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Digital guys keep clear,a Graphic is about!
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Graflex Sid



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 221
Location: London,England

PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 9:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been to 2 events this week,up against the Digital camera buff,and boy,they don't like me one bit.
I run around getting all the angles with the SPEED GRAPHIC like a bat out of hell,they are sedately composing the first picture.

...while moaning at me to get out of the way,not likely.While they stand in one position,I've covered all angles with a 1947 camera.

On top of that the pictures were published on the internet that evening.Proves a point,the GRAPHIC still has the pulling power to clear a path,and the quality shows in the end product.

One day the penny is going to drop...
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glennfromwy



Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 903
Location: S.W. Wyoming

PostPosted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 12:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Way to go, Sid! Go get 'em!

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"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"
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SoCal Dave



Joined: 05 Sep 2004
Posts: 4
Location: Orange County, CA

PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

People shouldn't be so quick to believe the hype about the speed of digital slr's. Film can be just as fast and with LF a cheap scanner can give a very good image.

Right on film has its place alongside digital.

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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2005 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Digital will be improved until it equals or exceeds film abality but until an 8x10 capture back that fits or adapts to my old Kodaks and cost about $150-$200, works on a small lightweight inexpensive battery, and uses a memory card to store images comes around I'll stick with film.
(And a capture back in 4x5 that fits the simular requirements would not be rejected either.)


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Snapper



Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Suffolk, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I tell you what, my EOS 5D I understood fully in minutes.

Yesterday, I got my first 5x4, a Crown Graphic.

5 minutes to get it open, after reading about that on here before it arrived - would have been a week otherwise.

A couple of hours to understand the various focussing methods.

A few more hours trying to get my head around the shutter.

I'm not even thinking of movements yet, and am awaiting arrival of film and darkslides.

Infinity stops? What the hell are they? I tell you, digital is easy, digital is quick, digital is versatile.

Mind you, this looks like fun!

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Graflex Sid



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 221
Location: London,England

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Once you get that 5x4 working Snapper,you will notice one thing in the pictures- quality.
It's as simple as that.

I don't care how many knobs the digital camera has-couldn't care less.All you need is a box,a lens at one end,and the exposure surface at the other end,because it's the operator that takes the picture,he/she is the cleaver one,not some $$$ dollar camera just been hatched.

Take it from an old Press photographer of many years standing,that's been through the whole range of cameras,Hasselblads,Rolleiflexes and numerous press cameras, over the past half a century...one camera stands above everything else-the Graphic,it will outlast your lifetime,your childrens,and your grandchildren.

It's simple to use,except it's a camera that you will need to think about,the exposure,changing the plate holders,(removing dark slide)or move the film on,cocking the shutter,focusing..it's a thinking persons camera..well so are the hasselblads & a Rollei (without meters).

Excellent fodder for the brain.Great stuff,it's what photography is all about.

Been using a 2x3 Crown today-brilliant shots (in B/W)cut yourself on the sharpness.
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Snapper



Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Suffolk, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Indeed Sid, i can't argue with that. I am fortunate in having a damned good digital, but even then it's only a match for my 6x9. So, this is where the fun starts.

So, why did I get a 5x4?

College. After doing the job for 15 years (press, stock, social, event and product) I started on a BA - gave up full-time work to spend time with the children and also to study for pleasure (and i love it!).

Anyway, knowing that i'll have to use 5x4 on the course at some point I figured borrowing the college field or monorail cameras would give me something not familiar and available for 24 hours at a time. So I had to buy my own to get something i'd be happy with and be able to use instinctively. Mention 5x4 to me and I think Speed Graphic. As it was, a Crown seemed more suited so I got one off ebay. And it seems lovely - just got to understand it all. I already love it! Looks like being as much fun and as pleasant to use as my old Nikon F2's. I've just got back from setting up my new darkroom and studio and am on the lookout for a 5x4 enlarger (I have a friend with one he doesn't use any more, with a cold cathode head and mine only takes up to 6x7). I just can't wait to use it. Far more excited than when my 5D arrived, it's just such a wonderful 'gadget'. there are wheels, knobs, levers, leather, stainless steel, mahogany, glass..... Well, you already know that. It's a cracking object and I am aware of 5x4 neg quality from some old ones I have at home already.

Only problem I have right now is trying to understand how to synch it to my lights. A mate has tungstens so I might be able to use those for studio stuff instead of the four heads I usually use but I'd rather use my own.

Have been reading these forums for a few weeks and I am clear on why you all love these cameras!
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Graflex Sid



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 221
Location: London,England

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You didn't say what lens you have,Snapper...is it the Optar,Ektar or the later models,the Xenar.Nor the year produced?.

Of course,the British equivalent would have been the 5x4 Micro Press with the 135mm Xenar lens.That disappeared at the same time as the Graphics,Circa 1973.

I used that for a while,nice camera,you cannot see one today anywhere S/H,I cannot understand why.A lot were made.

I have a friend who has kept one,complete with flash,slides,& case.Like gold dust.Same principal,rising and tilt front.The Technical camera was used more for studio work.

I cannot see a problem about using multi-Electronic flash,set it on X,then use a flash meter to give you a reading.I've tried all this,works fine,just like a Rollei would.

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Snapper



Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Suffolk, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Crown Graphic
Kalart Synchronised Rangefinder (side mounted)
Kodak Ektar 127mm F4.7
Flash Supermatic shutter
Graflok back
5x4

Body code: 432504
Lens code: EC10092 (1941, according to CAMEROSITY)
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Graflex Sid



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 221
Location: London,England

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 7:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I was photographing a steam engine on London's Victoria Station today,some jerk with a digi camera made a crack about my baby 2x3 Crown to a member of the crowd.

His remark went as follows "That looks as old as Brunel himself".Referring to the railway engine,and the camera.

I thought,yes Buddie,Kingdom Brunel engineering is still standing today since when they were built in the early 1800's.
...and the Graphic will do the same.

To our American friends,that's the great railway pioneer,ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL (1806-1859)who helped build the first railway & bridges on the Great Western Railway (plus the famous Paddington Station).

His engineering triumphs are a work of art,still to be seen and used on a daily basis....the Graphic should over the years,with TLC,be operating in the same way.
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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Snapper,
The 127mm Ektar was designed to be normal on 3x4 and will just cover 4x5 with no movements. It has been discussed many times on this site. The 127 Ektar was produced over a long time span also and came in several versions of shutters. If the shutter has X sync then lighting works as with other cameras you are familuar with. If you can't figure it out start a post in flash help or lens help and someone or myself will giude you thru it.

Charles

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Snapper



Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 8
Location: Suffolk, UK

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cheers chaps.

The shutter I bought it with went belly up so i have a No.2 shutter for the moment until a replacement arrives fromm the seller. This one he said isn't suitable for some reason, but the replaced one will be. He also sent me a cable of some sort, presumably to use with it, but I need to figure it all out when I have the whole lot together - a combination of him, this forums archive and new questions too i guess.

What loco was it Sid? Missed one that came here (Lowestoft) a few weeks back as I was on a wedding at the time. No staffers got it (to my knowledge) so it would have been all mine too....not that i'm a big train fan, more classic aircraft, but I do appreciate them.
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Henry



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 1636
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania

PostPosted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sid, some of us among the great unwashed here do know of Isambard K. Brunel in connection with railway history. I recall that he also built the steamship "Great Eastern" used in laying the first Atlantic cable. Embedded in my memory is a photograph of Brunel, posed against a gigantic anchor chain of the "Great Eastern," a stubby little guy in suit and bowler hat, cigar rakishly cocked at a defiant angle, staring boldly at the camera with just the suggestion of a smirk (though not an offensive one like our "King" George sports). I suppose in a way he is responsible for the birth of the international information age, and thus exchanges like the present one.

P.S. I could be wrong about the hat. It's been a long time since I saw the photo!

[ This Message was edited by: Henry on 2006-06-07 13:41 ]
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pv17vv



Joined: 22 Dec 2001
Posts: 255
Location: The Ardennes, Belgium

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice pics, Sid !
Funny to see the back side of all these people peering at the 45231 through their digi-thing.
Regards from the Continent.
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Graflex Sid



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 221
Location: London,England

PostPosted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last Wednesday pictures can be viewed on:www.steamdreams.co.uk..(under gallery)or http://www.watercressline.co.uk.(just scroll down under letters,from Horace Ward).

You cannot mistake the few pictures,they are the ones in B/W.

The engine is an L.M.S 45231 Black 5,and was leaving on a day trip to Canterbury in Kent.

The camera was of course,the 2x3 CROWN with a roll film back,the film Ilford HP5.Lens,the Optar 101mm

Sods law,the engine pulls up under the station bridge making things a nightmare for exposure.With the aid of the exposure meter,I worked it out to 1/50th.at f5.6.Not the perfect aperture or speed for movement,or for a sunny day outside,but what can you do in a situation like that..just hope and pray.

[ This Message was edited by: Graflex Sid on 2006-06-11 15:01 ]
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