Graflex Crown Graphic
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- This week we take a look at my Graflex Crown Graphic (also known as the Graflex Pacemaker Crown Graphic) 4x5 Large Format Camera. What I thought was the go to Press Camera for it's time, but i've since found out i was WRONG! PFt. Not the first time. I thought this because it is often mistaken for the 'Speed Graphic' which is identical except for the lack of a focal plane shutter on the Crown Graphic.
I have a funny story how I acquired this bad boy that is sure to delight. :)
Stay till the end, there are example photos in this video.
Happy shooting everyone.
Find me on Instagram at:
/ mikelamb972
....The notches on the film are to tell you what type of film it is (Negative, B&W, colour or reversal(Ektachrome)....and is placed at the lower right corner to insure the emulsion side faces the lens.....Also, the sport finder is a 2 part affair, the 'handle will separate to become a rectangle used in conjunction with the eye 'ring'.....We used these in the early days of TV to shoot rear screens (Ektachrome at the time) for the announcer's backdrops.....If film wasn't so expensive I'd be using mine still, but I'm retired on a fixed income....By the way, the prongs on the side of the lens can be used to fire electronic flash units, you just have to 'jerry rig' a connector......The rangefinder can be used in low light as it will project 2 beams of light when set-up properly, to intersect on the subject....
Did you know that you can put batteries in the range finder and that you press the button on the side of the range finder so that you can focus in the dark with the overlapping light images? It works perfectly!
Learning more and more about this camera from your comments. Thanks for the info!!!!
Ive got an identical camera I purchased a few years ago. Got into developing and printing my own shots. Your video inspired me to get it out and get going again.
Awesome! Thanks for watching and for reaching out! Keep shooting film. :)
Thanks for the great overview and cool story.
Fine video, thx. You also can attach the cable release next to the release button on the camera's body. That is a less fragile connection option for the cable release. Just a free tip from a Graflex user on the other side of the ocean ;)
Thanks! I'm going to have to give that a try!
Awesome review and a great story behind. 👌🏻🙂
Just stumbled across your video here. I just picked up one of these online and cant wait for it to get here. Same model. Your video was very useful. I also live here in Dallas
You can also disconnect the hood and look directly into the ground glass use a leuop to focus. The hood is most likely for hand held and press work rough estimate. There are two prong like hinges that secure the hood mechanism, unlatch and you are free of protruding pop out hood
Cool, I recently acquired one for 100. It seemed unreal. Thank goodness it wasn’t a scam. Just an elderly couple retiring from photography.
I went into a bad neighborhood to buy a used camera. Kind of scary but was the cleanest used camera I’ve ever come across
Thanks for making this video. I just bought one and should have it a week from now. I'm looking forward to shooting with it.
Makes me think of the watch story in Pulp fiction 😂😂 what a great story to carry along with this camera!
You can get a changing bag to load film. It literally looks like what you might imagine it would.
B&H sells the 4x5 Ilford at a decent price.
Man I honestly just lastnight had the exact same camera put in my hands and you’ll never guess the price I paid for it! So I’m gonna tell you it was free! Pretty good shape accept the garage dust and age accumulated dirt but the inside is flawless!
Anyways Idk anything about the damn thing so I googled it and looked at the guy and was like “are you sure you want to give this to me” he said “yea why what is it worth a lot of money” I was like yeah man you don’t know what you’ve just given me. Well that conversation went on for about 2 more minutes and I was like sweet man thanks!
And so after all that I started checking it out and well first thing I had to do was watch a video to figure out how to open the damn thing lol and after that I learned that some of this model was from like 1917 so I started trying to figure out the date on the camera and all I got was a bunch of bull crap! So I just watched your video and figured you might be able to tell me how to go about finding what year this particular camera was made. I tried googling the serial number and all I got was a list of serial numbers other than the one I put in. So if there’s a specific way to phrase what I’m looking for on google or maybe some website you know of or hell maybe you might even know? Any advice would mean a lot buddy I’d really appreciate it! Thanks for the video man helped me take it apart to clean it
I really appreciate you making the video on using 35 mm film and the graflex. I'm trying to figure out a way to shoot Panos in some of the different cameras I have because something like a Hasselblad pan X is way too much money. Keep making videos!
Oh yeah, a piece of Velcro would hold the camera door in place.
Also there’s a company called Custom Camera Covers. They sale new leather grips for this camera. I believe it’s $30
BTW: The shutter release button is conveniently placed on the right side...
Thanks! There is a lot going on with this thing a I should have practiced a few times before I shot this video. :)
i can't believe you have a camera review channel. it's pronounced graflex, not grayflex. the infinity stops are there so that the lens is properly aligned with the rangefinder. you don't have to raise the lens to center it, it's centered when it's all the way down. that's just tilt, not tilt-shift and you can tilt it the other way, you just don't know how. you can also shift the lens and add rise and fall, but again you don't know how. that "bar" is the front of the sports finder, not a handle, which you're looking through wrong because again you have no idea what you're doing. "i'm not sure what it is" pretty much sums up this video, but that's a solenoid, and it's not for slowing down the shutter to sync to a flash, it's for using a flashgun to fire the shutter. you don't need to fumble around with the thing on the side of the lens, it's linked to the shutter release on the side of the camera. those are film holders, not slides. you don't have to fire the shutter to close it, just flip the same switch you used to open it for focusing or you need to cock the shutter again. "what's goin' on with my lens?" you don't know how to use it. that lens isn't junk. you can absolutely put modern lenses on that camera. they still make plenty of lenses for large format cameras. that second lens has adjustable flash sync and can be used with modern flashes. film doesn't have to be expensive, i'm paying 15 cents canadian per shot for orthochromatic x-ray film. god damn dude. i appreciate your enthusiasm for the camera, but you've got no business reviewing it. you don't know what you're doing and you're just misinforming anyone who came here looking to understand their camera better.
Maltfalc You could communicate that information without being ornery. Even if everything you said was correct, you said it in a way that no one will listen. Even if you are right, you’re wrong.
@@MichaelSeneschal "you said it in a way, no one will listen"....... Speak for yourself, man.. He is right. This guy has no business reviewing something he has zero knowledge about. It's ludicrous!!!
Berating someone is not a good way to impart knowledge. Either make your own video, or teach without being so insulting. People are not born with this knowledge, they must acquire it somewhere. Being angry at someone for not knowing doesn't help them to know. The more you know about a lost technology, the greater your duty is to promulgate knowledge about it.
Hey my friend being that you seem to know a lot about the camera, I just had one literally handed to me from a friend. After watching a few videos and googling the thing I noticed that not only is it worth a lot, but it’s very possibly old. I looked up the serial number on it and it showed a pile of numbers just not mine! Also most of the numbers were saying that they were made around 1917,1918…. I’m honestly bugging you to find out if you might know how to find out the year my camera was made? Any information would be helpful and very appreciated! Thanks if you made it this far into my comment. Also my name is Preston not Mariah lol
Agreed! Cringe-worthy 'review'(?) and mostly woefully inaccurate.
What film did you use for the example shots at the end?
Thanks!
I know this is a little late to this video by about 4 years just scored one today for 50 bucks at the flea market I don't know if it works two lenses
if you ever, ever, ever sell this one day, im looking for a second graflex body. Keep me posted.
I have one coming in pretty soon I'm planning to tune up, as long as it's in good shape. If you shoot me your email, I'll let you know if/when It's done. From what I can tell, it's been taken care of really well.
where the release button was would of been helpful
Solenoid electric for remote shutter release
Nice story about the camera.
Thanks!
I have a Crown graphic that was part of huge lot of photo equipment I got when my friend's father passed away. It is beat up and dirty and has a Kodak Ektar lens. Your looks so clean. How did you clean the external surfaces?
Thanks for watching. I used some tuning alcohol that I deleted with water so it wasn’t too harsh on the surface - about a 50/50 mix. If you do this, find a very small spot to test it to make sure it doesn’t affect the surface and eta it away.
Did you know that you can turn a dog collar into a great grip strap for your left hand? Very cheap!
Trying that tonight. Although my dog may not let me keep it on there. :)
Have fun!
Can you shoot a vertical with this Camera ???
Do you want to sell it?
Sounds like you're talkin' smack about a dude who gave you a sweet deal on his grandma's camera. Who cares if he likes weed. Have some more respect for Ace. Got mine for $5.00 because the people at the thrift store didn't know what it was or how to open it.