Graflex.org

[frohnec]

I have adjusted the infinity and 15' fine. When I go to the 4'scale it appears that it will not adjust. It is off just a little however the 15' is dead on.
I have loosened the two screws and move the slider up and down and still cannot get it to focus.
Any suggestions?
Also the slider seems to move up and down rather easily.

[45PSS]

Which camera/kalart do you have?
http://graflex.org/speed-graphic/kalart-adjustment.html

_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[frohnec]

I have a Speed Graphic/
The Kalart is mounted on the side and has Kalart etched into the metal. THere is a serial number on it.

[Henry]

From the cited link (above):

"Another tip is to make the 4 foot adjustment on a target directly in front of the rangefinder, not the lens. That is, focus the camera on a target that is in front of the lens and adjust the rangefinder for a
target on the same plane directly in front of the rangefinder. Otherwise the parallax will cause an error which will throw off the tracking at the other distances.

"In use, the camera is pointed at the object being focused on first through the rangefinder and the lateral coincidence will make you point the rangefinder straight, the camera is focused and then aimed using the optical or wire finders. By doing this, the parallax is eliminated and the focussing becomes accurate.

"Following this procedure you can expect your Speed Graphic to focus to 4 feet accurately with the RF. These rangefinders are pretty accurate once they are adjusted properly, which is saying something for such a fundamentaly crude device."
_______________
The Kalart instruction book further states, "To avoid a parallactic disturbance [!], we recommend you sight your short distance target in accordance with these three heights as illustrated." For the 4x5, the camera should be resting on a horizontal surface (table top) such that the center of the eyepiece is exactly 6-3/4" high off the surface of the table, and the target is a vertical surface perpendicular to the table top at the specified distance, in your case 4 feet.

[45PSS]

Henry,
WELL SAID!

frohnec,
There is in existance
Top Handle Speed Graphic
Pre Anniversary Speed Graphic
Anniversary Speed Graphic
Pacemaker Speed Graphic
that have one of two versions of Kalart Side rangefinders factory or aftermarket installed.




_________________
The best camera ever made is the one that YOU enjoy using and produces the image quality that satifies YOU.

[frohnec]

I was focusing on the same thing as the ground glass - not directly in front of the rangefinder.
I am going to try the table top method next.
Thanks.

Chris

[glennfromwy]

Having not stated exactly which rangefinder you have, I will give a word of caution on one model that was fitted to the early models: if you have the chrome shard edged square rangefinder with the scales on the outside, be very careful that you don't loosen the screws that hold the scales themselves. If you move the scales, you will never get it adjusted again. Only move the slider.

_________________
Glenn

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

[Rangemaster]

i have one of those rangefinders witht eh scales on the outside, I can tell you from experiance,,,,,,!!!!!!......Don't move the scales!!!!

Dave

[frohnec]

Dave and GLenn are scaring me.
I followed the focusing procedure on this site which includes loosening the one screw in the back for slider adjustment and/or the two screw in the front for the 4' adjustment. I have loosened both front and back and moved the sliders. I took note on where they were before I started to play - comes from years of engineering on the fly.
After some tries on the 4' scale with no success I put everything back the way it was. FOcused infinity and 15' successfully.

[45PSS]

The initial infinity setting of the camera or the tracking arm of the rangefinder may be off.
Pacemaker-run rails all the way into the camera body then foward 1/8 inch, lock and adjust lens and for tack sharp focus at infinity with front standard locked then position infinity stops.
Adjust the ecentric screw on the follower arm for RF infinity focus. If the follower arm has been repositioned or come loose and sliped then all other adjustments will be difficult or impossible.
Search the Speed and Accessory help sections for RF adjustment as the procedure for setting the arm has be listed before and I do not remember it.
This is based on the assumption that you have the later version of the Kalart.

_________________
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a quality photograph is worth a million.

[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2004-06-08 12:58 ]

[disemjg]

I had a similar problem adjusting a Kalart a while back. Drove me crazy until I found that the internal linkages under the plate had moved out of position and were not responding to the changes I made. I guess that I had moved the sliders so far in attempting to set the close range setting that they were dislodged. Once I teased the rear cam (lever?) back into position I was able to complete the job.

On the other hand, if your RF is working now at the infinity and 15' distances, but not at the 4' range, you may have some other issue. It may help to study the motion of the RF as you focus the camera, to see if it is really reacting to the movement of the bed.

I always had the most difficulty setting the 4' distance; the other distances were easy. The cams for the close adjustment seems to translate a tiny bit of scale movement into a big change in the RF, and I usually found myself over-correcting.

And I forgot to check the earlier posts; did you re-do the infinity and 15' distances? sometimes these change as the RF is adjusted and you have to repeat the overall process three or four times before it will let you set all three distances successfully.

[frohnec]

Yes I reset the infinity and 15' focus.
I haven't tried yet but I am going to try the table top focus.