Graflex.org

[Daniel Buck]

Hello everyone, I've been using my speedgraphic for a bit now, to shoot vintage auto races. Now that I've added the stroboflash to the setup, it's noticably heavy! I can deal with it, but if there's anything I can do to reduce the weight, I want to give that a try.

My first thought, is to swap the speed for a crown that doesn't have focal plane shutter, since I'm not using the focalplane shutter for this setup. is the weight reduction noticeable on the crown graphic of the same year? How much does a crown versus a speed weigh? (mind is a 1950 speed 4x5)

After that, I'm thinking about removing the top viewfinder tube (since I only use the wire-frame sports finder) but that doesn't seem like it would be a noticable difference in the weight.

Thanks for any advice!

Oh, and here's some photos from this weekend's vintage race, still have a few more batches to develop:

http://www.buckshotsblog.com/?p=519

[Les]

my top finder crown weight 5# 6 oz with a 162 Optar in a Graphex shutter

The RF doesn't weigh enough to bother with. If you have Grafmatic holders, you can pull the ground glass and hold the Grafmatics with the sliders.

Granted it's a minor amount, but changing the brass battery case for a plastic dummy tube saves a few ounces.
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[BrianShaw]

I don't find the weight difference to make me want to change. I use Anniversary Graphic and a Super Graphic. Some folks feel the Crown has aweight advantage... maybe they know better. In practice I find two things to help: 1. monopod, and 2. lifting weights.

[Daniel Buck]

[glennfromwy]

I think most people think there's a significant weight savings with the Crown because the case is not as deep. The difference is actually pretty small. The focal plane shutter parts weigh but little. If you want a lighter camera, a pre - Anniversary Speed would be the lightest. Considerably lighter than the Anny.
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

[Les]

My pre Ann with a tubular Kalart rangefinder weighs 4 # 14 with a WA Dagor. it might be an ounce or two more with a tessar.

So a Pre-Ann Speed weighs less than a Pacemaker Crown, by about 6 oz.
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[Daniel Buck]

[IanG]

If you're really worried about weight get a 9x12 Patent Etui, neg size is just a fraction smaller 5x4 is 12.7 x10cm.

Here's mine alongside on of my Crown Graphics, the weight is around 812gms, both Crown & Etui have 135mm f4,5 Tessar lenses



and



Ian

[Daniel Buck]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'd rather stick to 4x5 film though, but thanks