Nice job with this video - thanks. I learned a couple details I did not know. One cool thing I'll share has to do with the rangefinder missing from yours. Mine had one, a Kalart I think it was - but it was shot, so I removed it. When I did, I couldn't resist taking it apart to see what made it tick, and there on the inside of the base plate was a date written in pencil... "6/8/41". No doubt the date the camera was made (or at least the date the rangefinder was assembled). I decided to put several coats of Rustoleum clear coat on that plate and mounted it back onto the side of the camera. Oh, and just by bizarre chance, the day I discovered this was June 8th. So, to anyone reading this, there could be a date hidden inside your rangefinder.
Nice! I had an old Rolleiflex that had the manufacture date (29 February 1938) under the mirror. I won't lie. I wish all cameras had the date they left production somewhere accessible in them.
I have a 1907 4x5 GRAFLEX SLR with a focal-plane shutter and a Goerez 4 3/8" f 3.8 lens covered in Red Cordovan! A "STOVE-PIPE"! You look down thru the top, focus, compose, set the shutter (wind it up) set the f-stop, insert the film holder, withdraw the dark-slide after "half flipping" the mirror lever, then flip the mirror lever to expose the film (or PLATE!!!) and re-insert the dark slide and flip down the mirror. The Great "Weegee" Cut his Chops on one for the New York Herald (larger circulation than The Times before WWII!) I've a Linhof Technica IV too-THE BEAST!!! And a Graphic Century 23-it just sorta shrunk. I shot my first wedding (at 13) with a Crown Graphic with a StroboFlash IV on my shoulder and two GraphMatic film holders and 22 Rite-Way loose holders! 56 negs!
Brian Segarra is correct, the little round hole on the right side of the camera, just ahead of the shutter is where the focusing cam of a rangefinder (either Kalart or Hugo Meyer) fits into. In fact you can see the rectangular outline of a rangefinder on the leather that has been removed at some point, as well as the 4 little slotted screws that would have secured it to the body of the camera. The cam, when inside the body would then be connected to an arm that would hook into the right-side focusing rail and would ride along with the front standard as it was being focused by the focusing knobs. The view inside the rangefinder would be the same as any other rangefinder of the times, 2 split images that needed to coincide to achieve focus. I don't know about the Hugo Meyers, but with the Kalarts the images were vertically seperated and one image had to be brought down or up to the other.
Just a small correction the back you have it's a graflok back , the original ones for anniversary are called spring back they had non removable ground glass and they fit normal sheet holders but not all kind of backs ,also I think the hole you mentioned was for were the rangefinder originally was mine has it there love the video got myself one last week need to get new shutter curtain bellows
Oh thank you! I haven't had a rangefinder for this, but that would make sense. And also for the back terminology. I can never, for whatever reason, keep the names straight in my head.
Very nicely presented David. Love the Graflex. I have a Crown Graflex myself. No focal plane shutter but smaller and lighter. Also the front does have a fall feature not available in the Anniversary Speed. The fall is limited but some people reverse the rise mechanism to give them additional fall on the Crown. Thanks for your time and efforts in creating these videos. Anyways back to Video 2.
Thank you, Wayne. The AG has bed drop, and I completely forgot to address it. It's, in all honesty, minimally useful as the rails in the body won't move with the bed dropped (yielding that useless for wide-angle lenses) and the front standard doesn't tilt meaning that there's no way to reduce the tilt angle with bed drop (it's something like 30 degrees.) It is useful as a means for angling the film plan, however, when keeping the lens plane parallel with the subject.
I've been shopping ebay for a crowngraphic or speed graphic. Alot if the camera seem to present while but seen to be missing the linkage to press the shutter lense lever. Many have on what appears to be a solenoid, is this for a flash. I no linkage on lens is this hard to get parts for or over come?
I suspect that the linkage will be hard to find, yes. I don't know how hard it would be to make, either. I forget if the solenoid is for the flash or for an older style shutter.
I buy mine from a guy in China. If you search large format bellows on eBay, you'll find him. He's super easy to work with and will custom-make bellows to fit your camera if needed. That's what he did for mine.
Wait, the bellows and shutters are fragile on these? I have a original one from the 50s and the bellows are in perfect supple condition and same with the shutter curtain.
The later one of these that I have is in much better shape. It could be that the materials availability for this generation of camera was different due to the war.
The focal-plane shutter is a big draw. Also, the availability of new and cheap lens boards is an attraction. That said, Intrepid cameras are nice. I considered picking one up but recently decided to go a different direction. I can't fauly anyone for wanting and liking an Intrepid.
The focal plane shutter allows you to shoot with barrel lenses that have no built-in shutter mechanism. Speeds with a working focal plane shutter are very sought after.
I think I'm stuck making one myself. I found a guy who sells the material, and found a good tutorial. But I've been hesitant to start the project as I could see myself screwing up the timing or not being able to re-assemble the mechanism correctly.
Oh gosh no. I'm very careful with this camera. I did drop the Dallmeyer Pentac, though. It slipped out of the lens board clip (I didn't know that my clip wasn't retaining lenses then and needed to be modified slightly) and the lens plopped out, fell in some grass, and rolled about 25 feet down a hill. Fortunately, being a WWII lens, it didn't seem to notice side from some dirt in the filter threads.
Nice job with this video - thanks. I learned a couple details I did not know. One cool thing I'll share has to do with the rangefinder missing from yours. Mine had one, a Kalart I think it was - but it was shot, so I removed it. When I did, I couldn't resist taking it apart to see what made it tick, and there on the inside of the base plate was a date written in pencil... "6/8/41". No doubt the date the camera was made (or at least the date the rangefinder was assembled). I decided to put several coats of Rustoleum clear coat on that plate and mounted it back onto the side of the camera. Oh, and just by bizarre chance, the day I discovered this was June 8th. So, to anyone reading this, there could be a date hidden inside your rangefinder.
Nice! I had an old Rolleiflex that had the manufacture date (29 February 1938) under the mirror. I won't lie. I wish all cameras had the date they left production somewhere accessible in them.
@@DavidHancock Wow, a leap year Rolleiflex... now that's something!
I have a 1907 4x5 GRAFLEX SLR with a focal-plane shutter and a Goerez 4 3/8" f 3.8 lens covered in Red Cordovan! A "STOVE-PIPE"! You look down thru the top, focus, compose, set the shutter (wind it up) set the f-stop, insert the film holder, withdraw the dark-slide after "half flipping" the mirror lever, then flip the mirror lever to expose the film (or PLATE!!!) and re-insert the dark slide and flip down the mirror. The Great "Weegee" Cut his Chops on one for the New York Herald (larger circulation than The Times before WWII!) I've a Linhof Technica IV too-THE BEAST!!! And a Graphic Century 23-it just sorta shrunk. I shot my first wedding (at 13) with a Crown Graphic with a StroboFlash IV on my shoulder and two GraphMatic film holders and 22 Rite-Way loose holders! 56 negs!
Nice!
Brian Segarra is correct, the little round hole on the right side of the camera, just ahead of the shutter is where the focusing cam of a rangefinder (either Kalart or Hugo Meyer) fits into. In fact you can see the rectangular outline of a rangefinder on the leather that has been removed at some point, as well as the 4 little slotted screws that would have secured it to the body of the camera.
The cam, when inside the body would then be connected to an arm that would hook into the right-side focusing rail and would ride along with the front standard as it was being focused by the focusing knobs. The view inside the rangefinder would be the same as any other rangefinder of the times, 2 split images that needed to coincide to achieve focus. I don't know about the Hugo Meyers, but with the Kalarts the images were vertically seperated and one image had to be brought down or up to the other.
Thank you!
Just a small correction the back you have it's a graflok back , the original ones for anniversary are called spring back they had non removable ground glass and they fit normal sheet holders but not all kind of backs ,also I think the hole you mentioned was for were the rangefinder originally was mine has it there love the video got myself one last week need to get new shutter curtain bellows
Oh thank you! I haven't had a rangefinder for this, but that would make sense. And also for the back terminology. I can never, for whatever reason, keep the names straight in my head.
Very nicely presented David. Love the Graflex. I have a Crown Graflex myself. No focal plane shutter but smaller and lighter. Also the front does have a fall feature not available in the Anniversary Speed. The fall is limited but some people reverse the rise mechanism to give them additional fall on the Crown. Thanks for your time and efforts in creating these videos. Anyways back to Video 2.
Thank you, Wayne. The AG has bed drop, and I completely forgot to address it. It's, in all honesty, minimally useful as the rails in the body won't move with the bed dropped (yielding that useless for wide-angle lenses) and the front standard doesn't tilt meaning that there's no way to reduce the tilt angle with bed drop (it's something like 30 degrees.) It is useful as a means for angling the film plan, however, when keeping the lens plane parallel with the subject.
Shutter is insane,copals!.
I do love my Copals.
I've been shopping ebay for a crowngraphic or speed graphic. Alot if the camera seem to present while but seen to be missing the linkage to press the shutter lense lever. Many have on what appears to be a solenoid, is this for a flash. I no linkage on lens is this hard to get parts for or over come?
I suspect that the linkage will be hard to find, yes. I don't know how hard it would be to make, either. I forget if the solenoid is for the flash or for an older style shutter.
@@DavidHancock thanks for your answer.
Could i get a link or contact where you got your bellows? Im in the same boat as you and cant find em :s
I buy mine from a guy in China. If you search large format bellows on eBay, you'll find him. He's super easy to work with and will custom-make bellows to fit your camera if needed. That's what he did for mine.
The front standard does shift but can't swing. I think that's what you meant. Great video.
Thank you! That is what I meant.
Could that hole 'for cable release' be instead from a Kalart that was removed?
Yeah, I think it probably was. I've not seen one of these with a Kalart in person. I checked photos online and it looks like you're correct.
Wait, the bellows and shutters are fragile on these? I have a original one from the 50s and the bellows are in perfect supple condition and same with the shutter curtain.
The later one of these that I have is in much better shape. It could be that the materials availability for this generation of camera was different due to the war.
it has a dropped for wides
Yes, butthe rails don't focus very well when the bed is dropped, limiting the usability significantly.
So I'm curious to why would someone would want this over the Intrepid when it is so cheap and brand new?
The focal-plane shutter is a big draw. Also, the availability of new and cheap lens boards is an attraction. That said, Intrepid cameras are nice. I considered picking one up but recently decided to go a different direction. I can't fauly anyone for wanting and liking an Intrepid.
The focal plane shutter allows you to shoot with barrel lenses that have no built-in shutter mechanism. Speeds with a working focal plane shutter are very sought after.
Ask the Germans for replacement shutter,who else does that quality outside Switzerland.
I think I'm stuck making one myself. I found a guy who sells the material, and found a good tutorial. But I've been hesitant to start the project as I could see myself screwing up the timing or not being able to re-assemble the mechanism correctly.
Enough with all the camera videos already. Don't you have a real job?
Yeah, but no one wants to see videos about my day job.
David Hancock Heh heh. I'm only watching to see if you drop it. Haven't trolled you in a while so I thought I'd drop in and breach the peace.
Oh gosh no. I'm very careful with this camera. I did drop the Dallmeyer Pentac, though. It slipped out of the lens board clip (I didn't know that my clip wasn't retaining lenses then and needed to be modified slightly) and the lens plopped out, fell in some grass, and rolled about 25 feet down a hill. Fortunately, being a WWII lens, it didn't seem to notice side from some dirt in the filter threads.