in which I immitate the Galli-master....

[BradS]

Or, "A funny thing happened while I was at the Cub Scout Rain Gutter Regatta last month...."


My seven year old son is a cub scout. You've probably all heard of the Pine wood derby, well our local pack of scouts also has a "rain gutter regatta". The kids (dads) make little sail boats out of a block of balsa wood a bit of dowel and a plastic sheet. They "sail" the boats in rain gutters filled with water.

So anyway, I cut the boat with the big saw and my son sanded it and painted it. On the big day, we go to the park with all the other cub scouts and parents. We eat burgers, flies and fruit and you know, have a good time. I brought the Crown Graphic - to make a few snaps.

As the kids are racing the boats, I have the Crown Graphic out and I'm snapping away, ka-chunk, zurrrpt, click, etc...


(note the guy in the top left, background)





Well, afterward, a father came up to me and struck up a conversation...about, you guessed it, cameras. I figured it'd be another "what the hell is that"; "why don't you shoot digital"; "I have a D-2901x and it can land the space shuttle" kinda conversation....but NO, this guy knows all about LF and darkroom work and stuff like that. We talk for a while and finally, he comes around to the point: He's got a shed out back...and he cleaned it out recently...and, get this, one of the items that he decided he needed to get rid of was a "5x7 enlarger" and did I want it?

like for free? I asked.

"Yup".

"Sure. When Can I pick it up?" says I.

"I have it with me in the back of my V.W. micro-bus" you can have it now.

So, we go out to the parking lot and I'm half expecting this guy to propose something disgusting when, he produces a box full of gear destined for someplace other than his shed.

Truth be told, I threw out a whole bunch of that crap and put som eof it in my shed....but, down at the bottom of the box, way in the corner, there was an interesting lens...

it says "B&L" on it and has aperture control lever with click stops from f/4.5 to f/16.

So, I fixed it up in a make-shift lens board and tried it out on an old Korona...
I used the patented Jim Galli instantaeous shutter. This shot was #4 of 4. The other three were either a little too exposed or the kid wiggled too much.



(click photo to see it bigger)

[Jim Galli]

What a handsome laddie. Must take after his momma.

Ok, so B&L f4.5 - f16, that's a good start but it MUST say something else on there like Portrait Unar #8 or or or........?? I can't think of any good reason why an ordinary Series 1C Tessar would stop at f16.

In any case it's a fine portrait. I think you've got yourself a winner.

[eddie]

good stuff! way to go! now what else did you get ?

[Charles Carstensen]

Brad, great story, great photographs, this one should get the "LF post of the year" award.

[BradS]

Thanks guys.

eddie, what else...well, let's see there was a broken Konica rangefinder 35mm camera, another enlarger lens of less impressive dimensions, an old Elwood 5x7 enlarger (made mostly of wood and smelling a little like a cat or family of racoons had confused it with a liter box), a pile of wax paper like negative storage envelopes in various sizes, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous crap that went straight into the bin.

Jim, It doesn't really have any other markings on it (from memory now). The focal length seems to be about 8 inches or so. The front glass looks like somebody used it for a miniture skating rink....it is pretty heavy for its size, painted all black, and, obviously, in barrel. It looks to me like some sort of process lens or something that was liberated from deep within the bowels of a copy machine or something.

[Jim Galli]

Thanks guys.

eddie, what else...well, let's see there was a broken Konica rangefinder 35mm camera, another enlarger lens of less impressive dimensions, an old Elwood 5x7 enlarger (made mostly of wood and smelling a little like a cat or family of racoons had confused it with a liter box), a pile of wax paper like negative storage envelopes in various sizes, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous crap that went straight into the bin.

Jim, It doesn't really have any other markings on it (from memory now). The focal length seems to be about 8 inches or so. The front glass looks like somebody used it for a miniture skating rink....it is pretty heavy for its size, painted all black, and, obviously, in barrel. It looks to me like some sort of process lens or something that was liberated from deep within the bowels of a copy machine or something.

Ahh. That jogs the memory now. Yep, those were used in the first Xerox machines. You did it proud.

[BradS]

Thanks again Jim. I was just having some fun. Next time, I'll find something a little less wiggly and try it wide open.

Oh, and...how much do I owe you for the royalties on the Galli-matic super shutter?

[John Kasaian]

Cool story!