Exciting news!

Digidurst · Oct 11, 2006

My husband, being the sweet man that he is, found me a most beautiful Crown Graphic that appears to be in great shape. It was part of some other photography "junk" that my dear one got simply by asking for it. My kinda deal!

Anyway, I don't know a bloody thing about these things. The serial number is 960778 - is there a way to find out the age? And I primarily want to do some handheld 4x5 work with this camera. Can someone please enlighten me as to how to use the rangefinder thing on the side? How to tell if it's working? What about the optical viewfinder - how does one utilize that? Oh, and I was going to take a picture of it but I found one on Flikr that'll do just fine - it's just like my camera minus the Focuspot thingie.

I am so excited to try this baby out! Thank you in advance for helping figure it out.

Dave Parker · Oct 11, 2006

The best place for all things graphic is the website graflex.org, they have an imense amount of information as well as a help board with quite a few individuals who are obsesed with them and can tell you just about anything you want to know.

Dave

BradS · Oct 11, 2006

the first place to go is: http://www.graflex.org.

Dave Parker · Oct 11, 2006

BradS said:
the first place to go is: http://www.graflex.org.

Hey Brad "JINX!!!!"

LOL

Dave

BradS · Oct 11, 2006

I guess I owe you a coke.

Dan Fromm · Oct 11, 2006

Aaaaand its Dave Parker by a nose!

Digidurst · Oct 11, 2006

you guys!

jolefler · Oct 11, 2006

Congradulations!! These are fantastic cameras,for sure underrated. I'm just finishing up a minor rebuild of an Anni Speed on which I hung a 135/235 Schneider (Thanks, Jim). I couldn't wait until the trim was completed, so shot some and the negs just blew me away....and without the tripod, WOW.

There are Kalart rangefinder adjustment instructions on the Graphlex site, which will also give a quick overview of use. Easy to use & easy to adjust.

The optical finder is very straight forward, don't forget to turn the dial when close focussing for parallax correction.

I'm re-sold on older American photo engineering. An easy-to-use handheld camera that works great and will take a beating as well. Have fun with your Crown!

Ian Grant · Oct 11, 2006

I'd always knocked Crown Graphics and similar until I bought one for my niece.

A truly great entry level 5x4 with a lot of capabilities, the limitation is the lenses, since buying the Crown Graphic I've acquired 2 Speed Graphics, the only differance is the Speed Graphics have a focal plane shutter. So my niece now has the much older Speed Graphic, the Crown Graphihic now lives in Asia as my 2nd 5x4.

Ian

Jerevan · Oct 11, 2006

Some of the limitations exists in the mind - look at this guy and what he did with a Speed Graphic: http://www.skiinghistory.org/Kruck1.html. I just happened upon these photographs by coincidence, while looking for something else. Photos number 1 and 10 in this series are pure gold, I think.

DBP · Oct 11, 2006

jolefler said:
I'm re-sold on older American photo engineering. An easy-to-use handheld camera that works great and will take a beating as well. Have fun with your Crown!

The American cameras of the 30s, 40s, and 50s may not have been up to the fit and finish (or price) of their German competitors, but they sure do hold up well. Think of how rare it is to see a Graphic, Ciroflex, or Argus that is not working after over half a century. And they are easy to work on too.

Dan Fromm · Oct 11, 2006

DBP said:
The American cameras of the 30s, 40s, and 50s may not have been up to the fit and finish (or price) of their German competitors, but they sure do hold up well. Think of how rare it is to see a Graphic, Ciroflex, or Argus that is not working after over half a century. And they are easy to work on too.

Um, er, ah, DBP, not all that long ago I found an Argus Automatic Reflex in a flea market and bought it on the grounds that if it was going to be stolen I'd be the thief. Then did more due diligence -- I mean, I knew what it was, otherwise I'd have walked away -- and learned that when new AARs were hard to load and prone to jamming. They're that way when old too.

Against that, I have three Graphics of which I use two regularly. The third was bought "for its lens" and I just can't justify traveling with three. Two actually makes sense, but there's no need for a spare.

Cheers,

Dan

DBP · Oct 11, 2006

I think you mean Ansco Automatic Reflex, and there was a reason I did not include Ansco or Kodak in that list.

Steve Hamley · Oct 11, 2006

Ellen,

Way to go, the Crown was my first LF camera, and I still have it. I'll tell you the story sometime.

Steve

Digidurst · Oct 11, 2006

Steve Hamley said:
Ellen,

Way to go, the Crown was my first LF camera, and I still have it. I'll tell you the story sometime.

Steve

I'm looking forward to it!

buze · Oct 12, 2006

I also got my first graphic (and first 4x5) a few weeks ago. Optar 135mm and Ektar 203mm. Fantastic fun !

As for engineering, I think they are great design, the simplicity-yet-complexity reminds me of a rolleiflex. That's pure elegance of design to me.

Dan Fromm · Oct 12, 2006

DBP said:
I think you mean Ansco Automatic Reflex, and there was a reason I did not include Ansco or Kodak in that list.

Thanks for the correction, yes it is an Ansco.

Dan Fromm · Oct 12, 2006

buze said:
I also got my first graphic (and first 4x5) a few weeks ago. Optar 135mm and Ektar 203mm. Fantastic fun !

As for engineering, I think they are great design, the simplicity-yet-complexity reminds me of a rolleiflex. That's pure elegance of design to me.

Hmm. If you look a Graphic from the right angle, you'll see the Leica idea interpreted by a locomotive manufacturer.

Dave Miller · Oct 12, 2006

And when they finally breakdown, they make great door stops.

Exciting news!

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