Beware that at least some Linhof Technika cameras have a reputation
for needing new bellows. Linhof seems to have used genuine leather
bellows which are subject to rotting. Once leather begins to degrade
there is nothing to be done about it. Leather dressings can make britle
leather more flexible but will not stop the rot.
Graflex used synthetic bellows on all its cameras after about 1940
and many older Graphic and Graflex cameras were refitted at the factory.
Linhof replacement bellows are probably still available but will be
quite expensive.
The focal plane shutter which gives the Speed Graphic its name, can
be very useful but also adds a lot of weight to the camera. The Crown
Graphic is essentially the same camera without the FP shutter. Its
lighter and the box is shallower since it does not have to contain the
shutter mechanism. There are a number of barrel mounted lenses which are
useful on a Speed Graphic. I have not seen a Kodak Aero Ektar for some
time. They were popular right after WW-2 because they were available
surplus at low prices. However, they contained a small amount of
radio-active glass which will turn brown with age. The lens is a seven
element Planar type intended for night aerial photography using flash
bombs. Like so much other ordnance the Aero Ektar was not intended to
have a long life. The superior optical properties of the glasses
explains their use plus I am not sure even Kodak was aware of the
browning of glass under long term exposure to radiation. The strength of
the radiation is probably not strong enough to make the lenses dangerous
to use but I would not sleep with one.
FWIW, the focal plane shutter on the Graflex cameras is relatively
crude. Graflex did have a more sophisticated design very early on but
found it did not perform enough better to justify the cost and
maintenance. The Pacemaker series S.G. has a simple low speed regulator
on the shutter using a flywheel. The speed of these shutters is not
consistent either end to end or for successive exposures. Nonetheless,
they can be very useful on occasion.
By the time press photographers were switching to Rolleis and 35mm
cameras most who used 4x5 had gone over to the Crown Graphic due to its
lighter weight and lower cost. However, the traditional press camera was
fairly rapidly supplanted by reflex and 35mm cameras as film quality
improved.
The Linhof does have a cam operated rangefinder and a very good
variable optical finder. Cams must be matched to individual lenses. The
last of the Graphics also had cam operated rangefinders.
The older Kalart rangefinder, the most commonly found on Graphics,
was very accurate when correctly adjusted. Somewhere on the Graflex web
site you will find an article by yours truly on how to adjust them. I
decided long ago to re-write this but never go around to it.
If you begin using a Graphic you will discover youself shouting
"Just one more" and "More cheesecake". Somehow built into the cameras.
BTW, there is a story, probably apocraphal about the Graflex SLR.
Up to maybe 1930 the Graflex, usually a 5x7, was the most common press
camera. At about this time press phtogs began to switch to Speed
Graphics. The story is that a New York times photographer was killed
covering an automobile race because he was on the track with his head in
the finder hood and did not see an oncoming car; it killed him and the
NYT banned the use of Graflex cameras. Might be true but the SG is a
much easier camera to use and lighter so I think maybe it supplanted the
Graflex for quite practical reasons.
As to a choice between them, I think it depends on what you intend
to use it for. If you want the movements and other studio camera
features of the Linhof you probably should find a good view camera. Its
like the difference between a M-B and a truck; if you want to haul stuff
the truck will win every time.
--
Richard Knoppow
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
WB6KBL
