I recently bought a brand new paramount "Household to graflex bipost" flash cord on ebay, then soon realized that it's not compatible with my crown graphic. Does anyone know where i can buy a cheap Household-to-Solenoid cord or users that are willing to trade a shutter cord for a solenoid cord?

Other things i bought:
7" Reflector
3-cell Graflite w/ manual (New in box)
Sylvania Press 40 Flashbulbs

(I'm kinda new to graflex cameras)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: office888 on 2004-03-02 13:09 ]</font>

You can get a Paramount household plug-to-Graflex-solenoid cord from Paramount for $36 (for 3 feet, $38 for 5 feet). Paramount makes wonderful cords, and you should get years and years of use from one.

Thirty years ago, these cords were all over the place, and a dealer couldn't give them away. If you have any surviving old-line camera stores near you, you might ask them -- if they have a couple, they will be very glad to see you!

You also might try Pacific Rim Camera and some of the other retailers you can link to from this site.

Meanwhile, does your "Graphic" have a lens in a synchronized shutter and, if it does, what kind of contact(s) does it use?

You can look at the Crown Graphic i bought at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2986916041

That picture shows a "Graphex" shutter with the usual bipost synch connector. Will not your Paramount cord connect those to the flashgun? Internal synchronization is more reliable than what's attainable with the solenoid (originally devised to allow the use of flashbulbs with unsynchronized shutters).

Of course, the solenoid is extremely useful as a remote release.

Office888. See your private messages.

BTW, I wouldn't be too quick to get rid of your shutter cord. Your solenoid may, or may not, be in correct sync for flashbulbs. They are easy to get out of sync. Fred Lustig says Graphex shutters should be adjusted to sync EITHER with a solenoid tripper, or sync through the shutter sync outlets.

I choose to shoot flashbulbs using the solenoid as an electronic shutter release, while using the regular shutter cord to sync the flash back to the battery case. Takes 2 cords, but the flash is ALWAYS in sync. YMMV.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: alecj on 2004-03-03 13:13 ]</font>

Wait a minute...Does the standard Bipost hook about halfway up on the left side of the lens to the two prongs? If so, i'm such an idiot! *laughs*

Is it possible to use both a bipost AND a solenoid tripper for increased accuracy?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: office888 on 2004-03-04 06:35 ]</font>

Quote:

On 2004-03-03 10:16, t.r.sanford wrote: That picture shows a "Graphex" shutter with the usual bipost synch connector. Will not your Paramount cord connect those to the flashgun? Internal synchronization is more reliable than what's attainable with the solenoid (originally devised to allow the use of flashbulbs with unsynchronized shutters). Of course, the solenoid is extremely useful as a remote release.

Are you asking if the bi-post cord connects to those two prongs on your lens? If so, the answer is "yes", that's where your shutter feeds the sync to the battery case.

But that doesn't give you a connection to the solenoid. For that you need another cord - solenoid to HH. And, as mentioned above by me and by someone else, that will ensure an accurate sync.

In operation, with both cords attached, you'd then trip the shutter using the button on your Graflite battery case [I see you got a Kodak Ektalux flash unit with your original camera purchase - if you have the cord for it, it will work too, but not with that Graflex solenoid on the camera.] When the shutter fires, it will complete the flash circuit with the battery case using the Paramount Cord you bought, and the bulb should flash. "Nothing can go wrong"

The two prongs on the shutter ARE the standard bipost...

In practice, you have to use either the shutter's internal synchronization or the solenoid to synchronize the flash; there is no way to use both simultaneously. But you certainly can use the solenoid as a remote or "soft" shutter trip, as a previous post advises, and as I do.

Do you have a cord with an end with 2 small holes that would mate with the bipost prongs on the side of the shutter? If so, that's what that cord is used for. The household fitting on the other end of that cord should mate with the "shutter" outlet on the 3-cell battery case.

As Alec referred to earlier (since your first post in this thread states that you have bought a new-in-box Graflite flashgun, 7-inch reflector & manual) it is possible to use the red button on the battery case to trip the shutter via solenoid; this in turn causes the shutter to fire the flashbulb (via bipost prongs) using the shutter's built-in flash sync. This arrangement requires 2 cords: one cord from the battery case-to-solenoid and another cord from the bipost prongs back to the battery case. Then set the electroswitch on the Graflite to "1" position and the flash sync selector on the shutter to either the red "M" or the black "M", depending on the shutter speed you are using.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: sobahguy on 2004-03-04 07:26 ]</font>