Opinions on grafmatic

[jnantz]

Tests have shown them to hold the film flatter and at the proper "T" distance better than any 2-sided holder. I check my inserts for flatness, particularly at the corners, after each use. Never a jam because of this careful approach.

that is what i thought.

I bought mine specifically to use with my Graflex SLR's and they are perfect for that. As it's an SLR I don't have to remove them to focus. I've only ever had one (out of 7) jam on me and I had several with me so it wasn't a big deal. I, for one, dig mine.

Tim
www.ScottPhoto.co

never had the grafmatics for slr's ( only learned a couple of years ago they even existed )
but i have bag mags, i think i have 4-5 of them and one for glass plates.
i like them, simple and easy to use ( the slr's too )

[urnem57]

This thread is really helpful. The suggestions for Ice Wax & weatherstripping tape are exactly what I was looking for. Even with the instruction book, I messed up on my first outing. The proper use is not intuitive to me. I haven’t given up on them just yet. But another good point brought up here is other than for handheld use, why risk it? They are pretty cool, though. They don’t save on weight or space and regular film holders are way easier to operate with a lot less risk of losing images. Not making a decision until after a CLA and another try with cheap film.

[Chester McCheeserton]

I had them and used them frequently. I did not experience jamming or light leaks and liked that the volume was a little less then 3 holders. I bought nice ones around 2000 that I paid around 100 each for. An architectural photographer showed me how to use tin snips and needle nose pliers to remove the number wheels that protruded sometimes as much as 1/8 of an inch into each frame.

What made me finally switch back to regular holders after about 10 years was that too frequently the front edge of the film wouldn't slip all the way under the front short rail of the septum, sometimes leaving me with the image going right up to bleed on one edge of the film with a big thick blank border on the back, if I recall correctly, this happened more on verticals.

I think a number of respected photographers used them in the past though, 2 off the top of my head being Frank Gohlke and Paul Caponigro, my advice would be to buy mint condition ones and remove the numbering wheel.

[urnem57]

Thanks!

[Gary Beasley]

One little detail Ive noticed is the septums have a slight pinch in the edge film track that hold the film sheets in place with friction. If the septum is too loose there the film tends to wander out of the septum and cause a jam. Always a good idea to check your septums with a sheet of film and see if it stays put. VERY gentle pressure with needlenose pliers is all it takes to correct any problems, best done with the film in the septum.

[urnem57]

It looks like I’ve got problems with the two Grafmatics I recently bought. I loaded 6 sheets in each. A few jammed and a few I ruined by not operating the thing correctly. On at least two occasions, I saw that the dark slide was not covering the film. Not good, but operator error. I have only developed 3 sheets so far. One is completely black. One has a light leak on the side opposite the notches in the shape of the felt piece (which came off of one of the backs) The 3rd sheet has a light leak on the side opposite the notch in the shape of the rectangle with the 2 square cutouts. I will develop the rest of the sheets tomorrow or the next day to what else I got.
I expect that I will need to insert at least 1 sheet in each back, number the backs and keep track of which sheet came from which back.
The next issue it looks like I will need to do is replace the light seals on both ends of the drawer.
I need any suggestions, tips, or tricks from people who have replaced these. I have the service manuals, but they are not real clear to me as to what the procedure is.
Thanks!

[j.e.simmons]

The times I experienced jamming, I was holding the camera lens down. If I raised the camera to shooting position, the jam released. That could just be my grafmatics but worth a try.

[Tin Can]

I like all the complaints about Grafmatics

as their eBay prices should plummet now

however I have three 45 and three 23 and three Mag Bag all working well

now how do we identify the FLA ones which all seem to be bad?

[Havoc]

I have 2, gave them a good clean. As far as I can ascertain the septums are fine. But so far I have not a single negative out of them. All or not exposed, or complete overexposed. And no, I did not load the septums the wrong way round for the unexposed ones. When I load them with test sheets they seem to work ok.

[Conrad . Marvin]

Mine are all pretty old and ratty looking, but I maintain the septums so that the film doesn’t slide out when it shouldn’t and keep the mechanism clean and lubricated (pledge works). Maintained and used correctly I have never lost an image because of the holder. That being said the one problem that I have had is that one of my counters stopped working which means that you can keep on taking more and more exposures on the same six films. Luckily I was paying attention and stopped at six. I too have removed the counter wheels and have had no light leaks.