Graflex.org

[aoresteen]

I need to add a flash shoe to the top of my Century 23. Does anyone know of a source for a nice cold shoe that can be screwed onto the top of the Century?

Thanks!

[vitaly66]

It always makes me a little sad to see Graflex bodies hacked up with a flash shoe.

Can you figure something else out?

* You can get a pair of Heiland handle-mount flash clamps designed to fit the flash bracket on the side of the Kalart. For the handle itself, I have a piece of black plastic PVC tubing, 1.5 inch OD, 8 inches long, for the handle. The cold shoe is then mounted on a thick rubber furniture leg cup that press fits onto the end of the tube. The Heiland flash clamps use a quick-release design that makes them a snap to put on and take off the camera. (I didn't make this rig myself, it came ready to go with a Koni-Omega kit.) Obviously you can make this fancier in any number of ways, such as using a fine piece of lathe-turned oak for the handle.

* Vivitar, Metz, Sunpak, and other have made heavy-duty flash handles that work well for the small Graflex. Just bolt them into the tripod socket on the bottom of the camera whenever you need them.

* I have seen once -- an only once, pictured in an auction photo -- an accessory cold shoe designed to slide into the fitting for the optical viewfinder. Slide the viewfinder off, slide the flash shoe on. It seems like a good idea to me, but they are uncommon. But one could probably be fabricated pretty easily. Cut a small rectangular base plate of 2mm aluminum to fit the viewfinder socket, then flush-bolt (or epoxy) the flash shoe onto the baseplate.

* Finally, and as a last resort, I think you could make a fitting for the top of the optical viewfinder, or simply epoxy the flash shoe to the top of the optical viewfinder. It may be an irreversible mod to the viewfinder, but at least the body itself is not getting hacked!

Anyway, there are certainly any number of other alternatives to provide a good flash shoe for your Graflex, and that don't involve cutting into the mahoganite. Good luck!

[Sirius Glass]

There are many flash bar and flip flash bars that will work on you camera without hacking it up and that are not all that expensive. See http://www.tiffen.com/Stroboframe_quickflip_page.htm

Steve
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Nothing beats a good piece of glass.

[Henry]

Being somewhat handy with tools, thanks to model railroading background, I fabricated a flash shoe out of brass shapes from the hobby shop. Not a hard job if you're handy with a low-wattage (25W) soldering iron and a fine-tooth hack saw. I spray painted the brass flat black and baked it gently in the oven (on "low"), then installed the shoe on top of my Century where, thanks to previous owner, there already was a flat mounting plate, drilled and tapped. My "new" shoe fastened to this plate with two screws from the scrap box. The shoe sits right above the Kalart; for clearance I removed the Kalart's top cover and covered the hole with a piece of electrical tape. It looks pretty neat (he says modestly), and of course I hardly ever use it with my Vivitar 2800, but it's there when needed.

[45PSS]

Graflex were camera whores. They would modify any camera they made to the purchaser requirements for a price.

Modifying a camera today to suit ones needs is totally acceptable.

Many early cameras especially TLR's had a flat piece of metal with curled edges attached to the side that held a flash shoe. Take a stroll thru your local Salvation Army, Goodwill, or similar thrift store and look at the stock of cheap cameras for an easy to remove and low cost flash shoe.
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The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[aoresteen]

Thanks guys! Flashes aren't the only thing that goes in a flash shoe! I'm going to be adding a 47mm or 65mm wide angle lens and I want to use the viewfinders from my Leica kit. Thus the need for the shoe.


I have 15mm, 21mm,25mm,28mm, and 35mm viewfinders. The 35mm format is very close to the 2.25 x 3.25 format.

The shoe need to be centered on the lens, and placed on the top of the Century, I'd like the best looking and working shoe that I can get. Thus the request for a vendor who sells a replacement shoe.

[alecj]

http://www.bracket1.com/adapters.php

You'll have to find some better mounting screws, like small wood screws. . Perhaps somebody can advise you what to use.

[aoresteen]

alecj,

Thanks!

I bought one. I can figure out the mounting screws.

[1banjo]

hey all
I made one kind of like the Over Camera Cold Shoe @
http://www.bracket1.com/adapters.php
mine go down to the strap handle logs on the lift hand side with a bolt in the
trypod hole to keep it in place works nice WITH NO Modifying a camera in anyway!!

but I have one Century that came with a Cold Shoe in the lift hand corner from NEW

banjo