graflex SLR

[sgelb]

wow I just put a graflock on my graflex and also changed the mirror and whammo, razor razor sharp.

[Walter Calahan]

yep, doesn't take much

[panchro-press]

One of the finest cameras ever made.
I've never used a 4X5 or quarter-plate that was as easy to hand hold.

-30-

[Bill_1856]

If I had it to do over, I'd stick with the Graflex back and Bag-Mags. At the time, though, using a Polaroid back seemed important.

[jnantz]

One of the finest cameras ever made.
I've never used a 4X5 or quarter-plate that was as easy to hand hold.

-30-

couldn't agree more
my 4x5 series d is the main camera i use

[sgelb]

It is an impressive camera to say the least. right now I am pretty stoked on the lens too. seems as sharp as a modern lens.

graflex back is tough, but I am glad I switched to graflock. just in one image I can see using the modern holders makes a big difference on sharpness..

[mrlowlight]

To me, they are the most beautiful cameras I've ever used.

Bill

[russyoung]

Another fan... I had Grimes convert to the newer back and a bright screen... with a Verito or Spencer Port-land soft focus lens, it is a combination made in heaven (Ed Weston had the same appraisal with a Verito on his).

Russ

[bbjorkum]

A fan too. Graflex Super D with a 210 Apo-Symmar in a custom made auto diaphragm ...

[Bill_1856]

You think a 4x5 Super D is good -- just try a 3.25x4.25 Super D! It's truly hand-holdable, and with the 190mm lens (from the 4x5) you still have the semi-auto aperture, and it's perfect for portraits.

[Robert A. Zeichner]

I have a 4x5 RB Super D with a 190mm Ektar, at least 10 Graflex holders and a couple of 12 sheet bag mags. I also have a 15" Wollensak Tele-Optar on a B board to fit as well. The camera has performed very well and I have many sharp hand-held 4x5 negatives to prove it. I've been toying with selling the entire package because I haven't exposed a single sheet with it in over a year and I'm not likely to do so anytime soon. Still mulling it over. The minute after I get rid of it, I'll think of some project I need it for.

[bbjorkum]

I dont think a Super D is good. I know it's good. It's truly hand-holdable:
http://www.bjartebjorkum.com/gallery_242195.html
(these were taken with the 190 ektar, not the 210 Apo-Symmar)

[A.J. Dickson]

Yes great combo with the graflok back. Glad I did mine thanks Bert Saunders. One caveat though with the quater plate( dont know if same applies to 4x5) is rotating the back with polaroid back in situ. is well nigh impossible. I guess can't have everything, but its real nice to be able to use so many "modern" holders in addition to the Super D semi-auto diaphragm. Having said that my unmodified 3x4 Series D gets a shout when I want to travel light with just a few film holders to minimize fiddling around too much.

[Henry Suryo]

Love my 4x5 Super D, mine has a Graflok and a recent shutter overhaul by Fred Lustig. An absolute joy to use! I'm looking to get a faster lens for it, maybe a 210mm Heliar, Xenar, or Pentac. Does anyone know what kind of brighter screens are available? I want to be sure that the focus will still be in synch with the GG, would putting a 5x5 fresnel on top of the screen work?

[jnantz]

farrah fawcett was in a film called double exposure
about the life of margaret bourke white and she used
a graflex slr in the movie. it wasn't academy award material
or anything, but it was fun to see the graflex in the film ( in the 1980s )
and how margaret bourke-white made some of the wpa images
that have come to symbolize the great depression ( migrant mother ) ...

[Henry Suryo]

Yes, I thought it was a pretty interesting movie. My favorite scene was when she shot the unemployment line during the Depression. "Paul, the wide angle, Paul!". I guess that shot couldn't have been taken with a Graflex SLR, unless she had one custom fitted for a wide angle lens. There is a photograph of her at a dizzying height, atop the gargoyle outside her Chrysler Building studio holding a Graflex SLR. Migrant Mother is one of the great iconic images of the FSA period shot by her contemporary, Dorothea Lange, who was also known to have used a Graflex SLR.

[jnantz]

Yes, I thought it was a pretty interesting movie. My favorite scene was when she shot the unemployment line during the Depression. "Paul, the wide angle, Paul!". I guess that shot couldn't have been taken with a Graflex SLR, unless she had one custom fitted for a wide angle lens. There is a photograph of her at a dizzying height, atop the gargoyle outside her Chrysler Building studio holding a Graflex SLR. Migrant Mother is one of the great iconic images of the FSA period shot by her contemporary, Dorothea Lange, who was also known to have used a Graflex SLR.

my bad -- yup dorothea lang shot migrant mother ...

i tend to confuse them often ...

[mrlowlight]

Love my 4x5 Super D, mine has a Graflok and a recent shutter overhaul by Fred Lustig. An absolute joy to use! I'm looking to get a faster lens for it, maybe a 210mm Heliar, Xenar, or Pentac. Does anyone know what kind of brighter screens are available? I want to be sure that the focus will still be in synch with the GG, would putting a 5x5 fresnel on top of the screen work?

Beattie used to make a bright screen for 4x5.

[bbjorkum]

Lens and repro in ny can install a beattie screen for you. They will of course sync it with the film plane.

[sgelb]

bjarte,

yes the ektar is kick ass lens. I also have a cherry cherry condition (like new) 3x4 but not with a modern back.. im trying to get a 6x9 graflex back for it and shoot with it soon. I have a box of 3x4 efke film, but I am hesitant to use it.


unfortunately I have to say, screw lens and repro.
the guy who does the conversions is difficult and nasty and will probably charge you a stupid sum of 500$.

anyways I also wanted to say that I exchanged the mirror, cleaned the GG and installed the back all by myself in an afternoon.