Holding, aiming, and operating a Speed Graphic

[BetterSense]

I have a Pacemaker Speed Graphic, 4x5. I understand that these cameras were designed to be used handheld, but I'm not getting the motions down right. I'm trying to figure out how one can hold the thing in such a way that he can focus, yank the darkslide, hold onto it somehow (teeth?), and trip the FP shutter switch.

What I think I need to be doing is holding the thing with my left hand entirely, and then focusing, pulling the darkslide, cocking the shutter, and tripping the shutter all with my right had, but how do you hold the thing one-handed? It has a leather strap on the left side, but you can't hold it up by that. Inserting a hand under the strap could work, but my hand doesn't fit under there and its a bit wobbly with the torque involved. Maybe I'm missing a flashgun, that made it easier to hold?

[PBrooks]

Left hand through the strap, holding the inside of the body with finders. Have a flash gun or flash, focus with a pre-determined distance. Setting exposure at an f stop around f/8 and shutter speed according to flash. Then all that is left is pull dark slide, which you could do before or really quickly before your subject was in the predetermined zone. Then when subject is there trip the shutter. Someone will probably have a better way to say it but this is how I would do it.

[Glenn Thoreson]

Your left hand goes under the strap, which you can adjust to suit, and your right hand holds the camera either under the bed or fingers curled around the front of the body. The Pacemaker Speed has a shutter release button on the right front of the body. If the front shutter cable and all the trip mechanism parts are on the front standard it's easy to use. Unfortunately, thosse parts are usually broken or missing. You can tip the back shutter with the body release easily. You need to check out the archives at www.graflex.org and see if you can learn to use "the Graflex stance". You should also get a copy of Graphic Graflex Photography, by Morgan & Lester. Any edition, 1947 or later, will have all the info on how to use your camera to best advantage. You can find this book on Amazon, frequently. Well worth having. You will get used to the camera. It just takes a little time and patience. They are a great piece of equipment. Enjoy! :D

[BetterSense]

If the front shutter cable and all the trip mechanism parts are on the front standard it's easy to use.

Luckily, all the parts are there, but they don't work with any of my shutters. My Angulon's tripper lever is too short for the speed graphics tab thingy to reach...I have tried gluing things onto it before but they always fall off. Before they fall off, it works fine. My other shutter only works with a cable release and all my other lenses are shutterless.

[Jack Dahlgren]

This is what I do:

Slip left hand under the strap and grab the edge of the camera body.
Slap in the film holder with right hand and then pull the dark-slide.
I try to put it in my pockets or hold it with the left hand somehow.
Place the right hand somewhere around the front right corner of the body or there abouts with fingers free to focus if required.
Elbows braced against the chest.
Left eye looking through the wire finder.
Use a cable release or the body release in the right hand.

[Bosaiya]

I have a cord tied between my dark slides and my holders. That way I can yank the slide and let it dangle in the breeze. Works best with the multi-sheet holders where there's more room to mount things.

[j.e.simmons]

Get a short cable release. Thread it from the lens to the left side of the camera, run it through the two halves of the strap above the bracket. The release end should now stick out the back. Put your left hand through the strap and grab the camera body with the fingers. Use the right hand to pull the dark slide, then hold it underneath the bottom of the camera. Use the thumb of the left hand to actuate the cable release.
juan

[Glenn Thoreson]

Juan, sticking a cable release through the strap loop is a brillint idea! I don't know why I never thought of that one. Thanks! :D

[Frank Petronio]

Left-hand in strap, Right-hand focuses and cocks shutter, then pulls slide. Transfer slide under Left-hand thumb -- pressing it against the rear of the camera (the closed metal viewing hood). Or slide into the darkslide holder tabs purposefully built onto the hood -- although some people have removed them.

Raise camera back to eye or shooting position, Right index finger on side body trigger, Right thumb pressing against back to counter the pressure of your index finger. Remain Right fingers curl under camera base to support.

I do better when I remember to grip the camera firmly at the moment of exposure.

Let camera down, pull and flip holder, cock shutter, pull slide again.

[BetterSense]

I have a cord tied between my dark slides and my holders. That way I can yank the slide and let it dangle in the breeze. Works best with the multi-sheet holders where there's more room to mount things.

What do you mean by multi-sheet holders; Grafmatics? All I have are regular 2-sided film holders.



Or slide into the darkslide holder tabs purposefully built onto the hood -- although some people have removed them.

That sounds like a great feature...mine must have been removed.

[Bosaiya]

What do you mean by multi-sheet holders; Grafmatics? All I have are regular 2-sided film holders.


Grafmatics for the Graphics and bag magazines for the RBs



That sounds like a great feature...mine must have been removed.

Mine were removed long ago, doubltess to save weight.

[jp]

If you visit youtube, there are WWII era videos instructing soldiers how to hold and handle a speed graphic. Very interesting, but I don't handle it that way.

I put my left hand under the whole thing, much like you'd do with a rifle or 35mm SLR with the largest of handholdable lenses.

Left hand fingers hold the darkslide. If it's not windy, I sometimes rest the darkslide atop the front standard at the base of the sport finder for some extra lens shade, but that takes away from my mental checklist "darkslide is out because it's in my hand".

Right hand operates the shutter.

[Joseph O'Neil]

When hand holding my Crown Graphic, I often try to do a couple of things:

1) Lean against a wall or a tree, etc. I learned this as a 6 year old with my old Kodak Brownie that had only one shutter speed - slow :) . Your shots are a lot steadier if your whole body is steady to begin with.

2) the tops of walls, fence, chairs, even garbage cans can make platform to hold a camera steady when you are hand holding. I've even shot in a forest by setting my camera on a tree branch, or at least one corner of it, and holding the rest of the camera steady;

3) the idea of using a shutter release cable while hand holding has been for me, always a good idea whenever possible. It may sound counter intitive, but I find it is easier to hand hodl while shooting that way.

4) If you want to "cheat" on hand holding, get a monopod. I use one all the time.

5) last bit of advise - don't get too "hooked" on holding your camera a certian way. Hold what works best for you. I also hand hold my Tachihara quite often, and I hold it very differently than I hold my crown graphic, and you might get in toa situation some day where you are using a different camera too.

Another issue I have seen come up is - what happens when you are left handed? Myself, I am "technically" right handed, but I do a lot of things (without thinking) with my left hand, and I sometimes find the "right handed bias" (darn those evil right handed folk, eh? :D), on crown and speed graphics a bit troublesome to work around, so you just never know.

Last bit of advice, whatever you may thing of hand holding a crown or speed graphic, just remember, it's always eaiser than trying to hand hold a graphic monorail. :D

[Bosaiya]

If it's not hanging from a cord the darkslide is usually in my teeth. Sometimes I'll wedge it someplace to keep stray light out.

[chase canadé]

Hi -
Btw, Which range finder do you have?. Top or side?
Mine have top mount.

To add in here, don't forget the feature of focusing via the internal bulb for dusk and dark shots by pushing the red button on the left side of the Rangefinder and fucusing via the focusing knob with your right hand - then click the shutter once the projected filiments are aligned.

When using the ground glass for focusing it should probably be tripod mounted - hand held is a little too tough to maintain a tight focus this way depending on what your going for subject/composure wise imo, though can be done via guess-timates

They are great cameras - and can be a lot of fun. Just takes some practice to smooth out the motions but you'll get better at it with time.

happpy shooting
chase

[Greg Gibbons]

Might not help much, but the flash unit used to be the right handle, and there's a button on the flash that would fire the flash, and send a pulse to a solenoid which would fire the shutter.

[jbenedict]

If it's not hanging from a cord the darkslide is usually in my teeth. Sometimes I'll wedge it someplace to keep stray light out.

At least on my Pacemater Crown, there are two clips on the back that can easily hold a dark slide.

[Glenn Thoreson]

At least on my Pacemater Crown, there are two clips on the back that can easily hold a dark slide.

Absolutely. That's what they put them there for. I was wondering when someone would pick up on that. :D

[Daniel_Buck]

I use grafmatics, that saves alot of work flipping holders, and fumbling with dark slides. Still, it's a bit of al earning curve to get it all down smoothly, cocking the shutter, setting the next film sheet, focusing, adjusting aperture (if needed), aiming, and firing. Then repeating it. I've gotten it down pretty good though, I spent a few days walking through the pits of a local historic auto race with a few grafmatics and a bunch of regular film holders, I got it down pretty good.

The trigger on my speed never seems to trigger the lens exactly when i want it to (I've tried adjusting it, but not much better) so I just zip-tie a regular cable release to my flash handle so it's right there by my thumb when I'm holding the camera, that made things easy. The trigger button on the camera required so much force to push down!

I end up liking the pop-up wire viewfinder better than the small glass viewfinder. I only wish that the rangefinder for focusing was a little bigger, it's hard to look through sometimes!

[al olson]

A few years ago a purchased a mint Super Graphic that was identical to the one I owned back in '58. I soon realized that with only the leather strap it was awkward to hand hold. Something was missing. It didn't feel as comfortable as before.

Then I recalled that on my original camera I had a Graflex strobe mounted on the right side that provided a stable grip. I went on line and found an old Graflex flash that I mounted on my camera sans batteries and reflector. It provides a great handle and along with the strap provides a solid two-handed grip.

While I still hold it by the strap for doing the film holders and dark slides, it is easier to hold the camera by the flash tube for doing the lens settings and I can turn the focus knob with my left hand. Now days I sometimes cheat and use a monopod as Joseph suggests.

[Frank Petronio]

For that matter you could always mount the excellent (opinions vary but it is a beautifully made item) Linhof Anatomical Grip on the left side (there are some right-handed versions out there too). Be sure to get the female part that the grip dovetails into, and note that there are at least two versions, incompatible, so get parts of the same vintage.

When I used Grafmatics along with a Prontor self-cocking shutter you could easily get into a rhythm of closing the slide, yanking the Grafmatic open and shut, and returning the camera to your eye, in one swinging motion. This way you could shoot in just a couple of seconds, and really burn through film. I could shoot all six sheets in less than a minute. Not recommended for financial reasons.

[brian d]

More than anything practice then once you get a system down you get a Graflex SLR and have to start all over again:D

[Michael Roberts]

If you visit youtube, there are WWII era videos instructing soldiers how to hold and handle a speed graphic. Very interesting, but I don't handle it that way.

I put my left hand under the whole thing, much like you'd do with a rifle or 35mm SLR with the largest of handholdable lenses.

Left hand fingers hold the darkslide. If it's not windy, I sometimes rest the darkslide atop the front standard at the base of the sport finder for some extra lens shade, but that takes away from my mental checklist "darkslide is out because it's in my hand".

Right hand operates the shutter.

What JP said--left hand under the door/back of camera resting on heel of left hand; right index finger triggers the shutter. Personally, I find it steadier to support the camera from underneath instead of from one side. If possible, I also lean back and rest my wrists and/or bottom edge of the camera back against my chest or find a post or tree to brace against. Dark slide goes in vest pocket.

I hate the side strap. The camera I'm holding didn't come with one, so I added my own strap on top. Easier to carry and set the camera down and doesn't get in the way of the side tripod mount for portrait mode. This camera body also did not have the rangefinder, so for hand-held shooting I use the wire sports finder. This stripped-down Crown also weighs 2lbs less than a fully equipped Crown or Speed, and I find the lighter weight makes it much easier to handle and there's less fatigue on the arm muscles, making for steadier shots.

[falth j]

As I remember, thousands of newspaper photographers turned in great images that ranged from sports action shots, and static photo's, all had the flash attachement on one side, and leather strap on the other side, using all sizes of graflex press cameras...