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Thread: School me on press cameras.

  1. #31

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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    [QUOTE=Neal Chaves;1499684]
    Quote Originally Posted by Oren Grad View Post
    "But honestly, I think hand-held 4x5 at open aperture is the wrong tool for environmental portraiture."

    Here's a head and shoulders photograph of my daughter with her horse. TRF Crown in "Big Shot" mode with 210mm 5.6 Fujinon W, wide open or close to it. Vivitar 285 with bounce card.Attachment 191387Attachment 191388
    That's the camera I have. Even has parallax correction. Has a place for AA batteries for focus spot, focus until you can see a sharp image of the bulb filament. Cool as hell. I have the standard Xenar 135 lens. RF is dead on. There's guys that make cams. Not me I love how light the Crown is. The final all metal Graphic has got easy to change cams lens etc. Just like a Linhof too damn heavy!

  2. #32
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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    Quote Originally Posted by Duolab123 View Post
    Only lens that will work on a speed with rangefinder is the one that came with it from the factory. ..
    OK, I see. You have a top-RF Graphic. The models with side-RF can of course be adjusted for any lens within their focal-length range, barrel or shutter.

  3. #33
    Jim Jones's Avatar
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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    A top rangefinder Graphic can also be fitted with a side rangefinder to permit easy switching between two lenses with different focal lengths.

  4. #34

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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    If you have two bed scales, you can, after a fashion, still use the side-mounted rangefinder. Say you've got a bed scale and a rangefinder set up for a 135mm lens. Put on a 210, then focus using the rangefinder. Now read the scale for the 135 lens. Now (if you're not best at estimating distances) you have a distance. Set the camera at that distance using the 210mm scale and you're there.

    If there is some adjustment available on a top-mounted rangefinder (other than changing cams) this is the first time I've heard that.

  5. #35

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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    By the way, a top-mount rangefinder Crown in really nice condition with two factory lenses, the big storage box, film holders and so forth just popped up on the Los Angeles CL for $295. You used to see deals like that 15 years ago. Seller claims the shutters are working. Having three I don't need another, but if I did that is a real deal.

  6. #36

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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    I love my crown and my speed. I thought I'd use the crown far more than the speed, but when I swap out lenses I love having the consistent shutter speeds from the speed. I have too hard a time using the rangefinder on the crown, so I've put 2 of the range plates down on the rails for the two lenses I use most and rely on it and the ground glass. Ground glass is really the only way to know for sure what you're getting, and I shoot hand held when firing faster than 1/100. Definitely good starter cameras but also quite heavy. You need strong forearms for use without a tripod. But then, I've never used any of the mentioned conversions.

  7. #37

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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    Quote Originally Posted by Oren Grad View Post
    OK, I see. You have a top-RF Graphic. The models with side-RF can of course be adjusted for any lens within their focal-length range, barrel or shutter.
    More power to you if you have the dexterity to adjust Kalart rangefinders. It's over my skill set. Trying to figure out infinity stops?. Graflex made scores of cams for every possible factory-installed lens. They still ended up calibrating each camera lens combination. I even have a original Kalart booklet on adjusting the darn things. Scared me . I had a old Crown that one of the rangefinder mirrors was shot. I took apart a Polaroid Big Shot and glued that mirror on top of the original. Worked great I was afraid of breaking the thing, it was the least invasive approach

  8. #38
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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    Quote Originally Posted by Duolab123 View Post
    More power to you if you have the dexterity to adjust Kalart rangefinders.
    I don't. Butchered one, since then I've farmed out the task to people who know what they're doing.

    For those who aren't familiar and who are considering a Graphic for the first time, adjusting a side-RF for a new lens is *not* something you can reasonably do on the fly. You set up your camera for one lens and leave it that way. Of course you can always focus other lenses via the ground glass.

  9. #39
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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    I also gave up.

    I did find a couple tiny format 2X3 sheet film cameras which are untouched and the RF works fine.

    4X5 and up are usually not fine.

    Experts are in order and hard to source.

    Quote Originally Posted by Oren Grad View Post
    I don't. Butchered one, since then I've farmed out the task to people who know what they're doing.

    For those who aren't familiar and who are considering a Graphic for the first time, adjusting a side-RF for a new lens is *not* something you can reasonably do on the fly. You set up your camera for one lens and leave it that way. Of course you can always focus other lenses via the ground glass.
    Tin Can

  10. #40

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    Re: School me on press cameras.

    So i picked up a Crown Graphic in nice condition yesterday, mated with a 135mm f 4.5 Schneider Xenar. According to a serial number list I found online, my camera/lens combo was manufactured in late 1959, or early 1960. First thing I did was to check the accuracy of the top-mounted rangefinder. I only had time to check it at near distances, (~60 inches) but the thing is dead-on accurate wide open. I couldn't focus any more precisely using my 8x loupe on the ground-glass. Pleased as punch! Now I await my tri-x and Ebay-film holders...

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