Graflex.org

[Cheryl J]

Hello, there.

I'm a 6x6 shooter who just bought a Speed Graphic on a whim. I'm very glad I did, as I'm in love with the idea of shooting a camera manufactured in 1941 (if the date on my lens is consistent with the camera.) I am absolutely clueless, however, as to how this thing works, even after perusing the manual I downloaded online, which was probably written for a significantly later model than mine.

My first order of business -- using the ground glass. Right now I see nada on the glass. I'm not sure if there's something I should be doing with the lens? I don't even know enough to know what my question is.

I'm accustomed to a pop-the-top Bronica, so any words of wisdom you could lend would be very much appreciated.

- CJ

[Nick]

[Cheryl J]

Nick, thanks for responding. Yeah, I mean blackness, zilch, nada.

The lens is a Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7. If it makes any difference, it says Kodak No. 2 Supermatic.

I figured I either haven't stumbled upon opening the lens, or maybe something's up with the focal plane shutter?

[Sjixxxy]

Focal Plane shutter is probably closed as well. Turn the little wind key until it shows 'O' in the upper window. Or if it is sitting in a position that shows a different letter in the window already, fire the shutter until it shows O.

[Rangemaster]

Well, I would suggest taking the lens board off the camera and look backwards twords the ground glass, if you see light, then the focal plane is not closed, I have a supermatic as well, I would suggest putting your shutter in the T position and then open it and look through the ground glass, make sure for this exercise you have the aperture open all the way and they you should be able to point at a light source and focus using the focus knobs on the side of the bed.

at least you figured out the most important thing, and that is there is greatness in the old dark box, they are a blast to shoot with and there is nothing to compare to looking at a 4 x 5 neg or transparancy, unless you have an 8 x 10!

Good luck and keep asking..

Dave

_________________
Focus on the Picture, Not on the Glass.
Satin Snow(TM) Ground Glass

[t.r.sanford]

As noted earlier, there are two or three systems that were provided for opening the blades of the front shutter. This kind of thing often is called "press focus."

The Kodak "Supermatic" shutter requires you to tension the shutter first. Once you've done that, you press and hold the little rounded button on the side of the shutter -- on mine, it's pretty much above the red "1" on the slow-speed scale -- and trip the shutter. The blades open, and you should be able to see something on the groundglass.

When you're ready to take the picture, you again tension the shutter (the arming lever has moved halfway; you move it back). If you've focused wide open, as most of us usually do, you now select the aperture and take the picture.

The position of the focal plane shutter is indicated in a small window on the flat metal box on the right side of the camera (the right side of the camera when you're behind it).

This window is a bit different in the "Pacemaker" and in the earlier "Anniversary" models. If your assumption that the lens is of the same age as the camera is correct, then you have an "Anniversary" -- but the camera may have had many adventures before it came to you, including the receipt of a different lens and shutter.

Whether it's an "Anniversary" or a "Pacemaker," you want the curtain aperture indicator to display an "O" (for "Open") when you wish to use the front shutter. On an "Anniversary," there are two little round windows on the FP shutter plate, a larger one just above an odd dog-leg lever and below the winding key and a smaller one at the bottom rear, just above a knurled knob. The upper one shows you where the curtain is, "O" means it's where you want it.

If it displays something else, you need to open it. If what appears is a "T" or another letter (or number), you want to bring the curtain down. If what appears is nothing, or the edge of the "O," you want to wind it up.

The Graflex FP shutter is a long strip of fabric with a series of horizontal slits in it. Unlike the FP shutter of a Bronica, it is not "self-capping," and uses a single curtain, not two. It is wound up onto an upper roller, against the tension of a coiled spring in a lower roller, and held in place by a pawl and ratchet mechanism. You wind it up with the key at the rear top right, and back it down with the ratchet.

On an "Anniversary" (and, I think, the earlier models too) you use the dogleg lever to trip the pawl and let the spring draw the curtain down to its next position. On a "Pacemaker," you find a grooved metal switch on the FP shutter housing (near the square window displaying the shutter speed); this can be pushed up (the position is marked "trip") to trip the pawl.

The knurled knob at the bottom of the FP shutter plate on an "Anniversary" changes the spring tension. You should find an inscribed plate somewhere on the camera (it's on the top of the body of mine) that tells you the combination of curtain apertures (large window) and tensions (small window) you set in order to get a desired shutter speed.

When you're not using the FP shutter, and you've got it to the Open position, it's a good idea to make sure that the tension setting is at its lowest ("1" on an "Anniversary"). This minimizes the eventual fatiguing of the spring. The pawl in front of the small knob, and partly surrounding it, is used to back the tension down.

It takes about ten minutes of playing with the thing and "dry-firing" it to grasp the essential logic of the design. After that, using it becomes second nature.

[Cheryl J]

Oh, that's very helpful. Thanks, particularly to T.R. Yes, based on your post, it looks like this model is an Anniversary. I'm understanding the this a bit better now. OK, I've got it on O and the curtain is open, and the button on the side of the lens was what I was missing to get the shutter to remain open. The ground glass has suddenly come to life. It does look like the tension spring is a bit worse for wear, so I'll have to figure out what to do about that. If I'm understanding correctly, I can still use the camera in the meantime until via the lens shutter?

This really is fun.

[t.r.sanford]

Indeed you can. Many, many "Speed Graphics" lived long, productive lives without ever having their focal plane shutters used at all!

"Graphics" surely are fun. They also are capable of taking extremely good photographs, as you will discover.

[Nick]

Most LF cameras don't even have a rear shutter. It's very easy to live with just the lens shutter.

[t.r.sanford]

... BTW, it's not a good idea to trip the shutter while the "press focus" feature is holding the blades open. Although I've done this a couple of times over the decades, through inadvertence or clumsiness, and the mechanism has survived, the received wisdom is that this brings bad luck. The shutter isn't designed to work that way.

You can regard the focal plane shutter as a vestigial organ, if you like. From one perspective, it was a relic of the days when front shutters were pneumatically timed and offered top speeds optimistically described as "1/100 second." The FP shutter's maximum 1/1000 sec. is why the camera is called a "SPEED Graphic." So repairing it certainly need not be a priority.

Many "Speed Graphic" users think it is nice to have, all the same, because it allows you to use any lens that you can mount to a lensboard, even those without shutters (like enlarging and process lenses). And the pre-"Pacemaker" models had nice, straightforward flat lensboards that are very easy to make!

[Sjixxxy]

My reason for likeing the focal plane, is that it lets me choose to use flash fill or not, without having to disconnect my Vivitar 283. If the capacitors have any charge in them and I turn the unit off, it will still discharge when the lens is fired. So in the past I'd always have to pull the sych cable if I didn't want the flash to go off. Now I can just use the rear shutter if I don't need it.

Haven't actualy field tested this idea yet, but it sounds good in theory.

_________________
K. Praslowicz Photo | Watershed - Photos from the Lake Superior basin

[Cheryl J]

Thanks for all your help, everyone. I've been playing with and cleaning up my new 'baby' for the past few days, and finally managed to try it out today. Considering that I'm on my own and have no idea what I'm doing, I was pleasantly surprised that two of the six frames I shot actually had images on them. I'm hooked.

Really have to have this thing cleaned and adjusted. Dust galore, and the lens is definitely quirky. Great fun, though.

- CJ

[ This Message was edited by: Cheryl J on 2004-07-10 23:00 ]

[Nick]

You can always upgrade to a more modern lens and shutter if that's an issue.

[Les]

Not that it will help you take pictures, but Denver was a major player in Press Camera history.

It was home to Heiland Research a company that was going broke making mining equipment. One of the managers, Sidney O Lindall had been tinkering at home on a way to synchronize flash bulbs to front shutters.

He approached the owner with the idea of making solenoid synchronizers just as the owner was trying to find a way to stay alive.

It worked. The first few years they were called "SOL" Heiland flash.... not only after the sun god, but Sid's initials. Until the war, they had the lion's share of the market.

Later they were Heiland Synchronars, then they made strobe equipment, was bought out by Honeywell, and then dried up.

Sid at some point left Heiland and opened a photo store in Denver. It closed in the mid 70s with his death.

So don't be suprised if, when shooting, some old timer comes up and tells you stories about Denver and HR.

Les