I've just received my first Speed Graphic (serial 904478), and whilst it's a wonderful thing, I have some concerns!

I didn't realise when I bought it, but shortly afterwards I noticed it must be a Pacemaker Speed Graphic, owing to the small number of FP shutter speeds. However, I wasn't prepared for the fact that there is no option to use a shutter release cable with the FP shutter, which seems to be to be quite a spectacular omission, and a real problem when it comes to long exposures.

I didn't even know they came without an FP shutter cable port. Can anyone help me with any further information about this camera? Am I going to need to sell and replace it? I wish I'd paid better attention and waited for a normal Speed Graphic, but this is a bit of a minefield for the beginner.


Thanks.

Hi,
Your Pacemaker looks like some sort of transitional model from Anniversary to Pacemaker.
Mine is newer, and very different...no provision for cable release on mine either.
The shutter trip lever on yours looks like an Anniversary, but missing the part that the cable would screw into....not sure about that.
Are you aware of the small lever at the bottom of the plate, below the FP sync terminals? Moving that lever presents more shutter speeds in the window by moving a slider under the glass.
Hope this helps.

AnselMortensen wrote:

Hi, Mine is newer, and very different...no provision for cable release on mine either.

This puzzles me - the Pacemaker SG manual on Butkus suggests there should be one (https://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/graphic_pacemaster_speed_crown.pdf - page 12) but the piece they say to connect it to simply doesn't exist on my camera. It seems a ridiculous thing to omit, and I'm really not confident about being able to have the camera still enough on a tripod.

Quote:

Are you aware of the small lever at the bottom of the plate, below the FP sync terminals? Moving that lever presents more shutter speeds in the window by moving a slider under the glass.

Yes, spotted that, thanks! At least it's easy to see the speeds, though a shame they're so limited.

OK - a bit more research and I believe this is a military model, which is unusual entirely in black. That's nice from a collection standpoint, but disappointing from the point of view of using it.

904478 is in a batch of 3000 cameras listed in May 1955.
Your camera is a military version. The military version does not have the body release.
The side rangefinder has been removed. It was likely a Kalart.
The Optical Viewfinder is not present but the shoe for it is.
It has a Graflok back.

Military cameras were painted black or camouflage starting in 1941 as the chrome would give the photographer away in combat situations.

The lens board and lens would have been black also.

Thanks, that's what I thought. Gutted to have something so utterly useless, but there we are.

Quote:

Gutted to have something so utterly useless

It has not been gutted. A rangefinder was an accessory as was the optical viewfinder.
Put a lens on a board, attach it to the front standard, insert a loaded film holder and go make some photographs. Any 4x5 pacemaker lens board will work as will Super Graphic lens boards.

45PSS wrote:

Quote: Gutted to have something so utterly useless It has not been gutted. A rangefinder was an accessory as was the optical viewfinder. Put a lens on a board, attach it to the front standard, insert a loaded film holder and go make some photographs. Any 4x5 pacemaker lens board will work as will Super Graphic lens boards.

Sorry, I meant 'gutted' as in 'very disappointed'. I really wanted a cable release, because past experience has shown me how hard it is to get a long exposure when you're having to press a huge lever on the side of a camera.

I've already made my own lens boards and will give it a try, but it's a blow to find that it a) has limited shutter speeds and b) I probably can't use most of them anyway due to the inevitable camera shake.

This factory service manual https://graflex.org/manuals/45-Pacemaker-Speed-and-Crown-Graphic.pdf covers the focal plane shutter servicing. There is a minor difference in the outside plate of the fps. It should not be difficult to fabricate a cable release socket to fit and operate the the fps lever.

A standard Pacemaker Speed has the cable release socket in the body release and the shutter selector switch has to be set to Rear for it to trip the fps.

This service manual https://www.cameramanuals.org/prof_pdf/c-3_graflex_camera.pdf is for the military version of the Anniversary Speed. The fps is covered in detail.