PDA

View Full Version : How many Galvin 4x5 cameras were made?



John Schneider
27-Aug-2012, 22:06
Does anybody have an idea? On a whim I checked my s/n and it's 104x; the other one I know of was 106x. If Jim started at 1000 than maybe only a few hundred at most were made (I personally know of four), but if he started at 0001, then over a thousand were made.

Leigh
27-Aug-2012, 22:14
Were they made by the Galvin Manufacturing Co. of Chicago?

I have a non-photographic interest in that company.

- Leigh

John Schneider
27-Aug-2012, 22:39
Not AFAIK. According to this: http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/galvin_1.html they were made in Sacramento, which ties in with a statement that Gordon Hutchings made in, I believe, the Book of Pyro.

Leigh
27-Aug-2012, 22:45
Different company. Thanks.

- Leigh

Brian Ellis
28-Aug-2012, 06:06
Is Jim not around any more? Perhaps not but if he is why not just ask him? I don't have any contact information but he used to advertise in View Camera magazine.

karl french
28-Aug-2012, 06:55
He died a few years ago.

John Kasaian
28-Aug-2012, 07:42
I'd heard he'd passed as well. I was hoping I got the wrong info.

Brian Ellis
29-Aug-2012, 05:55
He died a few years ago.

Thanks, sorry to hear that.

John Schneider
5-Jan-2013, 22:17
As an update, I went through my gear prior to selling off some of my spares, and my "parts" 4x5 Galvin is s/n 101x (in addition to 104x and 106x). While this is only educated conjecture, it seems that production likely began at s/n 1000 or 1001 and ended with less than 100 of the 4x5 model being made.

Curt
6-Jan-2013, 00:17
As an update, I went through my gear prior to selling off some of my spares, and my "parts" 4x5 Galvin is s/n 101x (in addition to 104x and 106x). While this is only educated conjecture, it seems that production likely began at s/n 1000 or 1001 and ended with less than 100 of the 4x5 model being made.

I have a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 and the stamp on the bottom of the tripod mount is 1153. Are the 4x5 backs made the same way as the smaller format?

Leonard Robertson
6-Jan-2013, 11:34
I bought a new 4X5 Galvin from Ed at his shop on Aurora in Seattle (nostalgia for older Puget Sound area folks) I suppose in the 1980s. I never got along with it very well. Always seemed a bit shaky, but it certainly was light weight. I had a Linhof 4X5 Color at the time so it was tough for the Galvin to be compared to that as to sturdiness. I'm pretty sure I sold the Galvin to someone in Spokane, and he resold it. So if anyone has a 4X5 that came from Spokane, that is likely the same camera. I have no idea what the serial number may have been, although I got it soon after seeing mention in Shutterbug or somewhere of the 4X5 version so it may have been an early one. It was one of the few cameras I ever bought new. The other 3 or 4 were all 35mm.

Len

Audii-Dudii
22-Jan-2019, 18:18
As an update, I went through my gear prior to selling off some of my spares, and my "parts" 4x5 Galvin is s/n 101x (in addition to 104x and 106x). While this is only educated conjecture, it seems that production likely began at s/n 1000 or 1001 and ended with less than 100 of the 4x5 model being made.
I know this is a long-dormant thread, but I just had occasion to look at my Galvin 45 and it's stamped with Serial No. 1077.

Strangely, my 2x3 Galvin doesn't have any serial number stamped on it.

Drew Wiley
22-Jan-2019, 18:58
Jim Galvin lived in Sacramento, CA. In his older years he had a small machine shop at his residence and made custom lensboards etc for photographers. Very nice fellow. There's an early View Camera article on his earlier camera venture - basically an attempt to
make a simplifed camera he personally wanted, then produced in multiples afterwards.

Cor
23-Jan-2019, 01:38
I know this is a long-dormant thread, but I just had occasion to look at my Galvin 45 and it's stamped with Serial No. 1077.



My 4*5 is stamped with 1064, but John knew that since I bought mine from him, while not as sturdy as my Linhof Color it's way up compaired to the Gowland I had before. The Galvin makes my lightweight set when hiking or biking.

Best,

Cor