Posted by Bob Seith on November 03, 2000 at 13:04:26:
In Reply to: Beginnerquestions Speedgraphic 3x4 posted by volker on November 03, 2000 at 11:33:40:: 1, How works my selftimer? I see nothing what can be
: moved or switched. (Supermatic X shutter)
Are you sure it has a selftimer? I've seen a
lot of 127 mm. Ektars in Supermatic X shutters,
but I don't recall seeing one with a self-
timer.
: 2, I have a switch that says front, back and Trip. What
: means Trip?
It means "trip (or "release") the shutter." It
puts the focal plane shutter through one
cycle. "Front" and "back" are selections
for either the front or back shutter,
obviously.
: 3, Is there anyone who can send me a Instruction manual
: for the Pacemaker Graphic cameras ( Speed and Crown)?
There are several folks on the Internet
selling reprints. They're pretty good. Do
a search on "camera manuals."
: 4, Have the pacemakers 4x5 and the 3x4 same size of the
: lensboard?
That one I don't know; never used a 3x4.
: 5, What size is the illumination circle of my
: 127mm/4.7 Ektar and which aperture is the sharpest? (I
: am crazy for sharpness and to poor to buy Hasselblad.
: That's why I am trying large format)
The 127 mm will have enough coverage for
the limited movements available on your
3x4. The lens was often fitted on the
4x5 model.
One observation: Comparing a solid-body camera
like a Hassy with a folding camera (OK, a
STURDY folding camera) like a Graphic is
not quite apples-to-apples. The Hassy will
always have a more rock-solid mounting.
Still, you will get excellent results with
a Graphic if you take the patience to set
it up properly.
: 6, How and with what can I clean my ground glass? ( It
: has some fingerprint grease on)
If you have the Graflok back, just push the
two chromed springs and slide the whole
thing to the right. The holder for the
ground glass comes right off. So far as
I know, there's nothing particularly fragile
about the glass itself; I've used ordinary
houshold window cleaner when mine gets
grubby. (But if you have a glass with ruled
lines on it, I would think twice about
this!)
: 7, What is the longest lens I can use on my Pacemaker
: Speedgrphic 3x4?
Probably about 8-10 inches focal length (200-250 mm).
You'll run out of bellows beyond that (and
you might not be able to focus REAL close
up with a lens at that extension.
: Which long lenses are economic in price and good? (I
: know the barrel possibility)
Hmmm. Too many options for me to comment!
: 8, Is there any possibility to adapt a 4x5 rollfilm
: holder to my 3x4 Graflok back? But I still like to do
: ground glass composition. So it must work like a sheet
: film holder. Which one and which is the cheapest that
: wood be working good? Is it hard to do?
If you have a Graflok back, there MAY be
a Graphic roll film back for the 3x4. I'd
check some old product literature. Making
one from scratch would be a challenge. I
did a klutz job of it once when I was a kid,
cutting the back off an old Ansco camera the
gluing it against the back of a sheet film
holder I sacrified for the project. I cut
a hole through the holder and burned some
slots in the edges for the Graflok clamps
to engage. I measured how much farther back the
film plane had moved and put in an additional
pair of infinity stops to move the lens back
accordingly. With the Kalart rangefinder
model Graphics, this worked OK. Not
wonderful, just OK. No ground glass focus,
of course.
: 10, Why has the bellows lens board unit so a big play
: in the metal rails? With the infinity stops its easy to
: fix the unit parallel to the film plane but without
: them it is hard to measure parallelism. Is there any
: possibility to fix this problem?
If it's really, really sloppy, the screw underneath
the locking lever may be loose. Run the front
standard far enough forward for it to slip off
the front of the rails, and look underneath.
: 11, Is there a big problem with sheet film holders and
: dust particles because I have to cut down my film
: sheets (3x4)? Which is the best way to do this?
A can of "Dust-off" compressed air?