Grafmatic w/ Cambo 4x5

[ronald lamarsh]

This is not so much a question but a heads up for those who may not know. i have an older Cambo 4x5 monorail and was using my grafmatic with it when I discovered light leaks on almost all my shots! this ruined about a 1200mi road trip. On close inspection i found that my grafmatic didn't really fit my cambo back. In the upper left corner on the back there is extra metal left that has been drilled and tapped(for accessories I assume), its only 1/8" by about 3/16" but it keeps the extra bulk of the grafmatic from seating all the way causing a poor light seal. So in my anger I ground off the offending metal then seated the grafmatic and inspected with a strong ligh in a darkened room. Problem solved. So check your camera before shoving in that grafmatic.

[Alan Davenport]

I had the same problem with a Calumet 540, found out about it the same way and ended with the same solution. It looked to me as though the offending bit of extra metal might have been some engineer's attempt to keep someone from inserting a holder too far.

[Bob._3483]

It also effects the 4x5 Gandolfi cameras (Variant for sure, don't know about the Traditional) that use the Cambo back.

Cheers,

[KenM]

Yup, I'm with Bob. I had a Gandolfi, and had exactly the same problem. It was explained to me by the folks at Gandolfi that the hole was for a cable-release mechanism for another brand of camera. I ground it off as you did, and never looked back.

Well, that is until I bought another camera. Now the Gandolfi is gathering dust....sigh.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I know this has come up before. Wasn't it for some sort of Sinar-style (or maybe actually Sinar) auto-diaphragm system where you could insert the filmholder and by means of a cable release that went through the hole stop down the lens?