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[Les]

I know the C-3 was the Anny, and I've seen a KE-12 and a PH-47-J out there as Pacemakers. the PH-104 was the whole set I thought-the one in the Haliburton case.

Does anybody have a breakdown on when the designations changed and what they all mean?

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

[45PSS]

I provide this information for those doing research, my recent acquisitionis a:
CAMERA SET, STILL PICTURE, KS-4A(2)
Contract No. AF33(657)-9500
GRAFLEX, INC.
solid aluminum case has label inside that reads: CARRYING CASE (PHOTOGRAPHIC) LE-9(2).
CONTENTS: Super Speed serial number 653079, rail ink stamp B4A. {Cannibalization.}
Lable under 3 section tripod, ZERO Manifacturing, weak blured ink stamps difficult to read April 3 or 8, 19??.
Graflex film pack adapter cat. no. 1234, Graflex/General Precision Equipement Co.
#500 Polaroid land film holder.
2272 Synchronizer, battery case;
2278 Extension flash;
2745 right angle adapter;
5 inch reflector for rt. ang. adapt.;
7 inch reflector;
several cables.
Case and tripod are olive drab, rest of system is regular Graflex colors.

_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[cavphotog]

[Les]

Curious.
Here is a front plate off of an obvious war time Anny (all black) from '43.


Is yours a PH47 or does it have a suffix (E-J)?
What is the serial number of the camera (I'll either be on the bed, or inside the body on the underside of the top. It helps if you turn the camera upside down.

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

[ This Message was edited by: Les on 2003-01-11 13:42 ]

[Les]

There are also C-6 cameras, which I think were Pacemakers and I saw one go by that didn't have a designation other than, "Camera, Press Type 4x5", and a contract number. this one was a later Pacemaker.
What gives with those?

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

[cavphotog]

I may be in error regarding designations going all the way to J.
I do have TM 11-2352, Camera Equipment PH 104 (the set which may include either PH47-E or PH47-F) It is dated 26 Feb 45, and supersedes manual of the same #, 20 April 44.
I have never run into the "C" designations, although this is an Air Force camera and may be early war, before all publications and designations came under War Dept. authority.
I say this because of the Folmer Graflex name on the plate.
I have two annies, #291737 with a Folmer Graflex stamp on the shutter speed plate and # 398339 with Graflex Inc on the plate. It would appear that this camera predates yours, by serial # anyway. Also many early war cameras were simply scooped up from the civilian market. I do not know if these ever received mil name plates but I have many pics of combat photogs with their equipment, and none show any military ID plates at all. They have a variety of lenses, shutters, rangefinders and flash units, as a trip to the repair depot (often) would result in damaged parts being replaced with whatever was on hand. Some have the usual chrome trim and some are all black. Presumably, these would be later mil contract manufacture. There seems to be little rhyme of reason.None of my cameras have military plates but one was my father's and was used in the war.
Unfortunately, there are few, if any, as-issued expamles around as hundreds of cameras were bulldozed by prior agreement between Graflex and the War Dept, to keep the post war market from being flooded with surplus cameras.
I would be interested in the results of anyone else's ongoing research in this area.

[ This Message was edited by: cavphotog on 2003-01-13 19:12 ]

[cavphotog]

To further add to the confusion, I just saw on e-bay, an OD Pacemaker with a PH47-J nameplate, not KE-12. The nameplate also has the contract #, starting with AF which would SUGGEST that this is an Air Force camera. Earlier in this thread, an Air Force camera had a C-3 name plate and Army cameras were known to be PH 47's, later KE 12. We haven't even touched on what other designations were used by the Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines. One would assume that there is a locic to the numbering systems but then, we are talking about the military here. One 4x5 I was given to use in the Army was a Busch Pressman. Go figure.

[mtwo]

I also have Army TM 11-2352B, Still Picture Camera Set KS-4A(1). It has Still Picture Camera KE-12(1) as part of the kit. It is a Speed and the lens shown is a Graflex Optar 127mm 1:4.5. A 90 mm wide angle is also discussed but was not part of the Set. FYI AF in the front of a contract number does indeed indicate Air Force. As does the later used F contract number. At some point in the early 60s the Air Force became purchasing agency for all of the armed services photographic equipment. The AF33(657) number indicates procurement by Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright Patterson but later procurements with a contract number beginning with F426xx were made by Ogden Air Logistics Center. How is that for more than you ever wanted to know about some trivial point.