Which magnifier should I use with my Graflex Pacemaker ?

[Laurent L]

Hi again,

When I received my Pacemaker I was so excited that I asked you about flashes instead of taking in consideration something much more important ; focusing !

A few months ago I decided to get back to the fondamentals and to use a focusing clothes and a magnifier for my large format cameras instead of the reflex backs.

However, the magnifier I will receive will be too short for the Pacemaker and I really want to use this americain beauty with its hood (this is a nice snappy device protecting the ground glass and belonging to the image of this camera).

Working without the hood never did any good :D


Therefore I would ask to all the hood enthousiasts which device do they use to focus on the groundglass while they're using their graflex

- From times to time there are some long toyo magnifiers available on Ebay but are they long enough ?
- Which device did the photographers use to focus on the ground glass of their graflex in the 50's ?
- Would a 4x magnifier be enough for a Graflex 4x5 ?


Thanks for your answers.

Laurent

[BrianShaw]

- From times to time there are some long toyo magnifiers available on Ebay but are they long enough ?
- Which device did the photographers use to focus on the ground glass of their graflex in the 50's ?
- Would a 4x magnifier be enough for a Graflex 4x5 ?


4x is ideal. More powerful causes you to see more of the grain of the GG and the lines of the fresnel than anything useful. If your Graphic has a fresnel in it and it is clean, then you might find just using a dark cloth as good as using a loupe. I find it easier to remove the Grafi's hood and use loupe/cloth intead of trying to get the loupe inside the Graphic's existing hood.

[John Kasaian]

Good morning Laurent!
One option would be to use a cheap pair of low powered magnifying glasses discount stores sell. Or one of those folding magnifiers which give you the case to hold on to.

[Vick Ko]

Great to hear. I have a Crown Graphic too, and am very interested in what works best. I've been using an enlarger lens as a loupe - and found that I needed to be pretty close to it. Too close with the hood open.

[Laurent L]

Thanks for these answers, but the standard magnifying glass won't reach 4x, I really have to look for a long magnifier like Horseman used to make, wish I could find it... Meanwhile I will use the 135 and the rangefinder which is quite accurate.