Help needed about the correct use of a Graflex

[berlinhennig]

Last week I went to the custom like a child on Christmas morning to collect my new old Graflex Pacemaker

Speed Graphic 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 which I got over ebay from a dealer in Rochester!!

Same time I got the rollback, a film was already bought and with the first sunlight I walked out to take

some test pictures. Ok. the first film was mine. I forgot to check if the curtain shutter is definetly open. It

wasn't and so I got a wonderful black roll back from the developing.

Second try was developed today and ... there is a little bit sharpness missing ;-(

[berlinhennig]

So here is the question of an automatic dude:

 

Before I will look for somebody who is synchronizing the range finder/lens combination I

like to know if I possibly made a mistake with the handling of the baseboard.

 

How far do I have to pull the bellows/lens out on the baseboard?

Is there any marking how far or less far you have to pull?

Or, how do you get a Grflex sharp???

 

Here some technical details:

Lens: Graflex Optar 1:4,5/101 mm

Shutter: 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/20, 1/50, 1/100, 1/200, 1/400 Sek.; "B" u. ?T?; Graphex

 

By the way is this a lens you would recommand for portrait pictures?

[charles_stobbs3]

Go to http://graflex.org for lots of info. i would start with ground glass focussing, then try focussing by scale, and if that all works OK see if the rangefinder is out of whack. I never owned one but a friend had one.

[sattler123]

First thing you need to do is determine where on the rail is infinity focus - to do this, you need to focus with the groundglass and a loupe. Pick a target at least 20-30m away. When you do this, make sure you do not rack out the rail - the focus know on the rail is not to be used for this!!!!! Just move the front standard! Chance is there is already an infinity mark on the rail (there should be an infinity stop on the rail). Once you found that, then you need to compare the rangefinder focus with focus on the groundglass (again, use a loupe). If the rangefinder is off (and chances are that it is, given the age of this camera) then go to www.graflex.org and look for the instructions on how to adjust the rangefinder. It is not difficult, it just requires patience. Good Luck!

[bueh]

If you come to FFM, I could show you how to operate this camera. I have a Miniature Speed Graphic myself and its Ektar lens produces outstanding pictures.

 

Let's see... You need to pull out the lens onto the rail. There are so-called infinity stops and this how far you should pull the lens out. You focus be moving the rails with two rollers -- bellows focusing. The best way to check the focus is on the ground glass. Open both shutters at "B" with the aperture wide open. Yes, the image is upside down and not very bright. Often the rangefinder is not correctly aligned or completely shot anyway. Focus on the ground glass, close the leaf shutter, put in the rollfilm back, remove the darkslide, set aperture and shutter speed, wind shutter, release. Put in the darkslide again, advance the film, remove the back and use the ground glass again. Sounds difficult, un-ergonomic and far from idiot-proof? Welcome to classic camera photography!

[berlinhennig]

Juergen does your name read into any possible knowledges in the German language which

will be helpful for me at this hard to understand topic? This is because your explanation

sounds pretty good but I think I have to understand any detail.

[berlinhennig]

Bueh B. it seems to me easier to walk from BLN to FFM tha getting started with one of your

instructions.

"There are so-called infinity stops..."

If I pull till the infinity stops are on both sides that only touchs the baseboard and the

track. It does not have anything to do with the lens/the rails with two rollers. But they will

chage the infinity stop if you turn them.

 

What the h*** is the ground glass.

 

"Open both shutters at "B" with the aperture" This is the point I do loose understanding in

anything. Both shutters???

 

"Often the rangefinder is not correctly aligned or completely shot anyway." If we are

talking about the Kalart, if I will move the rollers now the ghost image in the Kalart will

start to move. If you have both images over each other and you look at the feet scale it

seems to be ok.

 

Did I already mentioned the ground glass??

 

"close the leaf shutter" is this what I thought is a curtain shutter?

 

"..., put in the rollfilm back, remove the darkslide, set aperture and shutter speed, wind

shutter, release. Put in the darkslide again, advance the film, remove the back and use the

ground glass again." Here it is again, the ground glass!

 

"Sounds difficult, un-ergonomic and far from idiot-proof?" Does not even sound difficult it

is, it is! And your "Welcome to classic camera photography!" is like being hugged by King

Kong. Urrgh.

But I love my Graflex and I wanna be like WeeGee! I have never want to be somebody else

except I learned about WeeGee.

[sattler123]

Yes, I am originally from Germany - have been in the States for 17 years now. You can email me at sattler123 at yahoo dot com. I am only afraid that any explanation in German might be more confusing than my english one - I am not sure I know all the exact Large Format terms in german - but we can try. Send me an email with what you need to understand better and I will try - I also have a 2x3 Graflex and I might be able to shoot you some digi pictures to better explain this. Also, try the Graflex.org site - it has tons of information on these topics.

[bueh]

<blockquote><i>What the h*** is the ground glass.</i></blockquote>

The ground glass is the <i>Mattscheibe</i>, the piece of glass at the back of the camera. Yes, is can be removed (and a roll film back permantly attached), but usually it is a part of the camera.

<br> 

<blockquote><i>Both shutters???</i> [...] <i>is this what I thought is a curtain shutter?</i></blockquote>

The Speed Graphic has two shutters -- one cloth focal plane shutter in the body, and a leaf shutter in the lens. The rear shutter is almost never used and therefore often set to open. You set and operate it by the levers on the right side of the camera. Don't change anything unless you know what you're doing!

<br> 

<blockquote><i>If we are talking about the Kalart, if I will move the rollers now the ghost image in the Kalart will start to move. If you have both images over each other and you look at the feet scale it seems to be ok.</i></blockquote>

Then you are a lucky man. I had two Graphics were the rangefinder did not work.

 

<p>

But I have to leave, unfortunately. I can tell you more later tonight here or simply write me an email if the people here could not help you understand your camera.<div></div>

[berlinhennig]

Bueh B. I now know what the ground glass is, but I don't have such a clear image like you. It

is more like after the 25th beer.

If we can discusse this later, may be tomorrow if Juergen does not get me turned into a prof,

I will be glad.

[neal_shields]

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/century_graphic-23/century_graphic-23-splash.htm

[neal_shields]

Even better here is the one for a "Baby speed"

 

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/speed_graphic_miniature/speed_graphic_minature.htm

 

 

Note: All this assumes that your lens is origional with the camera and no body has moved the infinity stops.

[leonard_robertson]

My favorite Graphic website is this one from Jo Lommen, in the Netherlands: http://members.lycos.co.uk/jolommencam/

He may have a German version of this site available. You might email him and ask. I emailed him once, and he seems to be a very nice fellow. Or he may know a German speaking Graphic user who can help you.

 

"But I love my Graflex and I wanna be like WeeGee! I have never want to be somebody else except I learned about WeeGee." This is a wonderful comment of yours. You have the most important thing to learn to use your Speed Graphic - love of the camera. You will learn everything you need to know. It just may take some time.

[jeff bishop]

Ok, some questions...

 

Is the lens clean? If you remove the lensboard and look through the lens, is it clear or cloudy? The front and rear elements can be unscrewed and cleaned inside and out. If you do clean the glass, don't touch anything except the glass (for instance, don't stick your fingers into the shutter openings).

 

Once you know that to be clean... Remove the ground glass (should be four small brass screws. Clean both sides of the glass. Again, sorry if this is overboard, but don't mess with the cloth shutter that you will see when the glass is removed.

 

Put the ground glass back on.

 

Unlock the tab below the lens, and slide the front standard (thing that holds the lens) forward until it hits it's stops. From here, if you need to move the lens further forward, use the knobs on the front 'lid.'

 

Put the shutter on "T" for Timed, and trip it open. Now you should see a nice clear image on the ground glass, much like the photo above.

 

Adjust the focus as sharp as you can get it. Use a loupe, or some way to magnify the image. A 50mm lens from a 35mm camera makes a loupe (though a really fat one) if you happen to have a 35mm camera around.

 

Once the image is super sharp on the ground glass, look through the rangefinder. Turn the focus knob a tiny bit while looking through the rangefinder to see if the image will split or come together. It should be right on if the image is sharp on the ground glass.

 

The rationale here is to see if you can trust your rangefinder (I haven't had a bad one yet). If you can, then you are good to go. If you can't, then just use the ground glass for focusing.

 

Feel free to email me if you have more questions. I'd be happy to help.

 

Jeff

[gene_e._mccluney]

The correct way to use a Graflex is to wear a Fedora with a press pass in the hat brim,

chew on a cheap cigar and use the big flash gun.

 

sorry couldn't resist.

[berlinhennig]

Know this feeling very well ;-))