Graflex.org

[Simplify]

Hi! I am noticing that many of you teach Graflex Photography and I would love to take a class. Are any of you located in my area, S.W. Virgina?

[Micah in NC]

Hi,

Is there a university or community college near you? I know Appalachian State University (in Boone, NC) has a large format class, but that's out-of-state tuition (not to mention probably a LONG drive). Plus, I think they require a prerequisite class or two.

Where are you close to? Abingdon? Grayson Co.? I'm not familiar with Covington.

I often come up to Grayson Highlands State Park on hikes/photo jaunts. There's some beautiful country in SW Virginia!

--Micah in NC

[ This Message was edited by: Micah in NC on 2004-07-19 11:03 ]

[Simplify]

Hi Micah, Yes, I am familiar with Boone and that would be WAY too far to drive! Yes, we live in beautiful Mountain Country! We're about 10 miles from the West Virginia Border. We're close to Lewisburg West Virginia or Lexington, Virginia.

Roanoke would be a LONG drive but not out of the question.

I have actually read a lot here and have loaded my first two sheets of film! I wasted a sheet just to see it in light, to figure out which side was the emulsion side! My guess is that it's the dark side? The little rippled cuts facing right - top? Anyway, slowly but surely, mistake by mistake, I'll probably learn it the hard way!

There is one thing that's puzzling me though. My other camera has a depth of field preview button that I have become dependent on. The ground glass is a dream to manually focus on but I can't find it written anywhere if it's a wysiwyg system like an SLR? So, would anyone be kind enough to tell me that much?

Also, I read somewhere you could connect to a nowadays flash? Get a cord from "Paramount" maybe? I wonder if I could fire my Alien Bees using that cord? I think you have to have a lens with the little flash things and mine does not have those. Any specific lens I could purchase along with a cord to fire the Bees or just my SB800 or both?

Would I be better off getting hot lights for this film body and just keeping it in a studio? I'd love to take it to our old eye Dr.'s office who still has *his* Dad's tools when he checks our eyes. We also have an old luncheonette where the lady owner is in her 90's! She's been there a LONG time. I'd like to document all this but I don't think I have enough LIGHT!? I'm stuck on that problem. I shopped and shopped and just can't quite put all the pieces I need together. This is why I think a class may be helpful to me. I honestly do not know what I'm doing!

I currently have the 6 3/8" Optar.



[ This Message was edited by: Simplify on 2004-07-19 11:50 ]

[Rangemaster]

Simp, your right no Depth of Field preview, you will have to learn about the particular lens you are shooting, also there are many depth of field charts on the internet, a good book for you to pick up would be 'Using the view Camera' By the editor of View Camera Magazine. http://www.viewcamera.com

If you don't have the bi-poles or a PC socket on your lens, then no flash sync, if you pick up a lens with a bi-pole then it is pretty easy to make a cord out of a electric razor cord and a female PC cord that will trip your lights, may of th eolder lenses have three different setting for flash sync and this can be adjusted. If you pick up a lens with a PC socket then no problem at all, just plug your lights in and go.

Yes on the film, the notches to the right, make sure when you load, you don't get the edge of the film in the dark slide track, I have done this and it is a pain!

Dave

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

[t.r.sanford]

The little rippled cuts are called "code notches" and, as you guessed, when they face to the right, the emulsion side is up. This system favors right-handed loaders of cutfilm, who have a very easy way to orient the sheet while holding in in the correct position for insertion into a holder.

Those notches, in films from major manufacturers, actually can tell you what kind of film it is (thus "code" notch). This is of more importance to commercial darkroom workers than to users, but it's part of the great tradition.

The depth of field preview button on your SLR stops the diaphragm down to the aperture you've preselected. There is no reason why you can't just set the iris on your shutter to the aperture you want to use, and view the resulting image on the groundglass. It does get dark, but then, so does the SLR finder screen. A good focusing cloth, and patience while your eyes dark-adapt, can help. Many people did this, in the old days, and some still do it. Yes, it is WYSWIG, but what you see is awfully dim!

Don't give up hope of synchronizing your flash with the shutter. If the shutter does not have synchronization contacts, you might look for a "mechanical synchronizer." There was a German-made one, I think by Rowi, on the market for decades; I most recently saw one new, in a New York City camera store, less than ten years ago. An old-line retailer anywhere may have a couple lying around.

It is a small gizmo with a plunger on one end and a threaded cable release socket tip on the other. A PC contact emerges in between, and there is a collar to adjust the firing position according to how far in you press the plunger. They are kind of scary, but they really work (if you stick to lower shutter speeds, anyway).

Years ago, more sophisticated ones were made by Kalart, Kodak and many others. Most of these were similar in operation to the Rowi (or whterver it is), but were superior in that they incorporated a flexible cable release. The ones I've seen have ASA bipost contacts. They often turn up on eBay and, again, calling around to some of the dealers in classic cameras might be informative.

Another kind mounted on the lensboard and fired the flash when the shutter arming-leve brushed past a small piece of spring steel, closing a switch. I had one of them years and years ago; the spring eventually broke off, and that was that. It worked very well, while it worked.

The advantage to this kind is that its timing can be precisely adjusted to the position of the blades of the very shutter you are mounting it for, and that timing is precisely repeatable. The drawback is that it won't work at all with double-action shutters like "Alphax" and the traditional Prontor types, and it would be very hard to adapt to an Ilex "Acme" shutter, whose arming-lever comes up when the shutter is tripped, rather than moving sideways.

I heartily second the previous warning about keeping the sheet of film out of the darkslide grooves, and add my own -- make sure BOTH sides of the sheet are UNDER the little metal rabbets, and the sheet firmly pushed all the way home, before closing the darkslide! It just takes a moment to gently twist the sheet one way and the other, a little bit, when it's about a quarter of the way in. If you feel resistance at both corners, you're all set. If one side or the other lifts out, back off and gently try again.

[Nick]

[Simplify]

Thanks for all of the info! Much Appreciated!

I just found a camera shop 45 miles away. I called the guy and he also runs a studio. He says he has boxes of all this stuff that he can't sell because everyone is going digital! He's going to let me drive down there and dig through them and just *GIVE* me some stuff!

So, if I needed anything what should I look for?

A 90? a 127? Supermatic? I am most interested in documentary style photography. Environmental Portraits and Archtecture etc ... I guess I'd need 2 lenses? One for people portraits and another for wide shots?

He says the flash guns probably won't work too well because they used them in "********"??? Never heard of that? But anyway, he has some old Graphlites laying around.

If I can get the old style flash should I go ahead and do it? How about calibration of my Kalart.

hmmm .... I wish one of you could go with me and help me pick out stuff!

[Rangemaster]

Hey Simp...

Send me a ticket and we will have a blast getting you set up right!!!!

Dave

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

[Nick]

Look for film holders. Never have too many. Lens boards. For lenses I'd look for something in the 210mm to 240mm range. The Kodak 203mm F/7.7 [which sounds right ] is a respected older lens. I personally wouldn't spend too much time looking for a 127mm unless it's in a good shutter. Even better if it's in a modern style shutter. I'm not sure if any of the old 90mm have enough coverage for building photography. OTOH something is better then nothing. Big old shutters are worth having. If you ever get some big barrel lenses that are worth having mounted.

If the stuff is free you could just grab everything and then sort it out later-)

[Simplify]

[t.r.sanford]

You write,

>I just found a camera shop 45 miles away. I called the guy and he also runs a studio. He says he has boxes of all this stuff that he can't sell because everyone is going digital! He's going to let me drive down there and dig through them and just *GIVE* me some stuff!
So, if I needed anything what should I look for?<

Things that you will want, and not be able to find, as you go forward; things we counted on reputable camera stores to carry, c. 1955-1985, before the great collapse of photographic retailing. Probably small things, often in little manila envelopes with part numbers written on them -- infinity stops, viewfinder masks, solenoid mounting hardware (and solenoids), lensboards, rangefinder encircling brackets, "Graflite" clips and brackets, Kalart "Focuspots" and "Focuscopes," and so on and on. Not necessarily Graflex-specific things, either: accessory clips that can be bolted onto brackets or cameras, perhaps even a mechanical synchronizer!
Concerning lenses,

>A 90? a 127? Supermatic? I am most interested in documentary style photography. Environmental Portraits and Archtecture etc ... I guess I'd need 2 lenses? One for people portraits and another for wide shots?<

The "Speed Graphic" is best-known for its use as a press camera, and the majority of subjects photographed with them might be summarized as "small groups." Thus, everyday practitioners favored a wider-than-normal lens, but not so wide that perspective would become a major issue. The favorite focal lengths were 135mm. (5¼ ins.) and 127mm. (5 ins.), and the popular lenses, "Optar" and "Raptar" 135mm. and "Ektar" 127mm., were not wide-angle designs. Even when they were commonly used, it was generally recognized that they do not provide good resolution out to the edges of the frame unless they were stopped down to f:11 or smaller.

The lens you have is normal for the 4x5 format, and should give you pictures whose perspective approximates what you'd get with an 80mm. lens on a 2¼x2¼ camera. It also should be sharp right out to the edges, and ought to be adequate for head-and-shoulders portraits (remember, you can crop a 4x5 negative quite a lot without losing much).

If by an Environmental Portrait you mean a person in a setting, I would try your present lens before you go looking for something different, if I were you; it ought to work very well indeed.

For tighter portrait work, something in the 8- to 9½-in. (203 to 240mm.) FL range might produce more pleasing results. I can attest to the virtues of the 203mm. f:7.7 "Ektar" referenced earlier. Wollensak made a similar lens of, I think, f:7.5 maximum aperture, and it also is highly regarded.

For architectural work, you will want to use your camera's rising front for correction of convergence. This means you will need a lens that produces an image circle whose diameter is substanially greater than the diagonal of the film. In practice, think of a lens that will cover 5x7...

There's no reason not to use a longer focal length lens for architectural subjects; the 203mm. lenses would do very well -- if you can back off far enough. Very often, one cannot; and one needs a lens covering a wider field.

The 135mm. and 127mm. press-camera lenses cited above won't do, because they barely provide enough coverage when centered on the frame.

Of older lenses, the 108mm. (4¼ ins.)Wollensak f:6.8 "Wide Angle Raptar" was designed to cover 5x7. I have one; it is not a super sharp lens (and I am being kind). The Kodak 135mm. f:6.3 "Wide Field Ektar" will cover 5x7, and is highly regarded. A Schneider f:6.8 "Angulon" 120mm. also will cover 5x7, and should outperform the "W.A. Raptar" by a good margin.

But remember that when you change off your present lens for any of these, longer or shorter, your rangefinder no longer will couple correctly. If you decide you want to do most of your handheld work with a shorter lens, like a 135mm., you will want to adjust the rangefinder to work with that lens. This is not exactly rocket science, but neither is it something you can do in ten minutes at the kitchen table...

Concerning flash, you write,

>He says the flash guns probably won't work too well because they used them in "********"??? Never heard of that? But anyway, he has some old Graphlites laying around.
If I can get the old style flash should I go ahead and do it?<

If you want that World War II "Speed Graphic" experience, then you may wish to play with bulb flash. If this interest you, I think you'd enjoy the threads initiated by "Stilagrrl" under the Flash section of this board. I used bulb flash for years, and I would not willingly go back. For practical picture-taking, I think it is more trouble than it's worth -- which is another way of suggesting that there often is a good reason for something becoming obsolete!

That said, a "Graflite" three-cell gun is valuable as a detachable handgrip, to power a "Focuspot" and/or a solenoid for remote release, and perhaps as the support for a modern electronic flash.

A search will turn up a good deal of exhilarating invective and vituperation on the subject of the motion picture in question, which might amuse you.

[Micah in NC]

Simplify,

Hey,

You said "I wasted a sheet just to see it in light, to figure out which side was the emulsion side! My guess is that it's the dark side? The little rippled cuts facing right - top?"

Your film's dark side is the backing, not the emulsion side. The dark side should NOT face the lens. But with the notches on the right and at the top, the lighter side (emulsion) should be facing you. Sounds like you had it right.

Focus on ground glass = WYSIWYG, like T.R. said. Image is upside down on GG, though, something I had to get used to when I started out with my Graflex (and still takes getting used to!).

The depth-of-field preview would be for you to put the shutter on "T" (Time) or "B" (Bulb, a reference to when photographers began using air squeeze-bulb shutter releases in the 19th century--nowadays use a locking cable release on "B").

After you focus on the GG at the widest aperture (f/4.5?), set the aperture you plan to use (like f/8, 16, etc.) and view the image on the GG using a dark cloth/towel/dark t-shirt to keep light from falling on the ground glass.

You asked: "Also, I read somewhere you could connect to a nowadays flash? Get a cord from "Paramount" maybe? I wonder if I could fire my Alien Bees using that cord? I think you have to have a lens with the little flash things and mine does not have those. Any specific lens I could purchase along with a cord to fire the Bees or just my SB800 or both? "

You can probably use flash if there are two little pins on your Optar's shutter about 3/8" apart (going from memory, could be wrong distance) OR if there's an "ASA/bayonet" fitting.

By the way, where's that camera store? Is it 45 miles towards NC?

--Micah in NC

[Simplify]

It's in Lexington, Virginia. Home of Washington & Lee and VMI!

Thanks for the input! I appreciate it! I think I'm about ready to practice but am waiting for my 545 Polaroid Back just to be on the safe side. It would be less disappointing to have Polaroid Duds than it would if I went to all the trouble and time to develop them myself first.

[t.r.sanford]

Polaroid material surely gives you faster reinforcement (for better or worse; I almost said "positive or negative"...), but at a higher price.

One thing to look for in any old-line camera store you happen to visit would be an adapter ring for your lens (probably a Series VI slip-on type), and anything compatible that you can find: Series VI lens hood, Series VI-Series VII step-up ring, Series VI filters, and so forth.

[frohnec]

Where is that camera store in Va?
I am in Richmond Va.