has to go where the film is I'm sure you'll figure it out.

but for calibrating the rangefinder I use a strong loupe (10x) and regular window glass.

Make a mark on one side, either scratch the glass or use a permanent marker. With this mark on the opposite side, put the loupe down and focus on the mark.

Now install the glass into the camera and set the camera up. You won't be able to see the image without the loupe, but the image will be much brighter and contrastier. Don't worry about checking the corners, you want the center to coinside with the rangefinder.

[t.r.sanford]

Right. If all you want to do is calibrate the rangefinder and make sure the infinity stops and the distance scales are correctly positioned, that method {"aerial image focusing") is the best way to proceed.

In any case, I think you'd be best advised to resolve the focusing panel problem before doing anything else. No harm would result from a scale-focusing experiment, but there's a pretty good chance that it would simply be a waste of film. How certain are you that the distance scales are in the right position on the camera bed, and that they are the correct ones for the lens that's presently installed?

I suppose everyone who has considered making a focusing panel has thought of modifying a filmholder for the purpose. I tend to think that doing this with a double-sided holder would be more difficult than starting from scratch, and would have the additional drawback of sacrificing the filmholder. (How many holders came with the camera?)

By now, you probably know what kind of back is on the camera. You probably can find a filmpack adapter for that kind of back. Since filmpack is no longer made, these adapters are quite cheap; fifty years ago, they were all of the place, and were perhaps the most popular film accessories for "Graflex" backs. If the darkslide is damaged or missing, as they sometimes are, the price should be even lower; and you don't need the darkslide. If an old filmpack were included, as sometimes happens, you'd be even further along.

A filmpack adapter has the great advantage of being made to press the pack itself, which was made of thin metal, tightly against the inner surface of the filmgate. Thus, what you'd need to do is remove the hinged shallow box and use the frame that carries the darkslide as the basis for your panel. The basic method would be to devise a couple of very thin spacers or shims, the same gauge as the filmpack casing, to hold the groundglass in the same position as the film. If you had an old filmpack, you could take it apart (they were made to come apart easily), cut away the parts you didn't need, and use the cutout front face as your spacer. Alternatively, a piece of very thin card stock, like Bristol board, probably would be about the right thickness.

Alternatively, you could measure your filmholder and make a frame on the basis of those measurements. There probably are half a dozen good ways to approach this. You say you have a back that holds accessories in place with a sliding retainer, rather than by means of a pair of springs. Therefore, two thought-models might be (1) a base plate, sized to fit snugly between the rails and to be held firmly in place by the retaining bar, which will carry an open box or chimney; or (2) an open box, or chimney, equipped at one end with flanges that will fit between the rails and accommodate the retaining bar. In either case, the second part of the design task involves the standoffs or supports inside the chimney on which the groundglass will rest.

You've seen the discussion of making a groundglass. My thought is that you might find a decorative-glass shop that could cut an accurately-sized piece of ground or etched glass for you; if you're making the panel, the thickness of the screen isn't particularly important. If you're doing it yourself or working with a cooperative glass supplier, a small, clear central area with a fine X scribed in the center and filled with India ink might be a useful provision. This allows for aerial image focusing at the center of the field. Even with the lens stopped 'way down, you can see the image, and you can tell whether it's in focus by moving your head slightly from side to side. If the black cross appears to float across the image, it is out of focus; if cross and image appear to move together, it is in focus.

Overall, there are a couple of points to keep in mind. If your intention is to use the "Speed Graphic" as a rangefinder-equipped press camera, then it doesn't matter if the focusing panel is awkward, as long as it is accurately made. But if you think you'll want to use the camera for groundglass composing and focusing in the field, you want something that folds up and is easy to carry around with you.

You'll find a good deal of discussion on this site of infinity stops, distance scales and rangefinder calibration. In very broad outline, the procedure for getting everything lined up and working together is (1) move the track all the way back, then nudge it forward about an eighth of an inch from its rearmost position; (2) unlock the front standard so you can pull it back and forth on the track, then use the groundglass and move the front standard forward and backward until you're getting a sharp image of a target at infinity -- take the time needed to do this very accurately; (3) move the infinity stops into contact with the front standard and tighten them down, making sure the front standard is parallel with the back; (4) adjust the distance scales for infinity; (5) adjust the rangefinder.

In the event, you may find that the infinity stops and the distance scales already are in the right place, which will make the job easier. But you won't know unless you have a groundglass focusing screen to work with.

[frohnec]

I appreciate how much you guys have taught me. Thanks
My decision is based on:
Do I want the satisfaction of making the focusing panel myself and save some money.
Use the aerial method of calibration
Finally purchase a graflok back and be done with it.
Any thoughts on how much a graflok back in mint condition should cost?

[t.r.sanford]

"Graflok" backs seem to be plentiful, but most of the ones I've seen have been missing something (often sold separately). They're not cheap; if you find one intact, the price probably will be over $100.

As an alternative, you might consider a "Graphic" back. You've asked about the Polaroid "545" adapter, and about cutfilm. If those two options are the ones most important to you -- you don't care about rollfilm or magazine backs or the other Polaroid adapters -- a "Graphic" back ought to work for you. I haven't seen a lot of them sold separately, but there are a good many stripped and unserviceable "Speed Graphics" offered for parts, and if the back is still there and in one piece, it's five minutes' work to transplant it onto your camera.

But if I were doing it, I'd look for a "Graflok" back and bite the bullet.

[frohnec]

SO far I spent $110 on the camera Speed Graphic which includes shipping.
$60 for a polaroid 545 back - which includes shipping.
If a graflok back cost me $100 than I am still in good shaped considering I am entering the large format arena with a timeless camera that I have wanted since I saw Jimmy Olsen carrying it around.

[t.r.sanford]

I agree with you. Of course, the calculation of gain and loss may be a bit more complicated -- if you got a "Graflok" back, you'd have a "Graflex" back (or whatever it is) and filmholder to sell; but you'd want some "Graphic" filmholders (in my experience, five or six make up a practical working outfit.

And, of course, assembling, restoring and growing into a classic camera outfit tends to be like eating pistachio nuts; it's very difficult to stop...

[frohnec]

Graflok backs require graphic film holders?
Any other kind i should consider?

[t.r.sanford]

The earlier "Graphic" back, which was succeeded by the "Graflok" design, was simply the timeless "spring" back found on just about every press and view camera made in the United States from World War I through World War II. The same design is still used on 8x10 view cameras. It consists of a focusing panel, angled on the right side of its interior face to make it easy to slide filmholders uner it, and two flat springs at top and bottom. Sliding the holder in pushes the panel back against the springs; the tension keeps the holder in place. The back has a shallow groove milled across its right edge, which mates with a ridge or boss on the holder.

The kind of holders that work with this sort of back are "Graphic" holders. Holders were made by other companies, too. Since the design was so widespread, the holders are pretty much interchangeable across makes, models and years.

The disadvantage to this kind of back is that the only accessories you can use with it are those thin enough to slide under the panel, with the limit on thickness of the accessory imposed by the springs. Double-sided holders fit perfectly; they are what the back mostly was made to accommodate. I could get a filmpack adapter under the "Graphic" focusing panels on my "Anniversary" and early "Pacemaker Speed" camera, but it was a tight fit. The Polaroid "545" holder will fit. Several rollfilm adapters were designed to fit; they held both spools on the right side, sticking out to the right of the camera, and led the film on a long course across the filmgate, around a roller, and back out to the takeup spool.

Graflex never made a rollholder like that, and the ones that turn up tend to take 620 film (practically unavailable), or to be very expensive.

The "Graflok" back was designed to replace the "Graphic" back, accepting the same cutfilm holders. But the focusing panel is easy to remove, and two sliding retainers at top and bottom then could be used to attach accessories too fat to slip beneath the focusing panel: "Graphic" rollfilm backs, the Polaroid "450" and "550" backs, "Grafmatic" magazines, and so forth -- even a coldlight enlarger head, the "Graflarger," that converted the camera into an enlarger.

The "Graflex" back was, as far as I know, unique to Graflex. It originated on the large-format reflexes for which the company was best known in the first quarter of the 20th Century. Those cameras did not need focusing panels on the back, except very occasionally. Since Graflex had no domestic competition for this kind of camera after about 1920, no one else (so far as I know) made "Graflex" back accessories.

As noted earlier, the big difference in the accessories themselves is that "Graflex" filmholders (double-sided, filmpack, cutfilm magazine and roll) used a very different kind of light trap. The back itself was formed of sheet metal, with edges bent back at right angles to make a shallow box. The bend at the right end mated with a groove milled into the accessory, and a slide held the accessory in place.

Thus, "Graflex" backs must be used with a "Graflex" focusing panel and "Graflex" filmholders. If what you have definitely is a "Graflex" back, you could look for a focusing panel (they do exist) and some more holders, and work very conveniently and happily. Lots of people did. But you can't use a "Polaroid" filmholder of any sort, because none ever was made with the peculiar "Graflex" light trap arrangement.

The first thing to do is to be very sure of what kind of back you have. There are good descriptions of all three kinds on this site. If, as seems likely, it is a "Graflex" back, the options are to stick with it and find the necessary accessories (but renounce Polaroid film), or to remove it and replace it with a "Graflok" (more costly but more versatile) or a "Graphic" back. If you do either of those things, you'll need "Graphic" accessories -- cutfilm holders, for starters -- but you will be able to use the Polaroid "545" adapter.

[45PSS]

4x5 graflok frame only listed on photo.net's large format classifieds.

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