Graflex.org

DHF845 · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject: camera i.d. numbers

I have several Graphics & Graflexes I'd like Gandolf to i.d. (I have all the serial numbers). Is there a special forum just for i.d.'ing? Or, do I put the Graflexes on one forum, the Graphics on another? Can I list them all in one posting somewhere?
Thanks,
DHF
_________________
Got first Speed Graphic at 15 (1976).Other kids were using 35mm SLR's. I ran around with flashbulbs and sheet-film holders, I wanted to be Weegee (#2084).

Henry · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject:

Post the serial numbers here and we'll try to help, using info from our copies of the serial number list file (now withdrawn from the site).

DHF845 · Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:43 am Post subject: camera I.d. numbers

Henry,
Being a newbie (to this online community of Grafllex users/collectors), I respectfully decline for now, in the hopes that if I am patient, the mysterious Gandolf will appear and grant me an audience.
Having Gandolf date our cameras seems to be a 'rite of passage', an initiation into the 'Mysteries of the Graflex '. '

'
I haven't been part of this group long enough to join your insurrection, though I am sympathetic. I read the debate elsewhere in Graflex.org and agree with you, the information should be made available to all, and certainly needs to be recorded for posterity. The comparison to Leica collectors was on the mark.
But I'm new here and don't want to anger the powers that be (yet), whoever they are (I'm sure I'll manage to piss a lot of people off in the future). '

'
Thanks anyway, for your thoughtful and generous offer.
Sincerely, DHF.

cblurton · Joined: 25 Aug 2008 Posts: 29 Location: Hong Kong

Well I am intrigued. Is there a controversy about posting the serial numbers and approximate dates of manufacture? If so, why?

I have a 2x3 Pacemaker Serial No. 704837. How can I find out the approximate date of manufacture?

Best wishes,

Craig

Henry · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:51 am Post subject:

There WAS a controversy, but some of us took matters into our own hands, and when the moderator(s) withdrew the list from the Board (supposedly at the request of the putative "owner" of said list), we copied and saved the list that was cached by Google, and have the info. Interpolating serial number 704837 with others of known date indicates that your 2x3 Pacemaker dates from c. 1949.

For the whole gruesome (and somewhat silly) history of this mishmash, see http://graflex.org/helpboard/viewtopic.php?t=5158 .

cblurton · Joined: 25 Aug 2008 Posts: 29 Location: Hong Kong

Dear Henry:

Thanks for the help. I did read the other thread and I did download the serial numbers so I have a copy. From what I can tell, Shutterbug withdrew it because the person who compiled the list and who had given it to him asked him to withdraw it. That's fine and Shutterbug's action is understandable and even ethical. However, whomever "owns" this list is shutting the barn door long after the horses have fled. He or she apparently doesn't understand the nature of the Internet. This list is now in the public domain and it would be literally impossible to stop its distribution.

If I were the "owner," I'd acknowledge this as fact and give permission for the list to be posted again on this board as a public service. Trying now to squash it's distribution is akin to trying to stop music file sharing. Many powerful, wealthy companies have tried without making a dent in the activity although they have successfully managed to p!ss a lot of people off and waste a lot of money.

By the way, I am not some young, hip person writing from an inexperienced but passionate viewpoint. I'm a graybeard with more than 20 years of experience (pre-Web even) using the Internet.

Best wishes,

Craig

DHF845 · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 4:22 am Post subject:

Henry,
Now that I've spent more time on this site, I would like to say this: Who the the site's administrators are, is clear, if there's a hierarchy, it's not obvious. I didn't plan on jumping into a maelstrom. I just thought it'd be nice to know, after shooting with it for the last 32 years, how old my Speed Graphic was.
I feel that those who took the time to start up this site have earned the right to make the rules. Those who give up their time to continue to run it, deserve a great deal of respect. And I still don't know how you guys float this thing without ads from big businesses.
That's why I started out saying I didn't want to ruffle any feathers by siding in a dispute I don't know much about.
I don't know how websites are run-I grew up when computers were science-fiction. I don't own a digital camera and I never will. If I was ever 'hip' it was about the time Jimmy Carter left office.
Tell you all one thing, though-collecting old Graflexes and Graphics is dangerously habit forming. It's possible it can become an obsession.

_________________
Got first Speed Graphic at 15 (1976).Other kids were using 35mm SLR's. I ran around with flashbulbs and sheet-film holders, I wanted to be Weegee (#2084).

Henry · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:17 pm Post subject:

Just to make it perfectly clear: Shutterbug DID NOT withdraw the list; he compiled it from many posts already on the board, and he was the one who first noticed its disappearance and posted the question "what happened...." In reply, the moderator stated that he withdrew the list "at the request of the owner [sic!]." Some of us strongly disagreed with this decision, for good and cogent reasons I have previously articulated, and made copies of the list from the Google cached source. All this has precipitated the ensuing discussion that has now spread to other forums and threads on the board. And that's all I'm going to say about this topic, except to set the record straight if there are misunderstandings about what transpired.

cblurton · Joined: 25 Aug 2008 Posts: 29 Location: Hong Kong

Hi Henry:

Thanks for straightening the record. Your explanation makes the decision to withdraw the list much more mysterious, and who doesn't love a mystery? My point about the barn door stands, though.

Best wishes,

Craig

shutterfinger · Joined: 09 Mar 2007 Posts: 57

To futher calarify and throw a curve to all, I am also registered as 45pss.
I futher speculate that Gandolf is one of the moderators and was told by the "Owner " of the scared list to stop posting the dates. I cannot prove it or I would. The origional posts containing 40%~50% of the information in the "Not The" list are still present in the Speed and Reflex Help sections.
I will not go into detail about my situation but the email addresses assoicated with my registerations will cease to function as of 9-23-08. I will not be on the web in the very near future. I hope that many have learned and prospered in photography from my posts.
Charles Monday

bruiser · Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 2:55 am Post subject:

Well, I for one have certainly been helped by your numerous posts.
Very best of luck to you Charles.
Cheers, Bruce

mopar_guy · Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject:

Charles,

I would like to add a few thoughts. I can hardly browse through this help forum and look through the posts that have been accumulating over the years without coming across useful tips, hints and explanations that you have given to others. I can hardly imagine the time that you have dedicated to helping others to fulfill their photographic desires. You are leaving a very big pair of shoes for somebody to fill.

I would like to publicly say that I for one am deeply in your debt and I would like to wish you all the best in the future.

Kindest regards,
Dave

bertsaunders · Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:32 pm Post subject: shutterfinger

Charles,
I also want to thank you for all of your contributions to this forum, and wish all the best to you in all of your future endevors!
Have a nice day........Bert