[rollei_list] Re: "Advantage of 4x5 over medium format" (was: Austin ...
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:14:29 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Rabiner" <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2005 7:44 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: "Advantage of 4x5 over medium
format" (was: Austin ...
> On 4/19/05 7:10 PM, "Jerry Lehrer" <jerryleh@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> typed:
>
>> Sam,
>>
>> I doubt it. I would contact Dick Knoppow. He knows
>> where
>> the bodies are buried :-).
>>
>> Jerry
>
> I thought they were all mahogany boxes covered with
> leather.
>
>
> Mark Rabiner
> Photography
> Portland Oregon
> http://rabinergroup.com/
>
I don't know of any especially good sources for Graphic
cameras. I know a couple of people who trade in them but
don't trust them beause I've seen some of the junk they
offer to the unsuspecting. One has to become familiar with
the various models and variations and with what to look for.
I don't have any simple advise other than to avoid stripped
cameras.
Crown Graphics have the advantage of being lighter and
having a shallower box than Speed Graphics but tend to get a
premium price because of it. There are far fewer of them
than Speed Graphics so one is limiting opportunities pretty
severly by concentrating on the. Crown Graphics originated
with the "Pacemaker" Series of Graphics in 1947. Previous to
this only Speed Graphics were made.
The focal plane shutter used in Speed Graphic and Graflex
SLR cameras is simple (sounds better than crude) but
reliable. It is useful for motion stopping and for barrel
mounted lenses but the fact is that many press and
industrial photographers, the main users of Graphics, never
used them. That is one reason the Crown was made. It was
also significantly cheaper than the Speed.
The Super Graphic is a very nice camera with many
features and relatively light weight but it came too late to
save Graflex. The only difference between the Super Graphic
and Super Speed Graphic is the Graphic-1000 shutter supplied
on the latter. As Bob Shell points out these tend to self
destruct. Fred Lustig, who was the No.1 Graflex camera guy,
claimed he could repair these shutters but I don't know if
he is back in business after the stroke he suffered a couple
of years ago. This shutter uses a peculiar arrangement for
driving the shutter blades that allows the mechanism to
accelerate before it contacts the blades. The tiny pins
which drive the blades tend to break off after a time.
Neither this shutter, or Kodak's Kodak 800 shutter was
successful. Actually the top speed of the Graphic 1000
shutter is 1/500th second but its lack of efficiency is such
that the equivalent exposure time is 1/1000 for the full
clear aperture of the shutter. The focal plane shutter has
better motion stopping ability and neither can compete with
a strobe.
I will try to answer any questions about Graphic cameras,
providing I know the answer.
The Graflex.org web site is probably the best all around
source of information on these cameras. It will at allow one
to identify models.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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