Thursday was The Big Day, driving all the way down to Rodger Digiulio's office in Alexandria VA, from central NJ in the snow, sleet and slush to pick up this monster of a camera... And oh, does it need a restoration before it's really ready to shoot at a speedway.
In case you don't know what a Big Berthat is, this particular model has a 5x7 Graflex Home Portrait SLR, circa 1912-1915, mated to an f/8 40 inch (1016mm!) Bausch & Lomb semi-telephoto lens. She's over 36 inches long when focused at infinity; and she extends to well over 44 inches for focusing closer in. She weighs in at 57 pounds; and that big black lens is larger than anything you'll see in a porno flick.
She has two bellows, each 5 inches square and extending up to 8 inches. Normally, the front bellows are compressed to just 1-1/2 inch thick; with the front standard on a sliding bed allowing an additional 7 inches of extension.
Here are four photos I shot before I started the restoration: As time progresses, I'll add more pictures...
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