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jblaschke
25-Dec-2012, 19:38
Howdy folks. First time poster, so go easy on me. :)

The Wife and I (well, mostly The Wife) were recently presented with a Crown Graphic for Christmas by my brother who discovered it in a forgotten attic where it'd sat for at least 40 years. This one has the basic Ektar 127mm lens and top-mounted rangefinder. He could not find a back or flashgun, however. Despite that, it's in remarkably good shape. The glass is clear, no rust or decay, and even the shutter mechanics seem crisp and accurate (which is more than I can say for a nice little Zeiss Ikonta we picked up a year or so back). Even the rangelite worked, albiet briefly, once we put in a new battery.

The Wife's a professional photographer whose background is in photojournalism. She learned in a darkroom, but now uses full frame Canon digital. She mostly shoots weddings, but has some personal projects on the side. I'm more of a hobbiest/second shooter for her. I've some modest darkroom experience but am most familiar with digital. Since this Crown Graphic is in such great shape, we'd like to learn to shoot with it.

So, considering our utter inexperience with this camera and format, what back would be good for us to start with? I'm assuming something like a 120 roll back would be the simplest option? Are Polaroid backs even worth messing with these days, given the limited availability of Polaroid/Impossible Project film? What lenses would complement the Ektar 127? The online consensus seems to be that Ektar 203mm are a good alternative to higher-quality 210mm lenses.

As you can tell, we're just getting our feet wet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.:confused:

Dan Fromm
25-Dec-2012, 20:14
Visit www.graflex.org and read the FAQs. Read the FAQs here too.

You mentioned that the camera has no back. This sounds ominous. Y'r treasure (no sarcasm intended) probably has a Graflok back, which will accept most roll holders that fit a 4x5 Graflok (also called international back). Fine, wonderful, but does treasure have a focusing panel. After you've read the FAQs at www.graflex.org you'll know how to answer. If it has a focusing panel with no ground glass, not a big problem. If it has no focusing panel, problem 'cos focusing panels to fit the camera are a little hard to find.

If it has a focusing panel, that's great, put the camera on a tripod, open both shutters and try to focus at known distances. Check whether the rangefinder and ground glass agree. If not, problems 'cos cams for the top RF are hard to find. They can be made, look around on www.graflex.org's forums for directions for cutting cams. Treasure probably (= you'd better check) has the right cam for the 127 Ektar on it. This is the wrong cam for all other lenses ... You'll also need infinity stops for y'r projected other lenses, if a lens isn't at the right point on the rails the RF, even with the right cam for the lens, will give bad advice. There's a fairly recent discussion about infinity stops on this board, look for it.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan

jblaschke
25-Dec-2012, 20:18
Dan, thanks for the comments. To show you how green I am, I don't really know what a focusing panel is, but the entire rear of the camera is empty, no glass, nothing. So yeah, I looks like I'll need to get that, assuming focusing panels are a separate animal from backs... :(

Proteus617
25-Dec-2012, 20:45
You should post a good photo of the back of your camera so we can see exactly what is missing. I assume it's the entire back; focus panel, frame, everything. You need to buy a back and you have two choices: spring back or graflock. The graflock would be the back that came with your camera and will be much more expensive than a spring back. Spring backs are cheap as they end up on ebay after graflex owners have swapped them out for graflok backs. Safe to assume your camera was a graflock donor.

Kuzano
25-Dec-2012, 21:17
Here is a link to an eBay listing for a complete back from the wood out. You can watch this, but you may be surprised (or possibly pleased) at how high this one bids up to.

It contains all the pieces and occasionally shows up this complete. Otherwise, there are good pics here and at the bottom you can see the various pieces that may show up individually... They consist of the frame with Graflok slides, the Ground Glass frame, and the lens hood/panels for focus. Another option would be a less desirable spring back, with less flexibility on film holders that can be used.

This is a good listing to get info for all the pieces that may have been on your camera at one time. Don't be fooled by one other listing which appears complete and has the graflok sliders but is for the smaller film 2X3 camera. It's already listed for $150, which would not surprise me if the listing I am forwarding here rises to:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4X5-GRAFLOK-BACK-ASSEMBLY-GRAFLEX-GRAPHIC-CAMERA-/300837463437?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item460b4f658d

jblaschke
25-Dec-2012, 21:25
Here is the rear of the Crown Graphic we've got. Didn't see image guidelines in the posting FAQ, so I hope it's not too big. Apologies for the quality.
86041

Kuzano
25-Dec-2012, 22:39
Here is the rear of the Crown Graphic we've got. Didn't see image guidelines in the posting FAQ, so I hope it's not too big. Apologies for the quality.
86041

OK, if you look at the eBay post I listed, you only need two of the parts in that listing. You need the Ground glass frame in the middle of the three pics, and If you want the door and blinds that form a hood for focusing, You need the third part. However, a lot of people find the door/hood more a matter of protection rather than a useful function of the computer. Using a loupe on the ground glass is a bit tricky trying to work inside the metal panels of the door/hood.

The part you actually need, with the ground glass occasionally comes up on eBay, if someone doesn't offer one on the site.

Jim Jones
26-Dec-2012, 07:29
You can browse www.graflex.org, this site, and other sites to piece together a good understanding of the Crown Graphic. You can get much of this information in just one book, Graphic Graflex Photography by Morgan & Morgan, 11th edition of 1958 or later to cover your model of Graphic. It is usually available from online book sellers.

Since you may want an extra set of infinity stops, consider shopping for a beat-up Speed or Crown Graphic that has them and the Graflok ground glass frame that Kuzano identified. As he mentioned, the focusing hood can get in the way, but does protect the ground glass when folded. It is easy to remove. If the second camera comes with a lens board, that can be an asset.

jblaschke
26-Dec-2012, 07:30
Thanks Kuzano. I'm watching that Ebay auction and will see how it goes. I appreciate everyone's assistance!

jblaschke
26-Dec-2012, 07:43
Thanks Jim. Thanks for the clarification on the book's edition--I've been looking at one, but it's an earlier run, so you've saved me some hassle. Already prowling the Graflex site. I've also found some old user manuals online that I've downloaded the PDF for, so that's helping. It's a pretty steep learning curve!

Jim Andrada
27-Dec-2012, 10:44
The sort of good news is that IF the rangefinder is set up for for the 127mm lens that's on the camera and IF the infinity stops are there and in the right place on the tracks the camera would be perfectly usable as is with a Grafmatic magazine (holds six 4 x 5 sheets) or a roll film holder. It would be a huge hand held rangefinder camera, but quite usable and a lot of fun - I have to admit to sometimes taking the back that's missing in your photo off of mine to save weight when using it as a walking around RF cam on a monopod.

I thought that the Crown came standard with a 135mm lens and the Super came with the 127mm but I'm not much of an expert so I'll defer to others on this.

jblaschke
27-Dec-2012, 11:30
Jim, from what I've read online the 127mm was very popular with reporters and gradually became standard by default. Not that I'm an expert, either. :)

Not to get into too much detail, but this camera may have belonged to the local high school ages ago or a doctor who owned the house where it was found prior (I grew up in this house, FYI). Either way, it sat in that attic, untouched, for 40-45 years. It ended up there because of a 99.99% probability nobody thought it was worth anything, which is why I seriously doubt the focusing screen got sold off. That screen either got separated out of ignorance or is still up there, buried under insulation. Next week I'm going back there and dig around in the attic to see if I might get lucky and find it. Either way, I don't believe it was cannibalized or altered in significant ways prior to its abandonment.

Jim Andrada
27-Dec-2012, 11:38
I'm guessing that if it has the 127 it was probably set up to use it, whether from the factory or after the fact. I actually use mine with the pull up spring wire frame and it works pretty well - not the most precise framing tool around but workable. I think reporters would like it because it would give them more "margin" by virtue of it's wider angle, after all, tight composition wasn't a prime requirement for them compared to just being sure the subjects were in the picture.

Ivan J. Eberle
28-Dec-2012, 10:01
For the ground glass focusing to be accurate on the Top RF Crown Special, the back half of the Graflok you want should come with an original Ektalite fresnel screen and ground glass sandwich.

(Hoping not to go too far down a rabbit hole here, as most Graflok backs you'll find should have it and be okay, but note these are assembled in a different order than many other cameras that have a fresnel screen-- e.g. fresnel installed between the taking lens and the ground glass, which makes the fresnel a critical part of the image-focusing chain. If you or someone else simply installed a ground glass alone, it will need to be shimmed to focus correctly.)