More Graflex Fun

I have had a lot of fun since I started using the Graflex Graphic series of cameras. Actually, I had to start learning to

fix them first...but that's another story.

I suppose it is even more gratifying to take one of these old classics out on a field trip and see what can be done,

esspecially after time getting them running good ( I imagine this would be applicable to many things from cars to

cameras etc... I get double exposure due to travelling on my road trips in a 1971 VW bus that ussually gets a lot of

attention also prior toany road trip).

 

Here are a couple of images I scanned this evening to share with you all.

The color is Provia and was shot with my first Pacemaker Top RF Crown Graphic 4x5 using a 90mm 6.8 Angulon.

The camera is pristine with an excellent 135mm Optar and working rangefinder night light. That camera doesn't

travel anymore in favor of a Crown without any accesories or RF.<div></div>

Plenty of folks have made much fun of my old cameras and do not seem to want to acknowledge the enjoyment I

find in them. Don't really care. Seem to work OK, what do you think?

The 4x5 can be quite fun, but my favorite Graphics are the smaller 2-1/4x3-1/4" (6x9) format cameras. In the

Pacemaker line it is considered the 23 series models. I used to travel and backpack with the Century Graphic non-

RF model, but have switched to a Crown Graphic with all the frill removed. GG only focussing etc... Recently took

this and a couple other cameras on a nice three week trip through central Nevada and drifted into the Utah canyon

country. The C-41 is out to the lab, but here is a sample of Acros from one of a few stops in Nevada...

For some reason I like this image. Lens used was the junky little Trioptar 103 with a little fwd tilt available by

tweeked the fwd standard and locking in a tilted position while having the camera in the vertcle tripod mount.

Perhaps I should take this neg into the dark room? Too busy maybe?<div></div>

Wonderful stuff! I love the hues on the first one.

The second one might have benefited from a bit more contrast perhaps. Still a great picture.

Thanks for sharing.

 

I took my Anni Graphic with Polaroid back to a classic car event. People were staring and I got a few "where's the viewscreen" jokes. Until they saw the instant photos....they all wanted their pictures taken all of a sudden.

Excellent.<br><BR>I have just started to restore a 5x4 Speed Graphic of my own. I have removed the rangefinder

and focal plane shutter as they were beyond repair and I have started to remove the leather which is also in a poor

state and has been painted red!<BR>Luckily the wood underneath looks good with a couple of coats of clear varnish

on it.<BR><BR>Mine will be used 90% of the time on a tripod focusing on the ground glass but for occasional hand

held use, I want to get a top mount viewfinder (which was missing). If anyone has a spare one I would be interested.

I think that black and white shot would probably look great printed fairly large. There's a lot for the eye to roam around.

Inspiring.

I love your photos!

 

The beautiful color shot whould be a hands down winner for a commercial use, such as a magazine or post card, but if both of the photographs you posted were enlarged and put in a gallery, people would spend much more time with the second shot. I think that's what makes a great photograph. Like Michael said, there is a lot for the eye to roam around.

 

The color shot contains only about two elements, a stream and a mountain. The brain can process that in a few seconds. Nice photograph, nice colors etc. and move on.

 

The second shot however, contains dozens of elements that could be cropped out and make a great individual photographs. As a whole within the framework, this photograph begs to be enlarged. It would draw people from across the room to see what it is. As they get closer they are literally drawn into the picture, walking around with their eyes, taking in all of the elements individually, as if they where there. There is the true beauty of a 4x5 negative. You can enlarge this up to a mural.

 

It would be very interesting to take the scans on a CD down to the printshop and run off a poster of each one. Then tape up the two posters next to eachother where people pass them on the street, in an office, or a Gallery; and see which one they spend the most time looking at. I would bet on number two! For some reason, I like it too.

Love #1. Wish I had scenery similar to that within a day drive, or even 2, or...

I liked them both ... you get incredible results! Inspiring indeed. I need to get my Century to spit out something that sharp! More!!

Even in little, reduced display images here there is just something about a nice 4x5 camera image. If Polaroid or Fuji would continue to make Type 52 film, I'd be out there with one myself. Alas.

 

Well done.

"I took my Anni Graphic with Polaroid back to a classic car event. People were staring and I got a few "where's the viewscreen" jokes."

 

Funny thing, I took my Anni Speed to a classic car show with several film backs. The people there, even those that had DSLR's thought I was the pro!

The B&W is along the Bristlecone trail in Great Basin Park. It was one of those outings where I didn't really see anything that caught my eye but whenever I hike along I tend to look back a lot ( and trip a lot too), and this image represents one of those times. While those who shoot a lot of film understand how and why a scene or composition like this will rarely look like it did to the eyes in person, hence a litteral copy. But the 103mm on a 6x9 camera ( I wasusing a 6x7 RH-10 back in this case) does a pretty good job rendering a close approximation, though still a bit wide. A 127 or 135mm will give a more realistic representation spacially. But the longer lens will rarely offer an oppertunity in mountain canyons to get either a good framing, or long DOF (that is on a 6x9 camera). I found myself using the 135 some out in Utah and using movements with that lens as it has 4x5 coverage.

As far as this B&W image... the original scan was pretty nice, and the compressed photo.net image is murky and darker, but shows the back ground better. So the thing to do is play some dark room magic on it and scan a print I think.

Because of the composition I chose not to try a grad filter and loose detail in the upper medium distance to gain a darker sky. The forground was in total shade while the sky is full bright afternoon sun. So exposing for ISO 64 on a gray card close in and pulling development quite a bit shows I at least have texture to work with any way I wish in an easily manipulated background.

Fantastic. Thanks for sharing those great images.

 

I suspect the black & white image would be awesome printed 20x30". Get lost in that picture!

Thanks JD and all.

Yeah I don't know about 20x30, but it is a sharp little lens.

It might go that big, but I think I'll work up an 8x10 that I can scan and repost next week.

I'm invisioning better highlights and shadow detail textures up front, and while I want to keep the somewhat mystical crags in the background, I should be able to add a little drama to that blownout sky without degrading the forground.

When I was fooling around with it in PS, just darkening the background changes the image into a busy mess that doesn't lend itself to wandering in the image like folks have suggested.

And I should have my color film returned from the lab up town by then. I figure I ought to have one worthy image out of eight rolls. Two might be asking too much...

I like both pictures but Nevada is my favorite.

Beautiful Images SG. Cant really decide which i like best, both are phenominal. excellent subject matter and composition, Good eye SG!

Great photos SG. The bishop creek is a winner, nicely composed and fantastic colors. Thanks for posting.

From one Graflex owner to another:

 

Great work! Keep it up!

 

--Micah in NC