I am on the hunt for a 4x5 speed/crown graphic with a grafloc back. Many of the ones I see on ebay have the backs closed. I was reading past threads and the FAQ trying to figured out how to identify them. To me it looks that the grafloc has two rivets or screws going through a metal strip an the top of the mount. while the spring back appears to have a single screw or rivet going through a similar piece of metal. Is this correct? are there other ways of telling just by looking at the camera?

Thanks
Rick
Ballston Lake NY

You are essentially correct. Also look closely and you will see a chrome piece on each side of the ground glass holder between the holder/pressure plate and the chrome sliders (which have the two screws).
The sliders will have a flat spring on top of them, usually black, and the two screws hold this spring down. A regular spring back will have one screw in the center of a black spring running along each side of the ground glass holder/pressure plate. Now I'm confused------

Rick, it helps to read through the main Graflex.org sections - lots of good info there. For instance:

http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/features.html#GraflokBack

I hope it will work as a link, but you may have to type it in.

Almost every Crown I have seen has had a grafloc back on it, be careful though as I have a friend who has one with a graflex back which will not fit the same items as the grafloc

Dave

Thanks for the replies they have been helpful, However If I were looking a picture of a camera on Ebay such as this one http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3804833864&category=710&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBWA%3AIT&rd=1
Is there anyway I can tell from looking at the front if it will have a grafloc back or not?

Thanks
rick

Not really from looking at that picture, but I would bet the bank on it that it has a grafloc on it, it is identicle to the last crown I purchased about two weeks ago. looking a the larger version of the picture, I can see on the bottom wing, the hint of the spring arm that goes on the grafloc back. if it were a spring back you would not see the silver mettalic below the wing.

good luck

Dave

What are you gong to use the camera for?
THis one is obviously missing the little trip bar for the body release mechanism on the front standard. WHile this certainly wont stop one form handholding it,but when they work smoothly it's kinda cool, and I have not yet seen these parts available without the rest of the camera. Suppose one could make it quick engough. Looks like a reasonably clean camera, but I can not tell which back it has. Be careful with the auctions. I have lately noticed a lot of people selling things for friends, dead people, and otherwise having very little knowledge about cameras, but seemingly able to produce fine images on the auction? A look at Midwest photo and some of the more reputable places will be able to tell you exactly what they are selling. Perhaps you could request a couple photos of the back of the camera and the the ground glass??? Or simply inquire via "ask the seller a question" if it has two chrome sliding bars across the top and bottom of the back??? Check some of the other auction cameras and see if they have a close up of the back. Most of the 2x3 Centruries, if not all, had Graflocs, and I believe it was introduced on the smaller format camera a couple years prior to the 4x5's, so take a look at these for a reference.

Steve

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: troublemaker on 2004-03-23 21:34 ]</font>

Steve, the part of the body release you were describing is the release arm. They are available from various sources. Stephen Shuart lists 2 sizes [BTW, his site hasn't been up for awhile - anybody know why? He was a good source of Graflex parts]. Also, I bet MidWest Photo has them, or Fred Lustig would sell one [you need to know the distance from the moving rod to the release on the shutter to determine which arm you need].

I read somewhere, Photo.net I think, that Shuart is having family problems and has gone out of business. Anyone else heard about this?

Parts, now you see 'em, now you don't eh?

I thought Mr. Lustig was going to make some parts available, but when I called a day ago there was a message that he was not doing business until further notice, or something like that. Darn, I have not met him but I hope he is ok...I had hoped to stop by this summer on the way through Reno...

thanks for correcting me on the body release arm. I have ben looking fo sources for miscilaneous parts, but they are rather evasive...
Spelling errors are provided for entertainment value...
steve

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: troublemaker on 2004-03-24 16:54 ]</font>

Check MidWest Photo and Pacific Rim Camera. Both have such parts at time.

Thanks for the advise fellas. after following ebay a few days It is tough for me to figure why one graflex is selling for more than another, Am I correct in assuming that certain models are collectable?

One of the press cameras up for auction was a Meridan 45b. a poormans Technika I suppose. Anyhow it is more of what I wanted in a 4x5 camera, and the seller lives 5 miles away so I bought it.

BTW what happened to Shutterbug? last time I read shutterbug( 12 years ago) it was this big magazine full of a gazillion classified ads for used gear. what happened? has film photography taken that big of a nose dive in popularity? or did ebay kill the classifieds?

Shutterbug is alive and well, though physically smaller in the LxW dimensions, as of Feb. 2003. It recently reported that in 2003, digital camera sales exceeded film camera sales for the first time. Following this trend, and perhaps helping to lead it also, Shutterbug's contents reflect this shift in buyer/user preferences. Concurrently, the rise of the internet has changed the way all kinds of stuff, new and used, is sold. The ads for Columbus Camera Group, Midwest Photo Exchange, Brooklyn Camera Exchange, and others from whom I bought used Graflex items, have shrunk in proportion to the growth of their websites. Only a few diehards still advertise in the Classified section. I wish it weren't so, but whaddaya gonna do? But I also have a fully-equipped wet darkroom that I haven't used in over four years, thanks to Photoshop, Epson, and Apple/Macintosh, so I guess I'm also a part of the revolution. As long as I have my Century Graphic, though, I won't go digital on the taking end of photography.

Digital is actually what brought me back to large format. In the past I would shoot 35mm during my travels and if I saw something on film I thought was worthy I would go back with the 6x7 or 4x5. With the digital camera and a lap top around in the car I can view the image in photoshop and decide on the spot. I no longer have to buy and process 35 mm film.

I suspect digital has brought the cost of film photography down. I couldn't afford much of the better quality 4x5 equipment 10 years ago. Now the cost of used gear has come down enough a good setup can be had for a modest sum.

Your last point is well taken. Too bad for me, digital hadn't arrived when I was assembling my Graflex stuff. But still, I must say, some of the prices I see for our kinds of equipment strike me as being on the high side, compared to what I paid for the identical items five-ten years ago.