Any Graflex XL users out there?

[B-9]

I stumbled upon a XLRF, its a beater, it was cheap enough, always wanted one.

Ive also ran into a 180mm Rodenstock on my local craigslist, im going to pick up this weekend.

Ive only got the polaroid back, which needs a fair amount of restoration (good thing ive got a few spare roller assemblies from my land camera pile) but that is really all I have interest in, I need to use up some of this old 667/669 and FP-100c I have stashed behind the beer.

Im starting with the 95mm Rodenstock which came with the body.

I figure if the 95 will cover the full polaroid with minimal vignette, Ill have a sweet Normal-Tele RF kit that gives me instant satisfaction 😉

I had been looking at the Polaroid 600se and Mamiya Universal, but thought ide try the XL first.

Any words of advice? Praise of love for the XL?

 

[raid]

Congrats on the find.
I have the wide angle model XLSW with a 58mm lens, and I like it a lot.

 

[Nokton48]

I have a 58mm Grandagon I use on a custom made deeply recessed board on my 4x5 Sinar Normas. The lens just barely covers 4x5 if you forward focus it a bit.

Graflex XL's have a great reputation.

 

[Agiknee]

My graflex xl was my first and only medium format camera I've ever had. I love it to death, and I probably wont ever get rid of it.

I only have two lenses, the 100mm tessar and the 80mm planar. The tessar is what I use for the polaroid back. It barely covers it with no vignetting. I have the 150mm rodenstock but sold it like an idiot because I needed cash. Wish I had it back.

I want to try out the wider rodenstock lenses someday, and venture into the 6x9 back.

I finally found a 6x6 back on ebay after about a year of searching. Paired up with the 80mm planar, it's up there with any hassy. The 6x7 was the standard back, and it produces a straight and flat negative with a nice border around the negative.

have fun with yours!

 

[rjschell]

I'm sorry I sold mine. I recommend RB67 or Horseman backs. They have better film flatness than the Graflex ones.

 

[B-9]

My XLRF arrived this morning, in what appears to be good working order.

Dirty as sin, but focus is smooth and easy going. Rangefinder appears to match the distance scale nicely. RF patch is a little dim, but usable. Might be the tape holding the glass together 😉

Lens fires at all speeds, and appears accurate, bonus!

All in all not so bad! Not nearly as heavy as I thought, the polaroid back weighs about as much as the whole lens and body.

The polaroid back had seen the worst of it, having been rusted shut, it took a bit of careful fiddling with a flathead to unlock it. So im going to deep clean the main chassis, and install a later plastic gated door (complete with rollers). Which should let me grab a few test shots, before I decide to cannibalize my Model 100 for its metal gated door (with the correct black leatherette).

 

[Agiknee]

My XLRF arrived this morning, in what appears to be good working order.

Dirty as sin, but focus is smooth and easy going. Rangefinder appears to match the distance scale nicely. RF patch is a little dim, but usable. Might be the tape holding the glass together 😉

Lens fires at all speeds, and appears accurate, bonus!

All in all not so bad! Not nearly as heavy as I thought, the polaroid back weighs about as much as the whole lens and body.

The polaroid back had seen the worst of it, having been rusted shut, it took a bit of careful fiddling with a flathead to unlock it. So im going to deep clean the main chassis, and install a later plastic gated door (complete with rollers). Which should let me grab a few test shots, before I decide to cannibalize my Model 100 for its metal gated door (with the correct black leatherette).

getting a hold of the ground glass is always helpful. They can be had for less than 30 bucks sometimes.

if you ever wanna sell the rodenstock 180, let me know😉

 

[B-9]

Grabbed the 180mm Rodenstock yesterday evening, I got really lucky.

The lens looks immaculate, having been stored properly with both caps and a protective filter. Appears also to work excellently. All for 50$ in a box of other goodies which included an old Braun-Leitz sync cord (needed that!) My Graflex XL experience is going great so far.

Ive fully refurbished the Polaroid back, new foam, new rollers, new grey doors, and a good cleaning. Now I need to fill a few holes recklessly drilled everywhere for what I don't know, a little epoxy puddy and ill be shooting film Sunday!

Wish me luck 🙂

 

[Nokton48]

You might want to find the Graflex Guidebooks (and the instruction book) so you can see all the accessories. When I worked at Columbus Camera Group thirty years ago, we had tons and tons and tons of XL stuff. Never met anybody who wasn't happy with the system.

They made a lot of stuff for it. Enjoy!

 

[B-9]

Good news, and a little bad news...

Good News, the 95mm Rodenstock does indeed cover the whole polaroid with only minor (to me?) vignette. I rather like to the look of the darker edges, Im excited to play with it.

Bad News, my 180mm Rodenstock jammed up on the first exposure...and is now releasing as soon as the shutter cocks, bummer! Gonna have to spend next weekend working that out. Also, the RF sync button on my camera doesn't seem to work, as the 180 was way off the mark. Works fine with the 95mm, so for the time being, im still shooting. Ill have to investigate that when I open up the 180.

Thankful for good sun today! Ill be finishing this pack and scanning some for everyone to see!

 

[Agiknee]

Good news, and a little bad news...

Good News, the 95mm Rodenstock does indeed cover the whole polaroid with only minor (to me?) vignette. I rather like to the look of the darker edges, Im excited to play with it.

Bad News, my 180mm Rodenstock jammed up on the first exposure...and is now releasing as soon as the shutter cocks, bummer! Gonna have to spend next weekend working that out. Also, the RF sync button on my camera doesn't seem to work, as the 180 was way off the mark. Works fine with the 95mm, so for the time being, im still shooting. Ill have to investigate that when I open up the 180.

Thankful for good sun today! Ill be finishing this pack and scanning some for everyone to see!

Are you setting it to infinity before you hit the RF sync? Also, there's a little nub on the lens barrel that goes into the camera. That's what sets the focus when locked to infinity. If that's warn down, I don't think it'll work.

sorry to hear about the lense; hope it's an easy fix.

 

[B-9]

Just a quick update gents,

Been shooting the XL for a couple weeks now, and it's a great camera.

I'm planning to use up the last few packs of film at a wedding this weekend, then I think I'll throw it up on the classifieds for somone else to enjoy!

Never did get around to messing with the 180, but I'm sure I'll just throw it in for another tinkerer to digest.

Thanks everyone for the comments, it's been a lot of fun so far!