Combat Graflex for sale on Evilbay

[karlori]

I was just browsing the bay as my evening routine, and found this big guy there. I once saw it and the thing is huge ! Too bad this one is not working properly, how would one go about acquiring some 70mm film ? Or is there some other film this bad boy could take, I've been fascinated with this beast ever since i saw it... I'm broke after my IIIg set purchase but eh you never know when one like this will pop up ...

The auction:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/28072265464...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_1000wt_1395

I'm not connected to the seller just want to share something I myself find a fascinating camera ...

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Wow, very cool! This takes 120, I thought?

 

[Roger Hicks]

Wow, very cool! This takes 120, I thought?

No. 70mm only. And it's Combat Graphic, not Combat Graflex. Believe me, 70mm is a nightmare to find and not much fun to process (I have a 70mm back for my Alpa and I once borrowed a Combat Graphic outfit).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Well, hard-core collectors are not really interested in that esoteric practice of (gasp!) "using" the camera.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Dangit, I was hoping for a Graflex Combat 4x5 🙁

 

[Roger Hicks]

Well, hard-core collectors are not really interested in that esoteric practice of (gasp!) "using" the camera.

Which is just as well, as otherwise, some of them (the cameras, though come to think of it, maybe the collectors as well) would be straight in the bin.

Would any sane person buy an Ektra, Chadt, Periflex, Komlosy, Peckham-Wray, etc. to use in 2011?

Cheers,

R.

 

[tocalosh]

Dangit, I was hoping for a Graflex Combat 4x5 🙁

Check out the sellers other items!

 

[karlori]

Which is just as well, as otherwise, some of them (the cameras, though come to think of it, maybe the collectors as well) would be straight in the bin.

Would any sane person buy an Ektra, Chadt, Periflex, Komlosy, Peckham-Wray, etc. to use in 2011?

Cheers,

R.

I liked the Ektra for the 10 days I owned it 😀 me being ambidextrous and my left eye being the dominant one it was quite a pleasure to use 😀 .

 

[Roger Hicks]

I liked the Ektra for the 10 days I owned it 😀 me being ambidextrous and my left eye being the dominant one it was quite a pleasure to use 😀 .

Well, that's 100% approval from ambidextrous left-eye-dominant Croatians...

Presumably, though, the reason you sold it after 10 days was a handsome profit. Which is the course I think I'd take too...

Cheers,

R.

 

[batterytypehah!]

how would one go about acquiring some 70mm film ?

B&H still lists at least one, Efke 100, at $180 per 100 foot roll. Otherwise, there are currently 6 listings for 70mm stock on ebay. Some of it only 8 years out of date...

 

[Roger Hicks]

Ilford will sell you Delta 3200 in 70mm if you want. The drawback is the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity).

Cheers,

R.

 

[Particular]

How Graflex failed to market this thing, and make it the dominant press camera of it's time is somewhat beyond me. It is so much more modern than a Speed Graphic, and would have been highly desirable before 35mm was widely accepted for press work. They could have given Rollei a run for their money.

 

[karlori]

Well, that's 100% approval from ambidextrous left-eye-dominant Croatians...

Presumably, though, the reason you sold it after 10 days was a handsome profit. Which is the course I think I'd take too...

Cheers,

R.

Haha well played that puts me what in the 1 in 4.5 million really cant make a statistic out of that, and for the second part you are right too. I think it still sits on some shelf in that camerashop east from Marienplatz in Munich...

 

[bananasplit]

For 70mm film (double perforation) you can find fresh film at macodirect. If I recall it is a b&w film 400 iso which is usually sold as an IR film. Using this film without any filter and processing at 400 will give you excellent results.

 

[bananasplit]

Sorry forgot to mention that the film is sold under the brand Rollei.

 

[Roberto V.]

One day when I have enough money I'll buy one of these and get it modified to use 120 film 😀

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

Too bad about the 70mm...I'd never even heard of the stuff! The camera is reminiscent in appearance of what Fuji later did very well...

 

[unixrevolution]

Which is just as well, as otherwise, some of them (the cameras, though come to think of it, maybe the collectors as well) would be straight in the bin.

Would any sane person buy an Ektra, Chadt, Periflex, Komlosy, Peckham-Wray, etc. to use in 2011?

Cheers,

R.

I have a big soft spot for Kodak cameras, and though I've never actually so much as held an Ektra, I'd definitely shoot with one given half the chance.

I run into this syndrome of collecting cameras to look at them all the time. I was on vacation with my Fiancee and we stumbled into an antique shop.

Me: I love old cameras.
Antique Store Owner: I have one here...and old Kodak.
M: Hmm...It's cute, shutter works, but the bellows are pretty well gone.
ASO: Yeah, they are.
M: ...That means I can't use it to take pictures.
ASO: Oh? You actually want to USE it?

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Check out the sellers other items!

Thanks Tocalosh, unfortunately that's not the one I'm after. I'm looking for a WW2 version 😉

 

[Roger Hicks]

How Graflex failed to market this thing, and make it the dominant press camera of it's time is somewhat beyond me. It is so much more modern than a Speed Graphic, and would have been highly desirable before 35mm was widely accepted for press work. They could have given Rollei a run for their money.

The camera was expensive; 70mm is not easy to process (think 15 foot rolls); and very few people wanted 50+ exposures, 6x7cm, though shorter lengths could be loaded (or sliced off -- loading was cassette-to-cassette, and some cameras had film knives built in). The only major users of 70mm were museums and others who needed lots of high quality, reasonably affordable images. There was a 70mm back for Rolleis, and Linhof were great believers in 70mm, with rather nicer press cameras than this one. Hewes makes (or made) a 70mm reel (I have one) and I have a 70mm back for my Alpa, but it's one of those ideas that's better as an idea than when you try to use it.

@Roberto, no, it would probably be cheaper to build a 120 camera from scratch than to modify a Combat Graphic for 62mm wide imperforate film.

Cheers,

R.