Handheld 4x5 Large Format Film Photography with Speed Graphic Camera-How To
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- Опубліковано 13 жов 2024
- I go over how I use the 4x5 Pacemaker Speed Graphic for handheld large format film photography.
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Reversing Tilt
• Changing the front til...
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It was a pleasure watching your video. I cut my teeth with the 4x5 Speed Graphic as a military photographer, starting in 1958 and shot hundreds of photos with them, until the Canadian military switched to Blads and Nikon. I am now 83 and never forgot how to use a Graphic. I come from a generation where speed lights were not yet in use with the Graphic and used holders, Grafmatic and Kodak film packs. My favorite camera of all time. I have now gone FX/DX digital.
That's so stupid. What the hell is wrong you? Switching from superior large format to FX/DX. Senility.
Some good info there.
Thank you for your excellent video. I have the same camera and never thought of using the little arm to trigger the shutter. I was using it on a tripod and just using a cable loose mainly because I use different lenses on it but I have a 135 lens and I wanted to use on it to do some Grab shots with it because it’s pretty cool that you can do that with a 4 x 5 which is normally a tripod camera. I did the same modification to the front standard as you did and I also drilled my lens board off centre for my lens so I could get more rise or fall out of that lens as well as I built a reversing back on it with two pieces of 3/16 inch aluminum so that I can shoot vertical without having to turn the camera on its side. With a rectangular bellows that works really good until you get to about 180 mm and then you get a little bit of image cut off at the top of the frame, unless you use a telephoto which projects back further into the bellows and it will cover the full 4 x 5 vertical. I tend to shoot with lenses below 180 mm anyways so this isn’t a problem. Regards, Gerry.
These are great old cameras that still give very distinctive photographs (I own 4 or 5 of them). Many thanks, Craig. A new subscriber.
great info, you are really smart. 108, which is a 31mm equivalent in 35, would be a perfect focal length for street, and would yield a hell of
a lot more depth of field than my Wolly, 162mm lens. Stopped down to, say, f 11, you would have very decent DOF at normal distances!
This you need for quick shooting handheld large format photography, which is a far cry from cellphone DOF. the 90 is too wide, and messing with
the drop bed makes it kind of ungainly.
Great work ... makes me want to unpack on of the two I have an figure out how to make sure the rangefinder is coupled with the lenses... they are both originals, so hopefully it’s less then half a day :)
Thanks for sharing your images too !
I look forward to each of them during the video !!
How'd you do? Mine is off for sure and don't know how to adjust properly. Any advice?
@@lumn8tion Look for instructions for a Kalart rangefinder. Follow them carefully because there's one small brass screw that uses a reverse thread IIRC. It's not difficult so long as everything is there.
I like your "no hype" style...subscribed.
I went to your 4x5 flickr. Inspirational.
Excellent video and confirms what I discovered for myself. I have recently taken up 4x5 large format photography. At first I thought I would get a monorail but finally decided on the Busch Pressman Model D because of its compactness, all metal construction, and ease of use. I find myself using the rangefinder more than the ground glass. Why take the time to set up a tripod when a handheld shot will be the same? You can also use a flash outdoors as a fill in light and if the exposure is set right it will darken the background and sky, while the subject is light well. Of course, it is also easy to use a flash indoors for portraits and groups shots. In my mind, a 4x5 press camera is the best of both worlds.
Where can I find that optical viewfinder now? Your link no longer works. I've searched and just can't seem to find it anywhere. Thanks.
did you manage to find it? I'm looking for one too
Thanks craig this was really helpful. Im thinking of getting into 4x5 and know it would be with the Speed Graphic. Genuinely great images too.
Nice photos. I use a horseman 970 the same way, with 6x7 and 6x9 rollfilm.
Hi thank you very much, I hope one day soon to get one.
Thanks!
Your information was particularly interesting.
Hey Craig, I just got a Speed Graphic and plan to use it hand-held as well. I am a little bit surprised that you decided to use the leaf shutter on the lens vs. the focal plane shutter. Can you share why you made that decision?
He mentioned camera shake.
Thanks, very inspirational!
This was useful, thanks. I didn't know about that VF upgrade, nor the idea of reversing the front tilt. I just did mine. One thing: I found that I couldn't close the camera up unless I shifted the front standard to the right a bit, since the reversed tilt set knob on the left side bumps up against the eccentric screw if it is centered, which keeps the front standard from sitting back far enough to close up.
I started trying to couple my rangefinder too, but gave up for another day, since I didn't get very far. It would be great if someone was to create a video on how this is done, since it is not obvious, even with the instructions that are out there.
Did ever did a video about the tilt mod ?
Great job! However one question - is the forward tilt mod really necessary? Can´t you achieve the same by just lowering the bed and lifting the lens? Then you will have the same foward tilt capability without loosing the ability to use wide angle lenses. Or am I missing something?
You're not missing anything. What you describe is how the camera was designed to work. It's been working well like that for 70+ years.
@@kowanut1 Yeah this guy is just a bit of a pretentious idiot at times.
the whole shutter speed faster than focal length thing is just a vague rule of thumb, and it's based on 35mm cameras, so you've got a lot more wiggle room with a 4x5.
The equivalencies are based on 35mm focal lengths too so you just take the crop factor in account actually. So using a 210mm on 4x5 camera you set 1/60 since is about 56mm. Same thing for using APS-C with a 35mm since it also comes out around the same field of view.
Excellent video man, just what I was looking for.
I've got a question though, hope you won't mind... How do you couple the rangefinder with the lens? I have a Crown (which I got since just a few days) and the lens is an Ektar 127mm. The previous owner never used the rangefinder (only the ground glass) so the rangefinder is so off mark. Thanks!
p.s. re: hand-held shooting, from your personal experience would you be shooting at 1/100th had you the 127mm lens I've got?
Thanks for watching! Hopefully this link helps for adjusting the rangefinder
www.graflex.org/speed-graphic/kalart-adjustment.html
1/100th of a second when using a 127mm lens should be fine. I would be more comfortable if the shutter had 1/125th though. Basically the image will look "softer" upon enlargement the slower you go on the shutter speed. It depends on the sharpness you want and degree of enlargement as to how slow you can handhold it.
Thank you so much for your answer w/ the link. I'll have a look at it right now.
Agreed re: shutter speed. Let's see what happens at 1/100th though :)
New to this. What model do I shop for if I want the more functional modern over vintage? I want 1/1000th shutter, focal plane shutter, flash sync, tilt options. & to start , i wanna use 220/120 roll film & a rotating back as i get used to it. Like the scope
If you’re looking to get into 4x5, a Speed Graphic is a good start. The focal plane shutter can go up to 1/1000.
Later models do have flash sync terminals on the body, but they’re set up for M-sync with bulbs only. I’d imagine you could have it converted, but it’d be expensive.
For X-Sync on my Speed Graphic I picked up a 127mm Polaroid lens that came off one of their early rollfilm instant cameras. It had up to 1/500 shutter speed and X-Sync through a PC socket.
I have a 6x7 rollfilm back, but my camera has the spring back, not graflok, so I can shoot in only landscape (which is fine by me). There is a chart of viewfinder inserts for different film formats and focal length combinations out there- I picked up a lot of all the Graflex inserts years ago so it’s easy to compose the shot without replacing the original viewfinder like in this video.
If you’re already developing your own film, doing 120 isn’t hard at all. 4x5 is a bit tougher, I bought a tank that does ten sheets at a time. Don’t try to kludge 4x5 sheets in a Paterson tank, you’ll ruin more film than the cost of a dedicated sheet tank.
Hello, i know this is an old video, but can i ask about the viewfinder? The link doesn't work anymore, and i can't find anything similar in that price range.
Thanks, very interesting!
Thanks for watching!
Liked your presentation. Very informative. Wonder if you could give link to viewfinder that you've installed? Thanks.
Thanks for watching! The viewfinder can be found at
www.bh-camera.com/viewfinder.php
This link doesn’t work. Which viewfinder is this? Thanks
Hi, can you tell me what is the multi focal viewfinder. Your URL link is not available. Regards
excellent, thank you!
Thanks for watching! I have more videos on my channel and plan on making more. It's a relatively new endeavor for me, but it has been fun so far.
Thanks for this. (Linhof ST-IV user).
What was the lens you said you have in the camera. Thanks
ello, would you be so kind to tell me where should I stop the slide? I mean sliding out the lens mine doesn't stops and i can't see any mark where I should stop, thank you
Is there any new 4x5 camera that I can buy unused that has a range finder and focal plane shutter ? Also, of course the rangefinder is superior for quick focusing and shooting , but is it possible to use the ground glass to get close ish enough when shooting handheld ? Or do you need a dark cloth to be able to see it at all ?
Hi Craig.. Next video add something from ur point of view using a flash light i.e. power, easiness, type.. Bye..
What is the viewfinder you are using? Is it adjustable?
Excellent! Thanks.
I want to get into 4x5 with this camera. How do I learn about focusing ? Is this camera a suitable choice for handheld portraits ?
Go to the "Large Format Photography Forum". Heaps of information there.
At the beginning of this video ua-cam.com/video/jyhU8ugA-3o/v-deo.html shows a black and white photo I took back in the early 1990's, using a Graflex Speed Camera.
What kind of rangefinder are you using that is adjustable to your lens? My stock rangefinder requires cams to adjust for focal length.
Do a search on Kalart rangefinders for Graphics.
I have a wartime Anniversary Speed Graphic and it doesn't have the shutter release for the lens. Do you have any ideas for he best way to fire the shutter while hand holding it? The only thing I can think of is a cable release with a holder of some sort mounted to the camera that I can hit with my thumb.
+First Name Last Name I would agree that a cable release with some sort of holder would be the best method. I have used that method on a handheld 4x5 camera that I built and it works well.
+Craig Sheaks Thanks. I synced the range finder yesterday. That was fun. It would have been nice to magnify the image in the finder to make double sure it was perfectly set. Couldn't do that so eyeballing it will have to suffice. It was an easy, but time consuming process. It took less than two hours so I have a feeling I will have to do it again. I have some cheap 4x5 film to test it with. If needed, I'll borrow a friend to give me a hand measuring next time.
I suppose that these are only available on the used markets. What do you think that this would cost in 2017?
+eminusipi Yes they are only available on the used market. Prices range between $150-$500 USD (depending on condition).
Wouldn't the image through the viewfinder be higher than the actual image you are getting?
+Matthew Braun Yes, it would be. But at normal shooting distances this equates to such a small amount as to be negligible. At close distances I do have to use the ground glass to verify (with this setup I avoid closeup shots for this reason).
I wonder if there would be an option of finding some type of viewfinder device that could be offset (kind of like when you're projecting onto a wall but the projector is at the ceiling), for shooting portraits.
Do you have flickr display?
Thanks for watching! My work can be found at www.csheaks.500px.com
I'm taking this to basketball.
+truth defender Photographer David Burnett regularly uses one at different sporting events. He used one at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
petapixel.com/2013/02/08/david-burnetts-speed-graphic-photos-of-the-london-2012-olympics/
Craig Sheaks
extremely awesome
The original "cold shoe" is right there attached to the rangefinder.
Yea...explain ‘couple the viewfinder ‘.
Great info BUT BE AWARE !!!!!! the link to the viewfinder goes to MALWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
That video link doesn't workm.ua-cam.com/video/qAoHIZl9MR0/v-deo.html
Try this.
Hey! What cold shoe is that?
It is just a generic cold shoe. Similar to the ones you might find on an umbrella mount. The important thing is that it has the screw on the side to allow you to secure the viewfinder in place.
Craig Sheaks thank you for the reply. Love your channel. Unfortunately I've been looking everywhere and cant quite find that style cold shoe.
One like this should work. www.amazon.com/ePhoto-Speedlite-Hotshoe-Adapter-H6800R/dp/B0082IX6MG
Thank you!! I am slapping an Omega (58mm for 6x7)VF on my Anniversary SG, I threw a Schneider 90mm Super Angulon on it. Let's see how it works! Thanks again.