Graflex.org

[tinman]

Hi, as a newcomer to Speed Graphics can someone help me sort out whats what !! I want a military camera for WW11
re-enactment, but I also want to be able to use it. Which model etc do I need to buy and where can I get one bearing in mind I am in the UK. I have looked at Ebay but dont know what to get !!!!!!!

[t.r.sanford]

I'll defer to the Graflex historians on this, but the "Anniversary Speed" was the model in production during World War II, and it was the one the Army Signal Corps purchased.

There was a variant with a rigid body instead of the bellows, painted olive drab, evidently designed for work under rough conditions. It looks rather awkward to me, though well-suited for aerial photography from a lightplane with the door removed (or an open cockpit). These turn up rather often, usually at prices I think too high for what you get, in terms of functionality.

The specifically military "Speed Graphics" I've seen all were fitted with 127mm. "Ektar" lenses, but my sample is small.

My guess is that the old Army principle ("Be ready, not get ready; you go with what you've got") applied to cameras, and there probably were earlier models in use, especially during the early days of the conflict.

I think you could find a 4x5 "Anniversary" at a reasonable price, and it would be entirely appropriate to any late '30s - early '40s reenactment or pageant. If in good working order, it also would be a fine "user," as a bonus!

[tinman]

Thanks for the info. Being a complete novice and only wanting originally to have a camera to dress a senario, but I have bcome 'hooked' on this and the I have been given the following info.The anni' has a tubular view frame while the 'ordinary' speed graphic is flat metal and its the anni' I should go for as this is the one the military used. Both in olive drab and all black. Would either type be suitable ?? also I get very confused as to the types of range finder accessories etc. Are there any good sources that I could buy one from, bearing in mind I am not too bothered about the outward condition?

[t.r.sanford]

"Speed Graphics" date back to before the First World War. This site has very good information on the model sequence.

To oversimplify, the earliest ones had a single focusing knob and a small front. That design underwent several changes, most significant of which was the larger front that could accept the heftier lenses introduced after WWI. They had swing-up wire frame finders, hinged to the top of the front, and fold-down optical finders.

The "Anniversary" design, as you say, added a rigid tubular optical finder and a telescoping round-section frame finder that slid into the front. The next design, after WWII, was the "Pacemaker," with a flat-section telescoping frame finder and a new, removable tubular optical finder.

4x5 "Anniversary Speed Graphics" are fairly prevalent, probably because so many of them were made during WWII. You might spend some time with eBay, and also check the listings from online retailers that handle large-format equipment, like Pacific Rim and Midwest and Equinox.

[t.r.sanford]

If you want to see what the rigid-bodied "combat" version of a "Speed Graphic" looks like, you can find pix here

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15247&item=3832101180&tc=photo

and also here:

http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/images/62446.jpg

These references also may suggest why I think the things tend to be overpriced.

[Les]

The Signal Corp called their Anniversary a PH-47-E and PH-47F. I never figured out what the A-D versions were and doubt they ever existed. The PH47G was never issued, but a Pacemaker version was called the PH-47H. After that some general showed everybody he was boss and tossed the entire "PH" nomenclature calling the pacemaker a "KE-12(1)"

The USAAF, while still part of the same army as the Signal Corp was trying very hard to be...well hard nosed, called the same camera a "Camera, ground, type C-3.

During the war the Pacific theater noticed that the Speed Graphic was suffering more from the hot, humid, muddy weather than from enemy attack. So they asked for and got a rigid body devoid of any leather. The camera was named. "Camera, Combat" and was issued to both the Navy and the Marines.

but it came late in the war and Graflex was stuck with lots of these left over. They renamed them the "Graphic 45" and tried to sell them to civiilains with little luck.

There also seems to be good evidence that the "Combat Graphic" and the "Graphic 45" saw work in the Korean war.



After both wars many of these cameras came home, their name tags stripped and painted black by Burke and James.

During the war Graflex left the chrome off, partly because chromium was needed elsewere for the war effort, partly because they wanted non reflective cameras.

Graflex did have a contract with the Government before Dec 7, 1941 and those as well as the cameras used/conscrpted during the early part of the war were stock chrome civilian cameras.

The only difference will be the Government name plate on the outside of the bed.

_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison



[ This Message was edited by: Les on 2004-08-10 17:12 ]

[t.r.sanford]

That photo speaks to the earlier point about confusion over rangefinders -- is that a rangefinder built into the top of that thing?

I haven't yet found a history of coupled rangefinders, and one is sorely needed. Kodak mounted a weird rangefinder on a folding rollfilm camera in 1914 or thereabouts, and more conventional ones seem to have made their way into high-end folders in the late '20s or early '30s.

I have the impression that the silver-finished Kalart rangefinder is a pre-WWII product, and I'd guess it to have arrived in the mid-1930s, or perhaps a bit later. I have no idea when the black-finished ones came out. I have seen them mounted on prewar double-extension filmpack cameras like the "Recomar," but I have no idea whether the rangefinders were installed after the cameras went out of production. They are common on "Anniversary Speeds," of course, but (again) might have been installed after the cameras were manufactured, or after the end of the war but before the "Pacemaker" came along.

I vaguely recollect that the Hugo Meyer rangefinder was sold by a New York-based Hugo Meyer, presumably a subsidiary of the German optical company. If the rangefinders were made here, they might have been made during WWII; the company would have been expropriated, as Ansco (Agfa) was.

Does anyone have a timeline, however sketchy, of rangefinders made for installation on "Speed Graphics"?

[Top]

And to further confuse the issue, the AAF called 2x3, 3x4, and 4x5 cameras 'Ground Camera C-3'
The Signal Corps and Corps of Engineers of the US Army issued 4x5 Annys, with some 3x4 left over from pre-war contracts. The Signal Corps also issued Kodak 35 cameras as part of their 'Darkroom and Studio in a Box' kit.
I think that if this gent would like to use a Graphic press camera to shoot re-enactmends any black-paint Anny would do, with a 127mm or 152mm Ektar. I use my own now and again for such a purpose, and generally come away loving my Rolleiflex and Contaxes even more!
Top

[Les]

Well the C-1 was an 8x10 of the Kodak 2D variety, altough the contract was filled by Kodak, Korona, and Agfa.

The C-2 was a 5x7 camera, probably a 2D again.

The C-3 was 4x5

And late in the war, the Mini Speed showed up as a C-4.


Now how the Super Graphic became the C-6 is anybody's guess, but then logic and the military rarely went together.



_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[Les]

RE Rangefinders

The earliest rangefinders I can find on a Graphic were the long Kalarts and they show up in the mid/late thirties. This were of the tubular type that have the scales on the outside, and further the link to the bed was made outside of the body, so you'll see the arm bend around through the front. 3x4 cameras with this rangefinder on it has it actually sticking up above the top of the body.

The next model is a bit shorter and is internally connnected. This is what shows up on the earliest Annys and Mini speeds.

Then comes the platform models....ones that the cover can come of to be adjusted. The first of these had a chrome/polised aluminum cover and used two mirrors. Then came the black cover. The black cover allowed the use of the focospot on top. There were a couple of variations under the black cover. Certain models had two mirrors, deluxe versions had a mirror and prism. Some of these had a set screw where you could adjust the lateral coincedence from the outside. Later that feature was dropped but the casting remained the same.

Part of the confusion stems from the ReNewAl program. During the war you could upgrade your Top Handle or Pre Ann to modern features for little money...much cheaper than trying to get a new camera that was scarce. Hence a lot of neat old cameras sport anachronistic accessories.

Hugo Meyer is an enigma. They came on later than Kalart but stayed an amazingly long time. I've seen early Annies, both military and civilian with them, as well as Pacemakers from the early 60s. They even devised their on focospot as well, but that's very hard to find.

They were more expensive than the Kalart, but were designed for a much smaller range of focal lenghts. Most of the time a certain model Hugo was made for one focal lenght with an adjustment to compensate for the actual focal length.

Oh and Combat Graphics never had a rangefinder. When you're in a fox hole and they enemy is yards away, you point and shoot and not worry about looking. The wheel on the left side focuses the lens and is graduated in feet.

Les



_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[ This Message was edited by: Les on 2004-08-11 06:33 ]

[t.r.sanford]

A few months ago, a thing identified as a "Focalite" turned up on eBay. From the photo, it seemed to be the same kind of thing as a "Focuspot," but evidently screwed into the eyepiece of whatever rangefinder it worked with. This might have been Hugo Meyer's answer to the "Focuspot."

I wouldn't expect a rangefinder on the "Combat Graphic" (although the postwar 70mm. Graflex combat camera has one) -- but what is behind the two small horizontal rectangular areas visible at the top left and right of the camera pictured?

(The chinoiserie on the front is very appealing!)

[tinman]

Thanks for all the great info. I will have to wade thro' it and then come back with more questions, plus I can now look at Ebay with more confidence !

[ This Message was edited by: tinman on 2004-08-11 12:36 ]

[t.r.sanford]

I think Top's recommendation of a black "Anniversary Speed" is a very good one, and ought to give you a starting point. Happy hunting!

[Micah in NC]

[t.r.sanford]

I see what you mean, but what I was looking at are the two horizontal rectangles in the upper left and right corners of the body, outboard of the lens and focusing mechanism surround. I can't tell whether they're windows, or just what they are.