A few months ago I started looking into the Graflexes for an entry level LF camera. So, after haunting the old helpboard for a while, I fanegeled a Crown graphic with a Kalart RF & a 6 3/8" Optar lens for very little (thanks Les for the Oscar Madison allegory, it's definitely not as pretty as it could be, but it works.) I've been having a bit of fun with it for a while now & I'm wondering about when it was "born." Ser #884435. From what I gather, this is an early Crown and I'm not sure if the lens is original. 6 3/8" Optar, no flash synch at all (not to worry, I'm mostly outdoors anyways, but a newer W/A lens is in the budget) and the RF was synched to a very different lens when I purchased the camera. Thanks again and the site keeps getting better.
-Philip

Your camera was part of 3000 built as a lot starting in June of '53. I'm guessing it was probably made in late '53 or early '54. That's not exactly early for Crowns, since they started in '47, but is running as 'late' for the non top rangefinder Pacemakers, since they came on the scene in '55

Is there anywhere online for researching serial numbers? Mine was manufactured in Rochester, serial #905217... it's the Pacemaker model, I believe. (Focal plane shutter and Graflok back with top mounted Graflex rangefinder.)

You've found the online research facility for serial numbers :smile:. Your serial number was entered as part of 3000 numbers on 5/12/55. It's an educated guess that yours was made during the last half of '55 since your number was close to the begining.