Crown Graphic back

[Mats_A]

I am negoatiating a purchase of a Crown Graphic 4x5.
No film holders are included. Are there several type of backs (for holders) available for the Crown Graphic or can I look for any film holder suitable for a Crown?

r

Mats

 

[Ian Grant]

Crown Graphics take 5x4 inch International sheet film holders and also the International (post WWII) 9x12 cm sheet holders which are the same outside dimension. However there are two types of back the more common spring back and the Graflok back, both take the same sheet film holders but the Graflok back will accept any type of roll film holder while the spring backs need a less common narrow type, made by Linhof and some US manufacturers, these tend to be more expensive.

Ian

 

[Wade D]

Unless you plan on using roll film backs the spring back will suffice. Usually the cameras with Graflok backs are more expensive. I've seen Graflok backs alone go for well over US$100 by themselves. If the one you are looking at has one and the price is good I would say go for it.

 

[BradS]

Mats,

Be very careful. Although the Graflok back was standard issue for all Crown Graphics, they could be special ordered with the so called "Graflex Back"...and as you will discover many have also suffered a variety of egregious customizations and modifications - including such horrors as back transplants..

Anyway, the important point is that modern film holders do not work especially well with the old Graflex back. The graflex back is designed to be used with special graflex film holders - they have a slot down the side.

If a Crown Graphic has a spring back it most likely suffered a transplant. (note, the Crown Graphic started production much later than the Speed Graphic...so, many speeds have the spring back but the Graflock back was standard on all crowns).

 

[Mats_A]

How can I identify a Graflock back from a picture?

r

Mats

 

[Ian Grant]

I think Brad has the backs the wrong way around, the Graflex spring back was the standard and is more common on both the Pacemaker Speed and Crown Graphics which were introduced around the same time. I'd suggest not buying an earlier model as they have no front tilt etc.

The Graflex.org site seems to be down but this link shows the backs.

Ian

 

[BradS]

Hmmm, maybe I have the nomenclature mixed up (I don't think so though). By 'Graflex' back I mean the one that only has the slides to engage the slots in the special film holders. This is the back that was on the Graflex RB SLR cameras. It is NOT a spring back. The early Speed Graphics came out with the early spring back. By the time the Crown Graphic was introduced, the Graflok back was standard....though, as I said, they could still be special ordered with the (non-spring) Graflex back....and many have been butchered since. There is even some evidence (I have sales brochures from 1950's) that Crown Graphics could be ordered with the earlier spring back at a small savings.

The vast majority of Crown Graphics (again, not speeds) left the factory with a Graflock back...not the earlier spring back. Every bit of Graflex literature I have supports this.

 

[Ian Grant]

Brad, I have 2 Pacemaker Graphics and a pre-Anniversary Speed Graphic, the Pacemaker spring backs are quite different to the older model. My Crown Graphic dates from the early 60's and so has the late spring back.

Graflex don't help because in some of their own literature they refer to the Graflok back as a Graflex back, and the spring back as a Graphic back which is confusing. But based on the number of Pacemakers Speed & Crown I've seen in use or for sale it does appear that actual sales in terms of back type differ from your literature and that the spring back was quite common.

Ian

 

[Anscojohn]

I have always, and still do, find this nomenclature confusing. What I know for certain is that my Crown accepts the Fujiroid PA-45 4x5 film=pack back, but my Speedy does not.

 

[BradS]

A fellow member here has sent me this privately. I completely agree with this and am re-posting it here publicly because it states much more clearly and more accurately what I was trying (but, apparently failed) to say. I do still think that the Graflock back was the de facto standard back on the Crown Graphic (after 1950 or so)....but that is all conjecture.

Thanks Dan for setting me straight and articulating clearly what I could not.

Brad,

Pacemaker Graphics were introduced in 1947. The Graflok back was introduced in 1949. The only Graphic on which the Graflok was standard issue was the 2x3 Century Graphic, which has an integral Graflok. Many Pacemaker Graphics, both Speed and Crown, and of all three sizes, were sold with spring backs, which were standard issue; the Graflok was, after it was introduced, the more expensive option. Graflok backs were offered as retrofits for Anniversary Graphics.

Graflex' nomenclature is confusing, but Graflex Inc used it consistently.

The Graflex back has one slider, was native on Graflex SLRs. Late 4x5 RB Super D Graflexes were offered with Graflok backs, and there are firms that will convert 3x4 and 4x5 Super Ds to Graflok.

The Graphic back is what the rest of the universe calls a spring back.

The Graflok back is what the rest of the universe calls a Universal back. As Graflex interpreted it, it has a detachable focusing panel with integral springs; sheet film holders slide in front of it, roll holders replace it. It has two sliders, used to hold roll holders and Grafmatic holders in place. Some universal backs, as on my 2x3 Cambo, must be removed to attach a roll holder to the camera.

 

[ethics_gradient]

I bought a Crown that came with a Graflex back and a bag-mag. Didn't look like a hack job. I sold it in favor of a Speed (with a Graflok) because it looked like it would be a royal pain to find regular double-sided holders for it. (Also needed a focal plane shutter)