Graflex.org

[Les]

It's a 4x5 because I measured it.
It's a Graflex back because there's no glass.



The hardware is painted grey
The shutter speed plate says "Folmer Graflex"
The bellows are straight.
The aperture letters and fractions in the window are white with a black background
The focus knob is in the forward half of the bed.




The lens board is stamped "C" (though the Heiliar is clearly not original)
There's no wood under the lensboard


For the answer CLICK HERE!
_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[pv17vv]

Nice one Les.

[bruiser]

Les, where the hell do find these things???!!!!

Some type of Top Handle/Pre-Anny crossover???

Your book must be getting longer by the day

Cheers,
Bruce

[DHF845]

Les-Does the body conform to known dimensions of 4x5 in. Pre-Ann Speed Graphics (which I think were all one size, unlike Top-Handle models)? It certainly doesn't look a Top-Handle body, either short/squat or tall/narrow.
Does serial # put it within known production run, or could it be a prototype? Sounds like it's from an early run of Pre-Anns (grey paint came out in 1930, right?). Is it possible it was some sort of weird special order?
BTW, really like the proposed cover: Asymmetrical balance works well; It's important to be technically correct (lower bar longer than upper slot bar). Don't change it.

[Les]

It comes from a batch of cameras marked '4x5 Speed N.M" for New Model. They did this every time...well every time there was a new model

With the exception of the handle in the wrong place and (more worrisome) the lack of any peep sight or wire frame being on it, it is a Pre-Ann. Size, shape, hardware, everything.

Now I can see the first 25 or 50 cameras of the new model getting some leftover parts from the previous model (I'm from Detroit, it happens on cars too). But this camera is #178 out of a batch of 200! So either they had a lot of spare parts left over, or maybe these cameras aren't getting assembled in numerical order.
_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[DHF845]

Or both! Was this #178 out of THE FIRST 200 made? Doesn't sound far-fetched. Always use up the left-over parts first! Sounds like Folmer Graflex Corp.: A model of corporate consistency and good record keeping!
I have a theory. Different types of cameras were made out of numerical order with each other. How can we assume that examples of THE SAME model were made in numerical order?
I'll bet each craftsman was given a block of cameras with finish. If batch #1 was begun earlier than batch #2, but finished later, it could have earlier features with later serial numbers.
It would depend on the speed of the worker, available parts flow, special orders, etc. These cameras were handmade by artisans. You can't rush art. To say these wood-bodied cameras were less than art would be an insult to the people who designed and built them. I know you wouldn't do that.

[Les]

Yes this is technically the 178th Pre-Ann made. I guess I put more weight on the advertising photographs that would have been out by the time these cameras were finished.

Could they have sold these as Pre-Anns (or "The New Model Speed Graphic")?

Maybe I'm more a product of the late 20th century than I thought, but if I went into a store looking for the new Speed with the wire finder and side handle and they showed me this thing, the first thing I'd say is "This don't look like the ad in the paper! This is the old model!" I have to wonder if they didn't sell these at a discount because they did look like the old model.

As far as assembly order is concerned, one person didn't make an entire camera, but I can certainly see that more there was more than one man (or woman) doing the same job. Trays of cameras go to each person. "Speedy McCoy" over there just finished his 9th cup of coffee and with 3 years of experience, can cover the camera body in half the time 'Junior', who just hired in and feeling all thumbs can do it.

So all thoughts of these cameras being made in sequence pretty much ends right after the top of the body gets stamped with a number.
_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[pv17vv]

[Les]

Paine says it came out in 1930, but has anyone seen a Pre-Ann in Oxidized Silver?

#178 is in Grey paint, so I'm gonna state that for the Speed, the grey paint came with the Pre-Ann

I'm not saying Richard Paine is wrong, or that he made the date up. There's any number of reasons a particular camera line was delayed in getting grey paint, and it's possible that he based his statement on one model camera, rather than looking at the bigger picture.



Officially the paint is a low luster Grey Lacquer. probably Dupont DuLuxe, but that's just a guess.
_________________
"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[DHF845]

Les-Look at how other camera makers of that time rolled out new models: Pre-production versions; rolling changes; refinements; parts shortages; components of prototypes used on later cameras; changes in a model run without designation between versions; prototypes distributed concurrent with early production; etc. etc.
I'm thinking about the early days of Exakta SLR's at Ihagee, and the birth of E. Leitz' camera. Seat-of-the-pants, like Graflex, with one difference:
Most European manufacturers recorded intra-model changes; Graflex wasn't meticulous about record keeping.

I agree that the grey paint was likely DuPont's-they were the big dog at the time. I've used Testor's model paint to recreate Graflex finishes. Mix matte black, flat grey and flat green, to create pigment that matches the finish of oxidized metal on 1920's cameras. Testor's flat dark grey spray enamel is very close to Graflex's post-1928/1930 painted finish.