Noob looking for help - Graflex Crown View camera - 4 x 5

[Luciano]

Hello everybody, I've just registered to the forum. I've recently bought a Graflex Crown View camera (the wooden one) and I'm still trying to find something that could just look as a manual for this camera. I looked at butkus.org, where I found most of the vintage camera manuals I usually read, but nothing was found. The only source of information seems to be the graflex.org site, which states that Crown View camera has "Front shift (1 3/16”) and tilt (12 degrees)" on the front standard. I'm really sorry, probably I'm not used to handle LF cameras, but believe me I don't get how to make front standard tilt. The only allowed movements for front standard seem to be rise and shift.
Can anyone help me? I know that other people in the Forum, with more expertise, could help me in solving the problem, and maybe in finding a manual too...
Thanks in advance.
Ciao Luciano

[mdarnton]

The front does not tilt!
Front, rise and shift; back, swing and tilt. That's it.

[EdSawyer]

The Crown has front tilt, but no rear movements at all. The front tilt is held in place by the knobs on the sides of the front standard. Keep in mind it's reverse tilt, meant to compensate for dropping the bed when using wide-angle lenses. So, not as useful for say landscape photos where you want front (forward) tilt to tip the DOF towards the horizon.

-Ed

[consummate_fritterer]

oops... never mind :)

[mdarnton]

Last two posts are confusing the Crown view with the Crown Graphic. I repeat: Crown VIEW has no front tilt.

[Jim Jones]

Ed & Fritterer -- The original poster may have been speaking of the wooden Crown View Camera, made from 1939 to 1942, when the war effort probably ended its production. It was replaced in 1941 by the more expensive all-metal Graphic View Camera which had full tilts and swings and +/- 11/16 slides front and back. Terminology on such cameras gets confusing, especially since they are often referred to by other than the names marked on them.

[EdSawyer]

Jim-
Thanks for the clarification. I wasn't aware of a wooden Crown View. I stand corrected in that case! ;-)

-Ed

[John Kasaian]

Check out www.graflex.org
in particular
http://www.graflex.org/articles/graphic-view/CrownView.html

[Jim Andrada]

The article referenced does indeed say that there is 12 degree front tilt. But the camera appears to say otherwise. I'll agree with the camera. Maybe the Graflex.org page is in error???

[mdarnton]

I believe that same article, with error, is on this site somewhere also.