Graflex.org

[spickering]

Is the Optar lens coated? Can I put it into the sun? How sharp would this lens be? Also are these easy to CLA or repair?

Also where can I get lens boards for these cameras should I want to get a second lens? Are these cameras easy to CLA?

[ This Message was edited by: spickering on 2004-07-02 11:52 ]

[spickering]

The lens is an Graflex Optar F4.7 135mm with serial number 525439. You can see a better pic of it on the Photonet posting.

[Rangemaster]

You might want to search through the message system, all of the questions you have asked have been discussed at great length on this system, in addition the regular website contains a wealth of information about this camera and many of the differnt things you can do with it and do to it.

Welcome to the club.

Dave

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

[spickering]

What is the widest angle lens I can put on this camera with the bellows it has? I may be looking for a wide angle down the road with a lens board for it as well. Will the Optar lens with 4x5 outperform my Pentax 6x7 105mm lens in terms of sharpness? I know the neg will be bigger, but if the lens is soft I won't gain much.

[Rangemaster]

Your not comparing apples to apples, I would say no, it will not be as sharp. that said, though, your looking at less of an enlargement on a 4 X 5 as opposed to a 6 X 7 so softness and grain will not be as pronounced in the 4 X 5, so that said, I can say that a softer 4 X 5 lens will produce as good a picture as a sharper medium format due to the enlargement ratio. And softness can be taken as a relative term depending on what your trying to accomplish with the camera your using.

Take a look at the picture I posted in the Large Format Photography thread and you will see how sharp the lens can be, this particular posted photo is very low resolution for the web, but the picture itself has been blown up to a 24 X 36 for posters and looks extremely sharp.

As stated, the WA stuff has been discussed at great length, do a search and you will find a lot of information.

Dave

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

[ This Message was edited by: Rangemaster on 2004-07-01 14:59 ]

[spickering]

As for the wide angle lens, care to direct me at a post or two? Its like looking for a needle in a haystack. I haven't found the answer yet. I think the easiest would for someone to tell me say the 90mm is widest I can go for example.

[Dan Fromm]

[Rangemaster]

No I won't direct you, I just did a search with the words Wide Angle and came up with over 50 different threads that contain information about wide angle lenses on Graphics. The reason is because there have been several different opinions and such on wide angle lenses on these cameras, some have been able to use 65mm, and some have said they can use 47mm, it is not a cut and dry question with a cut and dry answer!


Dave

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

[ This Message was edited by: Rangemaster on 2004-07-01 15:35 ]

[spickering]

http://www.graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?topic=2553&forum=10

I redid my search using different wording and found this. Thanks for the correction. I used one too many words in the search option.

The info on the camera types helped out too. Its good there is a manual here as I would be unsure of all the operations of the camera just be looking at it.

[ This Message was edited by: spickering on 2004-07-02 12:00 ]

[Rangemaster]

That would apply except for the fact your camera that you bought, does not look like it has a focal plane shutter, which changes the dynamics of what lenses can be used on it, so I guess you may have found the answer to your question, some are saying as wide as 47mm...

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

[spickering]

I'm a little confused about the focal plane shutter thing- as I thought all shutters are integral with the lenses. And when you change a lens on these type of cameras, the shutter is change with it as a unit. Maybe I'm missing something here. I was just directed to this site for info today, and I had to act fast on a couple well priced Crown Graphics. They usually go for over $200 according to Ebay. Sorry you guys for badgering for answers. I didn't have much luck in the first set of searches I did. Frustration abounds on these systems when you're not using the correct search options. Someone in the past directed me to buy one of these, so that's why I looked into this. I thought I knew enough on these to make a purchase. Lucky I checked here. Thanks for the answers guys. I may look into a 65mm in the future. If not maybe a 70 something. It will be used since I'm on a budget, which is why I didn't go view camera at this time.

[Rangemaster]

The focal plane shutter is located in the rear of the camera in front of the film plane and has adjustable speeds, so if you don't have a shutter on your lens, such as a barrel lens, you can still used them. I have 5 older pre aniversarys that have focal planes on them and it is difficult to use a 90 on them. Spend some time going through the regular part of the website and most of your questions will be answered.

Dave

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

[45PSS]

[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2005-12-25 11:34 ]

[spickering]

I'll pass on that.

I've been trying to find photos of the bottom of the Graphic cameras. Is there a tripod socket on these? I know they're made for handholding, but using a tripod for some shots would be prefered.

Also if I were to swap the Graflok back to the newer camera with the Graflex back, is there much involved in this? I've been looking over the manual, and from what I see its 5 screws (2 top, 3 bottom). There was mention of a spring which I'm not sure what its for. I don't know if there are any alignment issues in removing it. If its too much, I'll just leave it as is.

[Dan Fromm]