A real good friend of mine has a very clean Super Speed Graphic with a 1/1000 sec Optar lens. I think its cool due to being metal instead of wood and having a rotating back. These are two features that I really like. I'm trying to trade him out of it if possible. To me it seems much cooler than a Speed Graphic or Crown. I don't need a focal plane shutter. What do you all think?
Those 1/1000th leaf shutters were not known for being reliable or easy to repair. The bodies are nice though.
If you can purchase it from your friend for a sweet price and still remain friends. Go for it!
If it turns out that you don't like the camera, you can always sell it.
Thanks Frank. I never knew about the shutters being unreliable and hard to repair. Like I said I'm trying to trade him out of it. I have offered him a digital Pentax spotmeter and he is thinking about it. I'd like to use a 210 and 135 mm with it. Are lens boards different than the regular Speed or Crown?
I don't know about "cool" but I sure wouldn't mind having a Super Speed. As Frank points out, that shutter does have a bad reputation but you can mount about any lens/shutter that fits.
Deardorffs however, are definately cool!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
You can shim Crown/Speed boards or find the proper boards with bumps on all four edges. Don't bother with the electric release nowadays....
Thanks joselsgil and John.
John, I know Deardorffs are definitely cool but I own a Wehman. Not as pretty but gets the job done. I also own a Tachihara 4x5 in mint- condition which I paid $650.00 brand new. I'm thinking about selling it due to the crazy prices they are going on Ebay lately. A cheap Super Speed is enticing!
Thanks Frank. Shimming would be no problem. I just want cheap boards. I planned to use a regular cable release. Thanks for all the advice!Originally Posted by Frank Petronio
You can buy new boards at several places. They're easy to bore out to size as they're just aluminum. I use a lathe for boring them but hole saws in a drill press will work. A small piece of gaffer tape in the right place will usually be thick enough to mount a board without the side bumps well enough. At least it works for me for the few non Super boards I have. I made an adapter to mount the boards on my Seneca and I also have an adapter that lets me mount the super board on my Linhof boards so I mount just about any lens that's small enough in a Graphic board - makes it easy to switch lenses among cameras. I also use a cable release. Before I got it someone had modified my camera to take a Linhof hand grip - works very nicely.
Since buying a Super Graphic just for that high speed between-the-lens shutter is risky, why not consider the several other makes of cameras with similar features. The later B&J metal body press cameras have good front movements and a rotating back, and should be cheaper than the Super. They also use the same easy to fabricate lens board as the Anniversary Graphic. Busch and Meridian usually sell for more than the B&J. The Pacemaker series of SG were well made and had an extensive variety of available accessories. Don't be put off by their wooden bodies: the company had well learned how to make quality cameras by then.
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