BW400CN
Bessamatic forever!
guy - Im behind a Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5" and need some help to find a good place to buy one online because I couldn´t find one in Austria in reasonable conditions.
I don´t need a lens and don´t care for the RF but the focal plane shutter should work and it should have a Graflock back, so that I could use international film cassettes.
Anyone out there who knows a place and what´s about the prices - the range you find on ebay is large so I have no clou what to pay for a realy good working model.
I don´t need a lens and don´t care for the RF but the focal plane shutter should work and it should have a Graflock back, so that I could use international film cassettes.
Anyone out there who knows a place and what´s about the prices - the range you find on ebay is large so I have no clou what to pay for a realy good working model.
Frank Petronio
Well-known
Geez I'd hate to pay more for repairs than the entire camera, especially since you can easily clean the ground glass and clean the focusing trap with minimal skills. Lustig is wonderful but you know it is going to take months and months....
The prices people use for Buy It Now on eBay are nuts but if you look at the auctions and follow what's been sold (and not just listed) then you'll see a lot of decent ones in the $200-$300 range. I've had 7-8 of various Crowns, Speeds, and Supers over the years and never paid that much for them. I least liked the Supers to be honest, I think Graflex aimed too high with that one especially with the electrical release, 1/1000th shutter, etc. If you want to use it without the special broken and unreliable features then you might as well just get a clean Crown Graphic.
If you want to just get a good working one without any problems or hassles then come up with $500 and buy a clean and adjusted one from "mwmabry" on eBay. He's a good guy and very honest... and you won't have to mess around. Otherwise just be patient and within a month or so a good deal will come along.
If you've looked at my work with large format then you'll know that my honest opinion of the best handheld 4x5 being a Fuji 6x9 rangefinder ;-p Really, 4x5 handheld is doable but it doesn't get you better picture quality... just novelty and bragging rights. If you really need to get the shot with the best quality then you'd use a good medium format rangefinder (or a better DSLR) and see your rate of sharp "keepers" increase dramatically. I also think the Kalhart and Graphic rangefinders are crap... look at how small the cams are ~ do you expect precision from that? At least the Linhof cams are big enough to actually work well, although a proper Linhof is probably out of your price range. And they aren't that fun to handhold either, unless you lift weights.
Not to poop on the parade but if you want picture quality then banging around with a hazy 45-year lens, a rangefinder that isn't all that precise except at infinity (lol!) and a Graflex rollfilm back that lets the film hang floppy isn't going to be the ticket. Going out without the ground glass and using a Super Graphic as a medium format camera is going to be frustrating, a creaky old $100 Russian folder will be as good.
Been there, drunk the Kool Aid, etc.
The prices people use for Buy It Now on eBay are nuts but if you look at the auctions and follow what's been sold (and not just listed) then you'll see a lot of decent ones in the $200-$300 range. I've had 7-8 of various Crowns, Speeds, and Supers over the years and never paid that much for them. I least liked the Supers to be honest, I think Graflex aimed too high with that one especially with the electrical release, 1/1000th shutter, etc. If you want to use it without the special broken and unreliable features then you might as well just get a clean Crown Graphic.
If you want to just get a good working one without any problems or hassles then come up with $500 and buy a clean and adjusted one from "mwmabry" on eBay. He's a good guy and very honest... and you won't have to mess around. Otherwise just be patient and within a month or so a good deal will come along.
If you've looked at my work with large format then you'll know that my honest opinion of the best handheld 4x5 being a Fuji 6x9 rangefinder ;-p Really, 4x5 handheld is doable but it doesn't get you better picture quality... just novelty and bragging rights. If you really need to get the shot with the best quality then you'd use a good medium format rangefinder (or a better DSLR) and see your rate of sharp "keepers" increase dramatically. I also think the Kalhart and Graphic rangefinders are crap... look at how small the cams are ~ do you expect precision from that? At least the Linhof cams are big enough to actually work well, although a proper Linhof is probably out of your price range. And they aren't that fun to handhold either, unless you lift weights.
Not to poop on the parade but if you want picture quality then banging around with a hazy 45-year lens, a rangefinder that isn't all that precise except at infinity (lol!) and a Graflex rollfilm back that lets the film hang floppy isn't going to be the ticket. Going out without the ground glass and using a Super Graphic as a medium format camera is going to be frustrating, a creaky old $100 Russian folder will be as good.
Been there, drunk the Kool Aid, etc.
csxcnj
Well-known
I'm cleaning up the body myself, it looks like the price of the camera plus rf alignment repair/shipping will add up to under $500. Which will leave me with a camera worth that at least. After I get the SG Service manual I'll decide whether to try the alignment fix myself.
I'm good with my hands at tying flies, repairing bamboo fly rods, building and finishing 18th C. Furniture with hand tools, even making reproduction molding planes and irons. But something just seems to go ass over tea kettle when I get near things metal/mechanical. I've been trying to remedy that by fiddling with some old cameras but am reluctant at this point to mess with something I'd like to keep using.
I've been looking for months at eBay and most of the cameras in the $200-300 range have been pretty junky. Those that weren't always seemed to come up for auction when I didn't have the money to go after them :bang:.
The timing finally worked out...
I plan on acquiring a Crown or Speed and mwmarby will be the guy I'll most likely buy from. He does always have some beauties for sale.
BW400CN
Bessamatic forever!
Thanks Frank,
I´m behind a Speed Graphic to use some of my old lenses my Avus couldn´t handle and to use some shutterless lenses too.
The Speed is the only tool that can do all this for me.
To shoot without a tripod I wouldn´t use a 9x12cm or 4x5" cam - that´s something I would do with my 6x6cm TLR or a 35mm SLR or RF.
I´m behind a Speed Graphic to use some of my old lenses my Avus couldn´t handle and to use some shutterless lenses too.
The Speed is the only tool that can do all this for me.
To shoot without a tripod I wouldn´t use a 9x12cm or 4x5" cam - that´s something I would do with my 6x6cm TLR or a 35mm SLR or RF.
csxcnj
Well-known
I've looked at your work and I admire it greatly. Not using it handheld, not looking for bragging rights...that's just a strange and alien thought to me...just satisfying my curiosity, nothing wrong with that I hope.
I have a very good digital outfit with "pro" level lenses and body and MF film rangefinder and TLR's. Even sold pictures made with them.
You're not "pooping on the parade". As I said I'm just satisfying my curiosity and having fun. Reading this forum I see folks that seem to think that fun has no part in photography and that they take it way too seriously in my opinion. But that is just my opinion. I take it seriously and still have fun with it.
"drunk the Kool Aid"....Again,just a thought I can't rap my head around regarding photographic equipment
.
cheers, Bob