Speed Graphic experts please..Dad's old camera

[Allen in Montreal]

My mom gave me my father's old speed graphic today, it seems in pretty good shape overall, from what I can tell from his notes, he last shot with it in 1993 on a road trip through New England, a place he loved dearly.

The focal plane shutter is closed and I can not seem to make it trigger. I thought that was done by the silver button at the bottom? It is currently set to "front" but the shutter is seems cocked and ready to fire.

The shutter on the lens seems fine except for 1/400 which it does not want to allow to me to go to, it sticks and stops at 1/200.

Murphy's luck, I sold an old polariod with a beautiful Rodenstock 127 two weeks ago!
Had I known...

Any tips and help would be great.



http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7945/9933xgu5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Jon Shiu]

Hi, there is a site called graflex.org that has a lot of good info.

Jon

[Ash]

Sure it's the focal plane that's closed, and not the lens shutter?

[Dan Fromm]

To get the body release to fire the focal plane (rear) shutter, press the slide in and move it to the "rear" position.

[bbjorkum]

This is a reference page for Graflex:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~lommen9/

It often takes a bit more effort to move the lens shutter to the 1/400 position, as this involves an extra spring. But don't force it.

[Bill_1856]

Nice camera. Don't be surprised that after sitting for 15 years things are a little stiff, but a little gentle use will probably restore everything to its normal condition. Graphics are great that way.
Congratulations on having a Dad who appreciated such a wonderful camera, and could pass it on to you.

[Allen in Montreal]

Hi, there is a site called graflex.org that has a lot of good info.

Jon

Great reference, thank you.

it took me only a few minutes to find posts out lining the very same issue, as Bill and bbjorkum suggested, that first push in 15 years from front to rear took a little more of a shove than I was prepared to give it.

A few warm up runs and all seems to work save for the 1/400th on the lens shutter.
Just did a polaroid and the range finder seems to be in tune,

He has the red/green and yellow filters for it, labeled how he did everything back in the day, Dynotype stickers! :eek:

I have a print somewhere, of my dad, sitting on a small seat mounted on the support beams of the Forum shooting the Montreal Canadiens with this (or one just like it) camera.

I take it this is a "Pacemaker" ??

Playing with this camera should be a lot of fun.

[Allen in Montreal]

.......
Congratulations on having a Dad who appreciated such a wonderful camera, and could pass it on to you.

Thank you Bill.

He also left his old Nikkormats, one of which is very special to me, it was the first 35mm camera I used when I started to shoot for the local weekly newspaper.

He had given my his old Rollie 2.8 long ago, but being a silly young fool (as opposed to the silly old fool that I am now) , I sold it to buy a Nikon F-3 and motor drive. :(

[Glenn Thoreson]

Yes, it's a Pacemaker model. Your front shutter, if the main and booster springs are good, can be very stiff getting it to cock at 1/400. One word of caution: DO NOT move the speed ring to the high speed settings with the shutter cocked. It will damage it up good. I have quite a few Speed Graphics in all sizes to 5X7. Fantastic old cameras. I love every one of them. :D

[Allen in Montreal]

Yes, it's a Pacemaker model. Your front shutter, if the main and booster springs are good, can be very stiff getting it to cock at 1/400. One word of caution: DO NOT move the speed ring to the high speed settings with the shutter cocked. It will damage it up good. I have quite a few Speed Graphics in all sizes to 5X7. Fantastic old cameras. I love every one of them. :D

Glenn,

I really did not want to force it, but after re-reading the thread, I gave it a little extra and it went to 400 and seems to fire well. It seems very unnatural to have to turn the ring with that much force, but all seems well as it did not spit any springs back at me.

I have summoned my daughters for one Grafmatic load of test sheets later this evening.

Thank you.

Being a curious George, I am going to try to find a flash sync cord try a few other lenses. What is the longest/shortest lens you have used on one of these?

[SaveBears]

Allen,

Congrats, that is a darn good looking camera, it brings back many fond memories, they are pretty tough cameras, and I have owned a bunch of them, what is nice as it comes back to life, you will get to share a memory that is special, every picture you take, your father will be there with you, I look forward to seeing some images capture with Dad looking over your shoulder...

[Glenn Thoreson]

Glenn,

I really did not want to force it, but after re-reading the thread, I gave it a little extra and it went to 400 and seems to fire well. It seems very unnatural to have to turn the ring with that much force, but all seems well as it did not spit any springs back at me.

I have summoned my daughters for one Grafmatic load of test sheets later this evening.

Thank you.

Being a curious George, I am going to try to find a flash sync cord try a few other lenses. What is the longest/shortest lens you have used on one of these?

I normally only use 135 to 210mm lenses on the 4X5s. It will conveniently handle 90mm wide angle lenses. With 12 inches of bellows draw, 240mm would be about as long as would be useful. Telephoto designs were made for these. They don't require as much bellows extension for a given focal length. If your shutter will actually attain a 400 speed, you have one of few that will. Testing for actual speeds would be a good idea. Have fun and enjoy it. :D

[Jon Wilson]

You will enjoy your pacemaker. I recently "rediscovered" my pacemaker and have started using it with some barrel lens in combination with the rear shutter. It is a great handler and a lot faster to use than my dorff. :)

[Allen in Montreal]

Thank you gentlemen,

I just processed 6 sheets and a roll of 6x9 and it all looks great.
I shot with a Mole R through a screen, 1/5 at f 4.7 and her eye brows are sharp as a tack!

I have a 16x20 on the wall of the City of Montreal shot by him in 1950, sounds like I should go back to the same spot and shoot the today version to put beside it.

Now to find some old beater glass for effects, barrel lenses....or maybe a Petzval?