Auto Graflex?

[Bill_1856]

Why was the Auto-Graflex called "Auto?" There's nothing automatic about any Graflex except the semi-auto aperture stop down on the Super D. Or maybe on earlier cameras the mirror had to be raised and then the shutter released separately?

[Captain_joe6]

My favorite notion is this: On earlier models, the mirror was automatic, but the earlier models were all named 'Series (letter).' What better way to revamp sales in a modernizing era than to call it 'Auto'? The mirror is still automatic, but, as you said, the lens still is not. That came at least 10 years later. Design-wise, it was a distinct departure from the Series B and D cameras, so it may have been just a new name to call a new camera.

[Martin Miksch]

Sorry for highjacking this thread.^^
What I understand this cameras ( none Super D ) use one release button to lock up the mirror and release the built in fabric shutter. How will this work with a lens in a shutter? Do I need to lock up the mirror and after that shoot the lens shutter?
Regards Martin

[Jeremy Moore]

How will this work with a lens in a shutter? Do I need to lock up the mirror and after that shoot the lens shutter?
Regards Martin

Or just set the shuttered lens to B w/ a locked cable release or T.

[Martin Miksch]

Or just set the shuttered lens to B w/ a locked cable release or T.

Sorry, dont get it, where is the advantage of setting shutter to B or T, sorry again, I didnt tell it exactly, I want to use it without the fabric shutter, only the lens one.
And what is the shortest lens you can use with a 5x7?
Regards
Martin

[Ernest Purdum]

When the Auto Graflex was introduced, (about 1905) there were lots of "Cycle" or "Bicycle" cameras, including "Cycle" Graphics. Maybe the "Auto" was considered appropriate for a somewhat bulkier device.

Martin, you need to have the curtain shutter open in order to use the front shutter. The mittot has to be up also, of course.

In the case of 5 X 7 Graflex SLR cameras, the shortest lens usable depends on the camera model. A "Compact" Graflex (if you can find one in usable condition) might take a shorter lens than other models, but still not very short. A typical original lens on a 5 X 7 Graflex was a 210mm.



x 7

[Bill_1856]

When the Auto Graflex was introduced, (about 1905) In the case of 5 X 7 Graflex SLR cameras, the shortest lens usable depends on the camera model. A "Compact" Graflex (if you can find one in usable condition) might take a shorter lens than other models, but still not very short. A typical original lens on a 5 X 7 Graflex was a 210mm.
x 7

I've read that Paul Strand used a 10" Dagor on his 5x7 Graflex, the shortest lens that would work without hitting the mirror.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Strand used a 5x7" Home Portrait Graflex, which had a reversible back, so I suspect it must have a larger mirror than the others in order to do verticals, and would have a longer minimum focal length. Mine is a 5x7" Press Graflex, which requires that the camera be turned sideways for verticals (this is awkward and even with a very sturdy tripod, vibration damping isn't so great with the camera on its side), and the stock lens is a 5x8"/4.5 B&L Tessar, which is something like 240mm, maybe a little shorter. My 210/3.5 Xenar doesn't focus to infinity, but it's fine for most indoor shooting, which is when I need the extra speed of this lens.

[Wayne Crider]

I have an original Auto Graflex manual, and camera, and although there is nothing inside that remarks about the "auto" feature, I believe it was the fact that the single lever flipped the mirror up and released the rear shutter. My question is, till the Auto Graflex, was that possible in another camera and were they just trying to keep pace? Either that or it was an advertising ploy.

[Ernest Purdum]

Wayne, the combined mirror and shutter release is older than the "Auto" name, though I suppose the name could have been added to emphasize it. According to Brian Coe's "Cameras from Daguerrotype to Instant Pictures" Krugener had this arrangement in 1891. Most of F&S's competitors had equivalent arrangements.

Your original manual is a nice item to have.

[jnantz]

any idea when the internal roller blind / focal plane shutter was made/ installed in these cameras?
maybe that is part of it, seeing many of the older cameras i have seen or owned
didn't have an automatic internal shutter, but instead have needed a shuttered lens to work ...

[Ernest Purdum]

The roller-blind internal shutters go back before the Graflex, 1889, maybe earlier. There were also some early cameras with the mirror acting as the shutter, or a shutter behind the lens which was not a rollerblind type.

It's a lot harder to get the sequence of operations right for a front-shutter SLR. Hasselblad wasn't the first. The remarkable designer Arthur S. Newman may have been with the Newman-Sinclair Front Shutter Reflex. 1906? I can't remember for sure. Without the mirror and shutter actions being coordinated, using an SLR with a front shutter would be pretty inconvenient with animate subjects.

[Wayne Crider]

Thanks Ernest for that information.

[jnantz]

hi ernest,
it is amazing the technology
in these fun old cameras.
thanks for the info.

john