SpeedGraphic 4x5 questions

JimG

JimG

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A nice lady emailed me to offer me her father's Speed Graphic today. This lady was a compleate stranger but offered me the camera because she new I liked vintage cameras. She said that her father was a photographer in Kansas and purchased the camera new in 1923.
So if anyone knows anything about them I have a few questions. First how does it open? There are two round knurled knobs that look like they would track the bellows and lens back and forth to focus once its opened. I read that on the Speed Graphic 2 they open the camera front. But I'm having no luck with this. Also I am looking for an online user manual, found several sites but no manuals for the Speed Graphic. And I opened the back and there's a lens board but no lens. Any suggestions regarding a possible inexpensive lens for a new user. Thanks' JimG
 
Near the center of the top front should be a leather covered "bump" that needs to be depressed to release the locking mechanism. If not on the top it may be on the side. I have a 135mm lens that I will sell cheaply. It is in a Pacemaker metal board now.

Let me know if you can get it open.

Wayne
 
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Very cool Wayne! It opened right up. Now I'm trying to figure out how to coax the bellows forward, it comes out about one inch then hangs up on the tracks. I'm interested in the 135mm lens. What does 135mm translate into in 35mm speak, would that be a 'normal' size lens? JimG
 
There may be infinity stops screwed to the tracks, these are moveable and are designed to stop your front standard with the lens focussed at infinity. Then you use the "knobs" to move the rail out to focus on closer distances. This is the "good" scenario. The "bad" scenario is that some one in the past tried to close the front of the camera with the rails not fully retracted and then bent the rails.

The 135mm is roughly equal to about 38mm in 35mm lingo. If your lens board is black, made of wood and is 4"x4" you probably have an Anniversary Speed graphic.

The normal lens that is equal to 50mm in 35mm for 4x5 is 162mm.

Wayne
 
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Hi Jim,
You'll notice that down where the front folds to close the camera, there is a small gap in the rails. You'll just need to make sure that the front standard slides onto the rails properly. It's easier than it sounds and becomes second nature with a bit of practice.

On 4x5, a 135 is about equivalent to a 40mm lens. I've attached a nice little chart that shows the relationships.

It and the 127 were the two most commonly used lenses in photojournalism. They had a wide FOV giving lots of room to make up for snap shot framing and were quite fast (f4.7) for LF lenses. They just barely cover 4x5, but the speed isn't the kind of camera that has the movements to tie it up into a pretzel (though I did put a pacemaker front upright on my Anny the other day - gives me a little bit of tilt to play with. )

Another very cheap lens option is to find an old Kodak Model 3 folder in 122 format. The old lens/shutter combos on those can work quite well on 4x5. I've got an old B&L Rapid Rectilinear off of one that I've been playing with a bit.

These are addictive toys... 😀

William
 

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The width to height ratio is different for 4x5 but folks sometimes divide the focal length by 3 to get a rough idea of the 35mm equivalent. Using 3, a 135mm comes out as a wide normal, with a 150mm as a normal, and a 180mm as kind of a long normal.

Another resource for Speed Graphics is the following site...

http://www.graflex.org/

Besides, a FAQ, they have a help board which handy for gathering obscure information and helpful hints for getting an old camera up and running again.

Used lenses are a good way to go on a budget. Though if the lenses are older, the shutters may need a CLA even if the glass is good. Carol at Flutot's Camera repair worked wonders for me and is very reasonably priced.

Here's their website.

http://flutotscamerarepair.com/

A properly exposed 4x5 negative is breathtaking.
I hope that you can get this oldster up and going again.
 
One other possibility is that the front standard adjustment screw is too tight which is causing the standard to bind on the forward rail. If this is the case let me know and I can tell you how to get to the screw and adjust it.

Wayne
 
Wayne,

Thanks.

I have several 4x5 cameras, some of which I know and love, one I have no real clue as to how to use (Big 4x5 SLR thing). When I get done with my RF GAS, perhaps I will super-size my GAS!?!?!!

Thanks again.

B2 (;->
 
Got it, its fully extended now. Thanks, Wayne & William. The lens board is black, wooden but measures 3.75"x3.75".

Wayne, the 135mm sounds good. I wanted to play with landscapes at first and still lifes once I have this 4x5 format figured out. I'll PM you re. the lens. JimG
 
BillBingham2 said:
Wayne,

Thanks.

I have several 4x5 cameras, some of which I know and love, one I have no real clue as to how to use (Big 4x5 SLR thing). When I get done with my RF GAS, perhaps I will super-size my GAS!?!?!!

Thanks again.

B2 (;->
Click to expand...


Graflex R.B. Super D perhaps? If so you really don't want to use it, you really need to send it to me🙂

Wayne
 
Wayne, people like WeeGee and others used these beomoths handheld! And I complained about the weight of my Yashicamat! Photographers must have been a tougher breed back then. I'm using a tripod with this baby now that I have seen it full sized. Jim
 
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JimG said:
Wayne, people like WeeGee and others used these beomoths handheld! And I complained about the weight of my Yashicamat! Photographers must have been a tougher breed back then. I'm using a tripod with this baby now that I have seen it full sized. Jim
Click to expand...

That's part of the reason they always used a flash. Set the aperature to f8 you can then rough focus and the flash will help freeze any motion.
 
One of the most prolific Graphic shooters was A.M. "Pete" Wettach from Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He was virtually unknown outside of S.E. Iowa. He shot over 100,000 photos from 1925 to 1965 on 3x4, 4x5 and 5x7 sheet film. A book of his life and photos "A Bountiful Harvest" by Leslie Loveless is well worth reading. I bought the book after reading it at the library.

Just in case you don't have a lens shade for your lens on the speed graphic this should give you an idea of how to cope.

http://galleries.luther.edu/Archives/2003_2004/wettach/wettach.html

Wayne
 
JimG said:
Wayne, people like WeeGee and others used these beomoths handheld! And I complained about the weight of my Yashicamat! Photographers must have been a tougher breed back then. I'm using a tripod with this baby now that I have seen it full sized. Jim
Click to expand...

The real joy of a press camera, I think, is in using it handheld. They don't make very good view cameras, really, but can be a heck of a lot of fun when used as they were originally designed.

If I'm using my 127/4.7 Ektar, I shoot handheld almost exclusively. I tend to use the vernier focus scale to set the lens for the hyperfocal distance at f16, f22 or f32 as appropriate and adjust the shutter speed accordingly. With the focus pre-set this way, combined with the wire frame finder, you've got a very fast handling camera.

Get a Grafmatic or two & you'll be able to burn six shots as fast as you can cycle the magazine 😱

None of this is to say you shouldn't use it on a tripod, but I do think you should give handholding it a try sometime.

William
 
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