Hello, I just received two Graflex camera's from my father's collection. I don't know the first thing about these cameras. One is a Speed Graphic with a Kodak 101mm F4.5 lens and a Kalart view finder. The other is a Crown Graphic with a 162mm Optar f4.5 lens. Both are in beautiful condition. I just don't know how to confirm they are in working order. Is there a URL that might post a video of how these work? Maybe a "Graflex for Dummies" site for us newbies? Thanks in advance!

Edward

At http://www.cameraeccentric.com/info.html there is
http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/graflex_5.html
and
http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/graflex_4.html
and when you are ready for more technical information try the graflex manuals link at
http://www.southbristolviews.com/

The difference between the Pacemaker Crown or Speed with a Kalart or Hugo Meyer side rangefinder and those with a top Graphic rangefinder is the rangefinder.

Mike Butkus has a complete scan of the official 44-page manual for the Pacemaker series. Here's the link:
http://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/graphic_pacemaster_speed_crown.pdf
There are also a number of other manuals for different models in the Graflex section of his website. Mike asks for a voluntary donation of $3, which I think is very generous. His website is a great resource.

I was looking on ebay to see what values these cameras have and did not see any completed listings of a Crown Graphic with the 162mm. Is this a rare combination?

I rather say it wasn't popular. For press photography you wanted the widest possible lens that still allowed the subject to fill or come close to filling the frame. If you have a 162mm lens and everybody else has a 127 or 135mm lens, then when Al Capone comes out of the courthouse, you'll either get a full frame image of the backs of the photographers that ran in front of you, or a close up shot of Capone's face with no reference as to where it was taken.

I suspect the 162, which is a true normal lens for 4x5, was use more for some product and commercial work than newspaper work. It was also introduced I think in the late 50s early 60s and was probably gone by the late 60s so it didn't have a long life.

And yet I'll probably see a half dozen walk through ebay over a year or two.

Does the 162 cover any better for rise/shifts/tilts etc.?

Yes. Since the 127, 135 and 162 are all tessars or tessar formula lenses, the image circle to focal length ratio will be the same, and the 162 will have the largest image circle.