Vince Lupo
Whatever
I posted this camera in the 'Show us Your SLR...What???' thread, but thought I'd start a standalone thread for my latest journey in photographic oddity....
For some unexplained reason, I gravitate to weird cameras, and this is the latest preoccupation. I just bought this camera -- it's a 1934 National Graflex (120 format film, 2.25" x 2.5" frame size). It came from an eBay seller out of Singapore. It arrived last week and I noticed that it had the original owner's name imprinted on the inside the box and the camera's manual. Being the curious fellow that I am, I googled his name. Darned if something didn't show up!
There was an entry in the Ramsey County (Minnesota) Historical Society's database -- a picture taken by Martin H. Hense, Jr. back in September 1938 at the Minnesota State Fair (photo below with two nurses and two babies). I contacted the historical society and they not only sent me a copy of the image, but also some further info regarding Martin H. Hense, Jr. As of 1938, he still lived at the address that's on the camera box, and he was a driver/chauffeur for his father's cab company. Looks like he was in his early 20's. Other thing I found is that he apparently went to Forestry School for one year at the University of Minnesota in 1937. And actually, I did a bit more super-sleuthing and found out that he's buried at Ft. Snelling just outside Minneapolis (where my loving wife's grandfather and grandmother are also buried): Hense, Martin Hubert, b. 12/23/1915, d. 02/01/2000, Section 6-A, Site 492, US NAVY, AOM2 (which I'm assuming stands for Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Petty Officer?), WORLD WAR II.
My thinking is that since he was in his early 20's and he was a driver for his father's cab company, he likely didn't have a bevy of cameras at his disposal. Plus, he surely wasn't updating/replacing his cameras every 4 years (as some of us do.....hmmm I wonder who!). And here's the kicker for me -- the proportion of that photo is pretty close to the proportion of the Graflex's negative size (2.25" x 2.5"). So I think this camera took that photo below -- at least that's what I'm telling myself.
Graflex1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Martin Hense Graflex Photo by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
So far I've put two rolls of Arista 100 EDU black and white film through it to see how it would do, and here are a few results:
Riley at Mount Calvert by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot4 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot5 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
The first four shots were taken with the 75/3.5 B&L Tessar lens, the last two with the 140mm/6.5 B&L Telephoto. Negs scanned with my Nikon Z7 on a copy stand with an LED light box.
I noticed a few things after having completed these two rolls:
First, this camera is a challenge to hand-hold at shutter speeds under 1/100th of a second. The large focal plane shutter along with the 'fwap' of the mirror can cause a fair bit of camera shake, so it seems that it works better as a tripod camera.
Second, the 75mm lens has haze and should be looked at by the Camera Wiz himself, Frank Marshman. Further, I think that the second shutter curtain has pinholes -- I'm getting all these little white dots all over the images, and that's the only thing I can think that's the cause. I haven't had a chance to put a flashlight into the camera to see, as I have a roll of colour film in the camera at the moment. But that's my suspicion, so Frank will likely be seeing this camera soon (I swear the man has the patience of Job, as least as far as my cameras go).
The telephoto lens is really great -- those two shots above were taken wide open, and I was pleasantly surprised at how sharp they turned out. Only thing I don't like about the lens is that the close-focusing distance is about 12 feet! I found a Series VI closeup lens on eBay that I'm hoping is going to fit (as I'm assuming that the adapter ring is a Series VI), so that might help make the lens a bit more versatile. Actually the 75mm lens has a close-focus distance of about 6 feet, so it is a bit of a challenge as well.
Really though, this is a super-sweet camera and now I'm finding myself looking for other National Graflexes and related accessories (I've already found filters, filter wallet, leather lens hood for the 75mm lens and the black leather combination case). Don't know why I travel down some of the photographic roads I travel down (everything from glass plate stereo to the Hasselblad 907x!), but I suppose I may as well enjoy the ride and see where it all goes.
For some unexplained reason, I gravitate to weird cameras, and this is the latest preoccupation. I just bought this camera -- it's a 1934 National Graflex (120 format film, 2.25" x 2.5" frame size). It came from an eBay seller out of Singapore. It arrived last week and I noticed that it had the original owner's name imprinted on the inside the box and the camera's manual. Being the curious fellow that I am, I googled his name. Darned if something didn't show up!
There was an entry in the Ramsey County (Minnesota) Historical Society's database -- a picture taken by Martin H. Hense, Jr. back in September 1938 at the Minnesota State Fair (photo below with two nurses and two babies). I contacted the historical society and they not only sent me a copy of the image, but also some further info regarding Martin H. Hense, Jr. As of 1938, he still lived at the address that's on the camera box, and he was a driver/chauffeur for his father's cab company. Looks like he was in his early 20's. Other thing I found is that he apparently went to Forestry School for one year at the University of Minnesota in 1937. And actually, I did a bit more super-sleuthing and found out that he's buried at Ft. Snelling just outside Minneapolis (where my loving wife's grandfather and grandmother are also buried): Hense, Martin Hubert, b. 12/23/1915, d. 02/01/2000, Section 6-A, Site 492, US NAVY, AOM2 (which I'm assuming stands for Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class Petty Officer?), WORLD WAR II.
My thinking is that since he was in his early 20's and he was a driver for his father's cab company, he likely didn't have a bevy of cameras at his disposal. Plus, he surely wasn't updating/replacing his cameras every 4 years (as some of us do.....hmmm I wonder who!). And here's the kicker for me -- the proportion of that photo is pretty close to the proportion of the Graflex's negative size (2.25" x 2.5"). So I think this camera took that photo below -- at least that's what I'm telling myself.
Graflex1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Martin Hense Graflex Photo by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
So far I've put two rolls of Arista 100 EDU black and white film through it to see how it would do, and here are a few results:
Riley at Mount Calvert by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot1 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot2 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot3 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot4 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
Graflex Shot5 by Vince Lupo, on Flickr
The first four shots were taken with the 75/3.5 B&L Tessar lens, the last two with the 140mm/6.5 B&L Telephoto. Negs scanned with my Nikon Z7 on a copy stand with an LED light box.
I noticed a few things after having completed these two rolls:
First, this camera is a challenge to hand-hold at shutter speeds under 1/100th of a second. The large focal plane shutter along with the 'fwap' of the mirror can cause a fair bit of camera shake, so it seems that it works better as a tripod camera.
Second, the 75mm lens has haze and should be looked at by the Camera Wiz himself, Frank Marshman. Further, I think that the second shutter curtain has pinholes -- I'm getting all these little white dots all over the images, and that's the only thing I can think that's the cause. I haven't had a chance to put a flashlight into the camera to see, as I have a roll of colour film in the camera at the moment. But that's my suspicion, so Frank will likely be seeing this camera soon (I swear the man has the patience of Job, as least as far as my cameras go).
The telephoto lens is really great -- those two shots above were taken wide open, and I was pleasantly surprised at how sharp they turned out. Only thing I don't like about the lens is that the close-focusing distance is about 12 feet! I found a Series VI closeup lens on eBay that I'm hoping is going to fit (as I'm assuming that the adapter ring is a Series VI), so that might help make the lens a bit more versatile. Actually the 75mm lens has a close-focus distance of about 6 feet, so it is a bit of a challenge as well.
Really though, this is a super-sweet camera and now I'm finding myself looking for other National Graflexes and related accessories (I've already found filters, filter wallet, leather lens hood for the 75mm lens and the black leather combination case). Don't know why I travel down some of the photographic roads I travel down (everything from glass plate stereo to the Hasselblad 907x!), but I suppose I may as well enjoy the ride and see where it all goes.
