8x10 Grafmatic?

[Jim C.]

Graflex did make a 8x10 SLR, it's mythical in it's rareness, search this forum, I think a member owns one or it was a link to a picture of one.
If you're looking for lightweight and 8x10 I'd just go with wood film holders, I own a fairchild bag mag for 5x7 and they're crazy heavy,
to it weighs more than the camera !

[StoneNYC]

Graflex did make a 8x10 SLR, it's mythical in it's rareness, search this forum, I think a member owns one or it was a link to a picture of one.
If you're looking for lightweight and 8x10 I'd just go with wood film holders, I own a fairchild bag mag for 5x7 and they're crazy heavy,
to it weighs more than the camera !

Looking at the design I assumed it was a very heavy item, and wouldn't be good for my uses, thanks for confirming that.

I would holders later then the plastic fidelity ones? I would think the plastic would be later but I of course could easily be wrong.

[W K Longcor]

Actually, they DID make an 8x10 Graflex slr -- around the turn of the last century. Very, very rare -- not many made. As for the holder -- my choice would be a stack of light weight wooden film holders rather than a heavy, bulky metal graphmatic.( an 8x10 would have to be heavy and bulky).

Since Graflex was the manufacturer and they didn't make an 8X10 Graflex SLR or Graphic, there was no incentive. I suspect the reason there is no 5X7 Grafmatic is that the 5X7 cameras were discontinued before the development of the Grafmatic. The bagmags work very well when the septums are in good condition. I have 2 4X5s for my Graflex.

Bill

[jnantz]

it wouldn't be hard to design a 8x10 bag mag
they are a box with a spring on the lid
and 2 big slots and a leather bag
and septums, and a rod to pull it up / forward
it would weigh a ton
and knowing how much a bag mag jams up ( and septums get un-true )
with regular 4x5 film it would be more trouble than its worth.
4x5 plate bag mag jam up worse than film-ones ... ( and weigh almost as much as a camera )

[koh303]

Thanks guys, I suppose that's really the only option? Any reason one was never made? Is it just what I mentioned about 8x10 shooters adjusting for zones too much? It simply cost/sales numbers?

Grafmatics were designed for speed.
8X10 is a format that does not lend itself to speed (despite what robert polidori would you think), hence there was never a need for high speed loaders for 8X10. Most fashion or commercial sets had a loader whose sole job was to put a holder in the camera, remove the slide, put it back and replace the holder, so even there there was no real need for such a thing.

Come to think of it 8X10 does not really lend itself to being light weight either, unless you go with a fotoman handheld that is.

[David A. Goldfarb]

A bag mag needs some kind of removable back and a way of attaching it to the camera, either with slides like a Graflok back or with locator pins and clips like on my 5x7" Press Graflex. 8x10" cameras for the most part have spring backs. I think you would also need heavier gauge septums for an 8x10" Grafmatic, and with the leverage of a larger mechanism, there would be more hazard of light leaks when cycling the backs. Thicker septums would probably mean fewer sheets, since it still has to fit in the spring back. But on the upside a 5-sheet 8x10" Grafmatic would be great for loading from any size film box--10, 25, or 50 sheets, since they're all multiples of 5.

I have two bag mags for the 5x7"--one for film and one for plates adapted to film, and the plate mag is pretty heavy. I can only imagine how much it would weigh with a dozen glass plates, but the Press Graflex is a rigid box, so it can handle more weight on the back than an 8x10" field camera.

[Ari]

Do you use them yourself? I've never had any issues with mine, jamming or otherwise that wasn't user error, and the only film that's ever fallen out was in a fidelity holder. AFAIK the grafmatic holders are supposed to have BETTER film flatness than traditional holders.

I used them exclusively for a few years.
I did have a few of them jam, always at a very inopportune time.
They required constant maintenance, which is why I gave them up in favour of an all-Toyo film holder set.
I can't speak to better film flatness in Grafmatics over traditional film holders; in that regard, I've never had a problem with either.

[Jim C.]

Looking at the design I assumed it was a very heavy item, and wouldn't be good for my uses, thanks for confirming that.

I would holders later then the plastic fidelity ones? I would think the plastic would be later but I of course could easily be wrong.

Plastic holders would be later, wood ones are the earliest.

[StoneNYC]

Grafmatics were designed for speed.
8X10 is a format that does not lend itself to speed (despite what robert polidori would you think), hence there was never a need for high speed loaders for 8X10. Most fashion or commercial sets had a loader whose sole job was to put a holder in the camera, remove the slide, put it back and replace the holder, so even there there was no real need for such a thing.

Come to think of it 8X10 does not really lend itself to being light weight either, unless you go with a fotoman handheld that is.

Well I wasn't going for speed I was going for less bulk and lighter.

I've weighed 3 4x5 fidelity holders ( sheets of film) against the grafmatic and the fidelity plastic holders were heavier ...

So I assume sizing up, the same amount of metal MIGHT be lighter. But anyway it was mostly about cutting down on BULK. The 8x10 I want to buy only weighs 1lb more than my toyo45a actually weighs which is a tiny bit heavier than the listed weight by my scale.

Depends how big the tax return is...

[StoneNYC]

Plastic holders would be later, wood ones are the earliest.

Key stroke error... LIGHTER...