Posted by Gerald Pierce on November 03, 2000 at 17:28:06:
In Reply to: Re: Beginnerquestions Speedgraphic 3x4 posted by Bob Seith on November 03, 2000 at 13:04:26:Well said, Bob. Filling in a few minor blanks:
4. Nope. The medium sized Pacemakers had their own sized
lensboards.
8. There were roll-film backs made for the 3x4. They are scarce and
lack the film-flattening rollers, I think. This site has some info
on this question.
Regards,
Gerald
: : 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?