grafmatics

**Chauncey Walden** · 19-Aug-2018, 16:28

Back in the 1980s a whole bunch of them surfaced in Denver that were surplus from the USAF photography school there. Although mostly well used all the ones that I ended up with (6 I think) worked well perhaps due to proper maintenance. IIRC they went for $35. I dust everything well inside and out with an antistatic cloth and wax the contact points with bicycle IceWax. Several I have gotten since needed to have some of the septa straightened a bit. An old 6 inch stainless pocket rule works great for this maintaining a straight and uniform guide for the film. I have heard of people having problems by not loading the film completely into the far end of the holder and of people bending the septa by not retracting the little pusher in the loading bay when reloading the septa. Although I have several 10-shot Kinematics the Grafmatics work much more smoothly.

**Bob Salomon** · 19-Aug-2018, 16:40

Originally Posted by Chauncey Walden

Back in the 1980s a whole bunch of them surfaced in Denver that were surplus from the USAF photography school there. Although mostly well used all the ones that I ended up with (6 I think) worked well perhaps due to proper maintenance. IIRC they went for $35. I dust everything well inside and out with an antistatic cloth and wax the contact points with bicycle IceWax. Several I have gotten since needed to have some of the septa straightened a bit. An old 6 inch stainless pocket rule works great for this maintaining a straight and uniform guide for the film. I have heard of people having problems by not loading the film completely into the far end of the holder and of people bending the septa by not retracting the little pusher in the loading bay when reloading the septa. Although I have several 10-shot Kinematics the Grafmatics work much more smoothly.

Since I went to the photo school at Lowry I wished you hadn’t pointed out that it is closed! However, in the early 60s they never gave us Grafmatics to use at the school.

**Chauncey Walden** · 20-Aug-2018, 17:09

OK, Bob. Now everyone is wondering just what they did give you to use;-)

**Bob Salomon** · 20-Aug-2018, 17:37

Originally Posted by Chauncey Walden

OK, Bob. Now everyone is wondering just what they did give you to use;-)

Plain old double sided holders.

**cuypers1807** · 20-Aug-2018, 20:00

I have a few grafmatics that I only use with my Razzle 900 (Polaroid 900 conversion) for street photography. I found they were too heavy for my Chamonix 045N-2 and it was easy to get light leaks when shuffling the exposures. I had to return only one of the five I bought off ebay due to light leaks. I have one that will only cycle through the septums if pointed upwards. If a regular film holder fails then you lose one exposure... if the Grafmatic fails you loose all six. It is risky business.

**Paul Ewins** · 20-Aug-2018, 20:11

Originally Posted by Chauncey Walden

... I dust everything well inside and out with an antistatic cloth and wax the contact points with bicycle IceWax. Several I have gotten since needed to have some of the septa straightened a bit.....

Ice Wax on the slides is one of the best suggestions I ever got from this forum. I check the septum for bends after every use. Usually it is just at the end and can be straightened carefully with a pair of needle nose pliers. A bend towards the middle is a different matter and the septum would probably need replacing. All of the grafmatics I have date from the Graflex days and while most of them look 60 - 70 years old I think maybe 80% of them still function perfectly well. I think the ones Bob rejected may have been the Singer branded versions. There is also the Fuji version (Fuji Quickchange) but I've only ever seen a few of those and they were very expensive.

**Mark Sampson** · 20-Aug-2018, 20:17

For the record, Singer bought Graflex sometime in the 1960s. My father worked for twenty years at another Rochester company that was bought up by Singer at around the same time. After that company (Friden) closed its doors in 1971 or so, I can remember my father saying "Everything Singer touched went straight to hell" or words to that effect. Graflex would have gone down anyway but still...

**Bob Salomon** · 21-Aug-2018, 04:30

Originally Posted by Paul Ewins

Ice Wax on the slides is one of the best suggestions I ever got from this forum. I check the septum for bends after every use. Usually it is just at the end and can be straightened carefully with a pair of needle nose pliers. A bend towards the middle is a different matter and the septum would probably need replacing. All of the grafmatics I have date from the Graflex days and while most of them look 60 - 70 years old I think maybe 80% of them still function perfectly well. I think the ones Bob rejected may have been the Singer branded versions. There is also the Fuji version (Fuji Quickchange) but I've only ever seen a few of those and they were very expensive.

No, Singer sold Graflex to a company in FL, small husband and wife company. Those were the ones that failed, and that was the last of Graflex/Graphic as a stand-alone. Whatever was left went to Toyo’s parent,.

**jim10219** · 22-Aug-2018, 09:06

Bent septums I can deal with. If they can't be straightened out, you can buy more on eBay. What gets me about them, is the light seals. Once they break down, they're very difficult to replace. I must have replaced the seals in mine 5 times now, trying to get everything just right. Finding wool felt as thin as the originals has been really difficult for me. Most of the wool felt I've found is too thick and causes the Grafmatic to bind up. Then there's the question of the springs that go under the felt. If those are corroded, broken, or worn out, they're not easy to replace/remake. You can buy some metal stock from McMaster Carr, but they don't come in the right size, and you have to carve out a bunch of the material to get them at the right tension. It's a huge pain.

All in all, I'm not a fan. I've had issues with film holders getting locked up, light leaks, and dust. Even when everything works perfectly, they're still no lighter than 3 Fidelity/Lisco film holders, and just barely smaller in size. Plus they're more fiddley to use and you don't have that convenient spot to write on the film holder to keep track of everything. They're not the worst thing in the world, but to me, they're more novelty item than serious photographic tool.

**LabRat** · 22-Aug-2018, 15:09

The other thing that can cause a jam is when shooting a vertical, the newer thinner film can slide a little out of the septum and not advance... I haven't tightened the end of the film grooves that secure the sheet from falling, but I must before using again...

Steve K